Meemann Chang


Meemann Chang, also known as Zhang Miman, is a Chinese paleontologist at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology. She completed her undergraduate studies at Moscow University and completed her PhD thesis entitled 'The braincase of Youngolepis, a Lower Devonian crossopterygian from Yunnan, south-western China' at Stockholm University. She was the first woman to become head of IVPP in 1983. Later in 2011 she also received an honorary degree from the University of Chicago for her many career achievements.
Species named in her honour include the extinct sarcopterygian fish Meemannia, the theropod dinosaur Sinovenator changii, and the extinct bird Archaeornithura meemannae. There is also a unique organ of yunnanolepid antiarch placoderms named "Chang's Apparatus" after her.
There is also a special book volume on fossil fish published in her honour.
Chang notably first described and later re-described the fossil genus Paralycoptera, and also described the fossil genera Diabolepis and Youngolepis.

Selected publications

On November 13, 2017, Chang was awarded the L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science. She was nominated for "her pioneering work on fossil records leading to insights on how aquatic vertebrates adapted to life and land".