2001/01/01 by Emily A. Buchholtz, Ernst‐August Seyfarth · 1 citation
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Psychology · #Evolution and Paleontology Studies #Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology #Primate Behavior and Ecology #Biography #Vertebrate #Extant taxon #Elite #Environmental ethics #Evolutionary biology #Biology #History #Philosophy #Law #Art history #Political science
paper · pdf · doi:10.1641/0006-3568(2001)051[0674:tsofbt]2.0.co;2
openalex publication_date 2001/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/16
Paleoneurology, the study of the evolution of the brain, lies at the interface of neurology and paleontology. In its modern form, it was founded in Germany in the 1920s, the product of the unique educational background and inspiration of Ottilie (“Tilly”) Edinger (1897–1967). Before Edinger's work, the history of the vertebrate brain was reconstructed almost exclusively by anatomists who compared the soft tissue brains of living fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Structural variations among extant groups were documented and compared; their distribution was used to suggest the sequence of anatomical innovations in time. With strong preparation in both neurology and paleontology, Edinger was able to integrate comparative anatomy and the paleontologists' tool of stratigraphic sequence. More than anyone else, she introduced the concept of time to neurology, creating modern paleoneurology. Here we relate the broad outlines of Tilly Edinger's life and describe how she changed the way that the evolutionary history of the vertebrate brain is reconstructed and understood. Her story is particularly compelling because she began much of her innovative work while she was enduring Nazi racial laws and terrors, completing it in exile after forced emigration from Germany.