Jürgen Haffer
Encyclopedia
Jürgen Haffer was a German
ornithologist, biogeographer
, and geologist
. He is most remembered for his theory of Amazonian forest refugia during the Pleistocene
that would have contributed to speciation
and the diversification of the biota
.
At the age of 13 he had found a dead bird with a ring and had taken it to the Berlin Museum where he met Erwin Stresemann who took time to explain to him the purpose of ringing. This made a big impression on him and it marked the beginning of his ornithological interest.
He was the fourth child of Oskar Haffer and Margarete. His father was a high school teacher with a training in biology who encouraged an interest in natural history. After schooling, Haffer worked during the summer of 1951 under Stresemann before going to university. Knowing that ornithology did not offer a career, he studied geology and paleontology. He obtained a Diploma in 1956 and continued on for a doctoral degree in 1957 at the University of Gottingen - working on "Early heterodont Lamellibranchs of the Rhineland Devonian".
He obtained employment with Mobil Oil as a field geologist and went to remote places like lowland Colombia and lived in South and North America, Iran
, Egypt
, and Norway
. During his stay in Colombia he met Maria Kluge, a teacher in Bogota with an interest in Amazonia, marrying her in 1959. During this time he studied the bird faunas of Amazonia and Iran. In close communication with evolutionary biologist Ernst Mayr since the early 1960s, Haffer formulated his ideas on the diversification of birds and the effects of barriers.
From his studies on the Amazonian avifauna
, he authored several papers on Neotropical ornithology and devised his Amazonian refugia theory to explain the rapid diversification of the Neotropical fauna in Pleistocene times. He used the toucanet of the genus Selenidera
to explain speciation
using the idea of refugia. Haffer's scientific output was substantial, with some 200 scientific publications.
Haffer wrote the first book-length biography of Ernst Mayr
and co-authored a biography of Erwin Stresemann
, Mayr's teacher and friend. Haffer's foreword on species concepts is included in volume 4 of the Handbook of the Birds of the World
. He also wrote extensively on the history and development of ornithology. In 1975, he was awarded the William Brewster
Memorial Award.
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....
ornithologist, biogeographer
Biogeography
Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species , organisms, and ecosystems in space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities vary in a highly regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, isolation and habitat area...
, and geologist
Geologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...
. He is most remembered for his theory of Amazonian forest refugia during the Pleistocene
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
that would have contributed to speciation
Speciation
Speciation is the evolutionary process by which new biological species arise. The biologist Orator F. Cook seems to have been the first to coin the term 'speciation' for the splitting of lineages or 'cladogenesis,' as opposed to 'anagenesis' or 'phyletic evolution' occurring within lineages...
and the diversification of the biota
Biota (ecology)
Biota are the total collection of organisms of a geographic region or a time period, from local geographic scales and instantaneous temporal scales all the way up to whole-planet and whole-timescale spatiotemporal scales. The biota of the Earth lives in the biosphere.-See...
.
At the age of 13 he had found a dead bird with a ring and had taken it to the Berlin Museum where he met Erwin Stresemann who took time to explain to him the purpose of ringing. This made a big impression on him and it marked the beginning of his ornithological interest.
He was the fourth child of Oskar Haffer and Margarete. His father was a high school teacher with a training in biology who encouraged an interest in natural history. After schooling, Haffer worked during the summer of 1951 under Stresemann before going to university. Knowing that ornithology did not offer a career, he studied geology and paleontology. He obtained a Diploma in 1956 and continued on for a doctoral degree in 1957 at the University of Gottingen - working on "Early heterodont Lamellibranchs of the Rhineland Devonian".
He obtained employment with Mobil Oil as a field geologist and went to remote places like lowland Colombia and lived in South and North America, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, and Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. During his stay in Colombia he met Maria Kluge, a teacher in Bogota with an interest in Amazonia, marrying her in 1959. During this time he studied the bird faunas of Amazonia and Iran. In close communication with evolutionary biologist Ernst Mayr since the early 1960s, Haffer formulated his ideas on the diversification of birds and the effects of barriers.
From his studies on the Amazonian avifauna
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
, he authored several papers on Neotropical ornithology and devised his Amazonian refugia theory to explain the rapid diversification of the Neotropical fauna in Pleistocene times. He used the toucanet of the genus Selenidera
Selenidera
Selenidera is a bird genus containing six species of dichromatic toucanets in the toucan family Ramphastidae. They are found in lowland rainforest in tropical South America with one species reaching Central America....
to explain speciation
Speciation
Speciation is the evolutionary process by which new biological species arise. The biologist Orator F. Cook seems to have been the first to coin the term 'speciation' for the splitting of lineages or 'cladogenesis,' as opposed to 'anagenesis' or 'phyletic evolution' occurring within lineages...
using the idea of refugia. Haffer's scientific output was substantial, with some 200 scientific publications.
Haffer wrote the first book-length biography of Ernst Mayr
Ernst Mayr
Ernst Walter Mayr was one of the 20th century's leading evolutionary biologists. He was also a renowned taxonomist, tropical explorer, ornithologist, historian of science, and naturalist...
and co-authored a biography of Erwin Stresemann
Erwin Stresemann
Erwin Stresemann was a German naturalist and ornithologist.Stresemann was one of the outstanding ornithologists of the 20th century...
, Mayr's teacher and friend. Haffer's foreword on species concepts is included in volume 4 of the Handbook of the Birds of the World
Handbook of the Birds of the World
The Handbook of the Birds of the World is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. The series is edited by Josep del Hoyo, Andrew Elliott, Jordi Sargatal and David A Christie.So far, 15...
. He also wrote extensively on the history and development of ornithology. In 1975, he was awarded the William Brewster
William Brewster (ornithologist)
William Brewster was an American ornithologist. He was the curator of birds at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University from 1885 until his death. He was the co-founder, with Elliott Coues and Joel Asaph Allen, of the American Ornithologists' Union in 1883...
Memorial Award.
Other sources
- Haffer, Jurgen (1969). Speciation in Amazonian Forest Birds. Science. Vol. 165:131-137.