Flix Dujardin

Vocation

Notable

French biologist known for his research of protozoans and other invertebrates. In 1840 he was appointed professor of geology and mineralogy at the University of Toulouse, and during the following year was a professor of zoology and botany at Rennes. In regard to his educational background, Dujardin was largely self-taught. Dujardin is largely known for his work with microscopic animal life, and in 1834 proposed that a new group of one-celled organisms be called "Rhizopoda"; meaning "root-foot". The name was later changed to "Protozoa". He refuted naturalist Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg's concept that microscopic organisms are "complete organisms" similar to higher animals. In addition to his studies of microscopic life, he did extensive research of invertebrate groups that included echinoderms, helminths and cnidarians. In Foraminifera, he noticed an apparently formless life substance that he named "sarcode", which was later renamed protoplasm by Hugo von Mohl (1805–1872). In 1850 he was the first to describe the mushroom bodies, key structures in the insects' nervous system. Félix Dujardin died on 8 April 1860, aged 59, in Rennes, France. Link to Wikipedia biography