Owen, Sir Richard (1804-1892)
English biologist
Sir Richard Owen was a comparative anatomist, paleontologist, and zoologist who originated the term "dinosaurus." After insisting that a group of fossils he observed belonged to a separate taxonomic order of extinct reptiles unrecognized at the time, Owen named the animal by combining the Greek words "deinos" for terrible and awe-inspiring with "sauros" meaning lizard. Owen noticed that the dinosaur sacral vertebrae were fused, thereby allowing the animal exceptional strength.
Owen was the Hunterian Professor of Comparative Anatomy and Physiology at the Royal College of Surgeons, London, from 1836 to 1856. He then became the superintendent of the Natural History Section of the British Museum in London in 1849, and was superintendent of the entire museum from 1856 to 1883. He is best known as an influential paleontologist during an exciting time in the nineteenth century, when the fossils of extinct dinosaurs were first discovered and their significance in chronicling Earth's biological history began to be understood. In coining the word "dinosaur," Owen and was largely responsible for kindling the dinosaur mania that began in the mid-nineteenth century, and continues today. His first, great popularizing event was the erection of a series of life-sized models of dinosaurs and other extinct creatures at the Crystal Palace in London in 1854, which created an absolute sensation among the Victorian population. Remarkably, a formal dinner partly was held within the body of one of the giant dinosaurs, a model of Iguanodon, as it was nearing completion. Owen sat at the "head" of the table, in the head of the dinosaur.
Along with his extensive work on extinct species of vertebrates, Owen also conducted some important studies of living animals. One of his works involved the confirmation of the earlier observations of James Paget, that the deadly parasite Trichina spiralis was the cause of trichinosis in humans, and was transmitted by eating inadequately cooked pork.
Owen was a strong opponent of the theory of Charles Darwin concerning natural selection as a critical force of evolution. Throughout his life, Owen refused to accept Darwinian evolution, but modified his anti-evolution views by the mid-1840s. Because of his extensive observations in comparative vertebrate anatomy, Owen eventually asserted that all vertebrate animals evolved from the same archetype, or prototype, that was inspired and created by God. Darwin's most outspoken ally, Thomas Henry Huxley, sparked a 20-year debate with Owen on the principles of evolution that exceeded scientific circles, capturing the attention of Victorian writers, artists, philosophers, and the public at large.
Evolution, Evidence Of; Evolutionary Mechanisms; Fossil Record; Fossils and Fossilization
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