Martin Heinrich RathkeBorn 25 Aug 1793; died 3 Sep 1860 at age 67.German physiologist and pathologist who was one of the founders of modern embryology. He was the first to describe the embryonic precursors of gill slits and gill arches in the embryos of higher animals - mammals and birds - which have none when fully grown. Rathke compared the development of the air sacs in birds and the larynx in birds and mammals. In 1839, he traced the origin of the anterior pituitary gland from a depression in the roof of the mouth, which embryonic structure is now known as Rathke's pouch. Rathke also did pioneering work in marine zoology, as being first to describe lancet fish.« |
