Christoffer Schander

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Christoffer Schander is professor in marine biology at the University of Bergen, Norway. He was born in Sweden in 1960. His doctoral thesis (1997), from University of Gothenburg, Sweden, treated the evolutionary relationships of the parasitic gastropod family Pyramidellidae. He works on marine invertebrates, mainly molluscs, and, according to Web of Science, has published 32 papers in peer-reviewed journals, with nine of them being cited more than 10 times.

The most widely referred to are:

Schander C, Thollesson M. "Phylogenetic taxonomy - Some Comments" Zoologica Scripta 24(3): 263-268 1995 Times Cited: 70
Warén A, Gofas S, Schander C. "Systematic position of three European heterobranch Gastropods" Veliger 36(1): 1-15 1993 Times Cited: 25
Passamaneck YJ, Schander C, Halanych KM "Investigation of molluscan phylogeny using large-subunit and small-subunit nuclear rRNA sequences" Molecular phylogenetics and evolution 32(1): 25-38 2004 Times Cited: 21
Schander C, Halanych KM "DNA, PCR and formalinized animal tissue - a short review and protocols" Organisms, Diversity and Evolution 3(3): 195-205 2003 Times Cited: 19
Dahlgren TG, Akesson B, Schander C, et al. "Molecular phylogeny of the model annelid Ophryotrocha" Biological Bulletin 201(2): 193-203 2001Times Cited: 18
Caron JB, Scheltema A, Schander C, Rudkin, D "A soft-bodied mollusc with radula from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale" Nature" 442(7099): 159-163 2006 Times Cited: 15
Schander C, Willassen E "What can biological barcoding do for marine biology?" Marine Biological Research 1(1): 79-83 2005 Times Cited: 15

According to his web page, the goal of his research is to understand the role that evolutionary forces and phylogeny have played in creating organismal diversity. To develop this understanding he uses phylogenetic analyses that integrate morphological, ultrastructural and molecular data. His research focuses on the molluscs, because of the amazing morphological diversity of recent taxa, and because of their fossil record dating back to the Precambrian. More specifically, his research has focused on the ectoparasitic pyramidellid gastropods and the, shell-less, primary deep-sea aplacophorans. He is also interested in the biogeography of these animals, and is also studying the relationship between the molluscs, and other animal groups and population genetics of several organisms.