Halszka Osmólska

Halszka Osmólska (September 15, 1930 – March 31, 2008) was a Polish paleontologist who had specialized in Mongolian dinosaurs.

Early life, family and education

Osmólska was born in 1930 in Poznań. In 1949, she began to study biology at Faculty of Biology and Earth Sciences of the University of Poznań. Thereafter, she studied at the University of Warsaw, graduating in 1955.

Career

Osmólska worked at the Institute of Paleobiology of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN). Between 1983 and 1988, she served as the institute's director.

She was a member of the Polish–Mongolian expeditions to the Gobi Desert (1963–1965, 1967–1971), and she described many finds from these rocks, often with Teresa Maryańska.

Among the dinosaurs she described:

* '' Deinocheirus'' (1967), with Ewa Roniewicz
* '' Gallimimus'' (1972), with Roniewicz and Rinchen Barsbold
* '' Pachycephalosauria'' (1974), with Maryańska
* ''Bagaceratops'' (1975), with Maryańska
* '' Barsboldia'' (1981), with Maryańska
* '' Elmisaurus'' (and '' Elmisauridae'') (1981)
* '' Hulsanpes'' (1982)
* '' Borogovia'' (1987)
* '' Bagaraatan'' (1996)
* '' Homalocephale'', with Maryańska
* ''Prenocephale'', with Maryańska
* '' Tylocephale'', with Maryańska
* '' Goyocephale'' (1982), with Maryańska and Altangerel Perle
* '' Tochisaurus'' (1991), with Kurzanov
* '' Nomingia'' (2000), with several others

Her other work included discussions of the paleobiology of hadrosaurids, and co-editing the two editions of '' The Dinosauria''.

She is recognized for her work in the names of the Mongolian oviraptorid '' Citipati osmolskae'', the Chinese dromaeosaurid '' Velociraptor osmolskae'', the Mongolian dromaeosaurid '' Halszkaraptor escuilliei'', the archosauriform reptile '' Osmolskina czatkowicensis'', and the Polish Pliocene '' Prolagus osmolskae''.

Osmólska was, in recognition of her scientific work, a recipient of a number of awards including the Polish Cross of Merit.

Selected publications

* H. Osmólska and E. Roniewicz (1970). Deinocheiridae, a new family of theropod dinosaurs. ''Palaeontologica Polonica'' 21:5-19.
* H. Osmólska, E. Roniewicz, and R. Barsbold (1972). A new dinosaur, ''Gallimimus bullatus'' n. gen., n. sp. (Ornithomimidae) from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia. ''Palaeontologia Polonica'' 27:103-143.
* H. Osmólska (1972). Preliminary note on a crocodilian from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia. ''Palaeontologia Polonica'' 27:43-47.
* T. Maryańska and H. Osmólska (1974). Pachycephalosauria, a new suborder of ornithischian dinosaurs. ''Palaeontologia Polonica'' 30:45-102.
* T. Maryańska and H. Osmólska (1975). Protoceratopsidae (Dinosauria) of Asia. ''Palaeontologica Polonica'' 33:133-181.
* H. Osmólska (1976). New light on the skull anatomy and systematic position of ''Oviraptor''. ''Nature'' 262:683-684.
* H. Osmólska (1981). Coossified tarsometatarsi in theropod dinosaurs and their bearing on the problem of bird origins. ''Palaeontologica Polonica'' 42:79-95.
* T. Maryańska and H. Osmólska (1981). First lambeosaurine dinosaur from the Nemegt Formation, Upper Cretaceous, Mongolia. ''Acta Palaeontologica Polonica'' 26(3-1):243-255.
* T. Maryańska and H. Osmólska (1981). Cranial anatomy of ''Saurolophus angustirostris'' with comments on the Asian Hadrosauridae (Dinosauria). ''Palaeontologia Polonica'' 42:5-24.
* H. Osmólska (1982). ''Hulsanpes perlei'' n.g. n.sp. (Deinonychosauria, Saurischia, Dinosauria) from the Upper Cretaceous Barun Goyot Formation of Mongolia. ''Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Monatshefte'' 1982(7):440-448.
* A. Perle, T. Maryańska, and H. Osmólska (1982). ''Goyocephale lattimorei'' gen. et sp. n., a new flat-headed pachycephalosaur (Ornithischia, Dinosauria) from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia. ''Acta Palaeontologica Polonica'' 27(1-4):115-127.
* T. Maryańska and H. Osmólska (1984). Postcranial anatomy of ''Saurolophus angustirostris'' with comments on other hadrosaurs. ''Palaeontologia Polonica'' 46:119-141.
* T. Maryańska and H. Osmólska (1985). On ornithischian phylogeny. ''Acta Palaeontologica Polonica'' 30(3-4):137-149.
* H. Osmólska (1987). ''Borogovia gracilicrus'' gen. et sp. n., a new troodontid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia. ''Acta Palaeontologica Polonica'' 32(1-2):133-150.
* R. Barsbold, H. Osmólska, and S.M. Kurzanov (1987). On a new troodontid (Dinosauria, Theropoda) from the Early Cretaceous of Mongolia. ''Acta Palaeontologica Polonica'' 32(1-2):121-132.
* S. M. Kurzanov and H. Osmólska (1991). ''Tochisaurus nemegtensis'' gen. et sp. n., a new troodontid dinosaur (Dinosauria, Theropoda) from Mongolia. ''Acta Palaeontologica Polonica'' 36(1):69-76.
* H. Osmólska (1996). An unusual theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Nemegt Formation of Mongolia. ''Acta Palaeontologica Polonica'' 41(1):1-38.
* R. Barsbold and H. Osmólska (1999). The skull of ''Velociraptor'' (Theropoda) from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia. ''Acta Palaeontologica Polonica'' 44(2):189-219.
* R. Barsbold, H. Osmólska, M. Watabe, P.J. Currie, and K. Tsogtbaatar (2000). A new oviraptorosaur (Dinosauria, Theropoda) from Mongolia: the first dinosaur with a pygostyle. ''Acta Palaeontologica Polonica'' 45(2):97-106.
* T. Maryańska, H. Osmólska, and M. Wolsan (2002). Avialan status for Oviraptorosauria. ''Acta Palaeontologica Polonica'' 47(1):97-116.
* H. Osmólska, P.J. Currie, and R. Barsbold (2004). Oviraptorosauria. In: D.B. Weishampel, P. Dodson, and H. Osmólska (eds.), ''The Dinosauria'' (second edition). University of California Press, Berkeley 165-183.

References

Further reading

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Osmolska, Halszka
Polish paleontologists
Polish women geologists
Women paleontologists
1930 births
2008 deaths

Scientists from Poznań
20th-century women scientists
University of Warsaw alumni
Recipients of the Order of Polonia Restituta