Antonín Jan Frič (in German: Anton Johann Fritsch, 30 June 1832 – 15 November 1913) was a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

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 fossi ...

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

and

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

, living during the

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

era. Professor at the

Charles University ) , image_name = Carolinum_Logo.svg , image_size = 200px , established = , type = Public, Ancient , budget = 8.9 billion CZK , rector = Milena Králíčková , faculty = 4,057 , administrative_staff = 4,026 , students = 51,438 , undergr ...

and later became director of the National Museum in Prague. He became famous for his contributions on the field of Permo -

Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carbonifero ...

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

s. He also became known for finding fossils once attributed to

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

s - ''

Albisaurus ''Albisaurus'' (meaning "Albis iverlizard") was once thought to be a genus of dinosaur, but is now thought to be a non-dinosaurian archosaur. Brinkmann, W. (1988). Zur Fundgeschichte und Systematik der Ornithopoden (Ornithischia, Reptilia) aus de ...

albinus'' and ''

Ponerosteus ''Ponerosteus'' is a dubious genus of archosauromorph which was first identified as "Iguanodon exogirarum" by Antonín Frič in 1878 for a specimen from the Cenomanian (Late Cretaceous of the Czech Republic, near Holubice by Kralupy nad Vltavou; ...

exogyrarum'' and so far the only

pterosaur Pterosaurs (; from Greek ''pteron'' and ''sauros'', meaning "wing lizard") is an extinct clade of flying reptiles in the order, Pterosauria. They existed during most of the Mesozoic: from the Late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous (228 to ...

known from the Czech Republic, ''

Cretornis hlavaci ''Cretornis'' is a pterosaur genus from the late Cretaceous period (Turonian stage) of what is now the Jizera Formation in the Czech Republic, dating to about 92 million years ago. It only contains a single species, ''Cretornis hlavaci''. Dis ...

''. The

was small with a wingspan of about 1.5 m and lived in the

Turonian The Turonian is, in the ICS' geologic timescale, the second age in the Late Cretaceous Epoch, or a stage in the Upper Cretaceous Series. It spans the time between 93.9 ± 0.8 Ma and 89.8 ± 1 Ma (million years ago). The Turonian is preceded by t ...

. The first true dinosaur known from the Czech Republic was discovered 90 years after Frič's death (in 2003). It is a small ornithopod of Cenomanian age. Fritsch received the

Lyell Medal The Lyell Medal is a prestigious annual scientific medal given by the Geological Society of London, equal in status to the Murchison Medal. This medal is awarded based on one Earth Scientist's exceptional contribution of research to the scientific ...

from the

Geological Society of London The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe with more than 12,000 Fellows. Fe ...

in 1902.

Bibliography

* (in English: "Natural History of European Birds")

References

External links

* * * 1832 births 1913 deaths 19th-century Czech people 19th-century Austrian people Czech paleontologists Czech biologists Czech geologists Scientists from Prague Lyell Medal winners Charles University faculty {{paleontologist-stub