Christian Frederik Lütken (; 7 October 1827, in

Sorø Sorø () is a town in Sorø municipality in Region Sjælland on the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in east Denmark. The population is 7,999 (2022).

– 6 February 1901), was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

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, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

and naturalist. In 1852, he resigned his commission as a lieutenant with the Danish army, and earned his master's degree in sciences the following year.Darwinarkivet.dk
Christian Frederik Lütken (1827-1901) Afterwards, he served as an assistant to

Japetus Steenstrup Johannes Japetus Smith Steenstrup FRS(For) HFRSE (8 March 1813 – 20 June 1897) was a Danish zoologist, biologist, and professor. Life Born in Vang, Thy on 8 March 1813, he held a lectorate in mineralogy in Sorø until 1845 when he became a ...

(1813–1897) at the

University of Copenhagen Zoological Museum The Copenhagen Zoological Museum (Danish: ''Zoologisk Museum'') is a part of the Natural History Museum of Denmark, which is affiliated with the University of Copenhagen. History The Zoological Museum It is among the world's oldest natural hist ...

, at the time an independent institution, now part of the

Natural History Museum of Denmark The Natural History Museum of Denmark ( da, Statens Naturhistoriske Museum) is a natural history museum located in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was created as a 1 January 2004 merger of Copenhagen's Zoological Museum, Geological Museum, Botanical Muse ...

. Following Steenstrup's retirement in 1885, he became a professor of

zoology 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, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

and director of the zoological museum. As he grew older, he suffered from physical infirmities and during the last year of his life, he was stricken by paralysis. In 1899, Hector Frederik Estrup Jungersen (1854–1917) was chosen as Lütken's successor at Copenhagen. Lütken specialized in marine zoology, being highly regarded for his research of

echinoderm An echinoderm () is any member of the phylum Echinodermata (). The adults are recognisable by their (usually five-point) radial symmetry, and include starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins, sand dollars, and sea cucumbers, as well as the sea ...

s. He described a number of marine organisms, and has numerous species named after him, such as ''Paulicea luetkeni'', ''Platystoma luetkeni'', ''Ophiactis luetkeni'' and ''Oneirodes luetkeni''. With

Johannes Theodor Reinhardt Johannes Theodor Reinhardt (3 December 1816, in Copenhagen – 23 October 1882, in Frederiksberg) was a Danish zoologist and herpetologist. The son of Johannes Christopher Hagemann Reinhardt. Biography He participated as botanist in the first ...

(1816–1882), he published a book on Brazilian

amphibians Amphibians are four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terrestrial, fossorial, arbore ...

and

reptiles Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the Class (biology), class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsid, sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, Squamata, squamates (lizar ...

titled ''Bidrag til Kundskab om Brasiliens Padder og Krybdyr''. With Reinhardt, he described several

herpetological Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning " reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians (gymnophiona)) and r ...

species, including the Little-scaled least gecko, the Rio Grande escuerzo and Saint Vincent's bush anole.

Partial list of publications

* 1859 :'' Udsikt over de saakaldte vingeløse, ikke flyvende, fugles bygning og liv'' - Tidsskrift for populære fremstillinger af Naturvidenskaben. * 1864 :'' Bidrag til Kundskab om Echinidern'' - (contributions to the knowledge of echinoderms). * 1877 :'' Korte bidrag til nordisk Ichthyographi. I. Foreløbige Meddelelser om nordiske Ulkefiske (Cottoidei). Vidensk. Medd. Naturh. Foren. Kjøbenhavn'', 1876–77 : 355–388, 72–98. * 1892 :'' Spolia Atlantica''. * 1898 : The ichthyological results. Danish Ingolf Expedition, II. Copenhagen : 215–254, Pl. 1–4. * 1899 : The Ophiuridæ - (on

Ophiuridae Ophiuridae are a large family of brittle stars of the suborder Ophiurina. Description The arms are simple and unbranched, projecting from and well-fused to the edge of the disc. These arms move horizontally. The arm spines short and movable. ...

), published in English in 1899.WorldCat Identities
(publications) * A collection of his popular lectures at the Danish Natural History Society was published in ''Skildringer af Dyrelivet i Fortid og Nutid'' (Descriptions of Animal Life in Past and Present Times) (Copenhagen: P.G. Philipsens Forlag, 1880).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lutken, Christian Frederik Danish ichthyologists Danish zoologists Fellows of the Zoological Society of London University of Copenhagen faculty Danish herpetologists People from Sorø Municipality

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

1827 births 1901 deaths