Mátyás Vremir (13 November 1970 – 24 July 2020)
was a Romanian
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 ...
and
palaeontologist
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 ...
.
Education and career
Vremir was born on 13 November 1970 in
Cluj
; hu, kincses város)
, official_name=Cluj-Napoca
, native_name=
, image_skyline=
, subdivision_type1 = Counties of Romania, County
, subdivision_name1 = Cluj County
, subdivision_type2 = Subdivisions of Romania, Status
, subdivision_name2 ...
, the son of artists
Mircea Vremir and Ildikó Kováts.
He studied geology at
Babeş-Bolyai University, obtaining a bachelor's degree in 1999 and a master's degree in 2001.
After graduating he had a varied career as a teacher, geological consultant for the
petroleum industry
The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry or the oil patch, includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transportation (often by oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing of petroleum products. The larges ...
in Central Africa and with his own firm in Cluj, and owner of a
Tatar
The Tatars ()[Tatar]
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different -themed bar.
He also worked for several museums in Hungary and was affiliated with the
Transylvanian Museum Society.
Well known for his eye for
fossil
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
s, he worked as a palaeontological contractor in Crimea and Bavaria, and conducted his own reconnaissance projects in Romania, in collaboration with American palaeontologist
Mark Norell
Mark Allen Norell (born July 26, 1957) is an American paleontologist, acknowledged as one of the most important living vertebrate paleontologists. He is currently the chairman of paleontology and a research associate at the American Museum of Na ...
.
He is credited with the discovery of ''
Balaur bondoc
''Balaur bondoc'' is a species of theropod dinosaur from the late Cretaceous period, in what is now Romania. It is the type species of the monotypic genus ''Balaur'', after the ''balaur'' (), a dragon of Romanian folklore. The specific name ''bo ...
'', a "poodle-sized" dinosaur;
an
Azhdarchidae
Azhdarchidae (from the Persian word , , a dragon-like creature in Persian mythology) is a family of pterosaurs known primarily from the Late Cretaceous Period, though an isolated vertebra apparently from an azhdarchid is known from the Early Cret ...
specimen nicknamed "Dracula" that is the largest-known
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 ...
;
and ''
Litovoi tholocephalos
''Litovoi tholocephalos'' is a multituberculate mammal indigenous to Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe ...
'', a
Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', the ...
mammal exhibiting
insular dwarfism.
Personal life
Vremir was married to Márta Veress and had two sons.
He died of
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
on 24 July 2020.
References
Further reading
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Vremir, Mátyás
1970 births
2020 deaths
Scientists from Cluj-Napoca
Romanian people of Hungarian descent
Romanian geologists
Romanian paleontologists
Babeș-Bolyai University alumni