Gustav Kramer (11 March 1910 – 19 April 1959) 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 ...

and

ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

who specialised in

allometry Allometry is the study of the relationship of body size to shape, anatomy, physiology and finally behaviour, first outlined by Otto Snell in 1892, by D'Arcy Thompson in 1917 in ''On Growth and Form'' and by Julian Huxley in 1932. Overview Allom ...

. He described ''

Xenopus laevis The African clawed frog (''Xenopus laevis'', also known as the xenopus, African clawed toad, African claw-toed frog or the ''platanna'') is a species of African aquatic frog of the family Pipidae. Its name is derived from the three short claws ...

'', the African clawed frog, for the first time in his

doctoral A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

. Near the end of the 1940s, he discovered that birds can use the sun as a compass.

Career

In 1933 Kramer did a study on ''Xenopus laevis'' in Berlin. At the

Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Medical Research The Kaiser Wilhelm Society for the Advancement of Science (German: ''Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften'') was a German scientific institution established in the German Empire in 1911. Its functions were taken over by ...

, under Ludolf von Krehl, he worked on the metabolism of

warm-blooded Warm-blooded is an informal term referring to animal species which can maintain a body temperature higher than their environment. In particular, homeothermic species maintain a stable body temperature by regulating metabolic processes. The onl ...

animals. After that, he worked as an assistant at German-Italian Institute of Marine Biology in

Rovinj Rovinj (; it, Rovigno; Istriot: or ; grc, Ρυγίνιον, Rygínion; la, Ruginium) is a city in Croatia situated on the north Adriatic Sea with a population of 14,294 (2011). Located on the western coast of the Istrian peninsula, it is a po ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. In 1941, he relocated to

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

to conduct a study on lizards, especially the Adriatic lizard. He studied the comparative morphological and genetic differences between mainland and island forms to draw conclusions about the lizard's speciation. In 1948 Kramer headed a department of the

Max Planck Institute Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE) * Max (gorilla) (1 ...

for

Marine Biology Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms in the sea. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifies s ...

Wilhelmshaven Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelmsha ...

. There he conducted research on how birds are able to orient themselves over long distances. He constructed an apparatus that allowed him to test how animals react to the position of the sun by tricking the animals into thinking the sun was in a different position. With this experiment, he demonstrated that the direction of flight is dependent on the position of the sun in the sky. Because this ability requires an inner clock to measure the time of day, Kramer sought cooperation with

Jürgen Aschoff Jürgen Walther Ludwig Aschoff (January 25, 1913 – October 12, 1998) was a German physician, biologist and behavioral physiologist. Together with Erwin Bünning and Colin Pittendrigh, he is considered to be a co-founder of the field of chronobio ...

. From 1 April 1958, Kramer worked with the emerging Aschoff Max Planck near Tübingen. He coined the word ''Zugunruhe'', meaning migratory restlessness.

Death

On 19 April 1959, while trying to remove young

rock pigeon The rock dove, rock pigeon, or common pigeon ( also ; ''Columba livia'') is a member of the bird family Columbidae (doves and pigeons). In common usage, it is often simply referred to as the "pigeon". The domestic pigeon (''Columba livia domes ...

s from their nests in the mountains of

Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, he fell and was killed instantly. His two sons secured his body from the high-running mountain river Raganello. The obituary written by Konrad Lorenz in the Journal of Ornithology stated: "his authorized worldwide fame as the initiator of experimental analytical orientation research" should not be forgotten.

Konrad Lorenz Konrad Zacharias Lorenz (; 7 November 1903 – 27 February 1989) was an Austrian zoologist, ethologist, and ornithologist. He shared the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Nikolaas Tinbergen and Karl von Frisch. He is often regarded ...

: ''Gustav Kramer †''. Journal für Ornithologie, Band 100, 1959, S. 265–268

Publications

* ''Untersuchungen über die Sinnesleistungen und das Orientierungsverhalten von Xenopus laevis Daud.'' Zool. Jahrb., Bd. 52, S. 629–676, Jena: Fischer 1933; zugl. Berlin, Phil. Diss. * ''Experiments on bird orientation.'' Ibis 94: 265-285 (1952)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kramer, Gustav 1910 births 1959 deaths German ornithologists 20th-century German zoologists Deaths from falls Accidental deaths in Italy