Paul Sereno
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Paul Callistus Sereno (born October 11, 1957) is a professor of
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 ...
at the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
who has discovered several new
dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...
species on several continents, including at sites in Inner Mongolia, Argentina, Morocco and Niger. One of his widely publicized discoveries includes a nearly complete specimen of '' Sarcosuchus imperator'' — commonly referred to as SuperCroc — found in Gadoufaoua, located in the Tenere desert of Niger.


Biography


Youth and education

The son of a mail carrier and an art teacher at Prairie Elementary, Sereno grew up in Naperville,
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
and graduated from Naperville Central High School. He completed his B.S., Biological Sciences from Northern Illinois University in 1979, M.A. in Vertebrate Paleontology, from
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
in 1981, M. Phil. in Geological Sciences in 1981, and Ph.D. in Geological Sciences, in 1987.


Career

Sereno was named one of ''
People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...
'' magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People (1997). Sereno co-founded Project Exploration, a
non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...
science education organization to encourage city kids to pursue careers in science. He appeared in the 2009 DVD ''Dinosaur Discoveries'', which included segments originally hosted by CBS anchorman Walter Cronkite. The program first aired on A&E in 1991 and was later rebroadcast on the
Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...
through the late 1990s. On August 14 2008, Sereno uncovered a large Stone Age cemetery at Gobero in the
Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...
ien
Sahara The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...
, 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
National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...
based a documentary, ''Skeletons of the Sahara'' on this discovery, which premiered in 2013.


Fossil species described by Sereno or his team

Dinosaurs *'' Aerosteon'' *'' Afrovenator'' *Significant new material of '' Carcharodontosaurus'', including ''Carcharodontosaurus iguidensis'') *'' Deltadromeus'' *'' Eocarcharia'' *'' Eodromaeus'' *'' Eoraptor'' *'' Erliansaurus'' *'' Graciliceratops'' *Significant new material of '' Herrerasaurus'' *'' Jobaria'' *'' Kryptops'' *'' Neimongosaurus'' *'' Nigersaurus'' *'' Pegomastax'' *Three new species of '' Psittacosaurus'' (''P. meileyingensis'', ''P. xinjiangensis'', ''P. gobiensis'') *'' Rajasaurus'' *'' Raptorex'' *'' Rugops'' *Significant new material of ''
Spinosaurus ''Spinosaurus'' (; ) is a genus of large spinosaurid theropod dinosaurs that lived in what now is North Africa during the Cenomanian faunal stage, stage of the Late Cretaceous Period (geology), period, about 100 to 94 annum, million year ...
'' *Significant new material of '' Sinornithomimus''. *'' Spinostropheus'' *'' Suchomimus''
Other fossil reptiles *'' Marasuchus'', an early relative of dinosaurs *"The African
Pterosaur Pterosaurs are 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 million to 66 million years ago). Pterosaurs are the earli ...
" *'' Sarcosuchus imperator'' *'' Anatosuchus minor'' from
Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...
*'' Araripesuchus rattoides'' from
Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...
and
Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
*'' Kaprosuchus saharicus'' from
Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...
and
Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
*'' Laganosuchus thaumastos'' from
Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...
and
Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
*'' Laganosuchus maghrebensis'' from
Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...
and
Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...


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


Further reading

* . September 2008 issue.


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