Quenstedt, Friedrich August

Friedrich August Quenstedt, (born July 9, 1809, Eisleben, Saxony [now in Germany]—died Dec. 21, 1889, Tübingen, Ger.), German mineralogist and paleontologist.

Quenstedt studied at the University of Berlin under the crystallographer Christian Weiss and the geologist Leopold von Buch. From 1837 he was professor at the University of Tübingen.

By differentiating ammonite fossils, Quenstedt determined the stratigraphic sequence of rocks formed during the Jurassic Period in the Swabian region of southern Germany. He considered species to be indistinctly defined, a view that conflicted with the doctrine of catastrophism held by many of his contemporaries. He published his highly regarded Petrefaktenkunde Deutschlands (“Paleontology of Germany”) in seven parts (1846–84).