Arthur Smith Woodward, Florentino Ameghino and the first Jurassic ‘Sea Crocodile’ from South America
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Published:January 01, 2016
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CiteCitation
Lorna Steel, Eric Buffetaut, 2016. "Arthur Smith Woodward, Florentino Ameghino and the first Jurassic ‘Sea Crocodile’ from South America", Arthur Smith Woodward: His Life and Influence on Modern Vertebrate Palaeontology, Z. Johanson, P. M. Barrett, M. Richter, M. Smith
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Abstract
The Natural History Museum (NHMUK) fossil reptile collections contain a set of specimens sent to Arthur Smith Woodward in 1908 by the Argentinian palaeontologist, Florentino Ameghino. This collection includes a skull and other material of Cricosaurus, a metriorhynchid thalattosuchian (or ‘sea crocodile’), a group of marine crocodylomorphs that existed from at least the Middle Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous. Handwritten labels in Spanish, probably by Ameghino, and notes in English signed by Smith Woodward are still with the specimens. Using Ameghino and Smith Woodward’s correspondence to investigate the history of the specimens, we have determined that they came...
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Contents
Arthur Smith Woodward: His Life and Influence on Modern Vertebrate Palaeontology

Arthur Smith Woodward was the Natural History Museum’s longest-serving Keeper of Geology and the world’s leading expert on fossil fish. He was also an unwitting victim of the Piltdown fraud, which overshadowed his important scientific contributions. The aim of this book is to honour Smith Woodward’s contributions to vertebrate palaeontology, discuss their relevance today and provide insights into the factors that made him such an eminent scientist. The last few years have seen a resurgence in fossil vertebrate (particularly fish) palaeontology, including new techniques for the ‘virtual’ study of fossils (synchrotron and micro CT-scanning) and new research foci, such as ‘Evo-Devo’ – combining fossils with the development of living animals. This new research is built on a strong foundation, like that provided by Smith Woodward’s work. This collection of papers, authored by some of the leading experts in their fields, covers the many facets of Smith Woodward’s life, legacy and career. It will be a benchmark for studies on one of the leading vertebrate palaeontologists of his generation.
GeoRef
- Archosauria
- Argentina
- biography
- bones
- Chordata
- collecting
- collections
- Diapsida
- fossil localities
- fossils
- historical documents
- history
- Jurassic
- Mesozoic
- museums
- Natural History Museum
- Neuquen Basin
- paleontology
- Patagonia
- Reptilia
- skull
- South America
- teeth
- Tetrapoda
- type specimens
- Vaca Muerta Formation
- vertebrae
- Vertebrata
- Thalattosuchia
- Metriorhynchidae
- Ameghino, Florentino
- Crocodylomorpha
- Cricosaurus
- Smith Woodward, Arthur
- Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales
- Museo Nacional Buenos Aires