Peter Wellnhofer (born

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...

, 1936) is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

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 ...

at the Bayerische Staatssammlung fur Paläontologie in Munich. He is best known for his work on the various fossil specimens of ''

Archaeopteryx ''Archaeopteryx'' (; ), sometimes referred to by its German name, "" ( ''Primeval Bird''), is a genus of bird-like dinosaurs. The name derives from the ancient Greek (''archaīos''), meaning "ancient", and (''ptéryx''), meaning "feather" ...

'' or "Urvogel", the first known bird. Wellnhofer's other work includes ''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Pterosaurs'' from 1991. ''

Wellnhoferia ''Wellnhoferia'' (named after Peter Wellnhofer) is a genus of early prehistoric bird-like theropod dinosaur closely related to ''Archaeopteryx''. It lived in what is now Germany, during the Late Jurassic. While ''Wellnhoferia'' was similar to ...

'', a bird closely related to ''Archaeopteryx'', or a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...

of the Urvogel itself, was named in his honour in 2001. The

pterosaur Pterosaurs (; from Greek ''pteron'' and ''sauros'', meaning "wing lizard") is an extinct clade of flying reptiles in the order, Pterosauria. They existed during most of the Mesozoic: from the Late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous (228 ...

'' Wellnhopterus'' was named in his honour in 2021. In 2007 a special meeting of pterosaur experts in Munich was dedicated to Wellnhofer, describing him as "the foremost authority on pterosaurs for the last four decades." The meeting produced a

festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the ...

in his honour titled ''Flugsaurier: pterosaur papers in honour of Peter Wellnhofer''.wordpress.com
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References

German paleontologists 1936 births Living people Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany {{palaeontologist-stub