Carl Gans (7 September 1923 – 30 November 2009) was a German-born American zoologist and herpetologist. He and Glen Northcutt proposed the provocative theory of "new head theory", opened up evolutionary developmental biology as a new discipline.

Early life and education

Gans, who was Jewish, was born in Germany. While a teenager in 1939, he was able to escape

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

by fleeing to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, where he completed his education. He attended George Washington High School in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. In 1944 he earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

, and in 1950 an MS in Mechanical Engineering at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. In 1957 he received a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in Biology from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

."Carl Gans, Obituary". ''The New York Times''. Legacy.com.

Career

From 1947 to 1955 Gans worked as an engineer. From 1957 to 1958 he was a Fellow in Biology at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

. From 1958 to 1971 he taught biology at the State University of New York, Buffalo. From then on he was Professor of Biology at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Gans", p. 97). He retired in 1988. In 1997 he moved to Austin (Texas) where he had an adjunct position at The University of Texas. Gans was editor of the ''Biology of the Reptilia'' a 23-volume work published from 1969 to 2009.

Taxa described by Gans

Working in the scientific field of

herpetology Herpetology (from Ancient Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is a branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, salamanders, and caecilians (Gymnophiona)) and reptiles (in ...

, Gans described 22 new species of reptiles, and 4 new species of amphibians.

Taxa named in honor of Gans

Gans is commemorated in the scientific names of several reptiles: '' Amphisbaena carlgansi, Amphisbaena carli, Amphisbaena cegei, Cynisca gansi, Cyrtodactylus gansi, Dasypeltis gansi, Eutropis gansi, Lankascincus gansi'', and '' Nessia gansi''. www.reptile-database.org.

References

External links