Hans Georg Stehlin

Hans Georg Stehlin
Born13 January 1870
Died18 December 1941 (1941-12-19) (aged 71)
NationalitySwiss
Known forGrande Coupure
Scientific career
FieldsPaleontology, Geology
InstitutionsMuseum of Basel

Hans Georg Stehlin (1870–1941) was a Swiss paleontologist and geologist.

Stehlin specialized in vertebrate paleontology, particularly the study of Cenozoic mammals. He published numerous scientific papers on primates and ungulates. He was president of the commission of the Natural History Museum of Basel.

In 1910 Stehlin coined the term Grande Coupure to refer to the extinction event which occurred 33.9 millions of years ago, which defines the Eocene-Oligocene limit. It originated a huge change in organisms, especially the mammals of Europe.[1]

Stehlin is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of lizard, Gallotia stehlini.[2]

  1. ^ Stehlin, H.G. (1910). "Remarques sur les faunules de Mammifères des couches eocenes et oligocenes du Bassin de Paris ". Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France. 4 (9): 488–520. (in French).
  2. ^ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 9781421401355 ("Stehlin", p. 252).