Lawrence M. Lambe

Name:

Lawrence M. Lambe

Born/Died:

1849-1934

Nationality:

Canadian

Dinosaurs Named:

Chasmosaurus, Edmontosaurus, Euoplocephalus, Styracosaurus

The 1880's and 1890's, when Lawrence M. Lambe made his major discoveries, were the dinosaur equivalent of the Gold Rush. The existence of dinosaurs had only recently been proposed (though their fossils had been known from time immemorial), and researchers all over the world rushed to dig up whatever they could. Working for the Geological Survey of Canada, Lambe was responsible for unearthing the famous fossil beds of Alberta, which yielded a huge number of previously unknown genera (many of which were hadrosaurs and ceratopsians). As a mark of the esteem in which he is held by other paleontologists, the hadrosaur Lambeosaurus was named after Lambe.

As befitting their size, dinosaurs tend to overshadow Lambe's other achievements in paleontology, which aren't nearly as well known. For example, he was a noted specialist in the prehistoric fishes of the Devonian period, and had a keen interest in extinct insects as well; he also named the common Canadian fossil crocodile Leidysuchus after another famous American paleontologist, Joseph Leidy.