Günter Bechly

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Dr. Günter Bechly

Günter Bechly (born Sindelfingen, West Germany, October 16, 1963, deceased January 6, 2025[1]) was a German paleontologist and entomologist, specialising on fossil insects (especially odonates). He had his page on Wikipedia removed after he came out as a Young Earth Creationist in 2015, and lost his job at a museum.[2] His page on the German Wikipedia was never removed however.[3]

Life

Bechly was born in Sindelfingen to Ursula Elfriede Bechly, and Günter Erwin Hermann Bechly. He was married since 2005 to Maria Luise Bechly (*1979, née Winkelhofer) and had two sons including Lukas Hendrik Bechly (*2013).

Bechly studied biology at the University of Hohenheim and zoology, parasitology and paleontology at the University of Tübingen. In 1999 he finished his PhD thesis on the fossil history and phylogeny of dragonflies and damselflies. After working for nearly a year as scientific volunteer in 1999, Bechly began became curator for amber and fossil insects at the State Museum of Natural History in Stuttgart. He left the museum in December 2016.

Bechly studied biology at the University of Hohenheim from 1987 to 1991 and zoology, parasitology and paleontology at the University of Tübingen from 1991 to 1994. He received his diploma in 1994 under Gerhard Mickoleit on the morphology of dragonfly wings and in 1999 he received his doctorate summa laude under Wolf-Ernst Reif on the phylogenetic history of dragonflies. After almost a year of scientific traineeship, he began his work as curator of amber and fossil insects at the State Museum of Natural History in Stuttgart in 1999, which he completed in December 2016.[4] He made research visits to the Museum of Comparative Zoology and other natural history museums.[5] Research stays have taken him to the Museum of Comparative Zoology and numerous other natural history museums around the world.[6]

Bechly was married and had two sons. He lived with his family in Echsenbach.[7]

Work

Dr. Günter Bechly at work on Oct. 30 2013

Bechly's research as palaeoentomologist is mainly focussed on the evolution, phylogeny, and fossil history of odonates and other basal pterygotes, and fossil insects from the Upper Jurassic Solnhofen Plattenkalk of Germany and the Lower Cretaceous Crato Formation of Brazil, as well as diverse amber inclusions. Bechly described about 167 new species[8] and numerous higher taxa, including Lebanoraphidia nana and the associated genus.[9] The description of the new fossil insect order of chimera insects in 2011, which also provided new clues to the evolution of insect wings, attracted international attention.[5]

In 2016, he and colleagues introduced a new insect order, Permopsocida, which is now extinct.[10] At the end of 2013, Bechly and André Nel found a specimen (Psocorrhyncha burmitica) from Burma (Middle Cretaceous, around 100 million years old) in the amber collection of the Natural History Museum Stuttgart, and a colleague of Nel found another specimen of the order in a Chinese amber collection at about the same time. They belonged to the early pollinators in the Cretaceous period, fed on pollen, and are related to today's beaked insects and fringed wings. The order was relatively species-poor, existed for at least 185 million years and became extinct at the end of the Cretaceous Period 65 million years ago. So far, older fossils are only known from much earlier times than the new finds. The finds also provided clues to the evolution of the proboscis of the beaked kerfs from mouthparts originally used for chewing.

As project manager, Bechly organized the special exhibition "The River of Life – 150 Years of the Theory of Evolution" at Rosenstein Castle in 2009, which was one of the largest events for the "Darwin Year" celebrations in Germany with more than 90,000 visitors. The concept for this exhibition was one of the winners of the German VolkswagenStiftung's "Evolution Today" ideas competition in 2008.[11]

He has made television appearances as a studio guest on Planet Wissen and Sky Magazin as well as in various interviews on ZDF-Mittagsmagazin, Landesschau KulTour (SWR), nano (ZDF/3sat), as well as L-TVand Regio-TVnachrichten.[12]

Support for Intelligent Design

Bechly referred to his beliefs as axioarchical Neoplatonism and Pythagorean idealism. He was a Catholic and believed that a higher power creates all kinds of better worlds.[13] He saw this world as a simulation within a universal consciousness.[14] Bechly was a staunch follower of Richard Dawkins[15] and criticized Darwinism. Later, he rejected naturalism and materialism and, with regard to biological origins, advocated the intelligent design view with considerable doubts about the theory of evolution.[16] According to his own statement, purely scientific reasons moved him to take this step. However, Bechly expressly pointed out that he had not propagated these positions either in his previous work as a museum employee or in his paleontological publications.[17]

In 2015 Bechly went public with his criticism of Neodarwinism and his support for Intelligent Design theory on a new private webpage[18] and blog.[19] Bechly is a convert to Roman Catholic theism.[20] He says:

“ I am a Roman Catholic Christian, supernaturalist, and immaterialist. I strongly oppose atheism, materialism, naturalism, and scientism. I have not become a Christian in spite of being a scientist but because of it. My conversion was based on a critical evaluation of empirical data and philosophical arguments, following the evidence wherever it leads. I reject the Neodarwinian theory of evolution and support Intelligent Design theory for purely scientific reasons.[21] ”

He emphasized on his website that he strictly separates his private activities for Intelligent Design and Christian apologetics from his professional work as museum scientistand in his paleontological publications.[20]

Bechly has been a Senior Fellow of the Center for Science and Culture at the Discovery Institute in Seattle since 2016 and Senior Scientist at the Biologic Institute in Redmond, an institution also committed to intelligent design, since 2017. He participated in the intelligent design film Revolutionary (2016).[22]

Deletion of Wikipedia Page

Immediately after publicly revealing himself as a Young Earth Creationist, Gunter Bechly's Wikipedia page was taken down.

“ "Bechly even participated in a movie, 'Revolutionary,' produced by the Discovery Institute, that presented testimonies of scientists dubious of evolution. These activities prompted some Wikipedia editors to question Bechly’s scientific bona fides, and in turn the value of his biographical entry as a scientist in the encyclopedia. However, what began as an orderly debate about whether Bechly’s work qualifies him to have his own entry in Wikipedia and whether the entry about him meets the criteria required for academics – standards thoroughly covered by Wikipedia's general notability guidelines – soon deteriorated into a battle royal between science-minded Wikipedia editors and promoters of creationism....If Bechly’s article was originally introduced due to his scientific work, it was deleted due to his having become a poster child for the creationist movement."
-Omer Benjakob, Ha'aretz.[2]

"Günter Bechly is a distinguished paleontologist, specializing in fossil dragonflies, exquisitely preserved in amber for tens of millions of years. After revealing his support for the theory of intelligent design, he was pushed out as a curator at the State Museum of Natural History in Stuttgart, Germany. He subsequently joined Discovery Institute’s Center for Science & Culture as a Senior Fellow. Now we learn that our colleague has suffered another act of censorship: he has been erased from Wikipedia, ostensibly for not being 'notable' enough....Prior to disappearing, his Wikipedia entry dispassionately recounted his education, employment, and accomplishments, including an impressive scientific publications list and a variety of species and taxa named for him. It devoted a short paragraph to his “Support for Intelligent Design.” The case for erasing him seems to have been carried by three individuals."
-David Klinghoffer, Discovery Institute.[23]

"The English version of Wikipedia considered Dr. Bechly’s entry for deletion, very possibly because someone had noticed his new creationist credentials. You may find a transcript here. The Wikipedia editors claim, however, that his entry was deleted because he did not meet certain guidelines and that his being a creationist was irrelevant. The guidelines in question are general notability and a guideline that says, basically, just being a professor at a prestigious institution is not good enough....Dr. Bechly has a long and impressive list of publications (not to mention a handful of species named after him, which Wikipedia deems irrelevant). I looked him up on Google Scholar and found tens to hundreds of citations to the first 10 articles listed. He has appeared on German TV, and he organized what appears to have been a major Darwin celebration in 2009. I am not at all familiar with how Wikipedia applies its guidelines, but I would have guessed that Dr. Bechly would qualify as being generally notable. Indeed, I kind of agree with one commenter, who noted that he should be of interest precisely because of his conversion to creationism. I am going to go out on a limb and suggest that, had Dr. Bechly not converted to creationism, then he would have flown beneath the radar and his Wikipedia entry would have been safe. Unfortunately, he flew above the radar for a while, and some Wikipedia editor decided to have a closer look and ultimately decided to delete the entry."
-Matt Young, Panda's Thumb.[24]

”

Death

On January 6, 2025, he died in a car accident.[25] He was buried in Echsenbach.[26]

On January 7, 2025 the Discovery Institute eulogized Günter Bechly describing him as a "hero" and a "gifted and prolific scientist."

“ "We are shocked and grieved to report the death of our friend and colleague Günter Bechly, on January 6 in an auto crash in Austria. He was 61... Dr. Bechly, a paleontologist who was pushed out of his position as a curator at the State Museum of Natural History in Stuttgart, Germany, after becoming persuaded by the evidence for intelligent design, was not just a gifted and prolific scientist. He was a hero. Changing your view about a controversial matter when it costs you nothing is one thing. When it costs you, in the professional context, everything — that is quite another... As an academic field, evolutionary biology is a bully’s playground where the use of intimidation to silence doubters is just the way things are done. Bechly refused to be bullied and thus gave courage to many in the science world, including friends of ID that you will be hearing more about in years to come. It could be called (not my formulation) the Bechly Effect. One person gives courage to others, and it builds from there. He wanted to know what was true. In Germany, in organizing an exhibit at his museum celebrating the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth, he almost on a whim decided that if he was going to mock intelligent design, as he intended, he really ought to read a few books by those ID rascals. The experience changed him profoundly. That story is memorably told in the documentary Revolutionary. The switch to ID cost him his job but it won him many friends in the ID world. He will be terribly missed."

-David Klinghoffer, Discovery Institute.[27]

”

Eponymy

The following new taxa and species have been named after him:[5]

  • Bechlyidae Jarzembowski & Nel, 2002 (a monotypic family of Protozygoptera from the Upper Carboniferous)
  • Bechlya ericrobinsoni Jarzembowski & Nel, 2002 (the oldest damselfly from the Upper Carboniferous of England)
  • Gorgopsidis bechlyi Wunderlich, 2004 (a salticid spider from Eocene Baltic amber).
  • Colossocossus bechlyi Menon & Heads, 2005 (a giant cicada from the Lower Cretaceous Crato Formation).
  • Protobaetisca bechlyi Staniczek, 2007 (a mayfly from the Lower Cretaceous Crato Formation).
  • Carventus bechlyi Heiss & Poinar, 2012 (an aradid bug from Oligocene/Miocene Dominican amber)
  • Cretevania bechlyi Jennings, J.T., Krogmann, L. & Mew, S.L., 2013 (a wasp from Cretaceous Burmese amber)
  • Matuna bechlyi Stebner & Kraemer, 2014 (a psychodid dipteran from Mexican amber).
  • Pseudostenolestes bechlyi Garrouste & Nel, 2015 (the first Cenozoic record for the odonate suborder Isophlebioptera from Messel)

Publications

  • Bechly, G. (1996): Morphologische Untersuchungen am Flügelgeäder der rezenten Libellen und deren Stammgruppenvertreter (Insecta; Pterygota; Odonata) unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Phylogenetischen Systematik und des Grundplanes der *Odonata. - Petalura, spec. vol. 2: 402 pp.
  • Bechly, G. (2004): Evolution and systematics. - pp. 7–16 in: Hutchins, M., Evans, A.V., Garrison, R.W. & Schlager, N. (eds): Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. 2nd Edition. Volume 3, Insects. 472 pp. - Gale Group, Farmington Hills, MI.
  • Bechly, G. (2010): Additions to the fossil dragonfly fauna of the Lower Cretaceous Crato Formation of Brazil (Insecta: Odonata). - Palaeodiversity, 3 (Supplement "Contributions to the Willi-Hennig-Symposium on Phylogenetics and Evolution, University of Hohenheim, 29 September – 2 October 2009"): 11-77.
  • Bechly, G., Brauckmann, C., Zessin, W. & Gröning, E. (2001): New results concerning the morphology of the most ancient dragonflies (Insecta: Odonatoptera) from the Namurian of Hagen-Vorhalle (Germany). - J. zool. Syst. evol. Res., 39(2001): 209-226.
  • Bechly, G., Haas, F., Schawaller, W., Schmalfuss, H. & Schmid, U. (2001): Ur-Geziefer - Die faszinierende Evolution der Insekten. - Stuttgarter Beitr. Naturk. Ser. C, 49: 96 pp.
  • Bechly, G., Nel, A., Martínez-Delclòs, X., Jarzembowski, E.A., Coram, R., Martill, D., Fleck, G., Escuillié, F., Wisshak, M.M. & Maisch, M. (2001): A revision and phylogenetic study of Mesozoic Aeshnoptera, with description of several new families, genera and species (Insecta: Odonata: Anisoptera). - Neue paläontologische Abhandlungen, 4: 219 pp.
  • Bechly, G. & Wichard, W. (2008): Damselfly and dragonfly nymphs in Eocene Baltic amber (Insecta: Odonata), with aspects of their palaeobiology. - Palaeodiversity, 1: 37-74.
  • Fleck, G., Bechly, G., Martínez-Delclòs, X., Jarzembowski, E.A., Coram, R. & Nel, A. (2003): Phylogeny and classification of the Stenophlebioptera (Odonata: Epiproctophora). - Annales de la Société Entomologique de France, n.s. 39(1): 55-93.
  • Fleck, G., Bechly, G., Martínez-Delclòs, X., Jarzembowski, E. & Nel, A. (2004): A revision of the Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous dragonfly family Tarsophlebiidae, with a discussion on the phylogenetic positions of the Tarsophlebiidae and Sieblosiidae (Insecta, Odonatoptera, Panodonata). - Geodiversitas, 26(1): 33-60.
  • Huguet, A., Nel, A., Martínez-Delclòs, X., Bechly, G. & Martins-Neto, R. (2002): Preliminary phylogenetic analysis of the Protanisoptera (Insecta: Odonatoptera) [Essai d'analyse phylogénétique des Protanisoptera (Insecta: Odonatoptera)]. - Geobios, 35: 537-560.
  • Jarzembowski, E.A., Martínez-Delclòs, X., Bechly, G., Nel, A., Coram, R. & Escuillé, F. (1998): The Mesozoic non-calopterygoid Zygoptera: descriptions of new genera and species from the Lower Cretaceous of England and Brazil and their phylogenetic significance (Odonata, Zygoptera, Coenagrionoidea, Hemiphlebioidea, Lestoidea). - Cretaceous Research, 19: 403-444.
  • Martill, D.M., Bechly, G. & Loveridge, R.F. (eds) (2007): The Crato Fossil Beds of Brazil: Window into an Ancient World. xvi + 625 pp. - Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
  • Nel, A., Bechly, G., Jarzembowski, E. & Martínez-Delclòs, X. (1998): A revision of the fossil petalurid dragonflies (Insecta: Odonata: Anisoptera: Petalurida). - Paleontologia Lombarda, N.s., 10: 68 pp.
  • Nel, A., Bechly, G., Prokop, J., Béthoux, O. & Fleck, G. (2012): Systematics and evolution of Palaeozoic and Mesozoic damselfly-like Odonatoptera of the "protozygopteran" grade. - Journal of Paleontology, 86(1): 81-104.
  • Olmi, M. & Bechly, G. (2001): New parasitic wasps from Baltic amber (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Dryinidae). - Stuttgarter Beitr. Naturk. Ser. B, 306: 1-58.
  • Schmid, U. & Bechly, G. (2009) (eds): Evolution - Der Fluss des Lebens. - Stuttgarter Beitr. Naturk. Ser. C, 66/67: 197 S. (second revised edition published 2010)
  • Staniczek, A., Bechly, G. & Godunko, R.J. (2011): Coxoplectoptera, a new fossil order of Palaeoptera (Arthropoda: Insecta), with comments on the phylogeny of the stem group of mayflies (Ephemeroptera). - Insect Systematics & Evolution, 42: 101-138.

Literature

Videos

A German Scientist Speaks Out about Intelligent Design:

Fossil Discontinuities: A Refutation of Darwinism and Confirmation of Intelligent Design:

Conflicting Evidence for Common Ancestry from the Fossil Record (Dr. Gunter Bechly):

External links

References

  1. ↑ "Wir trauern um - Günter Bechly". https://www.bestattung-allentsteig.at/sterbefall/dr-guenter-bechly/?action=parte. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Benjakob, O. (2017, November 17). "A Respected Scientist Comes Out Against Evolution – and Loses His Wikipedia Page." Haaretz.
  3. ↑ "Günter Bechly." German Wikipedia.
  4. ↑ "Dr. Gunter Bechly." Naturkunde Museum Stuttgart.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Probst, E. 2011
  6. ↑ E. Probst: Wer war der Stammvater der Insekten? 2011, ISBN 978-3-656-09068-7.
  7. ↑ "Private Life." In: bechly.at. Retrieved 23 March 2025.
  8. ↑ Demers-Potvinin, A.V. & Larsson, H.C.E. (2025, March). "High Local Variability in Elevation of the Oldman-Dinosaur Park Formation Contact Revealed by Digital Outcrop Reconstruction, and Implications for Dinosaur Biostratigraphy of the Late Cretaceous (Campanian) Belly River Group of Alberta, Canada." Palaeontologia Electronica 28(1):a13. doi.org/10.26879/1447
  9. ↑ G. Bechly, K. Wolf-Schwenninger (2011, January 1). "A New Fossil Genus and Species of Snakefly (Raphidioptera: Mesoraphidiidae) from Lower Cretaceous Lebanese Amber, with a Discussion of Snakefly Phylogeny and Fossil History." Insect Systematics and Evolution 42(2), 221-236. doi.org/10.1163/187631211X568164
  10. ↑ Huang, D.; Bechly, G.; Nel, P.; Engel, M.S.; Prokop, J.; Azar, D.; Cai, C.; van de Kamp, T.; Staniczek, A.H.; Garrouste, R.; Krogmann, L.; dos Santos Rolo, T.; Baumbach, T.; Ohlhoff, R.; Shmakov, A.S.; Bourgoin, T.; Nel, A. (2016). "New Fossil Insect Order Permopsocida Elucidates Major Radiation and Evolution of Suction Feeding in Hemimetabolous Insects (Hexapoda: Acercaria)." Scientific Reports 6:23004. ISSN 2045-2322 doi:10.1038/srep23004
  11. ↑ (2008, December 4). "Der Fluss des Lebens – 150 Jahre Evolutionstheorie." Brights - Die Natur des Zweifels.
    Press report by the VolkswagenStiftung.
  12. ↑ Bechly, G. (2015, September 23). "Homepage of Dr. Gunter Bechly." Naturkunde Museum Stuttgart.
  13. ↑ Bechly, G. (2025, November 11). "Development of my World View." Dr. Günter Bechly - Fossils vs Darwin.
  14. ↑ Bechly, G. (2019, November 28). "Quanten-Idealismus und Simulations-Hypothese." Zentrum für BioKomplexität & NaturTeleologie.
  15. ↑ Jörn Schumacher: Ich wurde Christ, weil ich Wissenschaftler bin. In: pro. Christliches Medienmagazin. Nr. 6, 2017, S. 16 f.
  16. ↑ Andreas Mäckler: „Happy Darwin Day!“ Zensor des Jahres ist Wikipedia. Interview mit Günter Bechly, Paläontologe. 2020, S. 38 f.
  17. ↑ Günter Bechly. "Intelligent Design vs Neodarwinism." (2016, June 3 in Webarchive archive.today)
  18. ↑ http://gbechly.jimdo.com/world-view/intelligent-design
  19. ↑ "The Lamoureux-Delusion". http://gbechly.jimdo.com/2016/03/21/the-lamoureux-delusion/. Retrieved 4 September 2019. 
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 "Dr. Günther Bechly - Fossils vs Darwin". https://gbechly.jimdo.com/world-view/metaphysics-theology/. Retrieved 4 September 2019. 
  21. ↑ Günter Bechly, Ph.D. Paleontologist: About me (Archived.)
  22. ↑ "Gunter Bechly." Discovery Institute, Center for Science and Culture.
  23. ↑ Klinghoffer, D. (2017, October 10). "Wikipedia Erases Paleontologist Günter Bechly." Discovery Institute.
  24. ↑ Young, M. (2017, November 18). "Creationist's Wikipedia Page Removed." Panda's Thumb.
  25. ↑ Niederösterreich (June 1, 2025). "Ehefrau schlug Alarm: Aus Verzweiflung? Die Hintergründe zur Todesfahrt." Kronen Zeitung.
  26. ↑ "Sterbefall Dr. Günther Bechly." bestattung-allentsteig.at.
  27. ↑ Klinghoffer, D. (2025, January 7). "Farewell to Günter Bechly." Discovery Institute.
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