Jørn Harald Hurum (born November 4, 1967) is a Norwegian

paleontologist Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geolo ...

and

popularizer of science Popular science (also called pop-science or popsci) is an interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is more broad ranging. It may be written ...

. He is a

vertebrate Vertebrates () are animals with a vertebral column (backbone or spine), and a cranium, or skull. The vertebral column surrounds and protects the spinal cord, while the cranium protects the brain. The vertebrates make up the subphylum Vertebra ...

and holds an

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...

position at the

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history scientific collection, collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, Fungus, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleo ...

of the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

. He has studied

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...

s, primitive

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

s and

plesiosaur The Plesiosauria or plesiosaurs are an Order (biology), order or clade of extinct Mesozoic marine reptiles, belonging to the Sauropterygia. Plesiosaurs first appeared in the latest Triassic Period (geology), Period, possibly in the Rhaetian st ...

Media

Hurum is known as a popularizer of science with a high media profile. He is the author of the book ''Menneskets utvikling'' ("The Evolution of Man") and the host of the segment ''Jørns hjørne'' ("Jørn's Corner") on the popular-science program "Newton" on Norwegian television. He also co-hosts the radio program ''Hurum og Ødegaard'' ("Hurum and Ødegaard") with astrophysicist

Knut Jørgen Røed Ødegaard Knut Jørgen Røed Ødegaard (born 6 May 1966) is a Norwegian astronomer formerly employed as a media contact at the University of Oslo's Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics. He was the leader of the Norwegian Astronomical Society (2005–200 ...

on Norwegian radio. In 2001, Hurum was awarded Oslo University's "Formidlingspris," an award for the popularization of science, which he shared with Hans Arne Nakrem and

Geir Søli Geir is a masculine name commonly given in Norway and Iceland. It is derived from Old Norse ''geirr'' "spear", a common name element in Germanic names in general, from Proto-Germanic '' *gaizaz'' (whence also Old High German ''gêr'', Old English ' ...

. He was awarded the prize again in 2009 for his work publicizing "Ida", the ''

Darwinius ''Darwinius'' is a genus within the infraorder Adapiformes, a group of basal strepsirrhine primates from the middle Eocene epoch. Its only known species, ''Darwinius masillae'', lived approximately 47 million years ago (Lutetian stage) based ...

'' find.

Discoveries

Hurum has done work on a wide range of

vertebrate palaeontology Vertebrate paleontology is the subfield of paleontology that seeks to discover, through the study of fossilized remains, the behavior, reproduction and appearance of extinct vertebrates (animals with vertebrae and their descendants). It also tr ...

, ranging from

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era is the Era (geology), era of Earth's Geologic time scale, geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Period (geology), Periods. It is characterized by the dominance of archosaurian r ...

mammals,

theropod Theropoda (; from ancient Greek , (''therion'') "wild beast"; , (''pous, podos'') "foot"">wiktionary:ποδός"> (''pous, podos'') "foot" is one of the three major groups (clades) of dinosaurs, alongside Ornithischia and Sauropodom ...

dinosaurs and

plesiosaurs The Plesiosauria or plesiosaurs are an Order (biology), order or clade of extinct Mesozoic marine reptiles, belonging to the Sauropterygia. Plesiosaurs first appeared in the latest Triassic Period (geology), Period, possibly in the Rhaetian st ...

from

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), previously known as Spitsbergen or Spitzbergen, is a Norway, Norwegian archipelago that lies at the convergence of the Arctic Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean. North of continental Europe, mainland Europe, it lies about midway be ...

. In 2006 his team uncovered an enormous short-necked plesiosaur, the '' Pliosaurus funkei'', possibly the largest carnivore found to date. His main work continues to be in the field of plesiosaurs and

ichthyosaurs Ichthyosauria is an taxonomy (biology), order of large extinction, extinct marine reptiles sometimes referred to as "ichthyosaurs", although the term is also used for wider clades in which the order resides. Ichthyosaurians thrived during much of ...

from Svalbard. In May, 2009, he announced the acquisition and scientific description of a 47-million-year-old, 95% complete skeleton of a primitive primate, ''

Darwinius masillae ''Darwinius'' is a genus within the infraorder Adapiformes, a group of basal strepsirrhine primates from the middle Eocene epoch. Its only known species, ''Darwinius masillae'', lived approximately 47 million years ago (Lutetian stage) based on ...

'', that had been in the private collection of an amateur fossil collector for 25 years. Hurum named the specimen "Ida", after his daughter.

Controversy

Some experts in the scientific community were critical of the 2009 media campaign Hurum orchestrated to publicize his find ''

''.

Matt Cartmill Matthew Cartmill is an American anthropologist and professor of anthropology in the College of Arts and Sciences at Boston University, where he formerly served as Chair of Anthropology. Education and career Cartmill was educated at Pomona Colle ...

, an anthropologist from Duke University, said "The P.R. campaign on this fossil is I think more of a story than the fossil itself". Hurum's reputation was further tarnished when it turned out that the fossil was not a "Revolutionary Scientific Find That Will Change Everything," as he had claimed in his press release, and that some of the key scientific claims he had made for ''

'' failed scientific scrutiny. Hurum was named a 2011 National Geographic Emerging Explorer.

References

External links

Curriculum

Hurum's publications, and press releases concerning his work
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hurum, Jorn 1967 births Living people Norwegian paleontologists Norwegian science writers Academic staff of the University of Oslo 20th-century Norwegian scientists 21st-century Norwegian biologists 20th-century Norwegian educators 21st-century Norwegian educators