Mathew John Wedel is an
American paleontologist
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 foss ...
. He is associate professor at the
Western University of Health Sciences
Western University of Health Sciences (WesternU) is a private medical school and health sciences university with its main campus in Pomona, California, with an additional osteopathic medical school in Lebanon, Oregon. With an enrollment of 3,8 ...
Department of Anatomy in
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
. Wedel studies
sauropod
Sauropoda (), whose members are known as sauropods (; from '' sauro-'' + '' -pod'', 'lizard-footed'), is a clade of saurischian ('lizard-hipped') dinosaurs. Sauropods had very long necks, long tails, small heads (relative to the rest of their ...
s and the evolution of
pneumatic bones in dinosaurs. At Western University, Wedel teaches gross anatomy.
He has authored papers naming ''
Aquilops
''Aquilops'' is an early herbivorous ceratopsian dinosaur dating from the Early Cretaceous of North America, approximately 109 million to 104 million years ago. The type species is ''A. americanus''.
Description
The skull is 84.2 mm long ...
'' (2014), ''
Brontomerus
''Brontomerus'' (from Greek ''bronte'' meaning "thunder", and ''merós'' meaning "thigh") is a possibly dubious genus of camarasauromorph sauropod which lived during the early Cretaceous (Aptian or Albian age, approximately 110 million years ag ...
'' (2011), and ''
Sauroposeidon
''Sauroposeidon'' ( ; meaning "lizard earthquake god", after the Greek god Poseidon) is a genus of sauropod dinosaur known from several incomplete specimens including a bone bed and fossilized trackways that have been found in the U.S. states o ...
'' (2000).
He has published research exploring how some dinosaurs achieved large sizes. In 2016, he co-authored the book ''The Sauropod Dinosaurs.''
Along with paleontologists
Darren Naish
Darren William Naish is a British vertebrate palaeontologist, author and science communicator.
As a researcher, he is best known for his work describing and reevaluating dinosaurs and other Mesozoic reptiles, including '' Eotyrannus'', ''Xeno ...
and
Mike P. Taylor
Michael Paul Taylor (born 12 March 1968) is a British computer programmer with a Ph.D. in palaeontology. To date, he has published 18 paleontological papers and is co-credited with naming three genera of dinosaur (''Xenoposeidon'' in 2007 with D ...
, he founded the paleontology blog Sauropod Vertebrae Picture of the Week.
References
Further reading
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External links
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Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
American paleontologists
Place of birth missing (living people)
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