Peter Schlegel

Peter A. Schlegel (born June 2, 1941 - † October 16, 2008 ) was a German zoologist . In the course of his scientific career, he has essentially worked on three major subject areas that dealt with unresolved issues in sensory physiology .

Live and act

Peter Schlegel received his doctorate in 1968 from Dietrich Burkhardt in Frankfurt am Main on the single cell recordings of a position receptor in the antenna of blowflies . From 1969 to 1973 he worked as a research fellow of the German Research Foundation at the Center national de la recherche scientifique in Paris and Gif-sur-Yvette on the object localization of weakly electric fish. From 1974 he was a member of Gerhard Neuweiler's working group at the University of Frankfurt , later at the University of Munichand mainly dealt with questions of bat research. Among other things, he examined the neural representation of auditory stimuli and echolocation sounds in various bat species. In 1980 he completed his habilitation at the University of Frankfurt and from 1982 onwards he held the position of an academic councilor, later a senior councilor. In 1991 Schlegel was appointed adjunct professor . In 1995 he shifted his research focus again and from then on dealt with the non-visual orientation of cave animals. He analyzed the sensory perception (here: electroperception ) of the grotto olm and the Pyrenean newt and incidentally discovered the astonishing sensitivity of these tailed amphibians to the earth's magnetic field .

Fonts (selection)

• Perception of objects in weakly electric fish Gymnotus carapo as studied in recordings from rhombencephalic neurons . In: Experimental brain research Vol. 18, 1973, No. 4, pp. 340-354 doi : 10.1007 / BF00239104 .

literature

• Gerta Fleissner, Günther Fleissner : Obituary for Peter A. Schlegel 02.06.1941 - 16.10.2008 . In: Communications of the German Zoological Society. 2009, pp. 59-61 ( digitized version ).