Édouard Joseph Louis Marie Van Beneden (5 March 1846 in Leuven – 28 April 1910 in Liège) was a Belgian
embryologist,
cytologist and
marine biologist. He was professor of
zoology
Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...
at the
University of Liège. He contributed to
cytogenetics by his works on the
roundworm ''
Ascaris''. In this work he discovered how
chromosomes organized
meiosis (the production of
gametes).
He is son of
Pierre-Joseph Van Beneden, a
zoologist
Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...
and
paleontologist.
Van Beneden elucidated, together with
Walther Flemming and
Eduard Strasburger, the essential facts of
mitosis, where, in contrast to meiosis, there is a qualitative and quantitative equality of chromosome distribution to daughter cells. (See
karyotype).
Publications
* ''Recherches sur la composition et la signification de l'œuf'' 186
Full text available from Archive.orgPDF
* ''La maturation de l'oeuf, la fecondation, et les premieres phases du développement embryonnaire des mammifères, d'aprés des recherches faites chez le lapin : communication préliminaire'' in ''Bulletins de l'Académie royale de Belgique. 2me.série ; 40(12)'' 1875
Family
Van Beneden's father, Pierre-Joseph van Beneden (18091894) was also a well-known biologist. He introduced two important terms into evolutionary biology and ecology: mutualism and commensalism.[Boucher D.H. 1985. The idea of mutualism, past and future. In D.H. Boucher (ed) ''The biology of mutualism: ecology and evolution''. Oxford University Press. 128]
References
Sources
*
*
*Hamoir, Gabriel. "''La révolution évolutionniste en Belgique: du fixiste Pierre-Joseph Van Beneden à son fils darwiniste Édouard"'', Presses Universitaires de Liège, 2001.
19th-century Belgian zoologists
Academic staff of the University of Liège
Corresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences
1846 births
1910 deaths
20th-century Belgian zoologists
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