Josef Victor Rohon (7 May 1845, in Temes-Buttyin – 15 March 1923) was an Austrian

paleontologist Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geolo ...

and

neuroanatomist Neuroanatomy is the study of the structure and organization of the nervous system. In contrast to animals with radial symmetry, whose nervous system consists of a distributed network of cells, animals with bilateral symmetry have segregated, defin ...

. He studied medicine,

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 ...

, and neuroanatomy at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

, where he was influenced by

Theodor Meynert Theodor Hermann Meynert (; 15 June 1833 – 31 May 1892) was a German-Austrian psychiatrist, neuropathologist, and anatomist, born in Dresden. Meynert believed that disturbances in brain development could be a predisposition for psychiatric illne ...

(1833–1892), Carl Claus (1835–1899),

Hans Kundrat Hans Kundrat (6 October 1845 – 25 April 1893) was a pathologist born in Vienna, Austrian Empire. He studied medicine in Vienna, and as a student he was a demonstrator under Josef Hyrtl and Karl von Rokitansky. In 1868 he received his medica ...

(1845–1893), and Eduard Albert (1841–1900). In 1884 he graduated

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, where he spent the ensuing years conducting paleontological research. At Munich, he worked closely with

Karl Alfred von Zittel Karl Alfred Ritter von Zittel (25 September 1839 – 5 January 1904) was a German palaeontologist best known for his ''Handbuch der Palaeontologie'' (1876–1880). Biography Karl Alfred von Zittel was born in Bahlingen in the Grand Duchy ...

(1839–1904), performing research that included anatomical studies of

conodont Conodonts, are an extinct group of marine jawless vertebrates belonging to the class Conodonta (from Ancient Greek κῶνος (''kōnos''), meaning " cone", and ὀδούς (''odoús''), meaning "tooth"). They are primarily known from their hard ...

s. In the spring of 1888, he relocated to

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

, where he served as a private tutor until 1895. Afterwards, he was an associate professor of

histology Histology, also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, is the branch of biology that studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissue (biology), tissues. Histology is the microscopic counterpart to gross anatomy, which looks at large ...

(later for

embryology Embryology (from Ancient Greek, Greek ἔμβρυον, ''embryon'', "the unborn, embryo"; and -λογία, ''-logy, -logia'') is the branch of animal biology that studies the Prenatal development (biology), prenatal development of gametes (sex ...

) at the

Karl-Ferdinands-Universität Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the oldest universities in the world in continuous operation, the oldest university north of the ...

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. In February 1903, he attained a full professorship of histology and embryology. His name is associated with " Rohon-Beard cells", defined as large mechanosensory neurons found in the

dorsal spinal cord Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage * Dorsal co ...

of fishes and

amphibians Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniote, anamniotic, tetrapod, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class (biology), class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all Tetrapod, tetrapods, but excl ...

. Rohon-Beard cells are present only in the embryonic and young larval (

tadpole A tadpole or polliwog (also spelled pollywog) is the Larva, larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully Aquatic animal, aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial animal, ...

) stages.

Selected writings

* ''Das Centralorgan des Nervensystems der Selachier'', 1877 - The central organ of the

nervous system In biology, the nervous system is the complex system, highly complex part of an animal that coordinates its behavior, actions and sense, sensory information by transmitting action potential, signals to and from different parts of its body. Th ...

of Selachians. * ''Über den Ursprung des Nervus vagus bei Selachiern mit Berücksichtigung der Lobi electrici von Torpedo'', 1878 - On the origin of the

vagus nerve The vagus nerve, also known as the tenth cranial nerve (CN X), plays a crucial role in the autonomic nervous system, which is responsible for regulating involuntary functions within the human body. This nerve carries both sensory and motor fibe ...

in Selachians with consideration of the Lobi Electrici of

torpedo fish The electric rays are a group of rays, flattened cartilaginous fish with enlarged pectoral fins, composing the order Torpediniformes . They are known for being capable of producing an electric discharge, ranging from 8 to 220 volts, depending ...

. * ''Untersuchungen über Amphioxus lanceolatus'', 1882 - Studies of

amphioxus The lancelets ( ), also known as amphioxi (: amphioxus ), consist of 32 described species of somewhat fish-like benthic filter feeding chordates in the subphylum Cephalochordata, class Leptocardii, and family Branchiostomatidae. Lancelets div ...

. * ''Über den Ursprung des Nervus acusticus bei Petromyzonten'', 1882 - On the origin of the

acoustic nerve The vestibulocochlear nerve or auditory vestibular nerve, also known as the eighth cranial nerve, cranial nerve VIII, or simply CN VIII, is a cranial nerve that transmits sound and equilibrium (balance) information from the inner ear to the bra ...

of Petromyzontiformes * ''Zur Anatomie der Hirnwindungen bei den Primaten'', 1884 - Anatomy involving the gyri of primates. * ''Über unter-Silurische Fische'' 1889 - On

Lower Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 23.5 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the third and shortest period of t ...

fish. * ''Über fossile Fische vom Oberen Jenissei'' 1889 - On

fossil fish Fish began evolving about 530 million years ago during the Cambrian explosion. It was during this time that the early chordates developed the skull and the vertebral column, leading to the first craniates and vertebrates. The first fish line ...

of the Upper

Yenisei The Yenisey or Yenisei ( ; , ) is the fifth-longest river system in the world, and the largest to drain into the Arctic Ocean. Rising in Mungaragiyn-gol in Mongolia, it follows a northerly course through Lake Baikal and the Krasnoyarsk Dam b ...

. * ''Die Dendrodonten des Devonischen Systems in Russland'' 1889 - Dendrodonten from the

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era during the Phanerozoic eon (geology), eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian per ...

in Russia.Google Search
(publications)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rohon, Josef Victor 1845 births 1923 deaths Scientists from Austria-Hungary Austrian paleontologists Austrian anatomists Austrian histologists University of Vienna alumni