Prof Erik Helge Osvald Stensiö H

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

(2 October 1891 – 11 January 1984), né Andersson, was an influential Swedish paleozoologist and founder of the so-called "Stockholm School" of

vertebrate paleontology Vertebrate paleontology is the subfield of paleontology that seeks to discover, through the study of fossilized remains, the behavior, reproduction and appearance of extinct vertebrates (animals with vertebrae and their descendants). It also t ...

. He later took his new surname, Stensiö, from his place of origin and is occasionally referred to with both names (as Erik Andersson Stensiö, Erik A. Stensiö or Erik A:son Stensiö)

Life

Erik Helge Oswald Andersson, as his original name was, was born in the village of Stensjö by in Döderhult parish in

Kalmar County Kalmar County () is a Counties of Sweden, county or ''län'' in southern Sweden. It borders the counties of Kronoberg County, Kronoberg, Jönköping County, Jönköping, Blekinge County, Blekinge and Östergötland County, Östergötland. To the ...

, the son of Johan Fredrik Andersson (d.1907), a farmer, and his wife, Otilia Maria Erlandson (d.1940). He was educated at

Linköping Linköping ( , ) is a city in southern Sweden, with around 167,000 inhabitants as of 2024. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping (Chu ...

Gymnasium. He then studied science at the

University of Uppsala Uppsala University (UU) () is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially founded in the 15th century, the university rose to s ...

, graduating BSc in 1912. He received his Ph.D. and a

docent The term "docent" is derived from the Latin word , which is the third-person plural present active indicative of ('to teach, to lecture'). Becoming a docent is often referred to as habilitation or doctor of science and is an academic qualifi ...

ship in paleontology from

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...

in 1921 and became professor and keeper at the Zoopaleontological (later called the Paleozoological) department of the Swedish Museum of Natural History in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

in 1923, a position he held until his retirement in 1959. Stensiö specialized in the anatomy and evolution of "lower"

vertebrate Vertebrates () are animals with a vertebral column (backbone or spine), and a cranium, or skull. The vertebral column surrounds and protects the spinal cord, while the cranium protects the brain. The vertebrates make up the subphylum Vertebra ...

s. His studies of

placoderm Placoderms (from Ancient Greek πλάξ 'plax'', ''plakos'''Plate (animal anatomy), plate' and δέρμα 'derma'''skin') are vertebrate animals of the class (biology), class Placodermi, an extinct group of prehistoric fish known from Pal ...

s showed them to be related to modern

shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...

s (though, now, placoderms are considered to be the sister group of all jawed vertebrates, in addition to sharks). His first major work, ''Triassic fishes from Spitzbergen'' (part I: Vienna 1921; part II: Stockholm 1925), was based on material collected during his expeditions to

Spitzbergen Svalbard ( , ), previously known as Spitsbergen or Spitzbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago that lies at the convergence of the Arctic Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean. North of mainland Europe, it lies about midway between the northern coast o ...

in 1912, 1913, 1915 and 1916. For his work, ''The Downtonian and Devonian Vertebrates of Spitzbergen, Part I'', Stensiö was awarded the Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal from the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

in 1926. In 1917 he changed his name from Andersson to Stensiö, adopting the name of his home-town. He founded the so-called "Stockholm School" in paleozoology, continued notably by his successors in the professorship, Erik Jarvik and Tor Ørvig. Stensiö was a member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences () is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for promoting nat ...

from 1927 and was elected a Foreign Member of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1946. He received the Wollaston Medal in 1953, and the Linnean Medal of the

Linnean Society of London The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript a ...

in 1957. He was awarded the

's prestigious Darwin-Wallace Medal in 1958. He died on 11 January 1984 at the Danderyd Hospital in

Family

He was married to Aina Laurell.

Legacy

Stensiö named several

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

of prehistoric vertebrates: *"''Acidorhynchus''" (='' Saurorhynchus'') *'' Acrorhabdus'' *''

Axelia ''Axelia'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric lobe-finned fish, which belonged to the family of Coelacanthidae Coelacanthidae is an extinct family of coelacanths found in freshwater and marine strata throughout the world, originating during t ...

'' *'' Birgeria'' *'' Boreaspis'' *'' Boreosomus'' *'' Braunosteus'' *'' Broughia'' *'' Buchanosteus'' *'' Dictyonosteus'' *'' Diplocercides'' *'' Dobrowlania'' *'' Endeiolepis'' *"''Glaucolepis''" (='' Pteronisculus'') *'' Helmolepis'' *''

Kujdanowiaspis ''Kujdanowiaspis'' is an extinct genus of arthrodire placoderm fish from the Early Devonian of Podolia (Ukraine), Poland and Spain. ''Kujdanowiaspis'' is known from many fragmentary head shields and body armours. Classification ''Kujdanowiaspis ...

'' *'' Laugia'' *'' Meridensia'' *'' Millerosteus'' *'' Mylacanthus'' *'' Ospia'' *'' Sassenia'' *'' Scleracanthus'' *'' Sinamia'' *'' Tapinosteus'' *'' Walterosteus'' *'' Wimania'' (="''Leioderma''") He also named several higher

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...

of prehistoric vertebrates: * Aspinothoracidi * Bobasatraniidae * Coccosteomorphi * Colobodontidae * Dunkleosteidae * Laugiidae * Endeiolepididae * Pachyosteomorphi * Parasemionotidae (="Ospiidae") * Phyllolepida * Zenaspidida * Zenaspididae The

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era during the Phanerozoic eon (geology), eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian per ...

fish ''

Stensioella ''Stensioella heintzi'' is an enigmatic placoderm of arcane affinity. It is only known from the Lower Devonian Hunsrück slate of Germany. The genus is named after Erik Stensiö, the species name honours Anatol Heintz. Anatomy ''Stensioella hei ...

'' and the

Triassic The Triassic ( ; sometimes symbolized 🝈) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.5 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.4 Mya. The Triassic is t ...

actinopterygian fish '' Stensionotus'' are named in his honour. Stensöfjellet, a mountain in Sassendalen (Spitsbergen, Svalbard), is named after him.

Selected publications

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

References

External links

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Nordisk familjebok (, 'Nordic Family Book') is a Swedish language, Swedish encyclopedia that was published in print from between 1876 and 1993, and that is now fully available in digital form via Project Runeberg at Linköping University. The public domain edit ...

, 2nd ed., vol. 3
History of the Department of Palaeozoology of the Swedish Museum of Natural History
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stenslo, Erik Swedish paleontologists 20th-century Swedish zoologists Paleozoologists 1891 births 1984 deaths Swedish ichthyologists Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Foreign members of the Royal Society Wollaston Medal winners Uppsala University alumni People from Kalmar