Leuckart, Karl Georg Friedrich Rudolf (1822–1898)

German zoologist who identified the phylum Coelenterata (now divided into separate phyla, the Cnidaria – jellyfish, sea anemones, and corals – and the Ctenophora – the comb jellies), and was responsible for establishing the first meat inspection laws in the world.

His research led to the division of the Metazoa (multicellular animals) into Coelenterata, Echinodermata (sea urchins), Annelida (segmented worms), Arthropoda (jointed limbed animals including insects, spiders, crabs, and lobsters), Mollusca (molluscs, including slugs, snails, octopuses, and shellfish), and Vertebrata (animals with backbones, including fish, birds, and mammals). He also worked on parasitology, and his work on Trichina spiralis, the cause of trichinosis, led to the establishment of meat inspection.

Leuckart was born in Helmstedt, Germany and educated at Helmstedt Gymnasium. As a child he was encouraged by his uncle who was the professor of zoology at Freiburg im Breisgau to collect insects. In 1842 he went to Gottingen to study medicine, becoming an assistant in Rudolf Wagner's laboratory at the Institute 1845. He was promoted to lecturer in zoology 1845 and the following year made a study of marine invertebrates along the coast of the North Sea in which he identified the phylum, Coelenterata. In 1850 he was made professor of zoology at Giessen University and, in 1869, moved to the University of Leipzig, where a new Zoological Institute was built under his guidance 1880. Between 1877 and 1878 he was rector of the university.