Otto Kleinschmidt

Otto Kleinschmidt (13 December 1870 – 25 March 1954) was a German ornithologist, theologist and pastor. He introduced a typological species concept into German ornithology. His Formenkreis theory influenced the early ideas of Erwin Stresemann.[1][2] Others have considered him one of the first biogeographers. His position was that similar "forms" (species) found in geographically distant regions could be accounted for by "formation rings" – with a fixed set of characters. This allowed him to support creationism while explaining biogeographical similarities.[2][3]

Otto Kleinschmidt was born as the son of the fabric administrator Adolph Kleinschmidt and his wife Elise (maiden name Dreydorf) in Geinsheim (Kornsand) on the Rhine. The house of the family was located miles from anywhere in between unspoiled countryside. Otto Kleinschmidt was already as a young boy highly interested in nature and the world of the birds. Besides that it was kind of a family tradition to research and collect. Already at the age of 8 Otto prepared his first taxidermied birds.

Published works

References

  1. Stresemann, Erwin (1936). "The Formenkreis-Theory" (PDF). Auk 53 (2): 150–158. doi:10.2307/4077273.
  2. 1 2 Williams, D W (2007). "Otto Kleinschmidt (1870–1954), biogeography and the ‘origin’ of species: From Formenkreis to progression rule" (PDF). Biogeografía 1: 3–9.
  3. Croizat, L. (1982). "Vicariance/vicariism, panbiogeography, "vicariance biogeography," etc.: A clarification". Systematic Zoology 31 (3): 291–304. doi:10.2307/2413236.

Other sources

External links

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