User:Bastian Rast/sandbox

Birth date: 10 July 1943 Birth place: Würzburg, Germany Schools: • Oberrealschule Fürth, Germany 1953-62 • University of Erlangen, Germany 1962-64 • University of Zürich, Switzerland 1964-68 • PhD in Zoology 1969 • Habilitation (Zoology, Univ. Bochum, Germany 1980) Professional fields: Biology, Histology, Electron Microscopy, Arachnology, Neurobiology, Sensory Organs, Human Anatomy, Functional Anatomy of Invertebrates.

Rainer F. Foelix (* 10 July 1943, Würzburg, Germany); biologist, arachnologist, microscopist

His text book “Biology of Spiders” (Harvard Univ. Press 1982; Oxford Univ. Press 1996, 2011) has been the standard of reference for arachnologists worldwide for almost 40 years - and still is unsurpassed. The most recent edition is from 2015 (in German).

In 50 years of research over 100 original papers were published in international journals, mostly on the neurobiology of arachnids.

R. F. Foelix grew up in post-war Germany (Franconia), first in a small village (Ipsheim), later in a larger city (Nürnberg-Fürth).

Married to Neta Vernessa Foelix-Riley, residing in Aarau, Switzerland; son Pascal (*1987), residing in Boston, USA.

Education

• Attended public schools until 1962 (Abitur)
• Studied Biology, Chemistry & Geography at Univ. of Erlangen (Germany) 1962-64
• Continued with Zoology, Botany, Paleontology & Anthropology at Univ. of Zürich (Switzerland) 1964-68
• Doctoral thesis in Zoology at Zoological Museum Univ. Zürich 1966-69

Professional career

• Post-doctoral studies in Raleigh (North Carolina) 1968-73
• Research scientist in the Dept. Mental Health Dix Hospital and in the Entomology Dept. at NC State University
• Research Scientist and Lecturer in Zoology & Cell Physiology at the Ruhr-Univ. in Bochum (Germany) 1973-82
• Habilitation in Zoology 1980
• Lecturer in Zoology and Human Anatomy at the Univ. of Fribourg (Switzerland) 1982-90
• Curator of the Natural History Museum in Aarau (Switzerland) and biology teacher at the Neue Kantonsschule Aarau 1990-2008.
• Retirement 2008.

Publications

Text book “Biology of Spiders” in 3 German editions (1979, 1992, 2015; ISBN 978-3-89973-444-7) and 3 English editions (1882, 1996, 2011; ISBN 9780199734825)

Ca. 100 original publications in international journals; a few key papers are listed below:

• Foelix, R. F. 1970: Chemosensitive hairs in spiders. J. Morphol. 132: 313-333, https://doi.org/10.1002/jmor.1051320306
• Oppenheim, R. W. & R. F. Foelix 1972: Synaptogenesis in the chick embryo spinal cord. Nature New Biol. 235: 126-128
• Foelix, R. F. 1975: Occurrence of synapses in peripheral sensory nerves of arachnids. Nature 254: 126-128; https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscihebets/32/
• Foelix, R. F. & D. Troyer 1980: Giant neurons and associated synapses in the peripheral nervous system of whip spiders. J. Neurocytol. 9: 517-535, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jemt.10136
• Foelix, R. F. 1985: Mechano- and chemoreceptive sensilla. In: Neurobiology of Arachnids (F. G. Barth, ed.), pp. 118-137. Springer Verlag Berlin; ISBN 978-3-642-70348-5
• Foelix, R. F., B. Rast & A. M. Peattie 2012: Silk secretion from tarantula feet revisited: alleged spigots are probably chemoreceptors. J. Exp. Biol. 215: 1084-1089 (PDF)
• Foelix, R. F., B. Erb. & D. E. Hill 2013: Structural colors in spiders. In: Spider Ecophysiology (W. Nentwig, ed.), pp. 333-346. Springer Verlag Berlin; ISBN 978-3-642-33988-2
• Foelix, R., I. Rechenberg, B. Erb, A. Albin & A. Aisenberg 2017: Sand transport and burrow construction in lycosid and sparassid spiders. J. Arachnol. 45: 255-264; https://doi.org/10.1636/JoA-S-16-058.1

Personal interests and activities

Drawing, graphics, medieval calligraphy, photography, classical music (violin), sports (running, cycling, Badminton), traveling (on road bikes), marine biology, fossils