Karl Georg Friedrich Rudolf Leuckart (7 October 1822 – 22 February 1898) was a German

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 ...

born in Helmstedt. He was a pioneer of parasitology research and was widely known for developing a series of illustrated wall charts for use in zoology instruction. He was a nephew to

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

Friedrich Sigismund Leuckart (1794–1843).

Academic career

Leuckart earned his degree from the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

, where he was a student of Rudolf Wagner (1805–1864). Afterwards he participated on a scientific expedition to the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

for the study marine

invertebrate Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordata, chordate s ...

s. Later he became a professor of zoology at the

University of Giessen University of Giessen, official name Justus Liebig University Giessen (), is a large public research university in Giessen, Hesse, Germany. It is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in the German-speaking world. It is named afte ...

(1850) and the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

(1869).ADB: Leuckart, Rudolf
@ ''

Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB; ) is one of the most important and comprehensive biographical reference works in the German language. It was published by the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences between 1875 and 1912 in 56 volumes, printed in Lei ...

''. In 1877 he became honorary foreign member of the

Linnean Society of London The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript a ...

Parasitological research

Leuckart is remembered for his work in

parasitology Parasitology is the study of parasites, their host (biology), hosts, and the relationship between them. As a List of biology disciplines, biological discipline, the scope of parasitology is not determined by the organism or environment in questio ...

, particularly research regarding

tapeworm Eucestoda, commonly referred to as tapeworms, is the larger of the two subclasses of flatworms in the class Cestoda (the other subclass being Cestodaria). Larvae have six posterior hooks on the scolex (head), in contrast to the ten-hooked Ce ...

and

trichinosis Trichinosis, also known as trichinellosis, is a parasitic disease caused by roundworms of the '' Trichinella'' genus. During the initial infection, invasion of the intestines can result in diarrhea, abdominal pain, and vomiting. Migration of ...

. He was the first to prove that '' Taenia saginata'' occurs only in cattle (and humans), and ''

Taenia solium ''Taenia solium'', the pork tapeworm, belongs to the cyclophyllid cestode family Taeniidae. It is found throughout the world and is most common in countries where pork is eaten. It is a tapeworm that uses humans (''Homo sapiens'') as its definit ...

'' occurs only in swine (and humans). His study of '' Trichina'' helped support

Rudolf Virchow Rudolf Ludwig Carl Virchow ( ; ; 13 October 18215 September 1902) was a German physician, anthropologist, pathologist, prehistorian, biologist, writer, editor, and politician. He is known as "the father of modern pathology" and as the founder o ...

's campaign to create meat inspection laws in Germany. With Virchow and

Friedrich Albert von Zenker Friedrich Albert von Zenker (13 March 1825 – 13 June 1898) was a German Pathology, pathologist and physician, celebrated for his discovery of trichinosis. He was born in Dresden, and was educated in Leipzig and Heidelberg. While in Leipzig, he ...

(1825–1898), he was the first to document the life cycle of the parasite ''

Trichinella spiralis ''Trichinella spiralis'' is a viviparous nematode parasite, occurring in rodents, pigs, bears, hyenas and humans, and is responsible for the disease trichinosis. It is sometimes referred to as the "pork worm" due to it being typically encount ...

'' in swine and humans. He, and independently Algernon Thomas, experimentally discovered the life-cycle of the sheep liver fluke in 1881–1883. Today the "Rudolf-Leuckart-Medaille" is an annual award given for research in parasitology by the ''Deutschen Gesellschaft für Parasitologie'' (German Society of Parasitology).

Other contributions

Leuckart is credited with splitting

George Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, baron Cuvier (23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier (; ), was a French natural history, naturalist and zoology, zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuv ...

's ''Radiata'' into two phyla:

Coelenterata Coelenterata is a term encompassing the animal phyla Cnidaria (corals, true jellies, sea anemones, sea pens, and their relatives) and Ctenophora (comb jellies). The name comes , referring to the hollow body cavity common to these two phyla. Th ...

and

Echinodermata An echinoderm () is any animal of the phylum Echinodermata (), which includes starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins, sand dollars and sea cucumbers, as well as the sessile sea lilies or "stone lilies". While bilaterally symmetrical as larvae, ...

. As a scientist, his provided excellent descriptions of morphologic details giving credence to the idea that zoological evolution can be learned through its anatomical changes. Between 1877 and 1892, he developed a series of zoological wall charts that have been used worldwide as teaching aids. In the field of

entomology Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

, he conducted investigations into the micropyle and fertilization of insect eggs, the reproduction and development involving members of Pupipara,

parthenogenesis Parthenogenesis (; from the Greek + ) is a natural form of asexual reproduction in which the embryo develops directly from an egg without need for fertilization. In animals, parthenogenesis means the development of an embryo from an unfertiliz ...

among insects, and studies on the anatomy and life history of the

honeybee A honey bee (also spelled honeybee) is a eusocial flying insect within the genus ''Apis'' of the bee clade, all native to mainland Afro-Eurasia. After bees spread naturally throughout Africa and Eurasia, humans became responsible for the c ...

. A quote attributed to Rudolf Leuckart:

Legacy

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of Australian lizard, '' Anomalopus leuckartii'', is named in his honor. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (Leuckart, p. 156).

Family

Leuckart's son, Carl Louis Rudolf Leuckart (1854–1889), was a chemist and professor.

Written works

* '' Beiträge zur Kenntnis wirbelloser Tiere'', (Contributions to the knowledge of

animals) with

Heinrich Frey Heinrich Frey (June 15, 1822 – January 17, 1890) was a German-born Swiss entomologist who studied Lepidoptera. Biography Heinrich Frey was born on June 15, 1822 in Frankfurt. He attended the gymnasium in Frankfurt until he was 16. Here h ...

; Braunschweig, 1847. * ''Über die Morphologie und Verwandtschaftsverhältnisse der wirbellosen Tiere'', (On the

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...

and relationships of invertebrate animals) Braunschweig, 1848 * ''Zur Morphologie und Anatomie der Geschlechtsorgane'', (Morphology and anatomy of reproductive organs) Braunschweig, 1848. * ''Beiträge zur Lehre der Befruchtung'', (Contributions to the theory of

fertilization Fertilisation or fertilization (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences), also known as generative fertilisation, syngamy and impregnation, is the fusion of gametes to give ...

) Göttinger Nachrichten, 1849. * ''Über den Polymorphismus der Individuen oder die Erscheinungen der Arbeitsteilung in der Natur'', (On polymorphism of individuals or the phenomena of division of labor in nature), Gießen, 1851. * ''Zoologische Untersuchungen'', (Zoological research) Gießen, 1853–54, 3 Hefte. * ''Vergleichende Anatomie und Physiologie'', (Comparative Anatomy and

Physiology Physiology (; ) is the science, scientific study of function (biology), functions and mechanism (biology), mechanisms in a life, living system. As a branches of science, subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ syst ...

) Leuckart & Bergmann, Stuttgart, 1852. * ''Die Fortpflanzung und Entwicklung der Pupiparen'', (The reproduction and development of Pupipara) Halle, 1857. * ''Zur Kenntnis des Generationswechsels und der Parthenogenesis bei den Insekten'', (Change in generations and

insects Insects (from Latin ') are hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of jointed ...

) Frankfurt, 1858. * ''Untersuchungen über Trichina spiralis'', (Studies on Trichina spiralis) Leipzig, 1860, second edition- 1866. * ''Die Blasenwürmer und ihre Entwicklung'', ( Bladder-worms and their development) Gießen, 1856. * ''Die Parasiten des Menschen und die von ihnen herrührenden Krankheiten'', (Parasites of man and the diseases arising from them), Leipzig, 1863–76, 2 volumes; second edition- 1879 ff. * ''Die Entwicklunggeschichte des Leberegels (Distonum hepaticum, dt.)'', (Developmental history of the

liver fluke Liver fluke is a collective name of a polyphyletic group of parasitic trematodes under the phylum Platyhelminthes. They are principally parasites of the liver of various mammals, including humans. Capable of moving along the blood circulation, ...

(Distonum hepatic dt.) in: Zoologischer Anzeiger 4, 1881. * ''Neue Beiträge zur Kenntnis des Baes und der Lebensgeschichte der Nematoden'', (New contributions to the knowledge of Baes and the life history of

nematodes The nematodes ( or ; ; ), roundworms or eelworms constitute the phylum Nematoda. Species in the phylum inhabit a broad range of environments. Most species are free-living, feeding on microorganisms, but many are parasitic. Parasitic worms (he ...

, 1887.

References

External links

Leuckart Wall Charts

The Animal Parasites of Man
by Harold Benjamin Fantham and Maximilian Gustav Braun * List of published works copied from the

German Wikipedia The German Wikipedia () is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia. Founded on 16 March 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia edition (after the English Wikipedia). It has articles, ma ...

. * Rudolf Leuckart (1848
''Ueber die Morphologie und die Verwandtschaftsverhältnisse der wirbellosen Thiere''
– digital facsimile from the

Linda Hall Library The Linda Hall Library is a privately endowed American library of science, engineering and technology located in Kansas City, Missouri, on the grounds of a urban arboretum. It claims to be the "largest independently funded public library of sc ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leuckart, Rudolf 1822 births 1898 deaths People from Helmstedt Scientists from the Duchy of Brunswick 19th-century German zoologists Academic staff of Leipzig University Foreign members of the Royal Society Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class) Members of the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala