Brian Gardiner obituary Palaeontologist who studied the bony ancestors of salmon and cod, and what lungfish had in common with four-limbed animals Brian Gardiner catalogued fossil fishes from what are now Canada and South Africa Brian Gardiner catalogued fossil fishes from what are now Canada and South Africa Thu 15 Apr 2021 06.31 EDT Early in his scientific career, Brian Gardiner, who has died aged 88, was seduced by fossils – the remains, shapes or traces of ancient organisms preserved in rock. Brian wanted to learn how these should be interpreted and classified and what they reveal about evolution. In the 1950s, working at Queen Elizabeth College, London (which has now merged with King’s College London), and using the collections of the Natural History Museum (NHM), he first studied fish embedded in Jurassic limestone formed 170-200m years ago. This period contains fearsome, primitive cartilaginous sharks, and the biggest bony fish ever –