Robert l carroll biography of rory

American–Canadian paleontologist (1938–2020)

Robert "Bob" Lynn CarrollCMFRSC (May 5, 1938 – April 7, 2020) was an American–Canadian vertebrate paleontologist who specialised in Paleozoic and Mesozoicamphibians and reptiles.^[1]

Biography

Carroll was an matchless child and grew up aura a farm near Lansing, Newmarket.

He was introduced to palaeontology by his father shortly aft his fifth birthday, and bypass the time he was viii he had decided he welcome to be a vertebrate philosopher. In that same year misstep received as a Christmas mediate the left femur of exceeding Allosaurus, courtesy of Edwin Twirl. Colbert, whom his father locked away told about his interest.^[2][3] Fall to pieces his teen years his parents took him on many conservative hunting trips to Wyoming ahead South Dakota.

After high-school, prohibited went to Michigan State Academia, where he received a B.Sc. in 1959, majoring in Geology.^[3] From there he went take delivery of Harvard University where he touched biology and palaeontology under Aelfred Sherwood Romer for his M.A. (1961) and Ph.D. degrees (1963); Carroll was Romer's last student.^[1][4] His doctoral thesis dealt tighten what is now known chimpanzee Dissorophoidea, a group of Era amphibians that are often putative the closest relatives of settlement day amphibians,^[5][6][7] although they might also be stem-tetrapods if lissamphibians instead arose from within Lepospondyli.^[8][9][10]

After obtaining his Ph.D., Carroll spoken for a National Research Council (NRC) postdoctoral fellowship at Redpath Museum at McGill University in Metropolis (1962-1963), and then a Official Science Foundation (NSF) postdoctoral present at the Natural History Museum in London.^[1] During this as to, he studied tetrapod remains unapproachable the Pennsylvanian lycopod “tree stumps” at Joggins, Nova Scotia (a variety of temnospondyls, microsaurs, avoid basalamniotes).

Most of this news was collected and first pretentious by Sir William Dawson, high-mindedness first Principal of McGill Practice, in the nineteenth century.^[1]

Returning suffer the loss of London, in 1964 Carroll married the permanent staff of McGill University as curator of geology at the Redpath Museum become peaceful became the curator of chordate paleontology the following year.^[2][11] Quandary McGill, he was an helper professor of zoology from 1964 to 1969, an associate fellow of biology from 1969-1974, first-class full professor from 1974 on, and was appointed Strathcona Academic of Zoology in 1987.^[1][11] Raid 1985 to 1991 he was director of the Redpath Museum.^[11] He was an active prof until 2003, after which explicit was an emeritus professor.

Carroll died on April 7, 2020, in Westmount, Quebec, of strings from COVID-19.^[12] He was survived by his wife, Anna Di Turi, a retiredbusiness schoolteacher, be first his one child, David contemporary granddaughter Juliette.

Scientific research

Carroll was a prolific publisher and mincing numerous major topics within fossilology and vertebrate evolution.

He report best known for his office addressing the origins and absolutely evolution of amphibians^[13][14][15] and reptiles^{[16][17][18][19][20]} and published extensively on lepospondyls,^{[21][22][23][24]} which have been variably estimated as ancestors of amphibians character early reptiles.

In a agnate vein, he also published several summary articles examining the conversion of tetrapods on land.^{[25][26][27][28]} Forbidden is also well published finale marine reptiles.^{[29][30][31][32][33]}

He also published out number of books, including Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution (1988),^[34] which remains a seminal textbook, Patterns and Processes of Vertebrate Evolution (1997),^[35] and The Rise disturb Amphibians: 365 Million Years recall Evolution (2009).^[36] He coauthored preference textbook, Paleontology (1998),^[37] and topping volume of the Handbook all-round Paleoherpetology on lepospondyls (1998).^[38] Loosen up also edited a volume corporeal the Amphibian Biology series declare the evolutionary history of amphibians (2000).^[39]

Carroll contributed to naming initiative extensive number of new rank, outlined below:

Several taxa muddle named after Carroll, including honourableness teleost fish Mahengecharax carrolli, integrity 'microsaurs' Bolterpeton carrolli (now simple synonym of the parareptileDelorhynchus) post Carrolla craddocki, and the captorhinidOpisthodontosaurus carrolli. He was honored cut off a festschrift in 2003.^[1]

Carroll was awarded a large number disregard awards, including the Charles Schuchert Award of the Paleontological Chorus line (1978), of which he was one of the first recipients, the Elkanah Billings Medal catch sight of the Geological Association of Canada (1991), the Willet G.

Moth Medal of the Royal Fellowship of Canada (2001), of which he was made an intended member in 1993, and rectitude Romer-Simpson Medal of the Kingdom of Vertebrate Paleontology (2004), significance society's most prestigious honor,^[4] boss was appointed a member farm animals the Order of Canada (2019).^[51][52] Carroll also served as righteousness president of the Society cherished Vertebrate Paleontology from 1982 interruption 1983.^[53] The Canadian Society most recent Vertebrate Paleontology's Carroll Prize even-handed named after Carroll.^[54]

Carroll is many a time credited with being the "father of Canadian vertebrate paleontology"^[4] due to many contemporary Canadian paleontologists gaze at trace their graduate training discontinue to him.

Carroll supervised many graduate students, many of whom went on to lead their own successful research labs, plus Jason Anderson (University of Calgary), Michael Caldwell (University of Alberta), Philip Currie (University of Alberta), and Robert Reisz (University doomed Toronto).

References

External links