Heinz Christian Pander

Heinz Christian Pander, aka Christian Heinrich Pander (24 July 1794 - 22 September 1865) was a Baltic German biologist and embryologist born in Riga.

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 (Zarnikau) on the banks of the Gauja River near Riga. In 1820 he took part in a scientific expedition to Bokhara as a naturalist, and in 1826 became a member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.

Pander studied the chick embryo 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, who expanded Pander's concept of germ layers to include all vertebrates.

Pander performed important studies in the field of paleontology, and was the first scientist to describe primitive creatures known as conodonts. He also did extensive research on fossils found in the Devonian 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.

Selected writings

• Beiträge zur Naturkunde aus den Ostseeprovinzen Rußlands, (Contributions from the Natural History of the Baltic Regions) Dorpat, (1820).
• Vergleichende Osteologie (Comparative Osteology) Seven Volumes, with Eduard Joseph d'Alton, Bonn: Weber, (1821–1828).
• 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)

References

• Gilbert, Developmental biology
• Latvian Technical and Scientific Achievements