Bruce R. Erickson (September 29, 1933 – January 16, 2022) was an American

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 the former Fitzpatrick Chair of Paleontology at the

Science Museum of Minnesota The Science Museum of Minnesota is a museum in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Saint Paul, Minnesota, focused on topics in technology, natural history, physical science, and mathematics education. Founded in 1907, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit institution has 38 ...

. During the course of his lifetime and his 55 years as a paleontologist, he has "collected about a million specimens" and discovered fifteen new types of plants and ancient animal species. His collection includes "a

triceratops ''Triceratops'' ( ; ) is a genus of Chasmosaurinae, chasmosaurine Ceratopsia, ceratopsian dinosaur that lived during the late Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous Period (geology), period, about 68 to 66 million years ago on the island ...

skeleton A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of most animals. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is a rigid outer shell that holds up an organism's shape; the endoskeleton, a rigid internal fra ...

" that he discovered in 1961 at the

Hell Creek Formation The Hell Creek Formation is an intensively studied division of mostly Upper Cretaceous and some lower Paleocene rocks in North America, named for exposures studied along Hell Creek, near Jordan, Montana. The Formation (stratigraphy), formation s ...

that is considered to be "one of the rarest in the world".Estrada, Heron Marquez
"Book fleshes out a career studying dinosaur bones"

Star Tribune ''The Minnesota Star Tribune'', formerly the ''Minneapolis Star Tribune'', is an American daily newspaper based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As of 2023, it is Minnesota's largest newspaper and the List of newspapers in the United States, seventh- ...

, April 27, 2003 His research has focused almost entirely on the

Paleocene The Paleocene ( ), or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 mya (unit), million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), ...

era in history.

Biography

According to Erickson, his interest in

paleontology 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 ge ...

began when he was ten years old and he came across a

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

investigating rocks along the bank of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

.Brody, Jane E.
"26 Years Deep in the Paleocene"

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

, September 3, 1996

Career

In the 1960s, Erickson spent his time investigating "crocodile and champsosaur fossils in Alberta, Canada". It was there that he discovered "the oldest known alligator." He was also investigating crocodile fossils in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

during the same decade.Haga, Chuck
"Not just old bones; After 40 years behind the scenes at the Science Museum of Minnesota and in the field, paleontologist Bruce Erickson puts his prehistoric discoveries on display in a new exhibition"

, October 1, 2000 The main focus of his career has been on an area in western

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

, where he discovered that the

badlands Badlands are a type of dry terrain where softer sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soils have been extensively eroded."Badlands" in '' Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 47. They are characterized by steep slopes, ...

there had once been a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

and

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

, "58 million to 60 million years ago". Afterward, the place became known as the

Wannagan Creek site {{Short description, Fossil site in North Dakota, US The Wannagan Creek site is a fossil site found just west of the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park of North Dakota, US. The site is Paleocene in age, approximately 60 million years o ...

. Just from this area alone, Erickson and the rest of his team have discovered thousands of fossils since they began digging in 1970. The interest in the site began in 1970 after Erickson received a shoe box full of bone sent to him by a rancher's wife. The bones in the shoe box were found to be from six different

crocodile Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large, semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term "crocodile" is sometimes used more loosely to include ...

s of

origin. It was this revelation that caused him to go and investigate the site. Later in his career, he was involved in a "seven-year research project" at the Chandler Bridge Formation, near Charleston, SC in the late 1990s that resulted in finding the skeleton of a "28-million-year-old whale". Erickson retired in 2017 after 58 years with the Science Museum of Minnesota. Erickson died January 16, 2022.

Publications

* Erickson BR. (2005). Crocodile and arthropod tracks from the Late Paleocene Wannagan Creek Fauna of North Dakota, USA. ''Ichnos'' 12:pp303–308. * Erickson BR. (2003). Dinosaurs of the Science Museum of Minnesota, a Curator's notebook. Research and Collections Division, Science Museum of Minnesota. pp1–86. * Erickson BR. (1998). A Palaeophid snake from the Late Paleocene of South Carolina. ''Transactions of the American Philosophical Society'' 88:pp215–220. * Erickson BR. (1998). Crocodilians of the Black Mingo Group (Paleocene) of the South Carolina coastal plain. ''Transactions of the America Philosophical Society'' 88:pp196–214. * Erickson BR. & Sawyer GT. (1996). The estuarine crocodile '' Gavialosuchus carolinenesis'' n. sp. (Crocodilia: Eusuchia) from the late

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch (geology), epoch of the Paleogene Geologic time scale, Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that defin ...

of South Carolina, North America. ''Monographs of the Science Museum of Minnesota'' 3:pp1–47. * Erickson BR. (1991). Flora and fauna of the Wannagan Creek Quarry: late Paleocene of North America. ''Scientific Publications, Science Museum of Minnesota'' 7:pp1–19. * Erickson BR. (1987). ''

Simoedosaurus ''Simoedosaurus'' is an extinct reptile known from the Paleocene of North America, Europe and western Asia, and a member of the Choristodera, a group of aquatic reptiles that lived in the Northern Hemisphere from the Jurassic to the early Cenoz ...

dakotensis'', n. sp., a lepidosaurian reptile (Diapsida: Choristodera) from the

of North America. ''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology'' 7:pp237–251. * Erickson BR. (1985). Aspects of some anatomical structures of ''

Champsosaurus ''Champsosaurus'' is an extinct genus of crocodile-like choristodere reptile, known from the Late Cretaceous and early Paleogene periods of North America and Europe (Campanian–Paleocene). The name ''Champsosaurus'' is thought to come from , () ...

'' (Reptilia: Eosuchia). ''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology'' 5:pp111–127. * Erickson BR. (1982). '' Wannaganosuchus'', a new alligator from the Paleocene of North America. ''Journal of Paleontology'' 56:pp492–506. * Erickson BR. (1967). Paleontological Evidence Concerning Some Post Glacial Features of The

Mississippi River Valley The Mississippi embayment is a physiographic feature in the south-central United States, part of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain. It is essentially a northward continuation of the fluvial sediments of the Mississippi River Delta to its conflue ...

. 1:pp1–4 * Erickson BR. (1966). Mounted Skeleton of ''

Triceratops ''Triceratops'' ( ; ) is a genus of Chasmosaurinae, chasmosaurine Ceratopsia, ceratopsian dinosaur that lived during the late Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous Period (geology), period, about 68 to 66 million years ago on the island ...

'' prorsus. ''The Science Museum'' 1:pp1–15.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erickson, Bruce American paleontologists 2022 deaths 1930 births