Sir Richard Owen

OWEN Sir Richard (1804–1892), English zoologist, comparative anatomist, and paleontologist; was at first an apothecary's apprentice, then a medical student at the University of Edinburgh, and subsequently worked in a hospital in London. Having become assistant curator of the museum of the College of Surgeons, Owen devoted himself entirely to scientific work in the fields of animal anatomy and paleontology. From 1836 he became a professor at the College and curator of the museum, and from 1856 head of the natural history department of the British Museum. Having obtained permission to dissect animals that died in the Zoological Gardens, he provided the anatomy of a whole series of interesting forms. Among his works may be mentioned his study of the chambered nautilus (Nautilus), brachiopods, the sponge Euplectella, trichina, the horseshoe crab, a series of works on primitive birds (kiwi, the extinct New Zealand moa, dodo), primitive mammals—monotremes, marsupials (the division of mammals into placentals and implacentals belongs to him) and finally on anthropoid apes. His course on "Comparative Anatomy," especially the section on vertebrates, was of great importance. No less significant were his works in paleontology—on fossil labyrinthodonts, fossil reptiles (the name "dinosaur" belongs to him), birds, and mammals. Owen processed the paleontological collections brought by Darwin from South America (sloths, armadillos, the enigmatic Toxodon), published a number of works on the fossils of Australia, an important work on Archaeopteryx and other fossil birds, and on Mesozoic mammals. In comparative anatomy, Owen is credited with introducing the concepts of "homology" and "analogy." Believing that an abstract idea or plan lies at the basis of animal structure, Owen created such a plan for vertebrates, calling it the "archetype." Variations of identical "homologous" parts of Owen's plan were found by him in different vertebrate classes. While recognizing the enormous significance of Owen's work in descriptive and comparative anatomy and paleontology, one must also note his negative aspects. In comparative anatomy, he systematically ignored embryology. As a natural philosopher, he opposed Darwinian theory. Well known is his polemic with the Darwinian Huxley regarding the position of man in the system, whom Owen sharply separated from anthropoid apes. Owen's most important works: "Archetype a. homologies of vertebrate skeleton" (L., 1848); "Anatomy of vertebrates" (v. I–III, L., 1866–68); "History of British fossil reptiles" (v. I–IV, L., 1884; a summary of a number of Owen's works for 1849–81).