Eigil Hans Aage Nielsen (16 August 1910 – 8 December 1968) was a Danish

paleontologist 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 fossi ...

, who specialized in

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

vertebrate Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () ( chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, ...

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its ...

, particularly of

Triassic The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period ...

bony fish Osteichthyes (), popularly referred to as the bony fish, is a diverse superclass of fish that have skeletons primarily composed of bone tissue. They can be contrasted with the Chondrichthyes, which have skeletons primarily composed of cartilag ...

Life

Eigil Nielsen was born in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

on 16 August 1910, to

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

Hans Peder Nielsen and his wife Ellen Nielsen (née Pedersen). He attended Sorø Akademi gymnasium. Already at young age, he collected

s from different paleontological sites in Denmark. He later studied in Copenhagen, and received his Master's degree in 1935 and his doctorate degree in 1942. He studied especially fossil vertebrate faunas from Greenland, which were collected during multiple expeditions. In 1957, he became professor of paleontology in Copenhagen and

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

at the

Geological Museum in Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public research university in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia after Uppsala Unive ...

. He had been a member of the

Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters {{Infobox organization , name = The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters , full_name = , native_name = Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab , native_name_lang = , logo = Royal ...

since 1965. He died in Gentofte on 8 December 1968 after a long illness.

Research

Nielsen is mostly known for his in-depth

monograph A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monograph ...

s on Triassic ray-finned fishes from East

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

(''

Australosomus ''Australosomus'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric ray-finned fish that lived during the Early Triassic epoch. The interlocking scales (3 to 4 times long as wide), deeply forked caudal fin all help to distinguish this genus, which is known f ...

'', ''

Birgeria ''Birgeria'' is a genus of carnivorous marine ray-finned fish from the Triassic period. ''Birgeria'' had a global distribution. Fossils were found in Madagascar, Spitsbergen, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, China, Russia, Canada and N ...

'', ''

Boreosomus ''Boreosomus'' (meaning: "boreal body") is an extinct genus of Triassic ray-finned fish. It was first described from the Arctic island of Spitsbergen (Svalbard, Norway), but was later also discovered in other parts of the world. ''Boreosomus'' be ...

'', ''

Pteronisculus ''Pteronisculus'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric ray-finned fish that lived during the Early Triassic and Middle Triassic epochs of the Triassic period. It was first described under the name "''Glaucolepis''" by Erik Stensiö in 1921 and w ...

''), which were colleced from the

Wordie Creek Formation The Wordie Creek Formation is a geologic formation in Greenland. The Triassic Sediments from the region were first discovered in 1926 and preserve fossils dating back to the Triassic period. The temnospondyl '' Selenocara'' is from this formatio ...

during several expeditions. He also wrote studies on other Triassic ray-finned fishes (''

Bobasatrania ''Bobasatrania'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish that survived the Permian-Triassic extinction event. Fossils of ''Bobasatrania'' were found in beds of Changhsingian (late Permian) to Ladinian (Middle Triassic) age. It was most spe ...

'', '' Errolichthys''), Permian Chondrichthyes, Triassic amphibians, and

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene' ...

bony fishes and turtles, among others. He also published several

popular science ''Popular Science'' (also known as ''PopSci'') is an American digital magazine carrying popular science content, which refers to articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. ''Popular Science'' has won over 58 awards, incl ...

articles in Danish. He took part in

Lauge Koch Lauge Koch (5 July 1892 – 5 June 1964) was a Danish geologist and Arctic explorer. Biography Lauge Koch was born in 1892 to Karl and Elisabeth Koch. His development as a scientist was greatly influenced by his father's second cousin Johan Pet ...

's 1931 expedition to

and worked on the recovered

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, whe ...

vertebrate material (early

amphibians Amphibians are four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terrestrial, fossorial, arbore ...

, fish). For his studies, he spent longer periods in Stockholm with Erik Stensiö, where he learned new techniques in

paleozoology Palaeozoology, also spelled as Paleozoology (Greek: παλαιόν, ''palaeon'' "old" and ζῷον, ''zoon'' "animal"), is the branch of paleontology, paleobiology, or zoology dealing with the recovery and identification of multicellular anima ...

. In the winter of 1932/33, he was in Greenland again (

Cape Stosch A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. The ...

Clavering Ø Clavering Island ( da, Clavering Ø) is a large island in eastern Greenland off Gael Hamke Bay, to the south of Wollaston Foreland. The Eskimonaes ''(Eskimonæs)'' radio and weather station was on this island. It was staffed by Danish scientists ...

). This time he collected ammonoids and fish fossils from layers dating back to the Permian and Triassic periods. The Permian actinopterygian fish material was later worked on by

Hermann Aldinger Hermann or Herrmann may refer to: * Hermann (name), list of people with this name * Arminius, chieftain of the Germanic Cherusci tribe in the 1st century, known as Hermann in the German language * Éditions Hermann, French publisher * Hermann, Miss ...

, while Nielsen investigated the Triassic material. The tetrapod fossils were studied by Gunnar Säve-Söderbergh. In 1936/37, Nielsen was again in Greenland with Lauge Koch, when he discovered

Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carbonifero ...

fishes, which were later studied by James Allan Moy-Thomas. In 1939, Nielsen went back to Greenland with Eigil Knuth and

Ebbe Munck Ebbe Munck (14 January 1905 – 2 May 1974) was a resistance fighter during World War II (1939–1945). He operated out of Stockholm, Sweden, a neutral country, for the Danish resistance movement. Personal life and education Hans Ebbe Munck was ...

. Further Greenland expeditions followed in 1946 and 1955 as part of the

Geological Survey of Greenland The Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland ( da, Danmarks og Grønlands Geologiske Undersøgelse, GEUS) is the independent sector research institute under the Danish Ministry of Climate and Energy. GEUS is an advisory, research and survey i ...

(GEUS). In 1950, Nielsen did field research in the Himalayas ( Spiti region), where he collected Permo-Carboniferous and Triassic fish fossils. He traveled to South Africa and Madagascar in 1953. In the early 1960s, he conducted research in Thailand, where he gathered prehistoric artifacts.

Legacy

Nielsen named two

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

of Permian-Triassic

eugeneodontid The Eugeneodontida is an extinct and poorly known order of cartilaginous fishes. They possessed "tooth-whorls" on the symphysis of either the lower or both jaws and pectoral fins supported by long radials. They probably lacked pelvic fins and ana ...

holocephalan Holocephali ("complete heads"), sometimes given the term Euchondrocephali, is a subclass of cartilaginous fish in the class Chondrichthyes. The earliest fossils are of teeth and come from the Devonian period. Little is known about these primit ...

s, '' Erikodus'' and ''

Fadenia ''Fadenia'' is an extinct genus of eugeneodontid holocephalian chondrichthyan from the Carboniferous Period of Missouri (United States), the Permian period of Greenland, and the Early Triassic epoch of Greenland and Sulphur Mountain Formation o ...

'', a genus of Permian chondrichthyan, ''

Arctacanthus ''Arctacanthus'' is an extinct genus of cartilaginous fish from the Permian and possibly Triassic period. It is known by two described species from the Permian, ''A. uncinatus'' and ''A. wyomingensis.'' The former was described from Greenland whil ...

'', and a genus of Early Triassic

temnospondyl Temnospondyli (from Greek language, Greek τέμνειν, ''temnein'' 'to cut' and σπόνδυλος, ''spondylos'' 'vertebra') is a diverse order (biology), order of small to giant tetrapods—often considered Labyrinthodontia, primitive amphi ...

amphibian, '' Tupilakosaurus''. A genus and species of Permian ray-finned fish, '' Eigilia nielseni'', and a genus of Devonian lungfish, '' Nielsenia'', are named in his honor.

Selected publications

*Nielsen, E. 1932. Permo-Carboniferous fishes from East Greenland.

Meddelelser om Grønland ''Meddelelser om Grønland'' ("''Communications on Greenland''") is a Danish scientific periodical which publishes scientific results from all fields of research on Greenland. It was established by Frederik Johnstrup and published as a single seri ...

86 (3), p. 1–63. *Nielsen, E. 1935. The Permian and Eotriassic vertebrate-bearing beds at Godthaab Gulf (East Greenland). Meddelelser om Grønland 98, 1–111. *Nielsen, E. 1936. Some few preliminary remarks on Triassic fishes from East Greenland. Meddelelser om Grønland 112 (3), p. 1–55. *Nielsen, E. 1942. Studies on Triassic fishes from East Greenland 1. ''

Glaucolepis ''Trifurcula'' is a genus of moths of the family Nepticulidae. For the Triassic aged Actinopterygii, ray-fin "''Glaucolepis''" Stensiö, 1921 (non ''Glaucolepis'' Braun, 1917) see ''Pteronisculus''. Selected species *''Trifurcula aerifica'' (Me ...

'' and ''

''. Palaeozoologica Groenlandica 1, p. 1–403. *Nielsen, E. 1949. Studies on Triassic fishes from East Greenland 2. ''

'' and ''

''. Palaeozoologica Groenlandica 3, p. 1–309. *Nielsen, E. 1952. A preliminary note on ''

groenlandica''. Meddelelser fra Dansk Geologisk Forening 12 (12), p. 197–204. *Nielsen, E. 1952. On new or little known

Edestidae The Edestidae are a poorly known, extinct family of shark-like eugeneodontid holocephalid cartilaginous fish. Similar to the related family Helicoprionidae, members of this family possessed a unique "tooth-whorl" on the symphysis of the lower ...

from the Permian and Triassic of East Greenland. Meddelelser om Grønland 144, p. 1–55. *Nielsen, E. 1954: '' Tupilakosaurus heilmani'' n. g. et n. sp. an interesting batrachomorph from the Triassic of East Greenland. Meddelelser om Grønland 722 (8), 1–33. *Nielsen, E. 1955. Notes on Triassic fishes from Madagascar. Meddelelser fra Dansk Geologisk Forening 12, p. 563–578. *Nielsen, E. 1959. Eocene turtles from Denmark. Meddelelser fra Dansk Geologisk Forening 14, 96–114. *Nielsen, E. 1960. A new Eocene teleost from Denmark. Meddelelser fra Dansk Geologisk Forening 14, 247–252. *Nielsen, E. 1961. On the Eotriassic fish faunas of central east Greenland. In: Geology of the Arctic 1 (ed. G. O. Raasch), p. 255–257. University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Canada. *Nielsen, E. 1963. On the postcranial skeleton of '' Eosphargis breineri'' Nielsen. Meddelelser fra Dansk Geologisk Forening 15, 281–313. *Nielsen, E. 1967. New observations on the skull-roof of the holotype of '' Tupilakosaurus heilmani'' Nielsen. Journal of the Linnean Society (Zoology) 47, 311, 225–229.

References

External links

Dansk Biografisk LeksikonEigil Nielsen 16. August 1910 – 8. December 1968.
Dansk Geologisk Forening Årsskrift 1969, S. 87–96 {{DEFAULTSORT:Nielsen, Eigil Hans Aage 1910 births 1968 deaths Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters Paleozoologists 20th-century Danish zoologists Danish scientists People from Copenhagen People educated at Sorø Academy