Ehrenberg, Christian Gottfried (1795–1876)

German naturalist who developed one of the forerunners of the modern scheme for classification of the animal kingdom. He was the first scientist to study the fossils of micro-organisms and can be regarded as the founder of micropalaeontology.

He demonstrated that fungi develop from spores and that phosphorescence (the emission of light by certain substances after they have absorbed energy) is caused by plankton. In 1838, he published Die Infusionsthierchen als volkommene Organismen/The Infusoria as Complete Organisms. His concept that all animals are complete organisms was refuted by Felix Dujardin.

Ehrenberg was born in Delitzsch in Saxony, Germany and attended the University of Berlin, where he graduated 1818 with an MD. In 1820, he participated in an expedition to Egypt, Libya, the Sudan, and the Red Sea. He was the only person to survive the expedition, however, and returned home 1825. He collected 34,000 animal and 46,000 plant specimens for the University of Berlin and the Prussian Academy of Sciences. In 1829, he went to Central Asia and Siberia with Alexander von Humboldt on an expedition financed by Nicholas I of Russia.