William R. Hammer

Last updated
William R. Hammer
Born
NationalityAmerican
CitizenshipUnited States
Alma mater Wayne State University (Ph.D., M.S., and B.S.) [1]
Known for Fossil vertebrates of Antarctica including Cryolophosaurus
AwardsLaureate of The Lincoln Academy of Illinois, Order of Lincoln (2013) in the area of Education, [2] Antarctic Service Medal
Scientific career
Fields Paleontology
Institutions Augustana College, IL, Field Museum of Natural History

William Roy Hammer is an American paleontologist who is credited with the discovery of the first carnivorous dinosaur unearthed in Antarctica, Cryolophosaurus, in 1991. He was professor of geology and curator of the Frxyell Geology Museum at Augustana College in Rock Island, IL from 1981 to 2017. [3] [4] [5]

Contents

Biography

Hammer was born in Detroit, Michigan and attended Wayne State University where he earned a bachelor's degree and masters in Zoology and completed a doctorate in Paleontology. As a student researcher, he was introduced to the study of fossil vertebrates in Antarctica by his advisor, Dr. John Cosgriff.

Contributions to paleontology

Cast of Cryolophosaurus ellioti Cryolophosaurus skeleton.jpg
Cast of Cryolophosaurus ellioti

Hammer was part of eight expeditions to Antarctica between 1977 and 2017. [6] [7] In 1991, Ohio State University geologist David Elliot was studying igneous rocks on Mt. Kirkpatrick near the Beardmore Glacier in Antarctica when he found some scree that contained bone. Hammer, who was working on synapsids fossils nearby, investigated the site and found the femur of a large theropod dinosaur exposed from the rock. [6] The quarry later produced a skull with a unique head crest that was described in 1994 as belonging to a new genus and species, Cryolophosaurus ellioti .

Hammer also collected the partial remains of a sauropodmoropha dinosaur. When the specimen (a partial foot, leg and ankle bones) was later described and a new genus and species named, Glacialisaurus hammeri, it was to honor Dr. Hammer for his contributions to vertebrate paleontology and Antarctic research. [8] [9]

Related Research Articles

<i>Allosaurus</i> Extinct genus of carnosaurian theropod dinosaur

Allosaurus is a genus of large carnosaurian theropod dinosaur that lived 155 to 145 million years ago during the Late Jurassic epoch. The name "Allosaurus" means "different lizard" alluding to its unique concave vertebrae. It is derived from the Greek ἄλλος and σαῦρος. The first fossil remains that could definitively be ascribed to this genus were described in 1877 by paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh. As one of the first well-known theropod dinosaurs, it has long attracted attention outside of paleontological circles.

<i>Dilophosaurus</i> Genus of theropod dinosaur from Early Jurassic

Dilophosaurus is a genus of theropod dinosaurs that lived in what is now North America during the Early Jurassic, about 193 million years ago. Three skeletons were discovered in northern Arizona in 1940, and the two best preserved were collected in 1942. The most complete specimen became the holotype of a new species in the genus Megalosaurus, named M. wetherilli by Samuel P. Welles in 1954. Welles found a larger skeleton belonging to the same species in 1964. Realizing it bore crests on its skull, he assigned the species to the new genus Dilophosaurus in 1970, as Dilophosaurus wetherilli. The genus name means "two-crested lizard", and the species name honors John Wetherill, a Navajo councilor. Further specimens have since been found, including an infant. Footprints have also been attributed to the animal, including resting traces. Another species, Dilophosaurus sinensis from China, was named in 1993, but was later found to belong to the genus Sinosaurus.

Cryolophosaurus is a genus of large theropod dinosaur known from only a single species Cryolophosaurus ellioti, from the early Jurassic of Antarctica. It was one of the largest theropods of the Early Jurassic, with the subadult being estimated to have reached 6–7 metres (20–23 ft) long and weighed 350–465 kilograms (772–1,025 lb).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Ross Island</span>

James Ross Island is a large island off the southeast side and near the northeastern extremity of the Antarctic Peninsula, from which it is separated by Prince Gustav Channel. Rising to 1,630 metres (5,350 ft), it is irregularly shaped and extends 64 km in a north–south direction. It was charted in October 1903 by the Swedish Antarctic Expedition under Otto Nordenskiöld, who named it for Sir James Clark Ross, the leader of a British expedition to this area in 1842 that discovered and roughly charted a number of points along the eastern side of the island. The style, "James" Ross Island is used to avoid confusion with the more widely known Ross Island in McMurdo Sound.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coelophysoidea</span> Extinct superfamily of dinosaurs

Coelophysoidea were common dinosaurs of the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic periods. They were widespread geographically, probably living on all continents. Coelophysoids were all slender, carnivorous forms with a superficial similarity to the coelurosaurs, with which they were formerly classified, and some species had delicate cranial crests. Sizes range from about 1 to 6 m in length. It is unknown what kind of external covering coelophysoids had, and various artists have portrayed them as either scaly or feathered. Some species may have lived in packs, as inferred from sites where numerous individuals have been found together.

<i>Arkansaurus</i> Genus of reptiles (fossil)

Arkansaurus is an extinct genus of ornithomimosaurian theropod dinosaur. It lived during the Albian and Aptian stages of the Early Cretaceous. The type and only species is Arkansaurus fridayi.

Coelurus is a genus of coelurosaurian dinosaur from the Late Jurassic period. The name means "hollow tail", referring to its hollow tail vertebrae. Although its name is linked to one of the main divisions of theropods (Coelurosauria), it has historically been poorly understood, and sometimes confused with its better-known contemporary Ornitholestes. Like many dinosaurs studied in the early years of paleontology, it has had a confusing taxonomic history, with several species being named and later transferred to other genera or abandoned. Only one species is currently recognized as valid: the type species, C. fragilis, described by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1879. It is known from one partial skeleton found in the Morrison Formation of Wyoming, United States. It was a small bipedal carnivore with elongate legs.

<i>Zapsalis</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Zapsalis is a genus of dromaeosaurine theropod dinosaurs. It is a tooth taxon, often considered dubious because of the fragmentary nature of the fossils, which include teeth but no other remains.

<i>Sinosaurus</i> Genus of dinosaurs

Sinosaurus is an extinct genus of theropod dinosaur which lived during the Early Jurassic Period. It was a bipedal carnivore approximately 5.5 metres (18 ft) in length and 300 kilograms (660 lb) in body mass. Fossils of the animal were found at the Lufeng Formation, in the Yunnan Province of China.

<i>Zupaysaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Zupaysaurus is an extinct genus of early theropod dinosaur living during the Norian stage of the Late Triassic in what is now Argentina. Fossils of the dinosaur were found in the Los Colorados Formation of the Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin in northwestern Argentina. Although a full skeleton has not yet been discovered, Zupaysaurus can be considered a bipedal predator, up to 4 metres (13 ft) long. It may have had two parallel crests running the length of its snout.

<i>Antarctopelta</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Antarctopelta was a genus of ankylosaurian dinosaur with one known species, A. oliveroi, which lived in Antarctica during the Late Cretaceous Period. It was a medium-sized ankylosaur, reaching 4 meters (13 ft) in length or more, and showed characteristics of two different families, making more precise classification difficult. The single known fossil specimen was discovered on James Ross Island in 1986, constituting the first dinosaur remains ever discovered on Antarctica, although it is the second dinosaur from the continent to be formally named.

<i>Marshosaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Marshosaurus is a genus of medium-sized carnivorous theropod dinosaur, belonging to the Megalosauroidea, from the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation of Utah and possibly Colorado.

<i>Dracovenator</i> Extinct genus of dinosaur from the Jurassic of South Africa

Dracovenator is a genus of neotheropod dinosaur that lived approximately 201 to 199 million years ago during the early part of the Jurassic Period in what is now South Africa. Dracovenator was a medium-sized, moderately-built, ground-dwelling, bipedal carnivore, that could grow up to an estimated 5.5–6.5 metres (18–21 ft) in length and 250 kilograms (550 lb) in body mass. Its type specimen was based on only a partial skull that was recovered.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hanson Formation</span> Geological formation in Ross Dependency, Antarctica

The Hanson Formation is a geologic formation on Mount Kirkpatrick and north Victoria Land, Antarctica. It is one of the two major dinosaur-bearing rock groups found on Antarctica to date; the other is the Snow Hill Island Formation and related formations from the Late Cretaceous of the Antarctic Peninsula. The formation has yielded some Mesozoic specimens, but most of it is as yet unexcavated. Part of the Victoria Group of the Transantarctic Mountains, it lies below the Prebble Formation and above the Falla Formation. The formation includes material from volcanic activity linked to the Karoo-Ferar eruptions of the Lower Jurassic. The climate of the zone was similar to that of modern southern Chile, humid, with a temperature interval of 17–18 degrees. The Hanson Formation is correlated with the Section Peak Formation of the Eisenhower Range and Deep Freeze Range, as well as volcanic deposits on the Convoy Range and Ricker Hills of southern Victoria Land.

Wann Langston Jr. was an American paleontologist and professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

<i>Glacialisaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Glacialisaurus is a genus of sauropodomorph dinosaur. It lived during the Pliensbachian stage of the Early Jurassic period around 186 to 182 million years ago in what is now central Transantarctic Mountains of Antarctica. It is known from two specimens; the holotype, a partial tarsus (ankle) and metatarsus, and a partial left femur. The fossils were collected by a team led by paleontologist William R. Hammer during a 1990–91 field expedition to the Hanson Formation of Antarctica. They were described in 2007, and made the basis of the new genus and species Glacialisaurus hammeri. The genus name translates as “icy” or "frozen lizard”, and the species name honors Hammer.

<i>Kryostega</i> Genus of amphibians

Kryostega is a large temnospondyl amphibian from the Early or Middle Triassic of Antarctica. The genus is based on a single specimen collected in 1986 by a team led by paleontologist William H. Hammer of Augustana College, and now housed in the collections of the American Museum of Natural History. The holotype consists of an incomplete snout, including portions of both the right and left premaxilla, a partial left maxilla, both lacrimals, a small portion of the left nasal, the vomer, and a fragment of the palatine. Many partial teeth are preserved, though most have been broken away at their bases. The preserved part of the skull measures 27 cm long and 21 cm wide, from which a total skull length on about one meter has been inferred. Total body length has been estimated at 4.57 meters. The specimen suffered some damage during excavation, and the ventral surface is better preserved than the dorsal side of the fossil. Presently, only a single species is recognized, K. colllinsoni, named in honor of Antarctic scientist Jim Collinson.

<i>Megapnosaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaur

Megapnosaurus is an extinct genus of coelophysid theropod dinosaur that lived approximately 188 million years ago during the early part of the Jurassic Period in what is now Africa. The species was a small to medium-sized, lightly built, ground-dwelling, bipedal carnivore, that could grow up to 2.2 m (7.2 ft) long and weigh up to 13 kg (29 lb). It was originally given the genus name Syntarsus, but that name was later determined to be preoccupied by a beetle. The species was subsequently given a new genus name, Megapnosaurus, by Ivie, Ślipiński & Węgrzynowicz in 2001. Some studies have classified it as a species within the genus Coelophysis, but this interpretation has been challenged by more subsequent studies and the genus is now considered valid.

ReBecca Hunt-Foster is an American paleontologist. She has worked with dinosaur remains from the Late Jurassic to Late Cretaceous of the Colorado Plateau, Rocky Mountains, Southcentral, and the Southwestern United States of America. She described the dinosaur Arkansaurus fridayi and identified the first juvenile Torosaurus occurrences from Big Bend National Park in North America in 2008.

References

  1. "Augustana College". Field Museum . Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  2. "Laureates by Year". The Lincoln Academy of Illinois . Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  3. Farlow, James Orville; Walters, Robert H. (1999). The Complete Dinosaur. Indiana University Press. p. 50. ISBN   978-0-253-21313-6.
  4. Debus, Allen G. (June 2002). Dinosaur Memories: Dino-trekking for Beasts of Thunder, Fantastic Saurians, 'Paleo-people,' 'Dinosaurabilia,' and other 'Prehistoria'. Authors Choice Press. p. 492. ISBN   0-595-22988-3.
  5. Rubin, Jeff (2005). Lonely Planet Antarctica (Lonely Planet Antarctica). Lonely Planet Publications. p. 247. ISBN   1-74059-094-5.
  6. 1 2 Lincoln Academy of Illinois, Lincoln Academy 2013 Interview William Hammer, archived from the original on 2021-12-15, retrieved 2019-01-02
  7. Augustana College (IL), Frieze Lecture: Dawn of Antarctic Exploration, archived from the original on 2021-12-15, retrieved 2019-01-02
  8. "Anatomy of a basal sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Early Jurassic Hanson Formation of Antarctica - Acta Palaeontologica Polonica". app.pan.pl. Retrieved 2018-11-01.
  9. Bryner, Jeanna; December 11, Live Science Managing Editor |; ET, 2007 04:41am (11 December 2007). "New Dinosaur Discovered in Antarctica". Live Science. Retrieved 2019-01-03.{{cite web}}: |first2= has generic name (help)