Brian G. Gardiner (biologist) explained

Brian George Gardiner
Birth Date:30 October 1932
Birth Place:Cashes Green
Death Place:London
Occupation:Palaeontologist

Brian George Gardiner PPLS (30 October 1932 – 21 January 2021)[1] was a British palaeontologist and zoologist, specialising in the study of fossil fish (palaeoichthyology).

Early life and education

Gardiner was born on 30 October 1932 in Cashes Green, Gloucestershire. He was educated at Marling School, Stroud and then took a first degree in zoology at Imperial College London, where he specialised in entomology. This was followed by a PhD in palaeontology at University College London at which time he was a scientific associate at the Natural History Museum, London.[2]

Academic career

Gardiner was appointed an assistant lecturer in palaeontology at Queen Elizabeth College in 1958, and was later made Professor of Palaeontology at the Department of Biology at the same college. Queen Elizabeth College later merged with King's College London (1985). In 1963, he worked on secondment at the University of Alberta, Edmonton.[3] [4] In 1969, Gardiner described seven new genera and species of palaeoniscid fish from the Witteberg Series in South Africa.[5] He was president of the Linnean Society of London 1994–1997, and was later made a Fellow Honoris Causa of the same society.https://www.linnean.org/our-fellows/royal-patrons-and-honorary-fellows He was an advisor on palaeontology to the Natural History Museum in London.

His research interests were in the anatomy, taxonomy and evolution of fish, particularly actinopterygians, including Devonian palaeoniscids.

Gardiner also investigated the celebrated Piltdown Man palaeontological forgery.[6]

Gardiner retired from King's College in 1998.

Legacy

Gardiner named seven genera of Carboniferous ray-finned fish, Australichthys, Aestuarichthys, Willomorichthys, Sundayichthys, Dwykia, Adroichthys and Soetendalichthys (=Aestuarichthys),[5] [7] and two genera of Triassic ray-finned fish, Albertonia[4] and Endemichthys.[8]

Two genera of Permian palaeoniscoid fish, Gardinerichthys[9] and Gardinerpiscis,[10] were named in his honour.

Marriage and children

Gardiner married Elizabeth Jameson in 1961. They had three children; Nicholas, Catherine and Clare.

Death

Gardiner died in London on 21 January 2021, aged 88. He was survived by his wife, three children and seven grandchildren.

Selected publications

Notes and References

  1. Richter, M., (2021): The Passing of Prof Brian George Gardiner. Pangaea. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/349848388_The_Passing_of_Prof_Brian_George_Gardiner
  2. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/apr/15/brian-gardiner-obituary The Guardian, obituary, published 15 April 2021
  3. Web site: History of QEC Biology Department .
  4. Book: Gardiner, B. G. . 1966 . Catalogue of Canadian fossil fishes . University of Toronto Press . Toronto . Contribution (Royal Ontario Museum. Life Sciences Division) . 154 . 10.5962/bhl.title.52135.
  5. New palaeoniscoid fish from the Witteberg series of South Africa . Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 48. 4. 423–452. 10.1111/j.1096-3642.1969.tb00722.x. 1969. Gardiner. B. G..
  6. Gardiner . B. G. . 2003 . The Piltdown forgery: a re-statement of the case against Hinton . Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society . 139 . 3 . 315–335 . 10.1046/j.1096-3642.2003.00079.x. free .
  7. Web site: Paleobiology Database .
  8. Forey . P. L. . Gardiner . B. G. . 1973 . A new dictyopygid from the Cave Sandstone of Lesotho, southern Africa . Palaeontologia Africana . 15 . 29–31 . .
  9. Heyler . D. . 1976 . Sur le genre Amblypterus Agassiz (actinoptérygien du Permien inférieur) . Bulletin — Société d'Histoire Naturelle d'Autun . 78 . 17–37. .
  10. Romano . Carlo . Kogan . Ilja . 2015 . Gardinerpiscis nom. nov., a replacement name for the preoccupied genus name Gardineria Kazantseva-Selezneva, 1981 (Actinopterygii, Osteichthyes) . Paleontological Journal . 49 . 6 . 677–678 . 10.1134/S0031030115060118. 86206512 .

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