Mayr, Ernst (ĕrnst mīr), 1904–2005, American zoologist and author, b. Kempten, Germany. He began his career in Berlin and emigrated to the United States in 1931, where, until 1953, he was associated with the American Museum of Natural History in New York. From 1953 to 1975 he was professor of zoology at Harvard. In 1940, Mayr refined the definition of the term species to "groups of actually or potentially interbreeding natural populations which are reproductively isolated from other such groups." Along with Theodosius Dobzhansky Dobzhansky, Theodosius (dôbzhän`skē), 1900–1975, American geneticist, b. Russia, grad. Univ. of Kiev, 1921.
..... Click the link for more information. and George Gaylord Simpson Simpson, George Gaylord, 1902–84, American paleontologist and zoologist, b. Chicago, Ph.D. Yale, 1926. He became assistant curator of vertebrate paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City in 1927.
..... Click the link for more information. , he helped formulate the synthetic theory of evolution evolution, concept that embodies the belief that existing animals and plants developed by a process of gradual, continuous change from previously existing forms. This theory, also known as descent with modification, constitutes organic evolution.
..... Click the link for more information. , putting together the theories of Charles Darwin Darwin, Charles Robert, 1809–82, English naturalist, b. Shrewsbury; grandson of Erasmus Darwin and of Josiah Wedgwood . He firmly established the theory of organic evolution known as Darwinism .
..... Click the link for more information. and the genetic principles of Gregor Mendel Mendel, Gregor Johann (grā`gôr yō`hän mĕn`dəl)
..... Click the link for more information. . Mayr was also a noted ornithologist and a pioneer in the study of the history and philosophy of biology. His books include Animal Species and Evolution (1963), The Growth of Biological Thought (1982), Principles of Systematic Zoology (1980), This Is Biology (1997), and What Evolution Is (2001).
(born July 5, 1904, Kempten, Ger.—died Feb. 3, 2005, Bedford, Mass., U.S.) German-born U.S. biologist. He received a Ph.D. (1926) from the University of Berlin and immigrated to the U.S. in the early 1930s. While a curator at the American Museum of Natural History (1932–53), he wrote more than 100 papers on avian taxonomy. From 1953 to 1975 he taught at Harvard University. His early studies of speciation and of founder populations made him a leader in the development of the modern synthetic theory of evolution. In 1940 Mayr proposed a definition of species that won wide acceptance and led to the discovery of some previously unknown species. His influential works include Systematics and the Origin of Species (1942) and The Growth of Biological Thought (1982).
Mayr, Ernst (Walter) (1904– ) ornithologist, evolutionist; born in Kempten, Germany. He was assistant curator of zoology at the museum of the University of Berlin (1926–32). During 1928–30, wishing to "follow in the footsteps of Darwin," he made three expeditions to New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, which led to his demonstrating that the development of separate species in higher animals depends on the geographic isolation of precursor populations. He came to the U.S.A. to be associate curator, then curator, of the Whitney-Rothschild Collection of the American Museum of Natural History (1932–53). His research on avian paleozoology, evolution, and taxonomy resulted in his seminal redefining of the term "species" to describe an interbreeding natural population reproductively isolated from other such groups (1940). He founded the Society for the Study of Evolution (1946) and was the founding editor of the journal Evolution (1949). He relocated to Harvard to become Agassiz professor of zoology (1953–75) and director of Harvard's museum of comparative zoology (1961–70). His philosophical writings on biological evolution emphasize that classification of organisms, unlike descriptive lists of inanimate objects, must be based on their existence as products of evolution. His theory of "peripatetic speciation" states that new species may arise via a few organisms moving beyond their species' range and establishing a new population, which evolves due to environmental differences and inbreeding of genes. After his retirement, his writings emphasized his belief that the future of human evolution depends on education.
..... Click the link for more information. and George Gaylord Simpson Simpson, George Gaylord, 1902–84, American paleontologist and zoologist, b. Chicago, Ph.D. Yale, 1926. He became assistant curator of vertebrate paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City in 1927.
..... Click the link for more information. , he helped formulate the synthetic theory of evolution evolution, concept that embodies the belief that existing animals and plants developed by a process of gradual, continuous change from previously existing forms. This theory, also known as descent with modification, constitutes organic evolution.
..... Click the link for more information. , putting together the theories of Charles Darwin Darwin, Charles Robert, 1809–82, English naturalist, b. Shrewsbury; grandson of Erasmus Darwin and of Josiah Wedgwood . He firmly established the theory of organic evolution known as Darwinism .
..... Click the link for more information. and the genetic principles of Gregor Mendel Mendel, Gregor Johann (grā`gôr yō`hän mĕn`dəl)
..... Click the link for more information. . Mayr was also a noted ornithologist and a pioneer in the study of the history and philosophy of biology. His books include Animal Species and Evolution (1963), The Growth of Biological Thought (1982), Principles of Systematic Zoology (1980), This Is Biology (1997), and What Evolution Is (2001).
Mayr, Ernst (Walter)
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Ernst Mayr
(credit: Courtesy of the Department of Library Services, The American Museum of Natural History, New York City, neg. no. 334102)
Mayr, Ernst (Walter) (1904– ) ornithologist, evolutionist; born in Kempten, Germany. He was assistant curator of zoology at the museum of the University of Berlin (1926–32). During 1928–30, wishing to "follow in the footsteps of Darwin," he made three expeditions to New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, which led to his demonstrating that the development of separate species in higher animals depends on the geographic isolation of precursor populations. He came to the U.S.A. to be associate curator, then curator, of the Whitney-Rothschild Collection of the American Museum of Natural History (1932–53). His research on avian paleozoology, evolution, and taxonomy resulted in his seminal redefining of the term "species" to describe an interbreeding natural population reproductively isolated from other such groups (1940). He founded the Society for the Study of Evolution (1946) and was the founding editor of the journal Evolution (1949). He relocated to Harvard to become Agassiz professor of zoology (1953–75) and director of Harvard's museum of comparative zoology (1961–70). His philosophical writings on biological evolution emphasize that classification of organisms, unlike descriptive lists of inanimate objects, must be based on their existence as products of evolution. His theory of "peripatetic speciation" states that new species may arise via a few organisms moving beyond their species' range and establishing a new population, which evolves due to environmental differences and inbreeding of genes. After his retirement, his writings emphasized his belief that the future of human evolution depends on education.
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