Rupert Riedl (1925-2005) was an Austrian zoologist renowned for his work in the field of marine research (biology of marine caves, fauna and flora of the Mediterranean Sea) as well as for his contributions to the systems theory of evolution and evolutionary epistemology. Films such as “Das Leben im Riff” (“Life in the Reef”, 1951), “Lichter unter Wasser” (“Lights under Water”, 1952), and others also made him well known to a wider audience. He conducted his research at the University of Vienna. In 1967 he was appointed full professor and research professor of Marine Sciences at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, USA.
Later in life he also dealt with social and environmental issues. Among other activities, he was founder of the Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research and the founding president of the Club of Vienna.
Even after his retirement in 1995, he continued to hold lectures at the University of Vienna, withevolution being the main topic during that time. He criticized Darwin's determining factors as insufficient; he described mutation as a "blind constructor", selection as a "short-sighted opportunist". He already suspected some type of preselection in the realm of genes – a theory that he also expounded upon in his books.