Franz Theodor Doflein (5 April 1873, in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

– 24 August 1924, in Obernigk, near today's

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

) was a German

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 ...

known for his studies of

animal ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their biophysical environment, physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosy ...

Biography

He studied medicine and zoology at the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's List of universities in Germany, sixth-oldest u ...

, where he was influenced by

Richard Hertwig Richard Wilhelm Karl Theodor Ritter von Hertwig (23 September 1850 in Friedberg, Hesse – 3 October 1937 in Schlederloh, Bavaria), also Richard Hertwig or Richard von Hertwig, was a German zoologist and professor of 50 years, notable as the fir ...

. In 1895–96 he worked as an auxiliary assistant to Alexander Götte at the

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (french: Université de Strasbourg, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. The French university traces its history to the ea ...

, followed by research of

fish diseases Like humans and other animals, fish suffer from diseases and parasites. Fish defences against disease are specific and non-specific. Non-specific defences include skin and scales, as well as the mucus layer secreted by the epidermis that traps ...

at Munich as an assistant under

Bruno Hofer Bruno Hofer (15 December 1861 – 7 July 1916) was a German fishery scientist, credited with being the founder of fish pathology. Career Hofer was born in Rhein in East Prussia (now Poland) in 1861. He studied natural sciences at the University ...

. In 1898, on behalf of the

Bavarian Academy of Sciences The Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities (german: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften) is an independent public institution, located in Munich. It appoints scholars whose research has contributed considerably to the increase of knowledg ...

, he took part in a study trip to the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. After his return to Germany, he served as an assistant at the ''Zoologischen Staatssammlung'' (Zoological State Collections) in Munich.Doflein, Franz
at Deutsche Biographie In 1904–05 he conducted zoological research in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. In 1907 he became an associate professor of zoological

systematics Biological systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees (synonyms: cladograms, phylogenetic tre ...

and biology in Munich, and three years later, was named second director of the ''Zoologischen Staatssammlung''. In 1912 he succeeded

August Weismann August Friedrich Leopold Weismann FRS (For), HonFRSE, LLD (17 January 18345 November 1914) was a German evolutionary biologist. Fellow German Ernst Mayr ranked him as the second most notable evolutionary theorist of the 19th century, after Cha ...

as chair of zoology at the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially german: Uni Freiburg), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (german: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisg ...

, and following a research trip to Macedonia, he obtained a professorship at the

University of Breslau A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

(1918). His name is associated with

Doflein's salamander Doflein's salamander (''Bolitoglossa dofleini'') is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is found in Belize, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest A fo ...

, ''Bolitoglossa dofleini'', circumscribed by

Franz Werner Franz Josef Maria Werner (15 August 1867 in Vienna – 28 February 1939 in Vienna) was an Austrian zoologist and explorer. Specializing as a herpetologist and entomologist, Werner described numerous species and other taxa of frogs, snakes, inse ...

in 1903. The

sea anemone Sea anemones are a group of predation, predatory marine invertebrates of the order (biology), order Actiniaria. Because of their colourful appearance, they are named after the ''Anemone'', a terrestrial flowering plant. Sea anemones are classifi ...

genus ''Dofleinia'' also bears his name, as do taxa with the specific epithet of ''dofleini'', an example being ''

Enteroctopus dofleini The giant Pacific octopus (''Enteroctopus dofleini''), also known as the North Pacific giant octopus, is a large marine cephalopod belonging to the genus '' Enteroctopus''. Its spatial distribution includes the coastal North Pacific, along Mexic ...

'' (Giant Pacific octopus). Next to his scientific work, Doflein practiced painting and wrote novellas.

Published works

He was the author of a well-received textbook on

protozoans Protozoa (singular: protozoan or protozoon; alternative plural: protozoans) are a group of single-celled eukaryotes, either free-living or parasitic, that feed on organic matter such as other microorganisms or organic tissues and debris. Histor ...

, titled ''Lehrbuch der Protozoenkunde''. It was published over several editions; its fifth edition (1927–29) being issued by

Eduard Reichenow Johann Eduard Reichenow (7 July 1883 – 23 March 1960) was a German protozoologist. He was the son of ornithologist Anton Reichenow. Biography Reichenow was born in Berlin. He studied natural sciences in Heidelberg, Berlin and Munich, and ...

. He was also the author of significant works associated with

termite Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes (eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blattode ...

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...

ant Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of 22 ...

s and

ant lion The antlions are a group of about 2,000 species of insect in the neuropteran family Myrmeleontidae. They are known for the predatory habits of their larvae, which mostly dig pits to trap passing ants or other prey. In North America, the larvae ...

s. * ''Die Protozoen als Parasiten und Krankheitserreger nach biologischen Gesichtspunkten dargestellt'', 1901 – The protozoan as parasite and pathogen, etc. * ''Die Pilzkulturen der Termiten'', 1905 – The fungal cultures of termites * ''Mitteilungen über japanische Crustaceen'', 1906 – On Japanese crustaceans * ''Tierbau und Tierleben in ihrem Zusammenhang betrachtet''; 2 volumes, 1910, 1914 (with

Richard Hesse Richard Hesse (20 February 1868 in Nordhausen – 28 December 1944 in Berlin) was a German zoologist and ecologist. Hesse took his PhD in 1892 from the University of Tübingen and was subsequently appointed lecturer, later extraordinary professor ...

) * ''Lehrbuch der Protozoenkunde; eine Darstellung der Naturgeschichte der Protozoen'', 1909 – Textbook of protozoan studies: a representation involving the natural history of the protozoa. * ''Probleme der Protistenkunde'', 1909 – Problems associated with

protist A protist () is any eukaryotic organism (that is, an organism whose cells contain a cell nucleus) that is not an animal, plant, or fungus. While it is likely that protists share a common ancestor (the last eukaryotic common ancestor), the exc ...

studies. * ''Lebensgewohnheiten und Anpassungen bei dekapoden Krebsen'', 1910 – Behavior and adaptation of decapod crabs. * ''Beiträge zur Naturgeschichte Ostasiens'', 1911 (editor) – Contributions ro East Asian natural history. * ''Der Ameisenlöwe: Eine biologische, tierpsychologische und reflexbiologische Untersuchung'', 1916 – The ant lion, analysis of its biology,

animal psychology Comparative psychology refers to the scientific study of the behavior and mental processes of non-human animals, especially as these relate to the phylogenetic history, adaptive significance, and development of behavior. Research in this area addr ...

and reflex biology. * ''Mazedonische ameisen. Beobachtungen über ihre Lebensweise'', 1920 – Macedonian ants; observations of its behavior.HathiTrust Digital Library
(published works)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doflein, Franz Theodor 1873 births 1924 deaths University of Breslau faculty Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich faculty Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni University of Strasbourg alumni University of Freiburg faculty German microbiologists 20th-century German zoologists