Paul Callistus Sereno (born October 11, 1957) is a professor of

paleontology Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

and a

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...

"explorer-in-residence" who has discovered several new

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

species on several continents, including at sites in Inner Mongolia, Argentina, Morocco and Niger. One of his most widely publicized discoveries is that of a nearly complete specimen of ''

Sarcosuchus imperator ''Sarcosuchus'' (; ) is an extinct genus of crocodyliform and distant relative of living crocodilians that lived during the Early Cretaceous, from the late Hauterivian to the early Albian, 133 to 112 million years ago of what is now Africa an ...

'' — popularly known as SuperCroc — at

Gadoufaoua The Elrhaz Formation is a geological formation in Niger, central Africa. Its strata date back to the Early Cretaceous, about 125 to 112 million years ago. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation, alongsi ...

in the Tenere desert of Niger.

Biography

Youth and education

The son of a

mail carrier A mail carrier, mailman, mailwoman, postal carrier, postman, postwoman, or letter carrier (in American English), sometimes colloquially known as a postie (in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom), is an employee of a post ...

and an art teacher at Prairie Elementary, Sereno grew up in

Naperville Naperville ( ) is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage and Will County, Illinois, Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is in the Chicago metro area, west of the city. Naperville was founded in 1831 by Joseph Naper. The city was ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

and graduated from

Naperville Central High School Naperville Central High School (Naperville Central or NCHS) is a four-year public high school located in Naperville, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago. The school, which enrolls students in grades nine through twelve, is a part of the Naper ...

. He was then educated at

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois. It was founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895, by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld as part of an expansion of the state's system ...

(

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

, Biological Sciences, 1979) and

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

(

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

, Vertebrate Paleontology, 1981; M. Phil., Geological Sciences, 1981;

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

, Geological Sciences, 1987).

Career

Sereno was named one of ''

People A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...

'' magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People (1997). Sereno co-founded Project Exploration, a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

science education organization to encourage city kids to pursue careers in science. He appears in the 2009 DVD ''Dinosaur Discoveries'', featuring classic segments of

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

anchorman

Walter Cronkite Walter Leland Cronkite Jr. (November 4, 1916 – July 17, 2009) was an American broadcast journalist who served as anchorman for the ''CBS Evening News'' for 19 years (1962–1981). During the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the mo ...

as the host, which aired on A&E in 1991. It was later re-shown on the

Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...

until the late 1990s. On August 14, 2008, it was revealed that Sereno had uncovered a large Stone Age cemetery at Gobero in the

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesSahara , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

, remnants of a people who lived from 10,000 to 5,000 years ago on the edge of what was then a large lake. The

documentary, ''Skeletons of the Sahara'' was made about this discovery and premiered in 2013.

Fossil species described by Sereno or his team

Dinosaurs *''

Aerosteon ''Aerosteon'' is a genus of megaraptoran dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous period of Argentina. Its remains were discovered in 1996 in the Anacleto Formation, which is from the late Campanian. The type and only known species is ''A. riocolorad ...

'' *''

Afrovenator ''Afrovenator'' (; "African hunter") is a genus of megalosaurid theropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic Period of northern Africa. Discovery and naming The remains of ''Afrovenator'' were discovered in 1993 in the Tiourarén Formation ...

'' *Significant new material of ''

Carcharodontosaurus ''Carcharodontosaurus'' (; ) is a genus of large carcharodontosaurid theropod dinosaur that existed during the Cenomanian age of the Late Cretaceous in Northern Africa. The genus ''Carcharodontosaurus'' is named after the shark genus ''Carcha ...

'', including ''Carcharodontosaurus iguidensis'') *''

Deltadromeus ''Deltadromeus'' (meaning "delta runner") is a genus of theropod dinosaur from Northern Africa. It had long, unusually slender hind limbs for its size, suggesting that it was a swift runner. The skull is not known. One fossil specimen of a sin ...

'' *''

Eocarcharia ''Eocarcharia'' (meaning "dawn shark") is a genus of carcharodontosaurid theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Elrhaz Formation that lived in the Sahara 112 million years ago, in what today is the country of Niger. It was discovered in 2 ...

'' *''

Eodromaeus ''Eodromaeus'' (meaning "dawn runner") is an extinct genus of probable basal theropod dinosaurs from the Late Triassic of Argentina. Like many other of the earliest-known dinosaurs, it hails from the Carnian-age (~230 Ma) Ischigualasto Form ...

'' *''

Eoraptor ''Eoraptor'' () is a genus of small, lightly built, basal sauropodomorph. One of the earliest-known dinosaurs, it lived approximately 231 to 228 million years ago, during the Late Triassic in Western Gondwana, in the region that is now northwest ...

'' *''

Erliansaurus ''Erliansaurus'' (meaning "Erlian lizard") is a genus of therizinosaur theropod dinosaur that lived in Asia during the Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous period in what is now Nei Mongol, Iren Dabasu Formation. Discovery and naming The r ...

'' *''

Graciliceratops ''Graciliceratops'' (meaning "slender horn") is a genus of Ceratopsia#Phylogeny, neoceratopsian dinosaurs that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous period. Discovery and naming The holotype, ZPAL MgD-I/156, was discovered at the Bayan Shire ...

'' *Significant new material of ''

Herrerasaurus ''Herrerasaurus'' is a genus of saurischian dinosaur from the Late Triassic period. This genus was one of the earliest dinosaurs from the fossil record. Its name means "Herrera's lizard", after the rancher who discovered the first specimen in ...

'' *'' Jobaria'' *''

Kryptops ''Kryptops'' is a genus of abelisaurid theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Niger. It is known from a partial skeleton found at the Gadoufaoua locality in the western Ténéré Desert, in rocks of the Aptian-Albian age Elrhaz Formation. ...

'' *''

Neimongosaurus ''Neimongosaurus'' (meaning "Nei Mongol lizard") is a genus of herbivorous therizinosaur theropod dinosaur that lived in Asia during the Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous period in what is now the Iren Dabasu Formation. Discovery and nami ...

'' *''

Nigersaurus ''Nigersaurus'' is a genus of rebbachisaurid sauropod dinosaur that lived during the middle Cretaceous period, about 115 to 105 million years ago. It was discovered in the Elrhaz Formation in an area called Gadoufaoua, in Niger. Fossils of th ...

'' *'' Pegomastax'' *Three new species of ''

Psittacosaurus ''Psittacosaurus'' ( ; "parrot lizard") is a genus of extinct ceratopsian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of what is now Asia, existing between 126 and 101 million years ago. It is notable for being the most species-rich non-avian dinosaur gen ...

'' (''P. meileyingensis'', ''P. xinjiangensis'', ''P. gobiensis'') *''

Rajasaurus ''Rajasaurus'' (meaning "princely lizard") is a genus of carnivorous abelisaurid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of India, containing one species: ''Rajasaurus narmadensis''. The bones were excavated from the Lameta Formation in the ...

'' *''

Raptorex ''Raptorex'' is a dubious genus of tyrannosaurid dinosaur. Its fossil remains consist of a single juvenile specimen probably uncovered in Mongolia, or possibly northeastern China. The type species is ''R. kriegsteini'', described in 2009 by Se ...

'' *''

Rugops ''Rugops'' (meaning ‘wrinkle face’) is a monospecific genus of basal abelisaurid theropod dinosaur from Niger that lived during the Late Cretaceous period (Cenomanian stage, ~95 Ma) in what is now the Echkar Formation. The type and only speci ...

'' *Significant new material of ''

Spinosaurus ''Spinosaurus'' (; ) is a genus of spinosaurid dinosaur that lived in what now is North Africa during the Cenomanian to upper Turonian stages of the Late Cretaceous period, about 99 to 93.5 million years ago. The genus was known first fro ...

'' *Significant new material of ''

Sinornithomimus ''Sinornithomimus'' is a genus of ornithomimid that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous period. The first remains were found in 1997, in the Late Cretaceous strata of the Ulansuhai Formation located at Alshanzuo Banner, Inner Mongolia Auto ...

''. *''

Spinostropheus ''Spinostropheus'' is a genus of carnivorous ceratosaurian theropod dinosaur that lived in the Middle Jurassic period and has been found in the Tiouraren Formation, Niger. The type species, type and only species is ''S. gautieri''. History of d ...

'' *''

Suchomimus ''Suchomimus'' (meaning "crocodile mimic") is a genus of spinosaurid dinosaur that lived between 125 and 112 million years ago in what is now Niger, during the Aptian to early Albian stages of the Early Cretaceous period. It was named and ...

''
Other fossil reptiles *''

Marasuchus ''Marasuchus'' (meaning "Mara crocodile") is a genus of basal dinosauriform archosaur which is possibly synonymous with '' Lagosuchus''. Both genera lived during the Late Triassic in what is now La Rioja Province, Argentina. ''Marasuchus'' conta ...

'', an early relative of dinosaurs *"The African

Pterosaur Pterosaurs (; from Greek ''pteron'' and ''sauros'', meaning "wing lizard") is an extinct clade of flying reptiles in the order, Pterosauria. They existed during most of the Mesozoic: from the Late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous (228 to ...

" *''

'' or SuperCroc *''

Anatosuchus minor ''Anatosuchus'' ("duck crocodile", the name from the Latin ''anas'' ("duck") and the Greek ''souchos'' ("crocodile"), for the broad, duck-like snout) is an extinct genus of notosuchian crocodylomorph discovered in Gadoufaoua, Niger, and describe ...

'' or DuckCroc from

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesAraripesuchus rattoides'' or RatCroc from

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesMorocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

*'' Kaprosuchus saharicus'' or BoarCroc from

*'' Laganosuchus thaumastos'' or PancakeCroc from

*'' Laganosuchus maghrebensis'' or PancakeCroc from

Documentaries featuring Sereno and his discoveries

In addition to his many discoveries in the field, public communication has been a big part of Sereno's career.

References

External links

Paulsereno.org: official Paul Sereno website
* What can fossils teach us? * Dinosaurs on Drifting Continents
Digging up dinosaurs
TED {{DEFAULTSORT:Sereno, Paul American paleontologists 1957 births Living people University of Chicago faculty Northern Illinois University alumni Columbia University alumni People from Naperville, Illinois 20th-century American scientists 21st-century American scientists