Pontus Palmgren (27 April 1907 – 26 November 1993) was a Finnish ornithologist, arachnologist, and a professor of zoology at the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...

. He pioneered ethology and quantitative ecology in Finland.

Life and work

Palgren was born in Helsinki where his father

Alvar Palmgren Alvar Palmgren (28 April 1880 – 30 November 1960) was a Finnish botanist and plant ecologist. Palmgren studied botany at the University of Helsinki under professor J.P. Norrlin. He graduated (Fil.kand.) in 1906 and obtained his Ph.D. in 1914. H ...

was a professor of botany. He became interested at an early age in natural history and was influenced by his father's approach to statistical examination of phytogeography. He learned illustration and studied biology at the University of Helsinki. He studied drawing under

Eero Järnefelt Erik "Eero" Nikolai Järnefelt (8 November 1863 – 15 November 1937) was a Finnish painter and art professor. He is best known for his portraits and landscapes of the area around Koli National Park. He was a medal winner at the Paris ''Expositi ...

. His dissertation in 1930 was on bird distributions and habitats. He then worked as an

amanuensis An amanuensis () is a person employed to write or type what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another, and also refers to a person who signs a document on behalf of another under the latter's authority. In one example Eric Fenby ...

at the zoological museum from 1930 and became a professor of zoology in 1940. Among his bird studies were examinations of

zugunruhe ''Zugunruhe'' ( /ˈ tsuːk:ʊnʁuːə/; German: suːk:ʊnʁuːə; lit. 'migration-anxiety') is the experience of migratory restlessness. Ethology In ethology, ''Zugunruhe'' describes anxious behavior in migratory animals, especially in bird ...

and diurnal rhythms. He headed the Tvärminne zoological station from 1952. He served as an editor of the journal ''Ornis Fennica'' from 1931 to 1948. His textbook ''Eläinpsychologia'' (Animal Psychology) published in 1954, introduced the study of animal behaviour. He also published a faunistic work on spiders in eight parts from 1939 to 1977.

References

External links

Publications
{{DEFAULTSORT:Palmgren, Pontus 1907 births 1993 deaths University of Helsinki alumni Finnish zoologists