Discovery of the Polyp

Abstract

Hooke, Leeuwenhoek and Marsilius made good use of early microscopy to reveal the complexity of nature,s architecture and began to focus coral investigation on the nature of the coral polyp. This in turn led to the experimentation of the 18th century and the work of Peyssonnel and Trembley with their growing understanding of the differing structures of plants and animals. At the same time the observation of patterns in nature led to the need for systematic classification, and through Linnaeus and Ellis to a new taxonomy, focusing on vertebrates in four categories: mammals, birds, reptiles and fish. John Ellis studied the group of organisms called zoophytes, which led to his conclusion in a series of papers to the Royal Society that zoophytes were animals, which he termed corallina, and that there was a direct link between coral polyps and reef formation.