James A. Jensen

James A. Jensen in preparation lab at BYU with Ultrasaurus foot

James Alvin Jensen (August 2, 1918 – December 14, 1998) was an American paleontologist. His extensive collecting program at Brigham Young University in the UtahColorado region which spanned 23 years was comparable in terms of the number of specimens collected to that of Barnum Brown during the early 20th century. He was given the name "Dinosaur Jim" during the media coverage of his activities.[1] Perhaps his most significant contribution to paleontology was to replace the 19th-century web of external metal struts, straps and posts that had been used to mount dinosaurs with a system of supports which were placed inside of bones, which produced free-standing skeletons with few or no obvious supports.

He is credited with naming and describing Supersaurus (1985) and Torvosaurus (with Peter Galton, 1979).

  1. ^ "Film to Premiere on BYU Curator's Great Dinosaur Discovery", Sunday, November 11, 1973, The Herald, Provo, Utah, p. 41