William Diller Matthew

William Diller Matthew

William Diller Matthew FRS[1] (February 19, 1871 – September 24, 1930)[2] was a vertebrate paleontologist who worked primarily on mammal fossils, although he also published a few early papers on mineralogy, petrological geology, one on botany, one on trilobites, and he described Tetraceratops insignis,[3] which was much later suggested to be the oldest known (Early Permian) therapsid.[4][5]

Matthew was born in Saint John, New Brunswick, the son of George Frederic Matthew and Katherine (Diller) Matthew. His father was an amateur geologist and paleontologist who instilled his son with an abiding interest in the earth sciences. Matthew received an A.B. at the University of New Brunswick in 1889 and then earned his Ph.D. at Columbia University in 1894.

Matthew was curator of the American Museum of Natural History from the mid-1890s to 1927, and director of the University of California Museum of Paleontology from 1927 to 1930. He was an elected member of the American Philosophical Society.[6] He was the father of Margaret Matthew Colbert, an artist, illustrator, and sculptor who specialized in visualizing extinct species.[7]

  1. ^ Watson, D. M. S. (1932). "William Diller Matthew. 1871–1930". Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society. 1: 71–74. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1932.0015.
  2. ^ "William Diller Matthew". Dictionary of American Biography Base Set. American Council of Learned Societies, 1928–1936.
  3. ^ Matthew, W. D. (1908). "A four-horned pelycosaurian from the Permian of Texas". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 24: 183–185. hdl:2246/1434.
  4. ^ Laurin, M.; Reisz. R. R. (1996). "The osteology and relationships of Tetraceratops insignis, the oldest known therapsid". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 16: 95–102. doi:10.1080/02724634.1996.10011287.
  5. ^ Amson, E.; Laurin M. (2011). "On the affinities of Tetraceratops insignis, an Early Permian synapsid". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 56 (2): 301–312. doi:10.4202/app.2010.0063.
  6. ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2023-11-08.
  7. ^ Elliot, Ann Brimacombe. Charming the bones : a portrait of Margaret Matthew Colbert. Kent, Ohio. p. 61. ISBN 9781631010026. OCLC 874920755.