Reinhardt Kristensen
Encyclopedia
Reinhardt Møbjerg Kristensen (born 1948) is a Danish
invertebrate
biologist
, noted for the discovery of three new phyla
of microscopic animals: the Loricifera
in 1983, the Cycliophora
in 1995, and the Micrognathozoa
in 2000. He is also considered one of the world's leading experts on tardigrades. His recent field of work revolves mostly around arctic
biology.
He and fellow Danish scientist Peter Funch discovered Symbion pandora
(Cycliophora
), a jug-shaped microscopic animal that dwells on the mouth-parts of Norwegian lobsters, in 1995.
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
invertebrate
Invertebrate
An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...
biologist
Biologist
A biologist is a scientist devoted to and producing results in biology through the study of life. Typically biologists study organisms and their relationship to their environment. Biologists involved in basic research attempt to discover underlying mechanisms that govern how organisms work...
, noted for the discovery of three new phyla
Phylum
In biology, a phylum The term was coined by Georges Cuvier from Greek φῦλον phylon, "race, stock," related to φυλή phyle, "tribe, clan." is a taxonomic rank below kingdom and above class. "Phylum" is equivalent to the botanical term division....
of microscopic animals: the Loricifera
Loricifera
Loricifera is a phylum of very small to microscopic marine sediment-dwelling animals with twenty-two described species, in eight genera. Aside from these described species, there are approximately 100 more that have been collected and not yet described. Their size ranges from 100 µm to ca....
in 1983, the Cycliophora
Symbion
Symbion is the name of a genus of aquatic animals, less than ½ mm wide, found living attached to the bodies of cold-water lobsters. They have sac-like bodies, and three distinctly different forms in different parts of their two-stage life-cycle...
in 1995, and the Micrognathozoa
Limnognathia
Limnognathia maerski is a microscopic animal, discovered living in homothermic springs on Disko Island, Greenland in 1994, that has variously been assigned as a class or subphylum in the phylum Gnathifera or as a phylum in a Gnathifera superphylum, named Micrognathozoa. It is related to the...
in 2000. He is also considered one of the world's leading experts on tardigrades. His recent field of work revolves mostly around arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
biology.
He and fellow Danish scientist Peter Funch discovered Symbion pandora
Symbion pandora
Symbion pandora is a jug-shaped microscopic aquatic animal that dwells on the mouth-parts of Norway lobsters.The animals are less than ½ mm wide, with sac-like bodies, and three distinctly different forms in different parts of their two-stage life-cycle....
(Cycliophora
Symbion
Symbion is the name of a genus of aquatic animals, less than ½ mm wide, found living attached to the bodies of cold-water lobsters. They have sac-like bodies, and three distinctly different forms in different parts of their two-stage life-cycle...
), a jug-shaped microscopic animal that dwells on the mouth-parts of Norwegian lobsters, in 1995.