Otto Karl Ladislaus zur Strassen (9 May 1869, in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

– 21 April 1961, in

Oberstedten Oberstedten is one of four town subdivisions (''Stadtteile'') and one of three boroughs (''Ortsbezirke'') of Oberursel, located north of the core city and immediately northwest of Frankfurt am Main in Germany. It is part of the Frankfurt Rhein-M ...

) 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 ...

. An advocate of

Darwinism Darwinism is a scientific theory, theory of Biology, biological evolution developed by the English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) and others, stating that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of smal ...

, his primary focus was concerned with

biological morphology Morphology is a branch of biology dealing with the study of the form and structure of organisms and their specific structural features. This includes aspects of the outward appearance (shape, structure, colour, pattern, size), i.e. external mor ...

and developmental mechanics. Melchior Anton Zur Strassen

Otto was the son of sculptor Melchior Anton and his wife Cecilia. He studied

natural sciences Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

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 wel ...

and

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 ...

, obtaining his doctorate in 1892 at Leipzig with a dissertation on ''

Bradynema rigidum ''Bradynema rigidum'' is a parasitic species of nematode in the Allantonematidae family. The species has been classified as androdioecious. The parasite will live freely in its host; groupings of 2–3 to up to twenty may occur together. In this ...

''. After graduation, he furthered his education in

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 ...

and in Russia. In 1901 he became an associate professor of specialized zoology at Leipzig, later working as a full professor of zoology at the

University of Frankfurt am Main Goethe University (german: link=no, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main) is a university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealt ...

(1914–1935). In 1922/23 he served as university

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

.Catalogus professorum lipsiensium
biographical sketch In 1898/99 he took part in the first German ''Tiefsee-Expedition'' (deep-sea expedition) aboard the ''Valdivia''. From 1909 to 1934, he was director of the

Senckenberg Museum The Naturmuseum Senckenberg is a museum of natural history, located in Frankfurt am Main. It is the second-largest of its type in Germany. The museum contains a large and diverse collection of birds with 90,000 bird skins, 5,050 egg sets, 17,0 ...

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

Written works

Zur Strassen was editor of "

Brehms Tierleben ''Brehms Tierleben'' (English title: ''Brehm's Animal Life'') is a scientific reference book, first published in the 1860s by Alfred Edmund Brehm (1829–1884). It was one of the first modern popular zoological treatises. First published in ...

" (completely revised 4th edition, 1911–1918). The following are a list of some of his noteworthy written efforts. * ''Embryonalentwicklung der Ascaris megalocephala'', 1896 –

Embryonic development An embryo is an initial stage of development of a multicellular organism. In organisms that reproduce sexually, embryonic development is the part of the life cycle that begins just after fertilization of the female egg cell by the male sperm ...

of ''

Ascaris ''Ascaris'' is a genus of parasite, parasitic nematode worms known as the "small intestinal roundworms", which is a type of parasitic worm. One species, ''Ascaris lumbricoides'', affects humans and causes the disease ascariasis. Another species ...

megalocephala''. * ''Ueber die Mechanik der Epithelbildung'', 1903 – On the mechanics of

epithelialization Wound healing refers to a living organism's replacement of destroyed or damaged tissue by newly produced tissue. In undamaged skin, the epidermis (surface, epithelial layer) and dermis (deeper, connective layer) form a protective barrier agains ...

. * ''Anthraconema, eine neue Gattung freilebender Nematoden'', 1904 – ''Anthraconema'', a new genus of free-living

nematode The nematodes ( or grc-gre, Νηματώδη; la, Nematoda) or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda (also called Nemathelminthes), with plant-Parasitism, parasitic nematodes also known as eelworms. They are a diverse animal phylum inhab ...

. * ''Die Geschichte der Riesen von Ascaris megalocephala als Grundlage zu einer Entwicklungsmechanik dieser Spezies'', Stuttgart 1906 – History on the gigantism of ''Ascaris megalocephala'' as a basis for developmental mechanics of the species. * "Animal behavior and development", (published in English, 1909).Google Search
(published works) * ''Plastisch wirkende Augenflecke und die "Geschlechtliche Zuchtwahl"'', Jena 1935 – Plastic-looking eye spots and "sexual selection". * ''Neue Beiträge zur Entwicklungsmechanik der Nematoden'', Stuttgart 1959 – New contributions towards the developmental mechanics of nematodes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strassen, Otto zur 1869 births 1961 deaths 19th-century German zoologists Academic staff of Goethe University Frankfurt Leipzig University alumni Academic staff of Leipzig University Scientists from Berlin University of Freiburg alumni 20th-century German zoologists