Heinz Christian Pander, also Christian Heinrich Pander ( – ), was a Russian Empire ethnic
Baltic German
Baltic Germans (german: Deutsch-Balten or , later ) were ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their coerced resettlement in 1939, Baltic Germans have markedly declined ...
biologist
A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual cell, a multicellular organism, or a community of interacting populations. They usually speciali ...
and
embryologist.
Biography
In 1817 he received his doctorate from the
University of Würzburg, and spent several years (1827–1842), performing scientific research from his estate in
Carnikava (german: Zarnikau) on the banks of the
Gauja River near Riga. In 1820 he took part in a scientific expedition to
Bokhara as a
naturalist. In 1826 he became a member of the
Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences.
Research
Pander studied the chick
embryo
An embryo is an initial stage of development of a multicellular organism. In organisms that reproduce sexually, embryonic development is the part of the life cycle that begins just after fertilization of the female egg cell by the male sperm ...
and discovered the
germ layers (i.e., three distinct regions of the embryo that give rise to the specific organ system). Because of these findings, he is considered by many to be the "founder of embryology". His work in embryology was continued by
Karl Ernst von Baer (1792-1876), who expanded Pander's concept of germ layers to include all
vertebrate
Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxon, taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () (chordates with vertebral column, backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the ...
s.
Pander performed important studies in the field of
paleontology
Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fos ...
, being known for his extensive research on fossils found in the
Devonian
The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, w ...
and
Silurian geological strata of the Baltic regions. His study of
trilobites from this age led to the adjective 'Panderian', first used by the Canadian palaeontologist,
Elkanah Billings. Pander is credited as the first scientist to describe primitive creatures known as
conodont
Conodonts ( Greek ''kōnos'', " cone", + ''odont'', " tooth") are an extinct group of agnathan (jawless) vertebrates resembling eels, classified in the class Conodonta. For many years, they were known only from their tooth-like oral elements, w ...
s.
Today the
Pander Society is an international association of
palaeontologists and
stratigrapher
Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock layers ( strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks.
Stratigraphy has three related subfields: lithostrat ...
s with a common interest in the study of conodonts.
He died in
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
.
Eponyms
Pander's eponyms are:
*
Pander's islands or
blood islands
Blood islands are structures around the developing embryo which lead to many different parts of the circulatory system. Blood islands arise external to the developing embryo on the umbilical vesicle, allantois, connecting stalk and chorion. They ...
Selected writings
* ''Beiträge zur Entwickelungsgeschichte des Hühnchens im Eye'', (Contributions to the embryology involving the chick egg), (1817).
* ''Beiträge zur Naturkunde aus den Ostseeprovinzen Rußlands'', (Contributions on the natural history of the
Baltic region
The terms Baltic Sea Region, Baltic Rim countries (or simply the Baltic Rim), and the Baltic Sea countries/states refer to slightly different combinations of countries in the general area surrounding the Baltic Sea, mainly in Northern Europe. ...
s) Dorpat, (1820).
* ''Vergleichende Osteologie'' (Comparative
osteology
Osteology () is the scientific study of bones, practised by osteologists. A subdiscipline of anatomy, anthropology, and paleontology, osteology is the detailed study of the structure of bones, skeletal elements, teeth, microbone morphology (biolo ...
) seven volumes, with
Eduard Joseph d'Alton
Joseph Wilhelm Eduard d’Alton (August 11, 1772 – May 11, 1840) was a German engraver and naturalist who was a native of Aquileia (today part of Italy). He was the father of anatomist Johann Samuel Eduard d'Alton (1803–1854).
Originall ...
,
Bonn
The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...
: Weber, (1821–1828).
* ''Beiträge zur geognosie des russischen reiches'', (Contributions to the
geology
Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ea ...
of the Russian Empire), 1830.
* ''Monographie der Fossilen Fische des silurischen Systems der Russisch-Baltischen Gouvernements'' (Monograph of fossil fish from the
Silurian stratum of the Baltic regions), St. Petersburg, (1856).
* ''Ueber die Placodermen des devonischen Systems'', (On
placoderms of the Devonian system), 1857.
* ''Über die ctenodopterinen des devonischen systems'', 1858
* ''Über die saurodipterinen, dendrodonten, glyptolepiden und cheirolepiden des devonischen systems'', 1860.
OCLC Classify
(publications)
See also
* List of Baltic German scientists
References
Gilbert, ''Developmental biology''
Latvian Technical and Scientific Achievements
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pander, Heinz Christian
1794 births
1865 deaths
Scientists from Riga
People from the Governorate of Livonia
Baltic German people from the Russian Empire
Paleontologists from the Russian Empire
Conodont specialists
Explorers from the Russian Empire
Biologists from the Russian Empire
Germ layers
Demidov Prize laureates
Full members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences