Willy Georg Wolterstorff (16 June 1864 in

Calbe Calbe (official name: ''Calbe (Saale)'') is a town in the district of Salzlandkreis, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Geography It is situated on the river Saale, approx. north of Bernburg, and southeast of Magdeburg. It is known as Calbe an der ...

– 21 January 1943 in

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebur ...

) was a German

paleontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

and herpetologist. As a child he lost his hearing due to disease, thus finding it necessary to lip-read from an early age. He learned

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 ...

through private lessons. After receiving vocational training as a

bookbinder Bookbinding is the process of physically assembling a book of codex format from an ordered stack of ''signatures'', sheets of paper folded together into sections that are bound, along one edge, with a thick needle and strong thread. Cheaper, b ...

, he studied

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ear ...

from 1884 under Karl von Fritsch (1838-1906) at the University of Halle. At Halle he also received training as a

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 ...

. In 1889 he became an assistant to

Konrad Oebbeke Konrad Oebbeke (2 November 1853, Hildesheim – 1 February 1932) was a German geologist and mineralogist. He studied at the Universities of Heidelberg and Erlangen, obtaining his doctorate at the University of Würzburg in 1877. Afterwards he ...

(1853-1932) at the mineralogical-geological institute at

Erlangen Erlangen (; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Erlang'', Bavarian language, Bavarian: ''Erlanga'') is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative d ...

, and two years later was appointed curator at the ''Museum für Naturkunde und Vorgeschichte'' (museum of natural history and

prehistory Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...

) in

. After his retirement in 1929, he remained at the Magdeburg museum, performing important functions as a volunteer. Wolterstorff is known for scientific research of "lower vertebrates", in particular investigations involving the

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 ...

, reproduction and behavior of members of the family

Salamandridae Salamandridae is a family of salamanders consisting of true salamanders and newts. Salamandrids are distinguished from other salamanders by the lack of rib or costal grooves along the sides of their bodies and by their rough skin. Their skin is v ...

. He was the author of nearly 300 scientific papers, and from 1909 was editor of ''Blätter für Aquarien- und Terrarienkunde''. He is credited with creation of the "Tradescantia-Glas", an enclosure-method (''Hälterungsmethode'') for maintenance and breeding of newts.

Tribute

The recently extinct Wolterstorff's newt (''Cynops wolterstorffi''), is one of the species named in his honour. As a taxonomist, he described the salamander genus '' Mertensiella'' (1925). Wolterstorff is also commemorated in the scientific name of a species of gecko, ''

Urocotyledon wolterstorffi Wolterstorff's gecko (''Urocotyledon wolterstorffi'') is a species of lizard in the family Gekkonidae. The species is endemic to Tanzania. Etymology The specific name, ''wolterstorffi'', is in honor of German herpetologist Willy Wolterstorff.Be ...

'' Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Wolterstorff", pp. 288-289). And with the Killifish '' Austrolebias wolterstorffi'' ( C. G. E. Ahl, 1924)''. The Chinese fish '' Squalidus wolterstorffi wolterstorffi'' (

Regan The family name Regan, along with its cognates O'Regan, O Regan, Reagan, and O'Reagan, is an Anglicized form of the Irish surname Ó Riagáin or Ó Ríogáin, from Ua Riagáin. The meaning is likely to have originated in ancient Gaelic ''ri'' ...

1908) was named in honor of Wolterstorff , who “received” fishes from China collected by

Martin Kreyenberg Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austral ...

, including type of this species.

Written works

*''Das Untercarbon von Magdeburg-Neustadt und seine Fauna'', 1898 (graduation thesis at Erlangen). *''Über fossile Frösche, insbesondere das Genus Palaeobatrachus'' (two parts), 1886–1887 - On fossil frogs, especially the genus Paleobatrachus. *''Unsere Kriechthiere und Lurche'', 1888 - Reptiles and amphibians. *''Die Reptilien und Amphibien der Nordwestdeutschen Berglande'', 1893 -

Reptiles Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the Class (biology), class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsid, sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, Squamata, squamates (lizar ...

and

amphibians Amphibians are four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terrestrial, fossorial, arbore ...

of northwestern German hill country. *''Die Tritonen der Untergattung Euproctus Gené und ihr Gefangenleben, nebst einem Überblick der Urodelen der südwestlichen paläarktischen Region'', 1902 - treatise on

Euproctus ''Euproctus'', the European mountain salamanders, is a genus of salamanders in the family Salamandridae from Sardinia and Corsica. Species There are two species: The Pyrenean brook salamander used to be included in this genus as ''Euproctus a ...

, included with an overview of

urodele amphibians Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All t ...

of the southwestern Palaearctic Region.

References

External links

University of Magdeburg
(biography). {{DEFAULTSORT:Wolterstorff, Willy 1864 births 1943 deaths German herpetologists German paleontologists People from Calbe University of Halle alumni