اوون، ریچارد

(1804-1892)

English anatomist and student of Cuvier. Owen reconstructed the skeletons of many extinct animals, even working on some of Darwin’s specimens. He was, nonetheless, an early opponent of Darwin, arguing that God created new species by modifying a basic anatomical idea — an “archetype.” Later he modified his own views to accept a kind of “divine” evolution. Owen is also known for overstating the differences between the human brain and those of other apes in his struggle to place humans on a kind of pedestal, apart from the rest of the animal kingdom.