Pioneers of Paleontology: Discoveries and Influences

Posted on Jun 4, 2025 in Geography

Pioneering Paleoartists

Charles R. Knight (1874 – 1953)

  • An American wildlife and paleoartist best known for his paintings of prehistoric animals.
  • His works were featured at the American Museum of Natural History (New York City) and the Field Museum (Chicago).

Zdeněk Burian (1905 – 1981)

  • A Czech painter, book illustrator, and paleoartist.
  • Played an important role in the development of paleontological reconstruction.
  • Recognized as one of the most influential paleoartists of all time.

Rudolph F. Zallinger (1919 – 1995)

  • Known for his iconic murals, including “The Age of Reptiles” for Life magazine.
  • Inspired generations of aspiring paleontologists.

Early Paleontological Discoveries and Concepts

Nicolaus Steno (1638 – 1686)

  • First to recognize and scientifically publish about extinct animals and fossils.

Robert Plot (1650 – 1707)

  • Published the first description of a Megalosaurus femur, though it was not recognized as such at the time.

Richard Brookes (1721 – 1763)

  • Designated the Megalosaurus femur as ‘Scrotum Humanum‘.

Georges Cuvier (1769 – 1832)

  • A prominent scientist and arguably the most important paleontologist of the 1700s.
  • Possessed the ability to analyze a skeleton and infer its behavior and function (e.g., digging, running, swimming).
  • Established vertebrate paleontology as a scientific discipline.
  • Recognized the integration of form and function.
  • Created comparative anatomy.
  • Firmly established extinction, but opposed evolution.

William Buckland (1784 – 1856)

  • Published a paper describing very large teeth, jaws, and limbs of a carnivorous fossil lizard, which he named Megalosaurus.

Gideon Mantell (1790 – 1852)

  • A physician and avid fossil collector from Sussex.
  • Discovered bones belonging to a giant crocodile, a plesiosaur, and specimens later identified as Megalosaurus.
  • Named the dinosaurs Iguanodon and Hylaeosaurus armatus.

Sir Richard Owen (1804 – 1892)

  • An English anatomist and paleontologist, remembered for his contributions to the study of fossil animals and his strong opposition to Charles Darwin’s views.
  • Coined the term ‘Dinosauria’.
  • Noted traits (e.g., posture) that suggested warm-bloodedness in some extinct animals.

Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins (1807 – 1894)

  • Sculpted the first life-size models of dinosaurs for the Crystal Palace Exhibition.
  • Owen famously held a party inside Hawkins’ Iguanodon sculpture.

Evolutionary Theory and Dinosaur Connections

Charles Darwin (1809 – 1882)

  • In 1859, published “On the Origin of Species,” outlining the theory of evolution by natural selection.

Thomas Henry Huxley (1825 – 1895)

  • Known as ‘Darwin’s Bulldog,’ he vigorously defended Darwin’s theory of natural selection.
  • Recognized the importance of Archaeopteryx and actively used it to support Darwin’s theory of evolution.
  • His 1863 book, “Evidence as to Man’s Place in Nature,” explicitly presented evidence for human evolution.

Gerhard Heilmann (1859 – 1946)

  • Argued dinosaurs could not be related to living birds because dinosaurs lacked furculae (clavicles).

Louis Dollo (1857 – 1931)

  • Known for Dollo’s Law of Irreversible Evolution: “A complex structure, once lost, cannot be regained in its original form.”
  • Applied the science of paleobiology to the study of the Bernissart Iguanodons.
  • In Belgium, 38 skeletons were collected from a coal mine.
  • Fifteen more from a bone bed in Germany suggested sociality.
  • Adults grew up to 10 meters long and weighed 3 tons.

Baron Franz Nopcsa (1877 – 1933)

  • A Hungarian adventurer, geologist, paleontologist, and Albanologist.
  • Served as a spy for Austria-Hungary during WWI.
  • First to recognize Transylvania as an isolated Mesozoic island.
  • First to recognize insular dwarfism in Magyarosaurus.
  • Considered a founder of paleobiology.
  • Studied jaw mechanics and carried out soft tissue and paleoecological reconstructions.
  • Advocated for dinosaurs as warm-blooded and birds evolving from dinosaur ancestors.
  • Proposed a theory of dinosaur sexual dimorphism.

John Ostrom (1928 – 2005)

  • Recognized similarities between Deinonychus and Archaeopteryx.
  • Reasserted the hypothesis that birds evolved from small coelurosaurian dinosaurs.
  • Predicted that if an Archaeopteryx was ever found without feathers, it would be identified as a dinosaur – which it was (Compsognathus).

Robert Bakker (born 1945)

  • Popularized the concept of dinosaurs as highly active, warm-blooded animals, similar to birds.

Jacques Gauthier (born 1948)

  • Conducted the first phylogenetic analysis of Dinosauria.

Major Expeditions and Discoveries

The Bone Wars: Edward Drinker Cope (1840 – 1897)

  • From a wealthy Quaker family.
  • Published over 1,400 papers.
  • Described 56 new dinosaurs and hundreds of other fossil vertebrates.

The Bone Wars: Othniel Charles Marsh (1831 – 1899)

  • From a modest farming family.
  • Convinced George Peabody to create the Yale Peabody Museum, with himself as Professor of Paleontology.
  • Described 80 new dinosaurs.

Roy Chapman Andrews (1884 – 1960)

  • Led the Central Asiatic Expeditions, serving as both their intellectual and promotional driving force.
  • Discovered dinosaurs by accident; the primary goal was to find the origin of man.

Ernest Stromer (1871 – 1952)

  • Bavarian Professor at the University of Munich.
  • Collected in the rich Mesozoic beds of the Sahara Desert.
  • Published descriptions of the sauropod Aegyptosaurus and theropods such as Bahariasaurus, Carcharodontosaurus, and Spinosaurus.

Werner Janensch (1878 – 1969)

  • Led the Tendaguru Expedition (Humboldt Expedition).

Canadian Paleontology Pioneers

George M. Dawson (1849 – 1901)

  • Geologist and naturalist for North America.
  • Found dinosaur bones in the Wood Mountain area and Milk River Valley.
  • Joined the Geological Survey of Canada.

Thomas Weston (1832 – 1910)

  • Dawson’s colleague who made major discoveries on the Red Deer River.

Joseph Burr Tyrrell (1858 – 1957)

  • Hired by the Dominion Geological Survey. Sent to Alberta to find coal in the Red Deer River area.
  • Located the skull of Albertosaurus sarcophagus.
  • When shipped, it broke into many pieces, and some were lost en route. Poor packing contributed to its damage.

Lawrence Lambe (1863 – 1919)

  • Paleontologist with the Geological Survey of Canada, worked in the area around what is now Dinosaur Provincial Park (DPP).

Charles H. Sternberg (1855 – 1943)

  • Hired at the GSC (Geological Survey of Canada).
  • Became Director.
  • Worked in the Red Deer River area until retirement.
  • Began a quarry staking project in the future Dinosaur Provincial Park.
  • Laid the groundwork for the creation of Dinosaur Provincial Park.

Dinosaur Depictions in Media

Willis O’Brien (1886 – 1962)

  • Created the first stop-motion animations featuring dinosaurs.
  • His works include “The Lost World” and “King Kong.”