# Professor Owen — The Origin of Species character guide

> Professor Owen in The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Professor Owen, Owen

**First appearance:** 0004-i-variation-under-domestication

## Snapshot

A formidable anatomist whose sharp eye for fossil bones and sharp tongue for Darwin's theory make him both a source and a sparring partner.

## Who they are

Owen appears first as the expert who recognizes that a South American tooth, though horse-like, belongs to an extinct species—an observation that unsettles Darwin's assumptions about rarity and extinction. He is also the anatomist who notes that mere size may hasten extermination by demanding more food, a point Darwin absorbs even while disagreeing with Owen's broader verdict on natural selection. His presence keeps the book honest: the most dangerous critic is the one whose facts you cannot dismiss.

## In the story

### [V: Laws of Variation](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_origin_of_species_se/chapters/v-laws-of-variation)

Quoted regarding the anomaly of flightless birds.

### [Effects of the Increased Use and Disuse of Parts, as Controlled by Natural Selection](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_origin_of_species_se/chapters/effects-of-the-increased-use-and-disuse-of-parts-as-controlled-by-natural-selection)

Quoted regarding the anomaly of flightless birds.

### [Multiple, Rudimentary, and Lowly-Organised Structures Are Variable](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_origin_of_species_se/chapters/multiple-rudimentary-and-lowly-organised-structures-are-variable)

Mentioned for the expression 'vegetative repetition' as a sign of low organisation.

### [A Part Developed in Any Species in an Extraordinary Degree or Manner, in Comparison with the Same Part in Allied Species, Tends to Be Highly Variable](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_origin_of_species_se/chapters/a-part-developed-in-any-species-in-an-extraordinary-degree-or-manner-in-comparison-with-the-same-part-in-allied-species-tends-to-be-highly-variable)

Professor Owen independently arrived at a similar conclusion regarding the variability of unusually developed parts.

### [Organs of Extreme Perfection and Complication](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_origin_of_species_se/chapters/organs-of-extreme-perfection-and-complication)

Cited for his observation on the range of gradation of dioptric structures in fishes and reptiles.

### [Modes of Transition](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_origin_of_species_se/chapters/modes-of-transition)

Cited for his description of the swim-bladder and its relation to vertebrate lungs.

### [Instincts of the Cuckoo](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_origin_of_species_se/chapters/instincts-of-the-cuckoo)

Noted transitory sharp tooth in young snakes for breaking eggshells, used as analogy.

### [On the Sudden Appearance of Whole Groups of Allied Species](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_origin_of_species_se/chapters/on-the-sudden-appearance-of-whole-groups-of-allied-species)

Referenced as authority that a bird lived during the deposition of the upper greensand.

### [On the Geological Succession of Organic Beings](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_origin_of_species_se/chapters/xi-on-the-geological-succession-of-organic-beings)

Recognized that a fossil horse tooth from La Plata belonged to an extinct species, despite its resemblance to the modern horse.

### [On Extinction](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_origin_of_species_se/chapters/on-extinction)

Identified the fossil horse tooth as belonging to an extinct species; noted that large size can lead to quicker extermination.

### [On the Affinities of Extinct Species to Each Other, and to Living Forms](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_origin_of_species_se/chapters/on-the-affinities-of-extinct-species-to-each-other-and-to-living-forms)

Cited for his concept of 'generalised forms' and for reclassifying Pachyderms and Ruminants based on fossil links.

### [On the Succession of the Same Types Within the Same Areas, During the Later Tertiary Periods](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_origin_of_species_se/chapters/on-the-succession-of-the-same-types-within-the-same-areas-during-the-later-tertiary-periods)

Showed that most fossil mammals from South America are related to South American types, and extended the generalization to Old World mammals.

### [Morphology](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_origin_of_species_se/chapters/morphology)

Mentioned for his work on the Nature of Limbs and his admission that utility cannot explain similarity of pattern; also for his remarks on serial homologies and the skull as representing vertebrae.

### [Rudimentary, Atrophied, and Aborted Organs](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_origin_of_species_se/chapters/rudimentary-atrophied-and-aborted-organs)

Cited for his view on the filamentary limbs of Lepidosiren as beginnings of organs, and for drawings of leg bones in horse, ox, and rhinoceros showing rudiments.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_origin_of_species_se/characters/owen
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_origin_of_species_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_origin_of_species_se/characters