Alexander Pagenstecher (zoologist)

Heinrich Alexander Pagenstecher (18 March 1825, Elberfeld – 4 January 1889, Hamburg) was a German zoologist.

He studied medicine at the universities of Göttingen, Heidelberg and Berlin and furthered his education in Paris.

Following graduation, he worked as a general practitioner in his hometown of Elberfeld (1847), as a spa doctor in Salzbrunn (1848–49) and as a physician in Barmen (1849).

[1] Because of a serious injury to two of his fingers, he considered himself unfit for surgery and obstetrics, and subsequently shifted his attention from medicine to zoology.

[1] The herpetological species Pseudemoia pagenstecheri (southern grass tussock skink) is named in his honor.