David Gillette is an American paleontologist best known for his discovery of the dinosaur Diplodocus hallorum in 1985, and more recently for his work studying Pleistocene megafauna such as glyptodonts.[1][2] At the time of its discovery, Diplodocus hallorum was the longest dinosaur known.[3]
Discoveries edit
Gillette found eight huge bones of the Diplodocus in northwestern New Mexico in May 1985. Gillette began comparing the dinosaur bones he found to those of other dinosaurs. Gillette presented his conclusions in a press conference at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science and in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology[4] He gave the new dinosaur the name Seismosaurus halli, or "earth shaker." In 1993, Gillette published his book, Seismosaurus: The Earth Shaker, about his discovery. It was published by Columbia University Press and illustrated by Mark Hallett. The book was re-printed in paperback in 1999.[citation needed]
Seismosaurus was later re-categorized as a new species of Diplodocus, and renamed Diplodocus hallorum: while the specimen Gillette described was indeed of a novel species, it belonged to the existing Diplodocus genus rather than a previously undiscovered group.[5]
References edit
- ^ "Meet the Curator". Museum of Northern Arizona. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
- ^ "Extra Armor Gave Glyptodon an Edge". National Geographic. 2 February 2011. Archived from the original on May 12, 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
- ^ "Northern Arizona University". Archived from the original on 2010-10-27. Retrieved 2010-12-11.
- ^ Gillette, David D. (1991). "Seismosaurus halli, gen. et sp. nov., A New Sauropod Dinosaur from the Morrison Formation (Upper Jurassic/Lower Cretaceuos) of New Mexico, USA". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 11 (4): 417–433. doi:10.1080/02724634.1991.10011413.
- ^ Black, Riley (1991). "Whatever Happened to Seismosaurus". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 11 (4): 417–433. Retrieved 2020-01-01.