| Activity | Ihering was most involved with studies on fossil molluscs (though he also wrote extensively on birds, mammals, ethnology, and several other subjects), and from this vantage point he became one of the turn-of-the-century's leading theorists on the relation between evolution and paleogeography. His examination of the molluscan fossil record in South America and attempts to compare it with the paleofaunas of other southern continents led him to conclude that there must have been Tertiary connections--land bridges--linking the latter. Ihering's theory was based on real commonalities that would later be understood via plate tectonics theory, but even at the time his arguments were weakened by taxonomic misunderstandings and a poor appreciation of the ages of the stratigraphic units he was dealing with.
Enlisted in 117th regiment of musketeers in Vienna 1870. Becomes a lecturer in Zoology at the University of Erlangen 1876. Moves to Brazil in 1880 to work as a physician. In 1883 he was hired as an explorer by the National Museum, Rio de Janeiro and in 1887 he began supervising the reconstruction of the Paulista Museum, Sao Paulo. In 1893 he was appointed as director of the Paulista Museum, where he remained until his dismissal in 1916. He returned to Germany in 1924 and in 1926 he was made honorary professor of Zoology and Palaeontology at the University of Geissen.
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