Joseph Leidy

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Science & Tech

Joseph Leidy

American zoologist

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Mar 21, 2024 • Article History

Joseph Leidy

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Category: Science & Tech

Born:: Sept. 9, 1823, Philadelphia

Died:: April 30, 1891, Philadelphia (aged 67)

Notable Works:: “A Flora and Fauna Within Living Animals”; “Elementary Treatise on Human Anatomy”; “Researches into the Comparative Anatomy of the Liver”

Subjects Of Study:: United States; fossil; liver; protozoan

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Joseph Leidy (born Sept. 9, 1823, Philadelphia—died April 30, 1891, Philadelphia) was a zoologist, one of the most distinguished and versatile scientists in the United States, who made important contributions to the fields of comparative anatomy, parasitology, and paleontology. Soon after his appointment as librarian and curator at the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences (1846), he became chairman of the Board of Curators (1847–91). The founder of paleontology in the United States, he made extensive studies of fossil deposits in the western states. The first of his many works on the subject, “On the Fossil Horse of America” (1847), showed ...(100 of 298 words)

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