Karl GegenbaurDied 14 Jun 1903 at age 76 (born 21 Aug 1826). German anatomist who laid emphasis on comparative anatomy. This research led him to become one of Europe's strongest supporters of the theory of evolution. Gegenbaur's work on fishes provided evidence in support of Huxley's stand against a theory that held that the skull originated from expanded vertebrae. From studies in embryology, he asserted that all eggs are simple cells (1861) as suggested earlier by Schwann (1838). Thus not only the eggs and sperm of mammals, but all eggs and sperm were single cells, and so were even the relatively huge eggs of birds and reptiles.« |
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