Richard Owen

A History of British Fossil Mammals and Birds Richard Owen

Sir Richard Owen (1804-1892) was an English biologist and palaentologist with a special gift for interpreting fossils - he named dinosaurs. In addition to this, he was in strict opposition to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. After studying medicine in Edinburgh and London, he soon became assistant curator of the Hunterian Museum in London. In the following years, Owen identified and labeled 13,000 human and animal anatomical specimens of the Hunterian Collection. Also, he published a catalogue of this work. In 1836, Owen was appointed Professor of Comparative Anatomy and Physiology; and in 1856 he became superintendent of the natural history department of the British Museum. All in all, he published more than 600 scientific papers on which "History of British Fossil Mammals and Birds" is one of his most famous works.