Paul Kammerer
Paul Kammerer (1880–1926) was an Austrian biologist from Vienna who studied evolution by looking at how amphibians reproduce and develop. He is known for supporting a form of Lamarckism—the idea that traits acquired during a life can be passed to offspring—though he saw himself as a Darwinian in the style of Ernst Haeckel.
Kammerer began his career studying biology after initially pursuing music. He worked with Hans Przibram at the Institute for Experimental Biology, where he bred salamanders and toads to see how environment and mating conditions might affect future generations.
In his experiments with fire salamanders and alpine salamanders, he claimed that environmental changes during reproduction could produce heritable changes. For example, he argued that forcing fire salamander females to gestate without water could make them produce larvae with features like those of alpine salamanders, and that forcing alpine salamanders to reproduce in water could yield aquatic young with new traits. He also studied coloration, claiming that environmental conditions could alter the size and appearance of markings in salamander offspring.
Kammerer’s work with midwife toads (Alytes obstetricans) was especially controversial. He tried to make breeding occur in water by heating their tanks, and he claimed that this changed where eggs were laid and that nuptial pads (a sign linked to mating) could appear in males as an acquired trait. A famous challenge to his results came when Dr. Gladwyn Kingsley Noble suggested the pads had been artificially injected with India ink. Kammerer denied wrongdoing, but the accusation severely damaged his scientific credibility, and he later took his own life in 1926.
He also conducted experiments with olms (Proteus anguinus), pale, blind cave-dwelling salamanders. He reported that light exposure could darken their skin and, in some cases, improve eyes, but the idea that these traits were inherited across generations remained controversial.
The Kammerer case sparked a long debate about heredity and evolution. Some scientists tried to reproduce his experiments but often without success. The affair influenced views on Lamarckian ideas, though some modern researchers have revisited the topic in light of epigenetics, suggesting that some acquired traits might have complex, non-genetic bases.
Beyond biology, Kammerer wrote The Law of the Series, a book about coincidences and patterns, which fascinated figures like Albert Einstein and Carl Jung. In the end, while his methods and conclusions are still debated, Kammerer’s work remains a notable and controversial chapter in the history of evolutionary science.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 16:07 (CET).