Meemann Chang
Meemann Chang | |
|---|---|
| Born | Zhang Miman April 17, 1936 Nanjing, Jiangsu, China |
| Occupation | Paleontologist |
| Known for | First female director of IVPP; contributions to vertebrate paleontology |
Meemann Chang (; born 17 April 1936), also referred to as Zhang Miman, is a distinguished Chinese paleontologist affiliated with the IVPP. She completed her undergraduate studies at Moscow University and attained her doctoral degree with a dissertation titled The braincase of Youngolepis, a Lower Devonian crossopterygian from Yunnan, south-western China, at Stockholm University. In 1983, she made history as the first female director of IVPP. Chang's significant achievements in paleontology were honored by an honorary doctorate from the University of Chicago in 2011 and the prestigious Romer-Simpson Medal awarded by the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in 2016.
Biography
Born on 17 April 1936 in Nanjing, Jiangsu, Zhang hailed from a prosperous and highly educated family with ancestral origins in Shengzhou, Zhejiang. Her father was an alumnus of the University of Chicago. During the turmoil of the Second Sino-Japanese War, her family moved several times before finally settling in Nantong.
After finishing high school at Shanghai Tongji High School in 1953, she enrolled at Beijing Institute of Geology (now known as China University of Geosciences (Beijing)). Supported by government sponsorship, she pursued further education at Moscow State University and subsequently joined the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology within the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In 1965, she undertook a visiting scholar position at Sweden’s National Museum of Natural Science. Following China's reform era, she earned her PhD from Stockholm University in 1982. Zhang held the directorship of IVPP from 1983 to 1990 and led the Paleontological Society of China as its chairperson between 1993 and 1997.
Her academic honors include honorary doctorates awarded by the University of Chicago in 2011 and the Richard Gilder Graduate School at the American Museum of Natural History in 2015. Additionally, on 2 July 2021, asteroid 347336 was named to commemorate her contributions.
Contributions
Several taxa have been named to honor Zhang, such as the extinct sarcopterygian fish Meemannia, the theropod dinosaur 'Sinovenator changii' and extinct ornithuromorph birds including Archaeornithura meemannae and Meemannavis ductrix. An anatomical structure unique to yunnanolepid antiarch placoderms has also been designated "Chang's Apparatus" in recognition of her work.
A dedicated volume titled Morphology, Phylogeny and Paleobiogeography of Fossil Fishes was published as a tribute to her scientific legacy.
Zhang is credited with initially describing and subsequently revising the fossil genus Paralycoptera, as well as describing fossil genera such as Diabolepis and Youngolepis.
Selected publications
- Liu, H. & Chang, M. First identification of helicoprionid fossils in China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica (1963).
- Chang, M. New specimens of Mesoclupea from southeastern China and taxonomic assessment of the genus. Vertebrata PalAsiatica (1963).
- Chang, M. & Chou, J. Fossil fishes from Mesozoic and Cenozoic hydrocarbon-bearing strata in eastern China and their sedimentary contexts. Vertebrata PalAsiatica (1978).
- Chang, M. Paleontology: Fossil fish nominated for election. Nature 403, 152–153 (2000).
- Chang, M., Miao, D., Chen, Y., Zhou, J. & Chen, P. Catostomid suckers from China's Eocene elucidating modern family distributions. Sci. China Ser. D-Earth Sci. 44, 577–586 (2001).
- Chang, M., Peiji, C., Yuanqing, W. & Yuan, W. Jehol Biota. Shanghai: Shanghai Scientific and (2003).
- Chen, G., Fang, F. & Chang, M. A novel cyprinid related to cultrins+xenocyprinins from mid-Tertiary South China. J. Vertebr. Paleontol. 25, 492–501 (2005).
- Chang, M., Zhang, J. & Miao, D. A lamprey specimen from Cretaceous Jehol biota in China. Nature 441, 972–974 (2006).
- Wang, X. ... Chang, M. et al. Vertebrate paleontology and paleoenvironmental studies of Qaidam Basin on northern Tibetan Plateau. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 254, 363–385 (2007).
- Chang, M. et al. Thick-boned fish linked to Qaidam Basin aridification (Tibetan Plateau). Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. 105, 13246–13251 (2008).
- Liu, J. & Chang, M. New Eocene catostomid from northeastern China shedding light on early Catostomidae evolution. Sci. China Ser. D-Earth Sci. 52, 189–202 (2009).
- Xu, G.-H. & Chang, M. Redescription of †Paralycoptera wui from Early Cretaceous eastern China deposits. Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 157, 83–106 (2009).
- Wang, N. & Chang, M. Pliocene cyprinids discovered in Kunlun Pass Basin with implications for regional uplift and hydrological development. Sci. China Earth Sci. 53, 485–500 (2010).
- Chen, G. & Chang, M. Description of a new early cyprinin species from Oligocene South China strata. Sci. China Earth Sci. 54, 481–492 (2011).
- Wang, N. & Chang, M. Fossil Nemacheilids identified on Tibetan Plateau in China: significance for ichthyofaunal history. Sci. China Earth Sci. 55, 714–727 (2012).
Honours
- Elected as a Member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering in 1991
- Designated Foreign Fellow of the Linnean Society of London in 1995
- Appointed Foreign Fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 2011
- Awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree by the Richard Gilder Graduate School at the American Museum of Natural History in 2015
- Recipient of the Romer-Simpson Medal from the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in 2016
- Featured in the Asian Scientist list of Asian Scientist 100 in both 2018 and 2019
Awards
In November 2017, Chang was honored with the prestigious L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science for her groundbreaking work on fossil evidence illuminating how aquatic vertebrates transitioned to terrestrial environments. That same month, she also received the Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation Achievement Prize in recognition of her outstanding scientific achievements.