Anthony Fiorillo

Last updated
Anthony R. Fiorillo
Citizenship American
Alma mater University of Connecticut, University of Nebraska, University of Pennsylvania
Scientific career
Fields Paleontology
Institutions New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science
Author abbrev. (zoology) Tony Fiorillo

Anthony Ricardo Fiorillo is Executive Director of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science, as well as a senior fellow at the Institute for the Study of Earth and Man at Southern Methodist University. For many years he was vice president of research & collections and chief curator at the Perot Museum of Nature & Science. [1] [2] A native of Connecticut, he received his bachelor's at the University of Connecticut, his master's at the University of Nebraska and a Ph.D. in Vertebrate Paleontology from the University of Pennsylvania. [3]

Contents

Career

Dr. Fiorillo worked on his Rea Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and later as a scientist at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1995 he became a curator at the Dallas Museum of Natural History (now the Perot Museum of Nature and Science). He is currently the Executive Director of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science [4] and works as an adjunct associate professor of Paleontology at Southern Methodist University. [2] He has worked with the National Park Service in several national park units including Big Bend National Park, Denali National Park, Aniakchak National Monument, and Wrangell-St. Elias National Park to identify, study and preserve dinosaur fossils found. In 2008, he was honored with a fellowship in the Geological Society of America., [2] [5] as well as becoming a Fellow of the Explorers Club in 2013. For his long-time commitment to dinosaur paleontology within the National Park units in Alaska, he was recognized by the international George Wright Society in 2019 with the prestigious Natural Resource Achievement Award.

Since 1998 the primary focus of his work has been on polar dinosaurs, and more specifically the ancient Arctic dinosaurs of Alaska. [6] [7] Of the four Alaskan dinosaurs that have names, Fiorillo has named two of them: Pachyrhinosaurus perotorum and Nanuqsaurus hoglundi, which he named in honor of major supporters of his former museum. [8] [9] P. perotorum is christened after the billionaire Ross Perot and his family. [8] [10] Although Perot is not necessarily connected to Alaska or paleontology, he has given generously to the Perot Museum, which also bears his name. [11] N. hoglundi is named for Forrest Hoglund, [9] a Texas oil millionaire [12] who has also donated generously. Fiorillo and his colleagues have unearthed new polar dinosaurs as well as obtained insights into the ancient polar climate during one of Earth's greenhouse modes. [13] [14] In addition to Alaska, his work has taken him to Japan, Mongolia, and South Korea to explore the ancient land bridge connection between Asia and North America during the Cretaceous, a geographic connection often referred to as Beringia. His travels also include Australia, Italy, Peru, and Bolivia in order to further his research. [1] He has published approximately 140 technical papers.

Below is a list of taxa that Fiorillo has contributed to naming:

YearTaxonAuthors
2024 Tyrannosaurus mcraeensis sp. nov.Dalman, Loewen, Pyron, Jasinski, Malinzak, Lucas, Fiorillo, Currie, & Longrich [15]
2022 Paralitherizinosaurus japonicus gen. et sp. nov.Kobayashi, Takasaki, Fiorillo, Chinzorig, & Hikida [16]
2021 Yamatosaurus izanagii gen. et sp. nov.Kobayashi, Takasaki, Kubota, & Fiorillo [17]
2019 Unnuakomys hutchisoni gen. et sp. nov.Eberle, Clemens, McCarthy, Fiorillo, Erickson, & Druckenmiller [18]
2019 Kamuysaurus japonicus gen. et sp. nov.Kobayashi, Nishimura, Takasaki, Chiba, Fiorillo, Tanaka, Chinzorig, Sato, & Sakurai [19]
2018 Chupkaornis keraorum gen. et sp. nov.Tanaka, Kobayashi, Kurihara, Fiorillo, & Kano [20]
2016 Ounalashkastylus tomidai gen. et sp. nov.Chiba, Fiorillo, Jacobs, Kimura, Kobayashi, Kohno, Nishida, Polcyn, & Tanaka [21]
2014 Nanuqsaurus hoglundi gen. et sp. nov.Fiorillo & Tykoski [22]
2010 Flexomornis howei gen. et sp. nov.Tykoski & Fiorillo [23]

Published work

Books

Anthony Fiorillo has collaborated on these books and volumes:

He has also written the following book:

Sample of other publications

Personal life

Dr. Fiorillo currently resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

References

  1. 1 2 Marino, Katharina (December 31, 2012). "Paleontologist puts passion for fossils to use as curator at Perot Museum". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 "Scientists". The Perot Museum of Nature and Science. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  3. "Anthony Fiorello - Dedman College - SMU". Southern Methodist University. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
  4. "Anthony R. Fiorillo, Ph. D. named executive director of New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science in Albuquerque :: Department of Cultural Affairs Media Center :: Press Releases". media.newmexicoculture.org. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
  5. The Geological Society of America. "All Active and Current GSA Fellows". Archived from the original on 2018-09-27. Retrieved 2013-11-16.
  6. Dunham, Mike (August 25, 2012). "Alaskans - extinct and not - included in new Dallas museum". Alaska Dispatch News. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
  7. Wheeler, Jason (July 22, 2014). "Museum team races to make Alaska dinosaur discoveries". USA Today. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
  8. 1 2 Fiorillo, Anthony R.; Tykoski, Ronald S. (September 2012). "A New Maastrichtian Species of the Centrosaurine CeratopsidPachyrhinosaurusfrom the North Slope of Alaska". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 57 (3): 561–573. doi: 10.4202/app.2011.0033 . ISSN   0567-7920.
  9. 1 2 Fiorillo, Anthony R.; Tykoski, Ronald S. (2014-03-12). "A Diminutive New Tyrannosaur from the Top of the World". PLOS ONE. 9 (3): e91287. Bibcode:2014PLoSO...991287F. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0091287 . ISSN   1932-6203. PMC   3951350 . PMID   24621577.
  10. "Perot Museum of Nature and Science". Perot Museum Paleontologists Discover New Dinosaur Species | Perot Museum of Nature and Science. Retrieved 2018-12-13.
  11. "New Dallas science museum named for Ross Perot". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2018-12-13.
  12. "Forrest E. Hoglund". Reasoning Mind. Retrieved 2018-12-13.
  13. Townsend, Lori (September 3, 2012). "Footprint Sheds More Light On Prehistoric Alaska;". Alaska Public Media. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
  14. Martin, Justin (August 7, 2014). "Footprints Suggest Duck-Billed Dinosaurs Thrived In Polar Ecosystem". KERA News. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
  15. Dalman, Sebastian G.; Loewen, Mark A.; Pyron, R. Alexander; Jasinski, Steven E.; Malinzak, D. Edward; Lucas, Spencer G.; Fiorillo, Anthony Ricardo; Currie, Philip John; Longrich, Nicholas R. (11 January 2024). "A giant tyrannosaur from the Campanian–Maastrichtian of southern North America and the evolution of tyrannosaurid gigantism". Scientific Reports . 14 (1): 22124. doi:10.1038/s41598-023-47011-0. ISSN   2045-2322. PMC   10784284 . Retrieved 5 January 2025.
  16. Kobayashi, Yoshitsugu; Takasaki, Ryuji; Fiorillo, Anthony Ricardo; Chinzorig, Tsogtbaatar; Hikida, Yoshinori (3 May 2022). "New therizinosaurid dinosaur from the marine Osoushinai Formation (Upper Cretaceous, Japan) provides insight for function and evolution of therizinosaur claws". Scientific Reports . 12 (1): 7207. doi:10.1038/s41598-022-11063-5. ISSN   2045-2322. PMC   9065154 . Retrieved 17 February 2025.
  17. Kobayashi, Yoshitsugu; Takasaki, Ryuji; Kubota, Katsuhiro; Fiorillo, Anthony Ricardo (27 April 2021). "A new basal hadrosaurid (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) from the latest Cretaceous Kita-ama Formation in Japan implies the origin of hadrosaurids". Scientific Reports . 11 (1): 8547. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-87719-5. ISSN   2045-2322 . Retrieved 2 March 2025.
  18. Eberle, Jaelyn J.; Clemens, William A.; McCarthy, Paul J.; Fiorillo, Anthony R.; Erickson, Gregory M.; Druckenmiller, Patrick S. (2 November 2019). "Northernmost record of the Metatheria: a new Late Cretaceous pediomyid from the North Slope of Alaska". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology . 17 (21): 1805–1824. doi:10.1080/14772019.2018.1560369. ISSN   1477-2019 . Retrieved 2 January 2025 via Taylor and Francis Online.
  19. Kobayashi, Yoshitsugu; Nishimura, Tomohiro; Takasaki, Ryuji; Chiba, Kentaro; Fiorillo, Anthony R.; Tanaka, Kohei; Chinzorig, Tsogtbaatar; Sato, Tamaki; Sakurai, Kazuhiko (5 September 2019). "A New Hadrosaurine (Dinosauria: Hadrosauridae) from the Marine Deposits of the Late Cretaceous Hakobuchi Formation, Yezo Group, Japan". Scientific Reports . 9 (1). doi:10.1038/s41598-019-48607-1. ISSN   2045-2322. PMC   6728324 . Retrieved 1 March 2025.
  20. Tanaka, Tomonori; Kobayashi, Yoshitsugu; Kurihara, Ken'ichi; Fiorillo, Anthony R.; Kano, Manabu (21 June 2018). "The oldest Asian hesperornithiform from the Upper Cretaceous of Japan, and the phylogenetic reassessment of Hesperornithiformes". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology . 16 (8): 689–709. doi:10.1080/14772019.2017.1341960. ISSN   1477-2019 . Retrieved 2 January 2025 via Taylor and Francis Online.
  21. Chiba, Kentaro; Fiorillo, Anthony Ricardo; Jacobs, Louis L.; Kimura, Yuri; Kobayashi, Yoshitsugu; Kohno, Naoki; Nishida, Yosuke; Polcyn, Michael J.; Tanaka, Kohei (17 February 2016). "A new desmostylian mammal from Unalaska (USA) and the robust Sanjussen jaw from Hokkaido (Japan), with comments on feeding in derived desmostylids". Historical Biology . 28 (1–2): 289–303. doi:10.1080/08912963.2015.1046718. ISSN   0891-2963 . Retrieved 1 October 2024 via Taylor and Francis Online.
  22. Fiorillo, Anthony R.; Tykoski, Ronald S. (12 March 2014). Dodson, Peter (ed.). "A Diminutive New Tyrannosaur from the Top of the World". PLoS ONE . 9 (3): e91287. Bibcode:2014PLoSO...991287F. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0091287 . ISSN   1932-6203. PMC   3951350 . PMID   24621577.
  23. Tykoski, Ronald S.; Fiorillo, Anthony Ricardo (29 January 2010). "An enantiornithine bird from the lower middle Cenomanian of Texas". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology . 30 (1): 288–292. doi:10.1080/02724630903416068. ISSN   0272-4634 . Retrieved 28 February 2025 via Taylor and Francis Online.