EDINGER, TILLY

EDINGER, TILLY (1897–1967), vertebrate paleontologist. Born in Frankfurt on the Main, Edinger received her doctorate in paleontology from Frankfurt University. Her main research interest was brain development and she created the field of paleoneurology. She was fascinated by the disproportionate   growth of the forebrain in many mammals and the implications for the emergence of Homo sapiens. She worked initially at Frankfurt University's Geological Institute but, under antisemitic pressure, left for London in 1939 before moving to the U.S. in 1940. She joined Harvard University's Museum of Comparative Zoology and became a research associate in paleontology. Her classic works are Fossil Brains (1929) and The Evolution of the Horse Brain (1948). (Michael Denman (2nd ed.)