Robert Joseph Gay Savage (2 July 1927 – 9 May 1998) was a British

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 ...

known as Britain's leading expert on fossil mammals. He worked at the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

for nearly 40 years and studied fossils around the world, especially in North and East Africa. He produced the 1986 popular science book ''Mammal Evolution: An Illustrated Guide'' and co-edited several technical books in the ''Fossil Vertebrates of Africa'' series with fellow palaeontologist

Louis Leakey Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey (7 August 1903 – 1 October 1972) was a Kenyan-British palaeoanthropologist and archaeologist whose work was important in demonstrating that humans evolved in Africa, particularly through discoveries made at Olduvai ...

Early life

Savage was born in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, Northern Ireland on 2 July 1927 to an old family prominent in

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

. He recalled a large rack of antlers of the extinct

Irish elk The Irish elk (''Megaloceros giganteus''), also called the giant deer or Irish deer, is an extinct species of deer in the genus '' Megaloceros'' and is one of the largest deer that ever lived. Its range extended across northern Eurasia during th ...

mounted in the entrance hall of the family home, which colleague

Michael Benton Michael James Benton (born 8 April 1956) is a British palaeontologist, and professor of vertebrate paleontology, vertebrate palaeontology in the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol. His published work has mostly concentrated on ...

writes may have inspired Savage to pursue the study of fossil mammals. He attended grammar school at

Methodist College, Belfast Methodist College Belfast (MCB), locally known as Methody, is a co-educational voluntary grammar school in Belfast, located at the foot of the Malone Road, Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1865 by the Methodist Church in Ireland and is one of e ...

and

Wesley College, Dublin Wesley College is an independent co-educational secondary school for day and boarding students in Ballinteer, County Dublin, Ireland. Wesley College is under the control of a Board of Governors, appointed each year by the Methodist Church in I ...

before and during the period of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He enrolled in

Queen's University Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

, earning a BSc in Zoology (1948) and a

first First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

BSc in Geology (1949). For doctoral research, he was given a choice between working with

Francis Rex Parrington Francis Rex Parrington (20 February 1905 – 17 April 1981) was a British vertebrate palaeontologist and comparative anatomist at the University of Cambridge. A Fellow of the Royal Society, he was director of the Cambridge University Museum of Zo ...

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

or D. M. S. Watson at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. He chose to work with Watson, becoming his final student, and earning a PhD in 1953 with a dissertation on the fossil otter ''

Potamotherium ''Potamotherium'' ('river beast') an extinct genus of caniform carnivoran from the Miocene epoch of France and Germany. It has historically been assigned to the family Mustelidae (otters, weasels, etc.), but more recent studies suggest that it re ...

''.

Academic career

Savage was hired as assistant lecturer at Queen's University in 1952, before he had completed his PhD. He worked with geologist J. K. Charlesworth in expanding and moving the geology department to a new building. In 1954, Savage was hired as a lecturer and curator of the Geological Museum at the

, where he remained for the rest of his career. He was reader in vertebrate palaeontology from 1966 to 1982, and a named professor in vertebrate palaeontology from 1982 until his retirement in 1992. Savage was known for his work in Africa, which he first visited in 1955, working with the palaeoanthropologist

in Kenya. He first visited North Africa in 1957, and carried out a successful series of expeditions in

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

in the 1960s, where he and his students studied the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

mammals of the Gebel Zelten, southern Libya, including the giant carnivorous ''

Megistotherium ''Megistotherium'' is an extinct genus of hyaenodont belonging to the family Hyainailouridae that lived in Africa and possibly Asia as well. It first appeared in Early Miocene to late Middle Miocene from 22.5 to 12.0 million years ago, existing ...

''. Savage's other expeditions include field work in Israel, Iran, Pakistan, India, Russia, Australia, and Venezuela. In the 1970s he began work on the

Isle of Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye, is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated by the Cuillin, the rocky slopes of which provide some of ...

, Scotland where he described the first Scottish mammal from the

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era is the Era (geology), era of Earth's Geologic time scale, geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Period (geology), Periods. It is characterized by the dominance of archosaurian r ...

, ''

Borealestes ''Borealestes'' is a genus of docodontan from the Middle Jurassic of Britain, first discovered on the Isle of Skye near the village of Elgol. It was the earliest mammaliaform from the Mesozoic found and named in Scotland. A second species and w ...

'', and the

tritylodontid Tritylodontidae ("three-knob teeth", named after the shape of their cheek teeth) is an extinct family of small to medium-sized, highly specialized mammal-like cynodonts, with several mammalian traits including erect limbs, endothermy, and some d ...

Stereognathus ''Stereognathus'' is an extinct genus of tritylodontid cynodonts from the Middle Jurassic of the United Kingdom. There is a single named species: ''S. ooliticus'', named after the Great Oolite deposits of England. A second species, ''S. hebridicu ...

hebridicus'', both from the

Middle Jurassic The Middle Jurassic is the second Epoch (geology), epoch of the Jurassic Period (geology), Period. It lasted from about 174.1 to 161.5 million years ago. Fossils of land-dwelling animals, such as dinosaurs, from the Middle Jurassic are relativel ...

. Savage edited two volumes of the influential ''Vertebrates of Africa'' series with Louis Leakey, and was a colleague of

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...

and

Meave Leakey Meave G. Leakey (born Meave Epps; 28 July 1942) is a British palaeoanthropologist. She works at Stony Brook University and is co-ordinator of Plio-Pleistocene research at the Turkana Basin Institute. She studies early hominid evolution and has ...

. His 1986 non-specialist book ''Mammal Evolution: An Illustrated Guide'' became a leading work in its field, and was translated into Spanish and Japanese.

Personal life

In 1969 Savage married

Shirley C. Coryndon Shirley Cameron Coryndon (1926–1976) was a British paleontologist and authority on fossil hippopotami. In the 1950s she studied paleontology with Donald MacInnes at the Museum of Nairobi. Coryndon was the paleontological assistant to Louis Le ...

, a fellow palaeontologist and authority on fossil

hippopotami The hippopotamus (''Hippopotamus amphibius;'' ; : hippopotamuses), often shortened to hippo (: hippos), further qualified as the common hippopotamus, Nile hippopotamus and river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Sahara ...

. They had met in Kenya in 1955. Savage was known to colleagues as a good-natured raconteur, and "something of a raffish gentleman explorer". Richard Leakey recalled he had "a superb sense of humour and was seldom without a twinkle in his eye that belied his rather severe exterior. Nothing pleased him more than to set his guests before his fireplace after dinner and then test their knowledge of ossils" Michael Benton writes that while Savage attended

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

grammar schools, he did not maintain a Methodist or

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

faith, but rather became a

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...

in adulthood. Coryndon died in 1976. Savage died in 1998 of

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

, survived by two stepdaughters.

Books

''Fossil Vertebrates of Africa'' * * * Other works * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Savage, Robert J. G. 1927 births 1998 deaths Palaeontologists from Northern Ireland Academics of the University of Bristol Scientists from Belfast Alumni of University College London Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Deaths from pancreatic cancer in England Paleozoologists People educated at Methodist College Belfast People educated at Wesley College, Dublin 20th-century zoologists from Northern Ireland