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Evolution is not Reversible – Louis Dollo

Evolution is not Reversible – Louis Dollo

Tabea Tietz
On December 7, 1857, French-born Belgian palaeontologist Louis Dollo was born. Dollo is best known for his work on dinosaurs. He also posited that evolution is not reversible, known as Dollo’s law. Together with the Austrian Othenio Abel, Dollo established the principles of paleobiology. Early Years Louis Dollo was born in Lille, Nord-Pas-de-Calais. At the École Centrale de Lille, Dollo studied with the Jules Gosselet and the zoologist Alfred Giard. In 1877, Louis…
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biology
Gideon Mantell and the Reconstruction of the Iguanodon

Gideon Mantell and the Reconstruction of the Iguanodon

Harald Sack
On February 3, 1790, English obstetrician, geologist and palaeontologist Gideon Algernon Mantell was born. His attempts to reconstruct the structure and life of Iguanodon began the scientific study of dinosaurs. In 1822 he was responsible for the discovery of the first fossil teeth, and later much of the skeleton, of Iguanodon. Moreover, Mantell is also famous for his contributions on the Cretaceous of southern England. Well, the Cretaceous is a geologic period…
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anthropology
Eugene Dubois and the Discovery of the Java Man

Eugene Dubois and the Discovery of the Java Man

Tabea Tietz
On January 28, 1858, Dutch paleoanthropologist and geologist Eugene Dubois was born. Dubois earned worldwide fame for his discovery of Pithecanthropus erectus (later redesignated Homo erectus), or Java Man. Although hominid fossils had been found and studied before, Dubois was the first anthropologist to embark upon a purposeful search for them. Eugene Dubois – Early Years Dubois was born in Eijsden, near Limburg, Netherlands, where his father, Jean Dubois, was an apothecary,…
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paleontology
Sir Richard Owen and the Interpretation of Fossils

Sir Richard Owen and the Interpretation of Fossils

Harald Sack
On July 20, 1804, English biologist, comparative anatomist and paleontologist Sir Richard Owen was born. Despite being a controversial figure, Owen is generally considered to have been an outstanding naturalist with a remarkable gift for interpreting fossils. Owen is probably best remembered today for coining the word Dinosauria (meaning “Terrible Reptile” or “Fearfully Great Reptile“). And today, dinosaurs seem to be more popular than ever, taking into account recent revenues of the latest sequel of…
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paleontology
She sells Sea Shells by the Sea Shore – Mary Anning and her Marine Fossils

She sells Sea Shells by the Sea Shore – Mary Anning and her Marine Fossils

Tabea Tietz
On May 21, 1799, British fossil collector, dealer, and palaeontologist Mary Anning was born. She became known around the world for important finds she made in Jurassic marine fossil beds in the cliffs along the English Channel at Lyme Regis in the county of Dorset in Southwest England. Her work contributed to fundamental changes in scientific thinking about prehistoric life and the history of the Earth. “She sells sea-shells on the sea-shore,…
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paleontology
Fossil Hunter Barnum Brown and the Tyrannosaurus Rex

Fossil Hunter Barnum Brown and the Tyrannosaurus Rex

Tabea Tietz
On February 12, 1873, paleontologist Barnum Brown, commonly referred to as Mr. Bones, was born. He is best known for his discovery of the first documented remains of Tyrannosaurus rex during a career that made him one of the most famous fossil hunters working from the late Victorian era into the early 20th century. Fossil Hunter Barnum Brown Brown was named after the circus entrepreneur P. T. Barnum. He was born into a farming family, but…
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paleontology
Othniel Charles Marsh and the Great Bone Wars

Othniel Charles Marsh and the Great Bone Wars

Harald Sack
On October 29, 1831, American paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh was born. Being one of the preeminent scientists in the field, he discovered over 1000 fossils and contributed greatly to knowledge of extinct North American vertebrates. From the 1870s to 1890s he competed with rival paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope in a period of frenzied Western American expeditions known as the Bone Wars.[5] Othniel Charles Marsh Background The term “paleontology” was coined just nine…
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paleontology
How Ötzi the Iceman became World Famous

How Ötzi the Iceman became World Famous

Tabea Tietz
On September 19, 1991, two German tourist found a corpse on the east ridge of the Fineilspitze in the Ötztal Alps on the Austrian–Italian border. The corpse turned out to be a well-preserved natural mummy of a man who lived around 3,300 BCE, which has become famous under the name “Ötzi“. The Discovery On 19 September 1991, Ötzi was found by two German tourists in the Ötztal Alps on the Austrian–Italian border,…
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paleontology
Meet Sue, the Dinosaur

Meet Sue, the Dinosaur

Harald Sack
Usually, in our articles we focus on a person, a development, an invention, or an decisive moment in history. Today, a long dead animal will be the protagonist of our post. But, it’s the story of an extraordinary finding. On August 12, 1990, Sue, largest, most extensive and best preserved Tyrannosaurus rex specimen ever found found up to date, was discovered by Sue Hendrickson in South Dakota. Sure, all kids love dinosaurs. When I was…
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archeology
Gerald Hawkins and the Secret of Stonehenge

Gerald Hawkins and the Secret of Stonehenge

Harald Sack
On June 20, 1928, English astronomer and author Gerald Stanley Hawkins was born. He is best known for his work in the field of archaeoastronomy. In 1965 he published an analysis of Stonehenge in which he was the first to propose its purpose as an ancient astronomical observatory used to predict movements of sun and stars. Background Gerald Hawkins Gerald Hawkins was born in Great Yarmouth and studied physics and mathematics at…
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