Sidney Henry Haughton FRS (7 May 1888 – 24 May 1982) was an English-born South African

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 geologist best known for his description of the

sauropodomorph Sauropodomorpha ( ; from Greek, meaning "lizard-footed forms") is an extinct clade of long-necked, herbivorous, saurischian dinosaurs that includes the sauropods and their ancestral relatives. Sauropods generally grew to very large sizes, had lon ...

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 ...

'' Melanorosaurus'' in 1924, and his work on the geology of the

Witwatersrand The Witwatersrand () (locally the Rand or, less commonly, the Reef) is a , north-facing scarp in South Africa. It consists of a hard, erosion-resistant quartzite metamorphic rock, over which several north-flowing rivers form waterfalls, which ...

. Haughton was born on 7 May 1888 in

Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in the East End of London northeast of Charing Cross. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common land, Green, much of which survives today as Bethnal Green Gardens, beside Cambridge Heat ...

, London. He was the eldest of three children born to Henry Charles Haughton and Alice Aves. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Haughton enlisted with the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...

, was posted to Egypt and then India, and picked up malaria, leading to his discharge from the army. Whaitsia platyceps Haughton

He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1961. His candidature citation read: "''Honorary Director of Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, Witwatersrand University; formerly Director of the Geological Survey of South Africa and Chief Geologist, South Africa Atomic Energy Board. The outstanding living authority on the geology of South Africa. Distinguished for the value and wide range of contributions to the geology of southern and central Africa especially in the fields of palaeozoology, stratigraphy and

economic geology Economic geology is concerned with earth materials that can be used for economic and/or industrial purposes. These materials include precious and base metals, nonmetallic minerals and construction-grade stone. Economic geology is a subdisciplin ...

. To the systematic study of Karoo reptiles alone he has devoted 37 papers; other researches contain mollusca, fishes, amphibia and mammalia. Currently is co-ordinating geological studies throughout Africa south of the Sahara. The list of 106 publications is attached.''" Haughton's work on South African geology culminated in the 1964 publication of ''Gold Deposits of the Witwatersrand Basin: The Geology of Some Ore Deposits of Southern Africa'', Volume 1, a collection of 18 papers on Witwatersrand geology.

Publications

*''The stratigraphic history of Africa south of the Sahara'' *''The geology of the country around Mossel bay, Cape Province'' - (Government Printer, 1937) *''The geology of portion of the coastal belt near the Gamtoos valley, Cape Province'' - (Printed in the Union of South Africa by the Government Printer, 1937) *''Results of an investigation into the possible presence of oil in Karroo rocks in parts of the Union of South Africa'' - (Dept. of Mines, 1953) *''Geological history of Southern Africa'' - (Geological Society of South Africa, 1969) *''Trans-Karroo excursion'' - (printed by the Natal witness, 1970) *''The Australopithecine fossils of Africa and their geological setting'' - Witwaterstrand University Press/Institute for the Study of Man in Africa, 1964) *''The stratigraphic history of Africa south of the Sahara'' - (Hafner Pub. Co., 1963) *''The stratigraphic history of Africa south of the Sahara'' - (Oliver & Boyd, 1963) *''The geology of some ore deposits in southern Africa'' - (Geological Society of South Africa, 1964) Open Library
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Gallery

Alopecognathus_minor_Haughton.jpg, Skull of ''Alopecognathus minor'' by Sydney H. Haughton, 1918. Macroscelesaurus janseni Haughton.jpg, Holotype skeleton of ''Macroscelesaurus janseni'' by Sydney H. Haughton, 1918.

References

External links

* Haughton, S. H. (editor) (1964). ''The Geology of Some Ore Deposits in Southern Africa. Gold Deposits of the Witwatersrand Basin'', vol 1. Geological Society of South Africa, 625pp. plus map folder. {{DEFAULTSORT:Haughton, Sidney Henry 1888 births 1982 deaths People from Bethnal Green British geologists British palaeontologists Fellows of the Royal Society 20th-century geologists Presidents of the Geological Society of South Africa Presidents of the Southern Africa Association for the Advancement of Science British emigrants to South Africa