Elwyn LaVerne Simons (July 14, 1930 – March 6, 2016) 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 ...

paleozoologist Palaeozoology or paleozoology (Greek: παλαιόν, ''palaeon'' "old" and ζῷον, ''zoon'' "animal") is the branch of paleontology and evolutionary biology that specifically deal with the study of prehistoric Prehistory, also calle ...

, and a

wildlife conservation Wildlife conservation refers to the practice of protecting wild species and their habitats in order to maintain healthy wildlife species or populations and to restore, protect or enhance natural ecosystems. Major threats to wildlife include habita ...

ist for

primate Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...

s. He was known as the father of modern primate paleontology for his discovery of some of humankind's earliest antecedents. His

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 ...

field work Field research, field studies, or fieldwork is the empirical research, collection of raw data outside a laboratory, library, or workplace setting. The approaches and methods used in field research vary across branches of science, disciplines. ...

included sites in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

, and the U.S. state of

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

Works

He authored more than 300 scholarly books and research articles, often acting as the sole author or coauthoring with his students and colleagues. He was a member of both the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

(US) and the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

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Literature cited

* American paleontologists Paleozoologists 1930 births 2016 deaths American conservationists Duke University faculty Princeton University faculty Yale University faculty Princeton University alumni Rice University alumni People from Lawrence, Kansas Scientists from Kansas 20th-century American zoologists Members of the American Philosophical Society Alumni of University College, Oxford {{paleontologist-stub

Works

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References

Literature cited