Angela Cheryl Milner (3 October 1947 – 13 August 2021) was a British
paleontologist who, in 1986 alongside
Alan Charig
Alan Jack Charig (1 July 1927 – 15 July 1997) was an English palaeontologist and writer who popularised his subject on television and in books at the start of the wave of interest in dinosaurs in the 1970s.
Charig was, though, first and fo ...
, described the dinosaur ''
Baryonyx''.
Early life
Milner was born Angela Girven in
Gosforth, daughter of Cyril and Lucia Girven. Her father was the county engineer for
Northumberland. She attended
Church High school. She initially planned to focus on microbiology for her university degree, but inspiring lectures from Alec Panchen made her change to palaeontology.
She gained a
BSc in zoology at
Newcastle University
Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public university, public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is ...
and stayed there in 1969 to take a
PhD PHD or PhD may refer to:
* Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification
Entertainment
* '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series
* ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic
* Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group
** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...
in palaeontology supervised by Panchen focusing on the
nectrideans, a group of
Paleozoic tetrapods.
Career
Milner was first employed at the
Natural History Museum in London in 1976. Her unusual career path led her to reach a management as well as scientific role, finally being promoted to Assistant Keeper of Palaeontology as well as being a senior scientist.
She was Head of the Fossil Vertebrates Division in the Department of Palaeontology and was scientific leader behind the new Dinosaur Gallery at the museum that opened in 1992.
She retired in 2009.
Her primary work was early tetrapods, the subject of her doctorate. Her most significant scientific work was on description of the fossilised remains of ''
Baryonyx walkeri
''Baryonyx'' () is a genus of theropod dinosaur which lived in the Barremian Geological stage, stage of the Early Cretaceous Period (geology), period, about 130–125 million years ago. The first skeleton was discovered in 1983 in the Smokejack ...
'', a fish-eating dinosaur.
This was found in a clay-pit in Surrey and was the most complete dinosaur skeleton identified in the UK to that date. It provided the key to interpretation of further dinosaur fragments discovered around the world to start a new research area in palaeontology.
She continued to work on meat-eating dinosaurs, and the earliest birds that had descended from them, for the rest of her career. In 2004 she led a study of the brain of ''
Archaeopteryx
''Archaeopteryx'' (; ), sometimes referred to by its German name, "" ( ''Primeval Bird''), is a genus of bird-like dinosaurs. The name derives from the ancient Greek (''archaīos''), meaning "ancient", and (''ptéryx''), meaning "feather" ...
'', providing evidence to suggest the species was a bird. She also studied bird species from the
Eocene period which are found in the southern
England.
She appreciated how the new technology of
CT-scan
A computed tomography scan (CT scan; formerly called computed axial tomography scan or CAT scan) is a medical imaging technique used to obtain detailed internal images of the body. The personnel that perform CT scans are called radiographers ...
ning could be used to visualise the interior of fossils in details, which led to the installation of a suitable machine at the museum. In addition, she began to collaborate with others to isolate proteins from fossil in the new field of
molecular palaeontology
Molecular paleontology refers to the recovery and analysis of DNA, proteins, carbohydrates, or lipids, and their diagenetic products from ancient human, animal, and plant remains. The field of molecular paleontology has yielded important insights ...
.
Milner undertook field work in the UK and abroad in several locations including the US, the Sahara desert and, from the 1980s, China.
The dinosaurs ''
Veterupristisaurus milneri
''Veterupristisaurus'' is an extinct genus of carcharodontosaurid theropod dinosaur known from the Jurassic of Tendaguru, Lindi Region of southeastern Tanzania.
Discovery and naming
''Veterupristisaurus'' is known from the holotype specimen M ...
'', ''
Riparovenator milnerae
''Riparovenator'' ("riverbank hunter") is a genus of baryonychine spinosaurid dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous (Barremian) period of Britain, the type species is ''Riparovenator milnerae''.
Discovery and naming
Between 2013 and 2017, spino ...
'' and ''
Pendraig milnerae
''Pendraig'' (meaning "chief dragon" in Middle Welsh) is a genus of coelophysoid theropod dinosaur from South Wales. It contains one species, ''Pendraig milnerae'', named after Angela Milner. The specimen was discovered in the Pant-y-Ffynnon quarr ...
'' have been named after her.
Personal life
She married Andrew Milner in 1972 whilst they were postgraduate students.
Milner died on the morning of 13 August 2021, at the age of 73, following a short illness.
Publications
Milner is the author or co-author of over 60 scientific publications. She continued to publish after her retirement and up to her death. Her publications include:
* Walsh, Stig A, Iwaniuk, Andrew N, Knoll, Monja A, Bourdon, Estelle, Barrett, Paul M, Milner, Angela C, Nudds, Robert L, Abel, Richard L and Patricia Dello Sterpaio (2013)
Avian cerebellar floccular fossa size is not a proxy for flying ability in birds. ''PLOS ONE'' 8 e67176
* Archibald, J David, Clemens, WA, Padian, Kevin and 20 other authors including Angela C. Milner. (2010)
Cretaceous extinctions: multiple causes. ''Science'' 328 973–973
* Alonso, PD, Milner, AC, Ketcham, RA, Cookson, MJ and Rowe, TB (2004)
The avian nature of the brain and inner ear of ''Archaeopteryx''. ''Nature'' 430 666–66
* Macleod, N, Rawson, PF, Forey, PL, and 19 other authors including Milner, AC (1997)
The Cretaceous-Tertiary biotic transition. ''Journal of the Geological Society'' 154 265–292
* AJ Charig and AC Milner (1986)
Baryonyx, a remarkable new theropod dinosaur. ''Nature'' 324 359–361
She was co-author of ''The Natural History Museum Book of Dinosaurs''.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Milner, Angela
British palaeontologists
1947 births
2021 deaths
Alumni of Newcastle University
People from Gosforth
Women paleontologists