Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben

Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben
Born	Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben 22 June 1744 (1744-06-22) Quedlinburg, Kingdom of Prussia
Died	19 August 1777 (1777-08-20) (aged 33) Göttingen, Electorate of Hanover, Holy Roman Empire
Alma mater	University of Göttingen
Mother	Dorothea Christiane Erxleben
Scientific career
Fields	Naturalist
Institutions	University of Göttingen
Doctoral advisor	Abraham Gotthelf Kästner
Doctoral students	Christian von Weigel

Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben (German: [ˈjoːhan ˈkʁɪsti̯a(ː)n ˈpɔlykaʁp ˈɛʁksˌleːbn̩]; 22 June 1744 – 19 August 1777) was a German naturalist from Quedlinburg.

Erxleben was professor of physics and veterinary medicine at the University of Göttingen. He wrote Anfangsgründe der Naturlehre (1772) and Systema regni animalis (1777). He was founder of the first and oldest academic veterinary school in Germany, the Institute of Veterinary Medicine, in 1771.

He was the son of Dorothea Christiane Erxleben, the first woman in Germany to earn a medical degree.