Hermann Schaaffhausen studied medicine in University of Berlin and received his doctor degree in 1839, and became a Professor of Anatomy

Anatomy

Anatomy is a branch of biology and medicine that is the consideration of the structure of living things. It is a general term that includes human anatomy, animal anatomy , and plant anatomy...

 at the University of Bonn

University of Bonn

The University of Bonn is a public research university located in Bonn, Germany. Founded in its present form in 1818, as the linear successor of earlier academic institutions, the University of Bonn is today one of the leading universities in Germany. The University of Bonn offers a large number...

. Schaaffhausen is credited with identifying the remains of Neanderthal 1

Neanderthal 1

Feldhofer 1, Neanderthal 1 is the common name for the initial 40,000-year-old Neanderthal specimen found in Kleine Feldhofer Grotte in August 1856. It represents the beginning of paleoanthropology as a scientific discipline....

 (together with J.C. Fuhlrott

Johann Carl Fuhlrott

Prof. Dr. Johann Carl Fuhlrott was born December 31, 1803 in Leinefelde, Germany, and died October 17, 1877 in Elberfeld, . He is famous for recognizing the significance of the bones of Neanderthal 1, a Neanderthal specimen discovered by German laborers who were digging for limestone in Neander...

). Although Darwin's theory of evolution was not yet a widespread idea, the idea of transforming species was discussed in his article entitled "On the Constancy and Transformation of Species" in which he declared that "the immutability of species...is not proven."