Baltic German Christian Heinrich Pander is an outstanding first Russian paleontologist, anatomist, naturalist and embryologist. He was born in the Ostsee region in 1794 on July 17 in a merchant family. After graduating from the Riga Gymnasium, he entered the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Derpt in 1812. After completing a medical course, he began working in Würzburg and Berlin.
At the Imperial St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, the first Russian paleontologist in 1821 was elected an academician. He spent a lot of time traveling around Central Asia, discovered many rare finds that later became museum exhibits. In 1827, he left his honorary title and entered the scientific unit at the Mining Department as an official for the execution of special assignments.
The famous first Russian paleontologist Pander served in this position until his death. His duties included the processing of paleontological collections received by the department, as well as exhibits collected by him personally. He compiled from this material valuable and for our time paleontological monographs. Among them, special attention is paid to studies of fish remains of the Paleozoic period.
Working together with his contemporary Eduard Ivanovich Eichwald, the first Russian paleontologist achieved tremendous success, and therefore, is considered the founder of the paleontological teachings of Russia. These two scientists can rightly be considered the fathers of Russian paleontology.
Pander was particularly famous for his research in the field of chicken embryonic development . He greatly supplemented the theories that were established by Baer. In addition to this study, especially valuable work in the fields of geology, osteology, and other paleontology studies can be noted.
Eichwald's works are known for facilitating familiarization with representatives of the domestic fauna and flora (both fossil forms and living ones). His scientific activities were very diverse: paleontology, botany, zoology, medicine, anthropology, archeology, mineralogy and ethnography. Of great importance were his work for Russia in the field of paleontology. He wrote a number of scientific articles and notes, and also made a grandiose attempt to compile a complete description with images of all the paleontological material collected in Russia. His works are still necessary reference books for everyone involved in paleontology in Russia. Fossils in museum collections, collected and described by him personally, remain a special asset of the Imperial University of St. Petersburg.
Partial knowledge about the main stages in the development of life on earth can be obtained by visiting the Paleontological Museum. In it you can find everything from the simplest microorganisms of marine animals to the appearance on the planet of man. Interesting expositions captivate the worlds that have disappeared, allowing them to observe firsthand the entire evolutionary process. The Paleontological Museum named after Orlov Yu.A. It is forever preserved by nature and man-made exhibits. Among them are insects that can be seen in amber drops or giant dinosaur skeletons, restored by the painstaking work of scientists and researchers, living for tens of thousands of years on earth.
The Museum of Paleontology in Moscow is one of the largest in the world, and the prerequisites for its discovery were created back in Peter's times, when the Kunstkamera was opened, showing unusual fragments of skeletons of ancient animals. The secrets of past eras are unlikely to be fully revealed, but the curtain can be opened thanks to the exhibits collected by incredible efforts.
Six large halls consistently tell the story of the development of life on Earth, starting from the oldest geological eras. The Museum of Paleontology in Moscow introduces various species of extinct organisms. The presented exhibits were collected in Russia and abroad by many generations of paleontologists.