Erwin Hinckley Barbour (April 5, 1856 – May 10, 1947) was an American

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

and

paleontologist Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geolo ...

. He was born near

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, and was educated at

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public university, public research university in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the second-oldest List of colleges and universities in Ohio, university in Ohi ...

and at

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

, where he graduated in 1882. He was assistant paleontologist to the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on Mar ...

under

Othniel Charles Marsh Othniel Charles Marsh (October 29, 1831 – March 18, 1899) was an American professor of paleontology. A prolific fossil collector, Marsh was one of the preeminent paleontologists of the nineteenth century. Among his legacies are the discovery or ...

from 1882 to 1888. He then taught at the University of Iowa for two years, before being hired by the

University of Nebraska A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

in 1891 as head of the Department of Geology. Upon his arrival at the University of Nebraska, he worked vigorously to equip his department and to start populating the University museum. Within a year, he was appointed Curator of the

University of Nebraska State Museum The University of Nebraska State Museum, also known as Morrill Hall, founded in 1871, is a natural history museum featuring Nebraska biodiversity, paleontology, and cultural diversity, located on the University of Nebraska–Lincoln City Campus n ...

. He remained the director until 1941. Also in 1891, he was appointed by Governor Thayer as Acting State Geologist, a position he also retained for many years. Barbour gave his time for the next 25 summers to manage field parties throughout the state, surveying the geological and paleontological resources of the State of Nebraska. These trips were known as the Morrill Geological Expeditions, as they were funded by private donations from Charles Henry Morrill, regent of the University. Their reports were published in the volumes of the Nebraska Geological Survey, as well as the Report of the State Geologist. The specimens that were found were added to the collections of the University museum. As assistant curator of paleontology, his sister Carrie Adeline Barbour also participated in fieldwork and prepared specimens at the museum. The genus '' Barbourofelis'' of false saber-toothed cats was named in his honor; the ''B. fricki''

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

specimen was found a few days after his death.

References

External links

*
Erwin H. Barbour Collection
at the

University of Nebraska-Lincoln A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

Photographs in the Erwin H. Barbour Collection
at the

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barbour, Erwin Hinckley Yale University alumni University of Iowa faculty University of Nebraska–Lincoln faculty American paleontologists 1856 births 1947 deaths Miami University alumni People from Oxford, Ohio Psi Upsilon