August Gustaw Dehnel s. Michała
[ (June 25, 1903, in ]Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
– November 22, 1962, in Warsaw) was a Polish zoologist
Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and d ...
, Ph.D. (1926), professor.["Dehnel August, prof. nadzw. (1903-1962)"]
) Until 1949 he signed his popular science and embryology works with the name Gustaw Dehnel.
Dehnel was born in Warsaw, the son of Maria née Sliwicka and physician Michael Dehnel. After school he was conscripted and served in Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk; cs, Horní Slezsko; german: Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ; la, Silesia Superior) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, locate ...
for which he received a medal of valour. He became a student of Jan Korczak Tur in the Institute of Comparative Anatomy from 1922. He obtained his doctorate in 1926 and became a senior assistant. He took an interest in teratological
Teratology is the study of abnormalities of physiological development in organisms during their life span. It is a sub-discipline in medical genetics which focuses on the classification of congenital abnormalities in dysmorphology. The related ...
monstrosities in ''Emys orbicularis
The European pond turtle (''Emys orbicularis''), also called commonly the European pond terrapin and the European pond tortoise, is a species of long-living freshwater turtle in the family Emydidae. The species is endemic to the Western Palearc ...
'' and later studied avian embryology. Along with Tur, they examined experimental approaches to embryonic development in fowl eggs and discovered that growth and development was highly regulated.
In 1935 he left work at Warsaw University and began to study the mammal fauna of Poland at the State Zoological Museum. He also worked on the management of beaver habitats. During World War II he was conscripted and taken prisoner by the Germans. He gave biology lectures at the prisoner-of-war camp in Grosborn. He returned to the Museum in May 1946 and a year later joined the Maria Curie-Sklodowska University
Maria may refer to:
People
* Mary, mother of Jesus
* Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages
Place names Extraterrestrial
*170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877
*Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, da ...
at Lublin as an assistant professor. It was here that he conducted studies on ''Sorex'' shrew
Shrews (family Soricidae) are small mole-like mammals classified in the order Eulipotyphla. True shrews are not to be confused with treeshrews, otter shrews, elephant shrews, West Indies shrews, or marsupial shrews, which belong to differ ...
s and seasonal variations in the size of their braincase. He found that it shrinks significantly over the winter and expands again in the spring. This has come to be known as the Dehnel phenomenon."Small-minded? Shrews shrink their skulls to survive winter, study shows"
Nicola Davis, ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', October 23, 2017 It affects not only the brain, but also other major organs such as the liver and kidneys. This factor explains why such small animals can survive harsh winters with associated reduction in food availability. The phenomenon may be responsible for the preservation of certain rare populations such as the
Suisun Shrew. For this discovery, reported in his
habilitation thesis
Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...
(1949) at the
University of Warsaw
The University of Warsaw ( pl, Uniwersytet Warszawski, la, Universitas Varsoviensis) is a public university in Warsaw, Poland. Established in 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country offering 37 different fields o ...
, he received the State Award.
Dehnel also took a special interest in falconry and was among the last falconers in Poland. He admired the writings of
Anatole France
(; born , ; 16 April 1844 – 12 October 1924) was a French poet, journalist, and novelist with several best-sellers. Ironic and skeptical, he was considered in his day the ideal French man of letters. He was a member of the Académie França ...
and
Mikhail Sholohov.
Books
* 1960: "Maleńki ssak o dużej przyszłości" (popular science, about shrews)
* 1949: "Zamki na wodzie" (popular science, about beavers)
* 1947: "Najpospolitsze gryzonie i ich zwalczanie" ("Cost Common Rodents and the Fight against Them") (with E. Kaminski)
* 1939: "O sztuce układania ptaków drapieżnych do łowów" ("About the Art of Upbringing of Birds of Prey for Hunting")
Decorations
*1920:
Cross of Valour, for the participation in the
Polish-Soviet War (1918-1920)
[
*1950: of III degree][
*1954: Knight's Cross of the ]Order of Polonia Restituta
The Order of Polonia Restituta ( pl, Order Odrodzenia Polski, en, Order of Restored Poland) is a Polish state order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on foreigners for outstanding achievement ...
[
*1954: Golden ]Cross of Merit (Poland)
The Cross of Merit () is a Polish civil state decoration established on 23 June 1923, to recognize services to the state.
History
At the time of its establishment in 1923, the Cross of Merit was the highest civilian award in Poland. It was aw ...
*1954: Medal of the 10th Anniversary of People's Poland
The Medal of the 10th Anniversary of People's Poland ( Polish: ''Medal 10-lecia Polski Ludowej'') is a former Polish civil state award established by the Council of State on 23 May 1954 to recognize services to the state.
It was created to mark ...
[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dehnel, August
1903 births
1962 deaths
20th-century Polish zoologists
Knights of the Order of Polonia Restituta
University of Warsaw alumni
Academic staff of the University of Warsaw