Richard Owen

Richard Owen (1804-1892), English comparative anatomist, zoologist (see zoology), and vertebrate paleontologist (see paleontology). Owen was the most distinguished zoologist in Britain during the mid-19th century and was a fervent opponent of evolutionary concepts.

Owen was born in Lancaster, England, and at the age of 16 became an apprentice to a physician in that city. He earned a degree from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland in 1824 but continued to study anatomy there until 1825, when he transferred to Saint Bartholomew’s Hospital in London. Owen taught there until appointed Hunterian Professor at the Royal College of Surgeons in London in 1836. He held the position of conservator of the museum at the Royal College of Surgeons from 1842 to 1856. Owen was a principal founder of the British Museum (Natural History)—now the Natural History Museum—in London. He served as superintendent of the natural history collections at that museum from 1856 until his retirement in 1883.

During his appointment at the Royal College of Surgeons, Owen had the opportunity to dissect the animals that died in the Regent’s Park Zoological Gardens in London. The knowledge of animal anatomy that he gained served him well when he began to examine the fossil bones of extinct vertebrates, which were then being found in increasing numbers in southern England and on the European continent. He described the first truly gigantic reptile, Cetiosaurus, in 1841 from bones collected by British paleontologist William Buckland. The same year, he formulated the first classification of the creatures that he named the Dinosauria (Greek for “terrible lizard”; seeDinosaur).

Owen was also instrumental in obtaining and describing the first good specimen of the primitive bird Archaeopteryx. This provided evidence for the theory of evolution proposed by English scientist Charles Darwin, but Owen opposed the theory. Instead, he advocated the idea of an archetype, or ideal original pattern, that was modified to form the different types of animals (aquatic, terrestrial, or avian) at the time of Creation. This concept earned Owen the praise of conservative politicians and clergy members, making him a powerful figure in science during the Victorian Age. He gained a knighthood in 1884 and the gift of a royal residence at Richmond Park in 1854.

Owen’s scientific output of about 625 publications encompassed the anatomy of living invertebrate and vertebrate animals and of a great range of extinct organisms, including the dodo of Mauritius, the moas of New Zealand, the giant ground sloths of Argentina, the fossil marsupials of Australia, pterodactyls, and even fossil footprints. He designed the first constructions of dinosaurs, exhibited at the Crystal Palace in London, where once he held a banquet inside the belly of the Iguanodon before its reconstruction was completed. Despite his arrogance and merciless use of influence, which earned him many enemies, and his refusal to recognize the validity of Darwin’s theory of evolution, Owen stands high in the ranks of scientific discoverers and has left a rich legacy.