How German Scientists Revolutionized the Study of Animal Design
Exploring the development of morphology in 19th-century German universities
Walk through any natural history museum, and you'll see them—skeletons of whales with vestigial hip bones, the delicate wings of bats stretched between elongated finger bones, the streamlined shapes of fish and birds. These exhibits all tell a story about animal form and function, a story that traces back to a largely forgotten science called morphology that flourished in 19th-century Germany.
While Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection often dominates our understanding of 19th-century biology, simultaneously a quiet revolution was underway in German laboratories.
"How does an animal's structure affect its way of life? How do evolutionary relationships manifest in anatomical similarities? And how does form both enable and constrain function?"
At its simplest, morphology is "the study of the form and structure of animals and plants" 1 . But as it developed throughout the 19th century, it grew to encompass much more than just description. Morphologists sought to understand how all of an organism's parts work together to create a functional living being.
Structure and Function: German morphologists recognized that structure and function were inextricably linked 1 .
Unity of Type: Similar structures with varied modifications for different environments .
An example of morphological adaptation for flight efficiency.
Powerful limbs adapted for a subterranean lifestyle.
The development of morphology as a sophisticated science was intimately tied to the unique environment of German universities in the 19th century. Unlike in Britain or France, where scientific institutions often had different structures, German universities provided fertile ground for morphology to flourish.
Interestingly, there were neither professors of morphology nor a dedicated morphologists' society in 19th-century Germany 2 6 . Instead, scientists working in fields as diverse as anatomy, zoology, natural history, and physiology all considered their work morphological 2 6 .
Research that today might be classified as embryology, systematics, functional morphology, comparative physiology, ecology, behavior, evolutionary theory, or histology all fell under the broad umbrella of morphology 2 6 .
"In what ways did organization capture the essence of an animal's life? What was the relationship between the animal as a unified whole and its parts?"
Perhaps no example better illustrates the methods, challenges, and international character of 19th-century morphology than the story of the birth of a new species—Arctocephalus philippii, a sea lion eventually identified through transcontinental collaboration and debate.
The story begins with the capture of a peculiar sea lion off the coast of Chile by employees of the Museo Nacional de Chile. The specimen was processed and transformed into transportable material: bones, skin, drawings, and zoometric analysis .
These remains then began a journey from Santiago to Valparaíso, then to Hamburg, and finally to the Berlin's Museum für Naturkunde . This mobilization of specimens was crucial to morphological research—it allowed scientists in world centers like Berlin to examine exotic species from distant lands.
Specimen collected in Chile
Beginning of scientific documentationInitial classification
First formal species description as Arctocephalus philippiiTransport to Berlin
Enabled detailed morphological studyInternational debate
Refinement of classification based on comparative morphologyThe controversy took place within what historians have identified as a predominantly "typological" or "essentialist" approach to species definition .
Individual specimens were considered members of a species if they matched certain morphological trait types or ideals, which were viewed as fixed properties .
Without genetic testing, naturalists had to rely entirely on painstaking anatomical comparison—the very essence of morphological practice.
The practice of morphology in German universities relied on a specific set of tools, techniques, and approaches that enabled the detailed study of form.
Detailed examination of internal anatomy enabled precise anatomical description and comparison.
Maintaining specimens for long-term study created permanent collections for repeated examination.
Visual documentation of specimens allowed knowledge to circulate independent of specimens.
Examination of minute structures revealed histological details previously invisible.
Series of related specimens enabled detection of patterns across species.
Zoometric analysis provided quantitative data for comparison.
This toolkit supported what Nyhart identifies as morphology's "comprehensive approach to research" 1 . Scientists:
This multifaceted approach allowed German morphologists to move beyond simple anatomical description to address fundamental questions about function, development, and evolution.
Though morphology is often regarded as a failed science that made limited contributions to understanding the living world, Nyhart's research challenges this view, demonstrating how morphology was integral to 19th-century life sciences 2 6 .
The comparative approach laid the groundwork for understanding evolutionary relationships.
The focus on form and function presaged modern analysis of anatomical structures.
Ecological morphology established principles that would later inform the field.
The morphological tradition persisted where genetic material is unavailable.
Today, with the emergence of evo-devo (evolutionary developmental biology), which examines how developmental processes evolve, we're witnessing a revival of interest in morphological questions, now investigated with molecular tools.
The story of morphology's development in German universities reminds us that science advances not just through theoretical breakthroughs but through the painstaking development of methods, concepts, and institutional structures.
The next time you marvel at the perfect adaptation of a bird's wing or the efficient structure of a fish, remember the 19th-century morphologists who developed the science that helps us understand these wonders of biological design.