CV
Martin Stephan Fischer (*10 July 1954 in Reutlingen) is a German zoologist, evolutionary biologist and movement researcher. Since 1993 Fischer has been professor of zoology and evolutionary biology at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena.
Fischer studied from 1975 to 1983 in Tübingen with Gerhard Mickoleit, Wolf-Ernst Reif and Dolf-Seilacher and in Paris with Francoise Jouffroy and Pascal Tassy. He was also influenced by his later encounter with Dietrich Starck. In 1986 Fischer received his doctorate (Dr. rer. nat.) from the University of Tübingen. His dissertation was entitled Die Stellung der Schliefer (Hyracoidea) im phylogenetischen System der Eutheria: zugleich ein Beitr. zur Anpassunsgeschichte d.Procaviidae. For one year he taught human anatomy at the Center for Morphology at the University of Frankfurt am Main. He then worked as a research assistant to Wolfgang Maier at the Zoological Institute in Tübingen. Immediately after his habilitation in 1993, he was appointed Head of the Department of Special Zoology and Evolutionary Biology at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, where he is still Director of the Institute and Department of the Phyletic Museum of the same name.
Martin S. Fischer is the founder of modern fluoroscopy or X-ray cine in Germany. His research and that of his working group includes all major groups of terrestrial vertebrates, especially mammals and birds. The largest relevant archive of the institute in the world ("Jena X-ray film collection") contains more than 60,000 X-ray films and about 20,000 films from the first 15 years of his working group. Since 2005, he has been intensively involved in the movement of dogs and has changed the way we look at the musculoskeletal system, especially in veterinary medicine. Since the late 1990s he has been involved in national and international projects to develop dog carts. Fischer has been and is involved in many national and international university, academic and technical committees (Scientific Council, DFG, CNRS) and has been active in building his faculty, including as dean in the post-reunification period
Together with his wife, the cultural critic Barbara Happe, he organises large annual art exhibitions for the university in the old tram depot in Jena. The exhibition features artists such as Frank Stella, Peter Halley and Rotraut. The couple are the owners of Haus Auerbach in Jena, the first private Bauhaus, built by Walter Gropius in 1924.
In 1986 Fischer received the sponsorship award of the German Society for Mammalogy for his doctorate. In 2018, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Department of Veterinary Medicine at Justus Liebig University of Giessen.
About the book "Dogs on the Move"
This book presents a wealth of fascinating insights into canine locomotion, a previously virtually unknown field, presented in a scientific style that is generally understandable. The extensive collection of data and pictures is thus treated in a richly illustrated publication. "Dog in motion", not only impresses with its scientific results and sets new benchmarks by animating the course of movement in video sequences, the illustrations serve a dual purpose, they are informative and aesthetic. The illustrations were created by Lauströer and Andikfar. This very interesting book does not appeal exclusively to scientists, but is aimed at all dog owners and people interested in dogs (or mammalian anatomy) in general, as outlined in the introduction. The book is accompanied by a DVD with extensive visual material including high-speed videos of selected dogs, X-rays and many animations. The innovative illustration style brings the anatomy of the dogs to life, illustrating the skeleton and muscles and connective tissues in motion. Based on the results of the largest study on the subject to date, an experiment involving 327 dogs of 32 different breeds, the book provides entirely new insights into the movement sequences that dogs perform. The accompanying DVD contains over 400 films, X-rays and 3D animations and demonstrates with precision and clarity both the variability and uniformity of canine locomotion. Previous studies on canine locomotion have focused on disorders of canine locomotion, while others have concentrated on specific aspects of movement. The exact sequences of movement within the locomotor system were unknown until Fischer and his team began studying healthy dogs in motion. The book "Dog in Motion" contains the comprehensive results of a study of more than 300 dogs and their movements at a stride, trot or canter. The dogs were studied using several techniques to reveal how they move. Martin Fischer and Karin Lilje used high-speed X-rays as well as infrared imaging based on reflex points placed on the dogs to record details of their movement from the side and the front. Combining these methods, they obtained data on the dogs' movements with a previously unknown accuracy. Interestingly, they found that no matter what breed of dog they tracked, the patterns of movement matched. Although the gaits of many breeds may seem very different, the basic movements of bones, muscles and connective tissues are not that different. Considering the proportions of the forelimbs of dogs, Fischer et al. found that they are almost identical in all breeds of dogs. As regards the total length of the forelimb, the length of the humerus is always exactly 27 per cent. From this it can be concluded that all dogs run very similarly - whether they are a toy breed or a German Shepherd or Great Dane. The study shows that previous representations and textbooks have been incomplete or even erroneous, especially when it comes to the heights of the corresponding parts of the thoracic and pelvic limbs. The scapula, representing the brachial plexus in dogs, and the os coxae are often depicted at the same level, whereas the actual location of these joints is in fact different. Rather, the femur (thigh) and scapula correspond, as do the humerus and tibia/fibula and the forearm and midfoot of the pelvic limb. According to the authors, the scapula and forearm move in corresponding motion with the thigh and midfoot of the pelvic limb, which is different than previously thought. The hip and shoulder joints of animals are not at the same level, these joints do not correlate with each other. And they're not the centre of rotation during movement. The centre of rotation of the forelimbs is the scapula. The scapula is connected to the skeleton only by muscles (a kind of synsarcosis). The shoulder joint itself remains almost immobile during movement. The great variety of domestic dogs move in essentially similar ways; the domestication-induced variation in morphology as an extreme form of selective breeding has not changed these basic similarities. It would be fascinating to compare all these highly interesting findings on dog movement with the findings on the "wolf in motion" to get an idea of the changes caused by domestication related to the process of movement. A human-bred wolf before sexual maturity could move and measure in the same way as dogs. It is possible that the basic movements would not be so different. Fischer and Lilje shed light on the process of locomotion in dogs. Their findings will also change academic teaching. The book "Dog in motion" should become an essential part of anatomy teaching in veterinary medicine and zoology courses.
New study
Every owner of a puppy or young dog is looking for answers to questions about puppy movement to prevent orthopedic diseases. Questions such as: how many minutes or hours is a puppy allowed to move?, what happens if this ideal value is exceeded?, will excess movement cause joint wear?, can a puppy be allowed to walk up and down stairs? Unfortunately, we don't know many answers to these questions to date, I mean, scientifically verified answers. And as the authors of the new study say: where knowledge ends, opinions begin. And they may not always be true. So, in order to learn the scientific facts about the development of movement in puppies and young dogs, a large, multi-year study on the development of movement in selected breeds was started in Germany in 2021 with the participation of Prof. Dr. Martin S. Fischer.
A study to answer questions such as:
- Does the movement pattern change during development from puppy to adult dog?
- How does the movement pattern change in an adult dog?
In addition, it addresses the question of whether detected deviations from the norm are an early indicator of musculoskeletal disorders. This means that, ideally, the development of diseases such as hip dysplasia or elbow dysplasia can be identified very early in the puppy. The aim is to document the diversity of development, especially of littermates, but at least within the same breed.
Measurements of movement parameters begin to be taken in puppies before the age of 16 weeks until after reaching adulthood. Dogs are followed for 3 years. The selection of breeds was based on the fact that some breeds are more likely to have hereditary musculoskeletal changes. The selected breeds were, with the help of prof.Dr.Peter Friedrich, President of the VDH, purebreds of the breeds Erdelterrier, Australian Shepherd, Beagle, Belgian Shepherds (Malinois, Groenedael, Laekenois, Tervueren), Bernese Mountain Dog, Border Collie, Boxer, Collie, Golden Retriever, Large Swiss Mountain Dog, Hovawart, Siberian Husky, Samoyed, Alaskan Malamute, Rottweiler, Scottish Terrier, Whippet, Welsh Corgi.
The examination is carried out using the CanidGait® treadmill system - a treadmill equipped with a matrix of pressure sensors that record vertical limb forces and detailed pressure distribution in the dog's paw, as well as metric parameters (stride lengths, gait cycle length, speed and duration, and the duration of the support and ascent phase - cadence). By detecting the position of the centre of gravity during locomotion, valuable information on gait symmetry is obtained.
During the study, participants complete questionnaires about their dog's development.
Read more here: https://gangwerkentwicklung.uni-jena.de/about
