Philipp Bertkau (11 January 1849 – 22 October 1894) 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 ...

born in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

. 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

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine U ...

, where in 1872 he earned his doctorate. In 1873 he became an assistant at the botanical institute in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, and during the following spring was an assistant at the zoological institute at

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

. In 1882 he was appointed professor at the Agricultural Academy of Poppelsdorf, and in 1890 became

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

at the Institute of Zoology and

Comparative Anatomy Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of different species. It is closely related to evolutionary biology and phylogeny (the evolution of species). The science began in the classical era, continuing in t ...

. Bertkau is remembered for his work involving the

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its ...

and

physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...

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, research on

sense of smell The sense of smell, or olfaction, is the special sense through which smells (or odors) are perceived. The sense of smell has many functions, including detecting desirable foods, hazards, and pheromones, and plays a role in taste. In humans, it ...

butterflies Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

, and anatomical studies of

hermaphroditic In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes. Many taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrates) do not have separ ...

arthropod Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...

s. At Bonn he was secretary of ''Bonner Gesellschaft für Naturgeschichte'' (Bonn Society of Natural History). He is the

taxonomic authority In biology, taxonomy () is the scientific study of naming, defining ( circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa (singular: taxon) and these groups are given ...

of the families

Anyphaenidae Anyphaenidae is a family of araneomorph spiders, sometimes called anyphaenid sac spiders. They are distinguished from the sac spiders of the family Clubionidae and other spiders by having the abdominal spiracle placed one third to one half of th ...

Hahniidae Dwarf sheet spiders (Hahniidae) is a family of araneomorph spiders, first described by Philipp Bertkau in 1878. Their bodies are about long, and they build extremely delicate webs in the form of a sheet. Unlike many spiders the web does not lead ...

Sparassidae Huntsman spiders, members of the family Sparassidae (formerly Heteropodidae), are known by this name because of their speed and mode of hunting. They are also called giant crab spiders because of their size and appearance. Larger species sometim ...

and

Zoropsidae Zoropsidae, also known as false wolf spiders for their physical similarity to wolf spiders, is a family of cribellate araneomorph spiders first described by Philipp Bertkau in 1882. They can be distinguished from wolf spiders by their two rows of ...

, and of the genera ''

Ancylometes ''Ancylometes'' is a genus of Central and South American semiaquatic wandering spiders first described by Philipp Bertkau in 1880. Originally placed with the nursery web spiders, it was moved to the Ctenidae in 1967. The genus name is derived ...

'', ''

Chalcoscirtus ''Chalcoscirtus'' is a genus of Salticidae, jumping spiders that was first described by Philipp Bertkau in 1880. The name is derived from the Ancient Greek ', meaning "copper", and ', meaning "leap". timeline it contains forty-five species and ...

'', ''

Comaroma ''Comaroma'' is a genus of araneomorph spiders in the family Anapidae, first described by Philipp Bertkau Philipp Bertkau (11 January 1849 – 22 October 1894) was a German zoologist born in Cologne. He studied natural sciences at the Univers ...

'' and ''

Diplocephalus ''Diplocephalus'' is a genus of sheet weavers first described by Philipp Bertkau Philipp Bertkau (11 January 1849 – 22 October 1894) was a German zoologist born in Cologne. He studied natural sciences at the University of Bonn, where in 1872 ...

''.

Selected works

* ''Über die Respirationsorgane der Araneen'', 1872 (dissertation) - On the respiratory organs of

Araneae 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 dive ...

. * ''Arachniden'', 1880 - On

arachnids Arachnida () is a Class (biology), class of joint-legged invertebrate animals (arthropods), in the subphylum Chelicerata. Arachnida includes, among others, spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites, pseudoscorpions, opiliones, harvestmen, Solifugae, came ...

. * ''Verzeichniss der von Prof. E. van Beneden auf seiner im Auftrage der belgischen Regierung unternommenen wissenschaftlichen Reise nach Brasilien und La Plata in Jahren 1872-5 gesammelten Arachniden'', 1880 - Directory of

Edouard Van Beneden Édouard Joseph Louis Marie Van Beneden (5 March 1846 in Leuven – 28 April 1910 in Liège), son of Pierre-Joseph Van Beneden, was a Belgian embryologist, cytologist and marine biologist. He was professor of zoology at the University of Liège ...

on behalf of the Belgian government involving scientific travel to Brazil and La Plata in 1872–1875 (collecting arachnids). * ''Ueber das Cribellum und Calamistrum. Ein Beitrag zur Histiologie, Biologie und Systematik der Spinnen''. Arch. f. Naturgesch. 1882. 48. 1. 316-362. pl. 18. - On the

cribellum Cribellum literally means "little sieve", and in biology the term generally applies to anatomical structures in the form of tiny perforated plates. In certain groups of diatoms it refers to microscopically punctured regions of the frustule, or ...

and

calamistrum In spiders, the calamistrum is a row of specialized leg bristles used to comb out fine bands of silk. It is only found on cribellate spiders, that is, spiders that possess the spinning organ known as the cribellum. The calamistrum and cribellum ar ...

. A contribution involving the histology, biology and systematics of spiders. * "Various pamphlets on arachnida", 1889-1890 (published in English).WorldCat Search
(published works)

References

* ''This article incorporates translated text from an equivalent article at the

German Wikipedia The German Wikipedia (german: Deutschsprachige Wikipedia) is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia. Founded on March 16, 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia (after the English Wikipedia), ...

''. * Groll, E. K. (Hrsg.): Biografien der Entomologen der Welt : Datenbank. Version 4.15 : Senckenberg Deutsches Entomologisches Institut, 201

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bertkau, Philipp Arachnologists German arachnologists 19th-century German zoologists Coleopterists German entomologists Scientists from Cologne 1849 births 1894 deaths