John Ostrom

John Harold Ostrom (* 1928 in New York; † July 16, 2005 in New Haven ) was an American paleontologist.

Ostrom is one of the most important vertebrate paleontologists from the second half of the 20th century and has particularly influenced the dinosaur research crucial. Among his greatest achievements include the theory of warm-bloodedness of dinosaurs and the revival of the theory that birds are descended from dinosaurs.

Curriculum vitae

Scientific merit

Ostrom has studied in the course of his scientific career with numerous groups of dinosaurs and influenced the field in many areas crucial.

In his doctoral work and subsequent Ostrom dealt with the anatomy and ecology of entenschnäbeligen hadrosaur ( Hadrosauridae ). He disagreed with in the then popular belief that it was semi- aquatic swamp dwellers in these animals and presented for the first time detailed nutritional considerations, the hadrosaur. Ostrom hadrosaur work inspired further research in this area, which eventually led to the current knowledge about the amazing anatomical and ecological complexity of these animals.

The next dinosaur group of Ostrom turned to were the horned ceratopsians. Here, too, he published important, detailed analyzes of the anatomy and ecology of this group, which contributed decisively to further progress in the study of these animals.

In 1969 Ostrom published one of his best known works, the detailed first description of a small theropod, a predatory dinosaur, which he named Deinonychus. The work on this remarkable new predators led Ostrom to two new theories that would revolutionize the dinosaur research. Deinonychus was an obviously geared towards agility animal, but this contradicted the former ideas of dinosaurs as slow, rather ponderous reptiles. Under the influence of a paper by JE Heath, who brought the evolution of warm-bloodedness in the mammal-like reptiles with a change in their posture in conjunction, it Ostrom led to the daring thesis that at least some dinosaurs were probably warm-blooded. He published in 1970 in a work with the rather nondescript title Terrestrial vertebrates as indicators of Mesozoic climates This revolutionary idea.

The other aspect that Ostrom became aware of his work on Deinonychus, was the great similarity of this theropod with the oldest known bird, Archaeopteryx. This led to the revival of the theory of the origin of birds from the predatory dinosaurs that worked out Ostrom in several influential works during the 70s of last century. These two since extremely controversial and sometimes almost fiercely debated theories have the perspective of dinosaurs, their evolution and biology, probably changed more than any developments since the times of the classic dinosaur researchers of the 19th century such as Richard Owen, Othniel Marsh and Edward Drinker Cope. They thus heralded the renaissance of dinosaur paleontology, holding and since then the field has advanced faster than ever before.

Besides his activity as a researcher Ostrom was also active as a university teacher. Among his students were now even well-known paleontologists such as Robert Bakker, Peter Dodson, James Farlow and Thomas Holtz.

Publications

( partial list of John Ostrom publications)

  • Ostrom, JH 1961. " Cranial morphology of the hadrosaurian dinosaurs of North America. " Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 122:37-186.
  • Ostrom, JH 1962. "The cranial crests of hadrosaurian dinosaurs. " Postilla 62:1-29.
  • Ostrom, J. H. 1964a. "A functional analysis of jaw mechanics in the dinosaur " Triceratops. Postilla 88:1-35.
  • Ostrom, JH 1964b. "A reconsideration of the Paleoecology of hadrosaurian dinosaurs. " American Journal of Science 262:975-997.
  • Ostrom, JH 1966. " Functional morphology and evolution of the ceratopsian dinosaurs. " Evolution 20:290-308.
  • Ostrom, JH 1969. " Osteology of Deinonychus antirrhopus to unusual theropod from the Lower Cretaceous of Montana. " Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History 30:1-165.
  • Ostrom, J. H. 1970a. " Terrestrial vertebrates as indicators of Mesozoic climates. " North American Paleontological Convention, Proceedings D :347 - 376.
  • Ostrom, JH 1970b. " Archaeopteryx: notice of a" new " specimen. " Science 170:537-538.
  • Ostrom, J. H. 1972a. " Carnivorous dinosaurs. " McGraw -Hill Yearbook of Science and Technology for 1971 1971:176-179.
  • Ostrom, JH 1972b. " Were some dinosaurs gregarious? " Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 11:287-301.
  • Ostrom, JH 1973. "The ancestry of birds. " Nature 242:136.
  • Ostrom, JH 1974. " Archaeopteryx and the origin of flight. " Quarterly Review of Biology 49:27-47.
  • Ostrom, J. H. 1976a. " Archaeopteryx and the origin of birds. " Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 8:91-182.
  • Ostrom, JH 1976b. "Some hypothetical anatomical stages in the evolution of avian flight. " Smith Onion Contributions in Paleobiology 27:1-21.
  • Ostrom, JH 1978. " Compsognathus longipes The osteology of " Wagner. Zitteliana 4:73-118.
  • Ostrom, JH 1980., "The evidence for endothermy in dinosaurs. " Pp 15-54. In R. D. K. Thomas, and E. C. Olson, eds. A cold look at the warm - blooded dinosaurs. AAAS Selected Symposium, Boulder.
  • Ostrom, JH 1985. "The meaning of Archaeopteryx. " Pp 161-176. In MK Hecht, JH Ostrom, G. Viohl, and P. Wellhofer, eds. The beginning of birds. Friends of the Jura Museum, Eichstätt.
  • Ostrom, JH 1990. " Dromaeosauridae. " Pp 269-279. In DB Weishampel, P. Dodson, and H. Osmólska, eds. The Dinosauria. University of California Press, Berkeley.
  • Ostrom, J. H., and P. Wellhofer. 1986th The Munich specimen of Triceratops with a revision of the genus. Zitteliana 14:111-158.
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