CONTENT - International Society of Zoological Sciences

S26 ICZ2008 - Abstracts
Kinorhynchs murdered by bachelors! should we care?
Gerhard Scholtz
Philippstr. 13, 10115, Berlin, Germany
Kinorhyncha is a small group of minute bilaterians showing a
hidden lifestyle. An ecological impact on humans is virtually absent.
Hardly any layperson and even many biologists ever heard of
these animals. Nevertheless, based on their anatomy they
suddenly play an important role for our understanding of metazoan
evolution, in particular the origin of segmentation. I use this animal
group a! s an example to ask the question of whether it is
important to have zoological knowledge. Germany has a strong
tradition in morphology and comparative embryology of
invertebrates. This field of research had always tight connections
to phylogeny and evolution of the animal kingdom and produced
numerous hypotheses and theories which are relevant for general
biological questions. Teaching and thus the knowledge of these
issues decreased dramatically during the last years. This is
reflected in the low number of filled and advertised university
positions dealing with morphology and comparative embryology.
The introduction of the new Bologna curricula and degrees even
enforces this development and might lead to an irreversible
interruption of the morphological tradition.
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Jeanne Villepreux-Power, the mother of aquariology
Claude Vast
Aquarium du Limousin, 87000 Limoges, France
Jeanne Villepreux-Power was born in a French village (Juillac) in
1794 and died in this city in 1871.
She lived in the town of Messsina for 20 years after her marriage.
She made the list of natural riches and colected plants, animals
and fossils of the Sicilia Island.
She devoted one’s self to experimental research about marine
animals.
She was first (1832) to create and use the aquarium in glass and.
imerged cages for observation and experimentation in aquatic
environments. She was famous all through Europe for her works
on the Argonauta argo shell. She was recognized by Prof. Richard
Owen (1804-1892) of British Museum as the "mother" of
aquariology.
She was, the first woman in the Catania Accademia and a
correspondent member of the London Zoological Society (plus 16
other academies).
She authored « Observations et experiences physiques sur
plusieurs animaux marins et terrestres » as well as several other
papers. The « Guida per la Sicilia » is a brillant and erudite
inventory of the Island environment.