Erxleben was Professor of physics and veterinary medicine at the Georg-Augusta University in Göttingen. He wrote Anfangsgründe der Naturlehre and Systema regni animalis (1777).
Erxleben was raised in Seguin, Texas, where he was a stand-out as a high school kicker.
On September 18, 2000, Erxleben was sentenced by United States District Court Judge James R. Nowlin to 84 months in prison, and ordered to pay a total of $28 million in restitution and a one million dollar fine.
Erxleben's lawyers, the law firm of Locke, Liddell and Sapp, settled a related lawsuit for $22m in 2000.