Gustav Tornier
Encyclopedia
Gustav Tornier was a German
zoologist and paleontologist.
, Kingdom of Prussia
. Nothing is known about his youth and adolescence.
He studied at Heidelberg University, from which he received his doctorate (Dr. phil.) in 1892. In 1891 he had already accepted a post as an assistant in the zoological museum
of the Friedrich-Wilhelms-University in Berlin
. Initially he occupied himself with preparing anatomical specimens, but from 1893 he also worked in the herpetological
department. When its curator, Paul Matschie
, took over the mammal collection in 1895, Tornier succeeded him. In 1902, he became professor of zoology
at the university, whilst later also accepting the post of head librarian at the museum (1903, assistant director of the museum (1921) and finally director ad interim of the museum (1922–1923).
He retired in October 1923 and died in 1938 in Berlin.
Tornier's research interests focused on amphibians and reptiles, developmental anatomy and systematics. He became the leading authority on the reptilian and amphibian fauna of German East Africa
. Tornier's frog
, Litoria ternieri, (an endemic frog from Australia) was named after him, as was a large sauropod dinosaur
found around 1910 in the Tendaguru
formations of German East Africa, Tornieria africanus
(Fraas
).
Perhaps unfairly, Tornier's legacy has mainly been determined by his position in the controversy surrounding the posture of the sauropod dinosaur
Diplodocus
carnegiei. Following the 1899 discovery of the animal in Wyoming
, it had traditionally been depicted and mounted in an elephant-like stance. However, In 1909, Oliver P. Hay imagined two Diplodocus, being reptiles after all, with splayed lizard-like limbs on the banks of a river. Hay argued that Diplodocus had a sprawling, lizard-like gait with widely splayed legs,. Hay's argument was subsequently and forcefully supported by Tornier, but the hypothesis was contested by W. J. Holland
, who maintained that a sprawling Diplodocus would have needed a trench to pull its belly through.
Tornier's acerbic and sometimes sarcastic reply to Holland led to a minor spat, with German authorities (including Kaiser William II himself) coming down on the former's side and even considering re-mounting the Berlin copy of Diplodocus, placed there only a few years before by Holland, in a more 'reptilian' fashion. In the end, however, finds of sauropod footprints in the 1930s put Hay and Tornier's theory to rest.
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
zoologist and paleontologist.
Life and career
Tornier was born as a member of the landed gentry in West PrussiaWest Prussia
West Prussia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773–1824 and 1878–1919/20 which was created out of the earlier Polish province of Royal Prussia...
, Kingdom of Prussia
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
. Nothing is known about his youth and adolescence.
He studied at Heidelberg University, from which he received his doctorate (Dr. phil.) in 1892. In 1891 he had already accepted a post as an assistant in the zoological museum
Humboldt Museum
The Museum für Naturkunde, officially the ' or Naturkundemuseum , occasionally known as the Humboldt Museum, is a natural history museum in Berlin, Germany. Usually the museum's name is abbreviated MFN...
of the Friedrich-Wilhelms-University in Berlin
Humboldt University of Berlin
The Humboldt University of Berlin is Berlin's oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt, whose university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities...
. Initially he occupied himself with preparing anatomical specimens, but from 1893 he also worked in the herpetological
Herpetology
Herpetology is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians and reptiles...
department. When its curator, Paul Matschie
Paul Matschie
Paul Matschie was a German zoologist. He worked at the Zoological Museum in Berlin....
, took over the mammal collection in 1895, Tornier succeeded him. In 1902, he became professor of zoology
Zoology
Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...
at the university, whilst later also accepting the post of head librarian at the museum (1903, assistant director of the museum (1921) and finally director ad interim of the museum (1922–1923).
He retired in October 1923 and died in 1938 in Berlin.
Tornier's research interests focused on amphibians and reptiles, developmental anatomy and systematics. He became the leading authority on the reptilian and amphibian fauna of German East Africa
German East Africa
German East Africa was a German colony in East Africa, which included what are now :Burundi, :Rwanda and Tanganyika . Its area was , nearly three times the size of Germany today....
. Tornier's frog
Tornier's Frog
The Tornier's Frog is a species of frog in the Hylidae family.It is endemic to Australia.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical swamps, dry savanna, moist savanna, subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland, swamps, intermittent freshwater lakes,...
, Litoria ternieri, (an endemic frog from Australia) was named after him, as was a large sauropod dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
found around 1910 in the Tendaguru
Tendaguru
The Tendaguru Beds are a fossil-rich formation in Tanzania. It has been considered the richest of Late Jurassic strata in Africa. Continental reconstructions show Tendaguru to have been in the southern hemisphere during the Late Jurassic. Tendaguru is similar to the Morrison Formation except in...
formations of German East Africa, Tornieria africanus
Tornieria
Tornieria is a genus of diplodocid sauropod dinosaur from Late Jurassic of Tanzania. It has a convoluted taxonomic history.-Discovery and naming:...
(Fraas
Eberhard Fraas
Eberhard Fraas was a German geologist and paleontologist. He worked as a curator at the Stuttgarter Naturaliensammlung and discovered the dinosaurs of the Tendaguru formation in then German East Africa ....
).
Diplodocus
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
Diplodocus
Diplodocus
Diplodocus , or )is a genus of diplodocid sauropod dinosaur whose fossils were first discovered in 1877 by S. W. Williston. The generic name, coined by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1878, is a Neo-Latin term derived from Greek "double" and "beam", in reference to its double-beamed chevron bones...
carnegiei. Following the 1899 discovery of the animal in Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
, it had traditionally been depicted and mounted in an elephant-like stance. However, In 1909, Oliver P. Hay imagined two Diplodocus, being reptiles after all, with splayed lizard-like limbs on the banks of a river. Hay argued that Diplodocus had a sprawling, lizard-like gait with widely splayed legs,. Hay's argument was subsequently and forcefully supported by Tornier, but the hypothesis was contested by W. J. Holland
William Jacob Holland
William Jacob Holland was the eighth Chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh and Director of the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh. He was an accomplished zoologist and paleontologist, as well as an ordained Presbyterian minister.-Life:Holland was born August 16, 1848 in Jamaica, West Indies, the...
, who maintained that a sprawling Diplodocus would have needed a trench to pull its belly through.
Tornier's acerbic and sometimes sarcastic reply to Holland led to a minor spat, with German authorities (including Kaiser William II himself) coming down on the former's side and even considering re-mounting the Berlin copy of Diplodocus, placed there only a few years before by Holland, in a more 'reptilian' fashion. In the end, however, finds of sauropod footprints in the 1930s put Hay and Tornier's theory to rest.
Selected publications
- Gustav Tornier 1884, Der Kampf mit der Nahrung: Ein Beitrag zum Darwinismus (Berlin: W. Ißleib).
- Gustav Tornier 1896, Die Reptilien und Amphibien Ost-Afrikas (Berlin: Reimer).
- Gustav Tornier 1899, "Neues über Chamaeleons", Zoolischer Anzeiger 22: 408-414.
- Gustav Tornier 1899), "Drei Reptilien aus Afrika", Zoologischer Anzeiger 22 (588): 258-261
- Gustav Tornier 1900, "Beschreibung eines neuen Chamaeleons, Zoologischer Anzeiger 23: 21-23.
- Gustav Tornier 1900. "Neue Liste der Crocodilen, Schildkröten und Eidechsen Deutsch-Ost-Afrikas", Zoologisches Jahrbuch für Systematik, 13: 579-681.
- Gustav Tornier 1901, "Die Reptilien und Amphibien der Deutschen Tiefseeexpedition 1898/99", Zoologischer Anzeiger, 24 : 61-66.
- Gustav Tornier 1904, "Bau und Betätigung der Kopflappen und Halsluftsäcke bei Chamäleonen", Zoologisches Jahrbuch für Anatomie, 21: 1-40.
- Gustav Tornier 1909, "Wie war der Diplodocus carnegii wirklich gebaut?", Sitzungsberichte der Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde zu Berlin 1909-4: 193-209.
- Gustav Tornier 1909, "Ernstes und lustiges aus Kritiken über meine Diplodocusarbeit" / "War der Diplodocus Elefantenfüssig?", Sitzungsberichte der Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde zu Berlin 1909-9:505-556.