He did so by applying to fossils the principles of comparative anatomy, asking what light the body shapes of living animals could cast on the shapes of creatures from the past.

之所以能做到这点是因为他将对比解剖学的规则应用于化石样本并探寻现存动物的体形对古代动物的体形有什么样的启发借鉴作用。

He is sixty-one years of age, but he became engaged to the daughter of Professor Morphy, his colleague in the chair of comparative anatomy.

他已经 61 岁了， 但他和他的比较解剖学系主任同事莫菲教授的女儿订婚了。