Théophile Rudolphe Studer or Theophil Studer (27 November 1845 – 12 February 1922) was a Swiss

ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

and

marine biologist Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms that inhabit 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 clas ...

. He worked on the collections made on the voyage of the and produced a catalogue of the birds of the Switzerland. Another major work was on the study of dog skeletons associated with prehistoric human settlements. He worked as a professor of zoology at the

University of Bern The University of Bern (, , ) is a public university, public research university in the Switzerland, Swiss capital of Bern. It was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the canton of Bern. It is a comprehensive university offering a br ...

from 1873.

Life and work

Studer was born in

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

to Gottlieb and Henriette Kappeler. He studied medicine from 1865 to 1870 at Bern and became a military doctor, serving during the

Franco-German war The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Jan ...

. He then studied zoology at Leipzig under

Rudolf Leuckart Karl Georg Friedrich Rudolf Leuckart (7 October 1822 – 22 February 1898) was a German zoologist born in Helmstedt. He was a pioneer of parasitology research and was widely known for developing a series of illustrated wall charts for use in zo ...

. From 1871 to 1922 he was a

curator A curator (from , 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 particular ins ...

of zoological collections at the museum of

natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

in Bern. In 1874–1876 he took part in a scientific journey aboard the German

steam frigate Steam frigates (including screw frigates) and the smaller steam corvettes, steam sloops, steam gunboats and steam schooners, were steam-powered warships that were not meant to stand in the line of battle. The first such ships were paddle stea ...

, sent in part to study the 1874 transit of Venus. Two years after his return he was a professor 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 ...

at the school of

veterinary medicine Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, medical diagnosis, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in non-human animals. The scope of veterinary medicine is wide, covering all a ...

in Bern. He conducted studies on the remains of canines from Neolithic and Paleolithic archeological digs. He presided over the Swiss Society of Natural Sciences from 1887 to 1992.

Published works

With

Victor Fatio Victor Fatio (28 November 1838 – 19 March 1906), was a Swiss zoologist. He was a bird conservationist, noting the value of birds in pest control in agriculture. He was involved in organizing the first anti-phylloxera congress in Lauxanne in 187 ...

(1838–1906), he published the first three installments of ''Catalogue des oiseaux de la Suisse'' (Catalogue of birds of Switzerland). Other writings by Studer include: * ''Übersicht ūber die Ophiuriden welche während der Reise S.M.S. Gazelle um die Erde 1874-1876 gesammelt Wurden'', 1882 - Overview of

Ophiuroidea Brittle stars, serpent stars, or ophiuroids (; ; referring to the serpent-like arms of the brittle star) are echinoderms in the class Ophiuroidea, closely related to starfish. They crawl across the sea floor using their flexible arms for locomot ...

, collected by the S.M.S. Gazelle voyage of 1874–1876. * ''Verzeichniss der Crustaceen welche während der Reise S.M.S. Gazelle an der Westküste von Afrika, Ascension und dem Cap der guten Hoffnung gesammelt wurden'', 1882 - Directory of

crustaceans Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of Arthropod, arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquat ...

, collected by the S.M.S. Gazelle voyage to the west coast of Africa,

Ascension Island Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island, 7°56′ south of the Equator in the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic Ocean. It is about from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America. It is governed as part of the British Overs ...

and the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...

. * ''Isopoden, gesammelt während der Reise S.M.S. Gazelle um die Erde 1874-76'', 1884 -

Isopoda Isopoda is an order of crustaceans. Members of this group are called isopods and include both aquatic species and terrestrial species such as woodlice. All have rigid, segmented exoskeletons, two pairs of antennae, seven pairs of jointed l ...

collected by the S.M.S. Gazelle voyage of 1874–76. * ''Verzeichniss der während der Reise S.M.S. Gazelle um die Erde, 1874-1876, gesammelten Asteriden und Euryalideen'', 1884 - Directory of the S.M.S. Gazelle voyage, collections of

Asteridea Asteridea may refer to: * Sea star * ''Asteridea'' (plant), a genus of plants in the family Asteraceae Asteraceae () is a large family (biology), family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera with ...

and

Euryalida The Euryalina are a suborder of brittle stars, which includes large species with either branching arms (called "basket stars") or long and curling arms (called "snake stars"). It is sometimes listed as the order Euryalida. Characteristics Many ...

. * "Supplementary report on the Alcyonaria collected by H.M.S. Challenger during the years 1873-76", published in English in 1889. * '' Fauna helvetica. Oiseaux'', 1895 - Swiss fauna, birds. * ''Fauna helvetica. Mollusques'', 1896 - Swiss fauna,

mollusks Mollusca is a phylum of protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum after Arthropoda. The num ...

.
WorldCat Identities] (publications)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Studer, Theophile Rudolphe 1922 deaths 1845 births Swiss ornithologists 19th-century Swiss zoologists Academic staff of the University of Bern