Doctor Archibald "Archie" Lamont (21 October 1907 – 16 March 1985) was a Scottish geologist,

palaeontologist 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 ...

Scottish Nationalist Scottish nationalism promotes the idea that the Scottish people form a cohesive nation and national identity. Scottish nationalism began to shape from 1853 with the National Association for the Vindication of Scottish Rights, progressing into ...

writer, poet and politician. He named the

trilobite Trilobites (; meaning "three-lobed entities") are extinction, extinct marine arthropods that form the class (biology), class Trilobita. One of the earliest groups of arthropods to appear in the fossil record, trilobites were among the most succ ...

genus '' Wallacia'' after

William Wallace Sir William Wallace (, ; Norman French: ; 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence. Along with Andrew Moray, Wallace defeated an English army at the Battle of St ...

Early life and education

Born on 21 October 1907 at Ardbeg Villa, Ardbeg,

Rothesay Rothesay ( ; ) is the principal town on the Isle of Bute, in the council area of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies along the coast of the Firth of Clyde. It can be reached by a Caledonian MacBrayne ferry from Wemyss Bay, which also offers an ...

Bute Bute or BUTE may refer to: People * Marquess of Bute, a title in the Peerage of Great Britain; includes lists of baronets, earls and marquesses of Bute * Lord of Bute, a title in medieval Scotland, including a list of lords * Lucian Bute (born ...

, the son of Barbara Mathie and lawyer John McNab Lamont

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

. He was educated at

Port Bannatyne Port Bannatyne (), is a coastal village on the Isle of Bute, Firth of Clyde, Scotland that is home to many steamers. Port Bannatyne developed into the 1900s as a quieter alternative to Rothesay. It is a popular harbour, with a small yacht marina ...

School and

Rothesay Academy Rothesay Academy is a secondary school in the town of Rothesay on the Isle of Bute. Feeder schools Rothesay Academy has 3 associated primary schools: Rothesay Primary School and St. Andrew's Primary in Rothesay and North Bute Primary in Port Ban ...

(1918–25). He studied science at the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

graduating with an MA in 1928, a BSc in 1932 and, specialising in geology at postgraduate level, gained a doctorate (PhD) in 1935. He was active in the

Glasgow University Scottish Nationalist Association The Glasgow University Scottish Nationalist Association (GUSNA) is a student organisation formed in 1927 at the University of Glasgow which supports Scottish independence. History GUSNA is important historically as it predated many pro-independ ...

and wrote extensively for the university magazine, under various pseudonyms. In the 1950s, he was active in the

Scottish National Congress The Scottish National Congress was a small Scottish nationalist campaign group, focussed on direct action. The group was founded in 1950 by Roland Muirhead and supporters including Oliver Brown, who became its first president.H. J. Hanham, ''Scot ...

Academic career

He began his academic career as assistant lecturer in 1936 and during the same year married Rose Bannatyne Mackinlay with whom he fathered a son they named Patrick John Coll Lamont. In 1944 he became lecturer in geology at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

and was then appointed Carnegie Research Fellow at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

(1945–55). Lamont was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

on 6 March 1950, upon the proposal of Sir Edward B Bailey,

Arthur Holmes Arthur Holmes (14 January 1890 – 20 September 1965) was an English geologist who made two major contributions to the understanding of geology. He pioneered the use of radiometric dating of minerals, and was the first earth scientist to gras ...

, John G C Anderson and Frederick William Anderson. He was also a Fellow of the

Geological Society of London The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe, with more than 12,000 Fellows. Fe ...

, and a member of the

Edinburgh Geological Society The Edinburgh Geological Society (EGS) was founded in 1834 in Edinburgh, Scotland, with the aim of stimulating public interest in geology and the advancement of geological knowledge. It was a time of debate and controversy surrounding the emergi ...

and the

Geological Society of Glasgow The Geological Society of Glasgow is a scientific society devoted to the study of geology in Scotland. The society contributed to the understanding of Scotland's glacial history, and the relationship between the Earth's rotation and climate ch ...

. Lamont retired from teaching at the age of 38 to live in the small village of

Carlops Carlops () is a small village in the Pentland Hills, within the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, close to the boundary with Midlothian. It lies between West Linton and Penicuik. The village was founded in 1784 and developed cotton weaving, co ...

, situated in the

Pentland Hills The Pentland Hills are a range of hills southwest of Edinburgh, Scotland. The range is around in length, and runs southwest from Edinburgh towards Biggar and the upper Clydesdale. Etymology The hills take their name from the hamlet of Pe ...

, south of

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. He died on 16 March 1985.

Taxonomic and paleontological work

Lamont discovered and named several taxa. For instance, '' Wallacia'' Lamont 1978, a

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

group of late

Llandovery Llandovery (; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Carmarthenshire, Wales. It lies on the River Tywi and at the junction of the A40 road, A40 and A483 road, A483 roads, about north-east of Carmarthen, north of Swansea and w ...

trilobite, was named for the famed Scottish knight, Sir William Wallace. ''Wallacia'' is one of the earliest

Wenlock Wenlock may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Little Wenlock, a village in Shropshire * Much Wenlock, a town in Shropshire ** (Much) Wenlock (UK Parliament constituency) ** Wenlock Priory, a 7th/12th-century monastery * Wenlock Basin, a canal basi ...

encrinurine trilobites from the Baltic area, the British Isles, and Canada. ''Wallacia'' is regarded as sister taxon to '' Encrinurus'' sensu stricto and includes at least ten named species. Lamont's discoveries have been criticized for creating a "taxonomic mess", by describing genera based on "the basis of miserable scraps". He also published articles in his own ''Scottish Journal of Science'', which is frowned upon in science as it has led to

taxonomic vandalism Taxonomic vandalism is a term used in biology to describe the practice of publishing numerous scientifically unfounded or poorly-justified taxonomic names, often without adequate research or peer review. This phenomenon has been observed across va ...

Early life and education

Academic career

Taxonomic and paleontological work

References

Further reading