Wilhelm von Branca

After having been an officer, and then a farmer, Branca studied geology in Halle and Heidelberg, receiving his doctorate in 1876.

He did postdoctoral work in Straßburg, Berlin, Munich, and in Rome with Karl Alfred von Zittel.

In 1917, von Branca retired from his posts as museum director and professor[1][2] He died in Munich in 1928.

Von Branca's research covered stratigraphy, volcanism, paleoanthropology, paleontology in general, and especially the evolution of ammonites and extinct vertebrates, including the finds of the German Tendaguru Expedition.

Von Branca was one of the driving forces behind that famous excavation effort in what was then German East Africa, and is today Tanzania.