Edwin Harris "Ned" Colbert (September 28, 1905 – November 15, 2001)O'Connor, Anahad

''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', November 25, 2001. was a distinguished American

vertebrate Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () (chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, with c ...

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 ...

and prolific researcher and author. Born in

Clarinda, Iowa Clarinda is a city in and the county seat of Page County, Iowa. It is located in Nodaway Township. The population was 5,369 at the time of the 2020 census. History Clarinda was founded in 1851, and incorporated on December 8, 1866. Many stori ...

, he grew up in

Maryville, Missouri Maryville is a city and county seat of Nodaway County, Missouri, United States. Located in the "Missouri Point" region, As of the 2020 census, the city population was 10,633. Maryville is home to Northwest Missouri State University and Northwes ...

and graduated from Maryville High School. His father was George H. Colbert who was head of the mathematics department at Northwest Missouri State University and had been at the college since its founding in 1906. He received his

A.B. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

from the

University of Nebraska A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

, then his Masters and

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, finishing in 1935. He married Margaret Matthew, daughter of the eminent paleontologist

William Diller Matthew William Diller Matthew FRS (February 19, 1871 – September 24, 1930) was a vertebrate paleontologist who worked primarily on mammal fossils, although he also published a few early papers on mineralogy, petrological geology, one on botany, one on ...

, in 1933. She became a noted artist, illustrator, and sculptor who specialized in visualizing extinct species. The couple had five sons together. The young family moved to Leonia, New Jersey, in 1937 and lived there for decades. Among the positions Colbert held was Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History for 40 years, and

Professor Emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

of Vertebrate Paleontology at

. He was a protégé of

Henry Fairfield Osborn Henry Fairfield Osborn, Sr. (August 8, 1857 – November 6, 1935) was an American paleontologist, geologist and eugenics advocate. He was the president of the American Museum of Natural History for 25 years and a cofounder of the American Euge ...

, and a foremost authority on the Dinosauria. For his work, ''Siwalik Mammals in the American Museum of Natural History'', Colbert was awarded the

Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal The Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal is awarded by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences "for meritorious work in zoology or paleontology study published in a three- to five-year period." Named after Daniel Giraud Elliot, it was first awarded in 1917. ...

from the National Academy of Sciences in 1935. He described dozens of new

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...

and authored major systematic reviews, including the discovery of more than a dozen complete skeletons of a primitive small Triassic dinosaur, ''

Coelophysis ''Coelophysis'' ( traditionally; or , as heard more commonly in recent decades) is an extinct genus of coelophysid theropod dinosaur that lived approximately 228 to 201.3 million years ago during the latter part of the Triassic Period fro ...

'' at

Ghost Ranch Ghost Ranch is a retreat and education center located close to the village of Abiquiú in Rio Arriba County in north central New Mexico, United States. It was the home and studio of Georgia O'Keeffe, as well as the subject of many of her painti ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

, in 1947 (one of the largest concentrations of dinosaur deposits ever recorded), publication of their description, and a review of ceratopsian phylogeny. In 1959, he headed an expedition to the

Geopark A geopark is a protected area with internationally significant geology within which sustainable development is sought and which includes tourism, conservation, education and research concerning not just geology but other relevant sciences. In 2 ...

of Paleorrota (Brazil), within Llewellyn Ivor Price.Antônio Isaia, ''Os Fascinantes Caminhos da Paleontologia.'' Editora Pallotti ''(Portuguese)'' His fieldwork in

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

in 1969 helped solidify the acceptance of

continental drift Continental drift is the hypothesis that the Earth's continents have moved over geologic time relative to each other, thus appearing to have "drifted" across the ocean bed. The idea of continental drift has been subsumed into the science of pl ...

, by finding a 220-million-year-old fossil of a ''

Lystrosaurus ''Lystrosaurus'' (; 'shovel lizard'; proper Greek is λίστρον ''lístron'' ‘tool for leveling or smoothing, shovel, spade, hoe’) is an extinct genus of herbivorous dicynodont therapsids from the late Permian and Early Triassic epochs ( ...

''. His popularity and his textbooks on

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 ...

paleontology 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 ...

, and stratigraphy (with Marshall Kay) introduced a new generation of scientists and amateur enthusiasts to the subject. He was the recipient of numerous prizes and awards commemorating his many achievements in the field of science. He became a curator of vertebrate paleontology at the

Museum of Northern Arizona The Museum of Northern Arizona is a museum in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States, that was established as a repository for Indigenous material and natural history specimens from the Colorado Plateau. The museum was founded in 1928 by zoologist ...

in Flagstaff, Arizona in 1970. He died at his home in Flagstaff in 2001.

Works

Colbert wrote more than 20 books and over 400 scientific articles. *1935: ''Siwalik Mammals in the American Museum of Natural History'' *1945: ''The Dinosaur Book: The Ruling Reptiles and Their Relatives'' (repub 1951) *1955: '' Colbert's Evolution of the Vertebrates: A History of the Backboned Animals Through Time'' (four more editions in 1969, 1980, 1991 & 2001; fifth edition with Eli C. Minkoff & Michael Morales) *1961: ''The World of Dinosaurs'', illustrated by George Geygan (repub in 1977 as ''Dinosaur World'') *1961: ''Dinosaurs: Their Discovery and Their World'' *1965: '' The Age of Reptiles'', illustrated by Margaret Colbert (repub 1987) *1968: ''Men and Dinosaurs: The Search in Field and Laboratory'' (repub 1971) *1968: ''Millions of Years Ago: Prehistoric Life in North America'', illustrated by Margaret Colbert *1973: ''Wandering Lands and Animals: The Story of Continental Drift and Animal Populations'' (repub 1985) *1977: ''The Year of the Dinosaur'', illustrated by Margaret Colbert *1983: ''Dinosaurs: An Illustrated History''. *1984: ''The Great Dinosaur Hunters and Their Discoveries''. *1989: ''Digging into the Past: An Autobiography''. *1995: ''The Little Dinosaurs of Ghost Ranch''. *1980: ''Fossil-Hunter's Notebook: My Life with Dinosaurs and Other Friends'', w/Elias Colbert.

References

* Ann Brimacombe Elliot, ''Charming the Bones: A Portrait of Margaret Matthew Colbert''. Kent State University Press, 2000. . * Romeu Beltrão, ''Cronologia Histórica de Santa Maria e do extinto município de São Martinho.'' 1787–1933. Vol I. Pallotti, 1958. (''Portuguese'')

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Colbert, Edwin H. 1905 births 2001 deaths University of Nebraska–Lincoln alumni American paleontologists Columbia University faculty American Unitarians Columbia University alumni People associated with the American Museum of Natural History People from Clarinda, Iowa People from Maryville, Missouri People from Leonia, New Jersey People from Flagstaff, Arizona