Karl Friedrich Theodor Dahl (June 24, 1856 in
Rosenhofer Brök north of
Dahme, Holstein – June 29, 1929 in
Greifswald
Greifswald (), officially the University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald (german: Universitäts- und Hansestadt Greifswald, Low German: ''Griepswoold'') is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rosto ...
) 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 kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and d ...
, and in particular an
arachnologist
Arachnology is the scientific study of arachnids, which comprise spiders and related invertebrates such as scorpions, pseudoscorpions, and harvestmen. Those who study spiders and other arachnids are arachnologists. More narrowly, the study of ...
.
The son of a farmer, Dahl studied at the universities of
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...
,
Freiburg
Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...
,
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
and
Kiel
Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021).
Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland ...
. His dissertation (1884) was "''Beiträge zur Kenntnis des Baus und der Funktion der Insektenbeine''". He became a ''
Privatdozent'' in 1887; with a habilitation thesis "''Ueber die Cytheriden der westlichen Ostsee''". Around this time he traveled to the
Baltic states and (1896–1897) to the
Bismarck Archipelago near
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...
. He was also interested in
biogeography.
On April 1, 1898 Dahl became curator of arachnids at the ''
Museum für Naturkunde
The Natural History Museum (german: Museum für Naturkunde) is a natural history museum located in Berlin, Germany. It exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history and in such domain it is one of three major muse ...
'' in Berlin, where he worked under his former teacher, the then museum director
Karl Möbius
Karl August Möbius (7 February 1825 in Eilenburg – 26 April 1908 in Berlin) was a German zoologist who was a pioneer in the field of ecology and a former director of the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin.
Early life
Möbius was born in Eilen ...
. Dahl remained in Berlin until he retired, and his type collection is held in that museum.
Although he described in many animal groups, Dahl concentrated on
spider
Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...
s. He was also interested in
biogeography and animal behaviour.
On June 19, 1899 he married
Maria Dahl (1872–1972), a co-worker at the zoological institute of Kiel. She also published several works on spiders.
He is commemorated in the scientific names of a species of snake, ''
Tropidonophis dahlii'',
[ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011) ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Dahl, K.T.F.", p. 64).] and a species of bird, the
Bismarck fantail (''Rhipidura dahli)''.
References
Further reading
* (1930). "Friederich Dahl". ''Mitteilungen aus dem Zoologischen Museum in Berlin'' 15: 625–632. (in German).
* (1945). ''Bibliographia araneorum. Tome I''. Toulouse: Douladoure. p. 50. (in French).
External links
*Schmitt, Elisa Maria;
Glaubrecht, Matthias (2012). "Revisiting the "Ralum Project": Molluscs collected by Friedrich Dahl in 1896––1897 for the Museum of Natural History Berlin". ''Zoosystematics and Evolution'' 88 (1): 79–9
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dahl, Friedrich
Arachnologists
German arachnologists
1929 deaths
1856 births
19th-century German zoologists
20th-century German zoologists