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Bruce Erickson (paleontologist)
Bruce R. Erickson (1933 – January 16, 2022) was an American paleontologist and the former Fitzpatrick Chair of Paleontology at the Science Museum of Minnesota. During the course of his lifetime and his 55 years as a paleontologist, he has "collected about a million specimens" and discovered fifteen new types of plants and ancient animal species. His collection includes "a triceratops skeleton" that he discovered in 1961 at the Hell Creek Formation that is considered to be "one of the rarest in the world".Estrada, Heron Marquez"Book fleshes out a career studying dinosaur bones" Star Tribune, April 27, 2003 His research has focused almost entirely on the Paleocene era in history. Biography According to Erickson, his interest in paleontology began when he was ten years old and he came across a geologist investigating rocks along the bank of the Mississippi River.Brody, Jane E."26 Years Deep in the Paleocene" Los Angeles Times, September 3, 1996 Career In the 1960s, Erickson spen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paleontologist
Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossils to classify organisms and study their interactions with each other and their environments (their paleoecology). Paleontological observations have been documented as far back as the 5th century BC. The science became established in the 18th century as a result of Georges Cuvier's work on comparative anatomy, and developed rapidly in the 19th century. The term itself originates from Greek (, "old, ancient"), (, ( gen. ), "being, creature"), and (, "speech, thought, study"). Paleontology lies on the border between biology and geology, but differs from archaeology in that it excludes the study of anatomically modern humans. It now uses techniques drawn from a wide range of sciences, including biochemistry, mathematics, and engineering. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
River
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of water. Small rivers can be referred to using names such as Stream#Creek, creek, Stream#Brook, brook, rivulet, and rill. There are no official definitions for the generic term river as applied to Geographical feature, geographic features, although in some countries or communities a stream is defined by its size. Many names for small rivers are specific to geographic location; examples are "run" in some parts of the United States, "Burn (landform), burn" in Scotland and northeast England, and "beck" in northern England. Sometimes a river is defined as being larger than a creek, but not always: the language is vague. Rivers are part of the water cycle. Water generally collects in a river from Precipitation (meteorology), precipitation through a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Living People
Related categories * :Year of birth missing (living people) / :Year of birth unknown * :Date of birth missing (living people) / :Date of birth unknown * :Place of birth missing (living people) / :Place of birth unknown * :Year of death missing / :Year of death unknown * :Date of death missing / :Date of death unknown * :Place of death missing / :Place of death unknown * :Missing middle or first names See also * :Dead people * :Template:L, which generates this category or death years, and birth year and sort keys. : {{DEFAULTSORT:Living people 21st-century people People by status ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Paleontologists
American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, people who self-identify their ancestry as "American" ** American English, the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States ** Native Americans in the United States, indigenous peoples of the United States * American, something of, from, or related to the Americas, also known as "America" ** Indigenous peoples of the Americas * American (word), for analysis and history of the meanings in various contexts Organizations * American Airlines, U.S.-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas * American Athletic Conference, an American college athletic conference * American Recordings (record label), a record label previously known as Def American * American University, in Washington, D.C. Sports teams Soccer * B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Triceratops
''Triceratops'' ( ; ) is a genus of herbivore, herbivorous Chasmosaurinae, chasmosaurine Ceratopsidae, ceratopsid dinosaur that first appeared during the late Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous Period (geology), period, about 68 million years ago in what is now North America. It is one of the last-known non-avian dinosaur genera, and became extinct in the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event, Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event 66 million years ago. The name ''Triceratops'', which literally means 'three-horned face', is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words () meaning 'three', () meaning 'horn', and () meaning 'face'. Bearing a large bony neck frill, frill, three horn (anatomy), horns on the skull, and a large four-legged body, exhibiting convergent evolution with rhinoceroses and bovines, ''Triceratops'' is one of the most recognizable of all dinosaurs and the most well-known ceratopsid. It was also one of the largest, up to long and in body m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mississippi River Valley
The Mississippi embayment is a physiographic feature in the south-central United States, part of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain. It is essentially a northward continuation of the fluvial sediments of the Mississippi River Delta to its confluence with the Ohio River at Cairo, Illinois. The current sedimentary area was formed in the Cretaceous and early Cenozoic by the filling with sediment of a pre-existing basin. An explanation for the embayment's formation was put forward by Van Arsdale and Cox in 2007: movement of the earth's crust brought this region over a volcanic " hotspot" in the Earth's mantle causing an upthrust of magma which formed the Appalachian-Ouachita range. Subsequent erosion caused a deep trough that was flooded by the Gulf of Mexico and eventually filled with sediment from the Mississippi River. Geography The embayment is a topographically low-lying basin that is filled with Cretaceous to recent sediments. The northern end of the embayment appears as a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wannaganosuchus
''Wannaganosuchus'' (meaning "Wannagan crocodile", in reference to the Wannagan Creek site where it was discovered) is an extinct genus of small alligatorid crocodylian. It was found in Late Paleocene-age rocks of Billings County, North Dakota, United States. History and description ''Wannaganosuchus'' is based on SMM P76.28.247, a mostly complete skull and postcranial skeleton missing some vertebrae, coracoids, part of the feet, ribs, and other pieces. A few small bony scutes are also assigned to the genus, but not to the type specimen. SMM P76.28.247 was found semi-articulated in the lower part of the Bullion Creek Formation, near the base of a lignitic clay layer deposited in a marsh setting on a floodplain. ''Wannaganosuchus'' was named in 1982 by Bruce R. Erickson. The type species is ''W. brachymanus''; the specific name means "short forefoot". The skull of SMM P76.28.247 was low, without elevated rims over the eyes, and was long. The snout was sh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Champsosaurus
''Champsosaurus'' is an extinct genus of crocodile-like choristodere reptile, known from the Late Cretaceous and early Paleogene periods of North America and Europe (Campanian-Paleocene). The name ''Champsosaurus'' is thought to come from , () said in an Ancient Greek source to be an Egyptian word for "crocodiles", and , () Greek for "lizard". The morphology of ''Champsosaurus'' resembles that of gharials, with a long, elongated snout. It was native to freshwater environments where it likely preyed on fish, similar to living gharials. History of research ''Champsosaurus'' was the first member of the Choristodera to be described. ''Champsosaurus'' was named by Edward Drinker Cope in 1876, from isolated vertebrae found in Late Cretaceous strata of the Judith River Formation on the banks of the Judith River in Fergus County, Montana. Cope designated ''C. annectens'' as the type species rather than the first named ''C. profundus'' due to the larger number of vertebrae he attributed t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Simoedosaurus
''Simoedosaurus'' is an extinct reptile known from the Paleocene of North America, Europe and western Asia, and a member of the Choristodera, a group of aquatic reptiles that lived in the Northern Hemisphere from the Jurassic to the early Cenozoic. Described other species, ''S. dakotensis'' later got its own genus, ''Kosmodraco''. Taxonomy French paleontologist Paul Gervais described ''Simoedosaurus'' in 1877. Though similar to and contemporaneous, ''Simoedosaurus'' is not closely related to the North American ''Champsosaurus'', instead it appears to be most closely related to ''Tchoiria'' and '' Ikechosaurus'' from the Early Cretaceous of Asia. It therefore may represent a species that immigrated into North America from Asia in the wake of the Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction event, though the absence of choristoderes in the Late Cretaceous of Asia makes this merely a paleogeographical speculation. Biology ''Simoedosaurus'' was an aquatic predator, specialised to a fully ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oligocene
The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the exact dates of the start and end of the epoch are slightly uncertain. The name Oligocene was coined in 1854 by the German paleontologist Heinrich Ernst Beyrich from his studies of marine beds in Belgium and Germany. The name comes from the Ancient Greek (''olígos'', "few") and (''kainós'', "new"), and refers to the sparsity of extant forms of molluscs. The Oligocene is preceded by the Eocene Epoch and is followed by the Miocene Epoch. The Oligocene is the third and final epoch of the Paleogene Period. The Oligocene is often considered an important time of transition, a link between the archaic world of the tropical Eocene and the more modern ecosystems of the Miocene. Major changes during the Oligocene included a global expansion o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gavialosuchus
''Gavialosuchus'' is an extinct genus of gavialid crocodylian from the early Miocene of Europe. Currently only one species is recognized, as a few other species of ''Gavialosuchus'' have since been reclassified to other genera. Taxonomy The type species, ''G. eggenburgensis'', is known from the early Miocene of Austria. Two other species - ''G. americanus'' and ''G. carolinensis'' - have since been reclassified to other genera. Myrick Jr. (2001) proposed synonymizing ''Gavialosuchus americanus'' with '' Thecachampsa antiqua''. Piras ''et al.'' (2007) advocated transferring both ''G. americanus'' and ''G. carolinensis'' to ''Thecachampsa'' as distinct species of the latter genus, however. Jouve ''et al.'' (2008) retained ''G. americanus'' in ''Gavialosuchus'' and found it to be the sister group of ''G. eggenburgensis'' (''G. carolinensis'' was not discussed). However, Jouve ''et al.'' (2008) didn't test ''Thecachampsa antiqua'' in their phylogenetic analysis. Shan ''et al.'' (200 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crocodile
Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to include all extant taxon, extant members of the order (biology), order Crocodilia, which includes the alligators and caimans (family Alligatoridae), the gharial and false gharial (family Gavialidae) among other extinct taxa. Although they appear similar, crocodiles, alligators and the gharial belong to separate biological family (biology), families. The gharial, with its narrow snout, is easier to distinguish, while Morphology (biology), morphological differences are more difficult to spot in crocodiles and alligators. The most obvious external differences are visible in the head, with crocodiles having narrower and longer heads, with a more V-shaped than a U-shaped snout compared to alligators and caimans. Another obvious trait is that the upp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
