In some cases, this phocomely abnormal condition was the result of a pregnant woman taking thalidomide, a sleeping pill, during early pregnancy.
2. Etymology: from the resemblance of the flippers of a seal; from Greek phoke, "a seal" + melos, "a limb, an extremity"; such as, the hands and feet.
"phocomelic" singer and voice teacher.
A talented bass-baritone singer and voice teacher
Thomas Quasthoff was born in Hildesheim, Germany, on November 9, 1959. He is a German bass-baritone generally regarded as one of the finest singers of his generation.
Quasthoff has proven to have a remarkable range from the Baroque cantatas of Bach to solo jazz improvisations.
He was born with serious birth defects caused by his mother's exposure during pregnancy to the drug thalidomide which was prescribed as an antiemetic to combat her morning sickness.
Thomas Quasthoff is unusually short, about four feet tall, as a result of the shortening of the long bones in his legs, and he has phocomelia of the upper extremities with very short or absent long bones and flipper-like appearances of his hands. In medical terms, Quasthoff has thalidomide syndrome.
Quasthoff is a full-time voice professor and performer. Prior to his music profession, he worked for six years as a radio announcer for NDR (Norddeutscher Rundfunk) or the North German Broadcasting company, a public radio and television broadcaster, located in Hamburg, Germany.