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John Ostrom
John Harold Ostrom (February 18, 1928 – July 16, 2005) was an American paleontologist who revolutionized the modern understanding of dinosaurs. Ostrom's work inspired what his pupil Robert T. Bakker has termed a "dinosaur renaissance".
Beginning with the discovery of Deinonychus in 1964, Ostrom challenged the widespread belief that dinosaurs were slow-moving lizards (or "saurians"). He argued that Deinonychus, a small two-legged carnivore, would have been fast-moving and warm-blooded.
Further, Ostrom's work made zoologists question whether birds should be considered an order of Reptilia instead of their own class, Aves. The idea that dinosaurs were similar to birds was first proposed by Thomas Henry Huxley in the 1860s, but was dismissed by Gerhard Heilmann in his influential book The Origin of Birds (1926). Prior to Ostrom's work, the development of birds was generally believed to have split off early on from that of dinosaurs.
Ostrom showed more bird-like traits common in dinosaurs and proved that birds themselves are coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs. The first of Ostrom's broad-based reviews of the osteology and phylogeny of the primitive bird Archaeopteryx appeared in 1976. Ostrom lived to see the eventual discovery of feathered dinosaurs in northeastern China, confirming his theories about dinosaurs being progenitors of birds, and the existence of dinosaurs with feathered plumage.
Ostrom was born in New York on February 18, 1928 and grew up in Schenectady. As a pre-medical undergraduate student at Union College, he originally aimed to prepare for medical school in order to become a physician like his father. However, an elective course in geology and George Gaylord Simpson's book The Meaning of Evolution inspired him to change his career plans. He earned his bachelor's degree in biology and geology from Union College in 1951.
Ostrom enrolled at Columbia University as a graduate student with Ned Colbert as his advisor. In 1951 Simpson invited Ostrom to spend the summer as a field assistant in the San Juan Basin of New Mexico. Ostrom also worked as a research assistant with Colbert, who was the Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), Ostrom earned his doctorate in geology (vertebrate paleontology) in 1960 with a thesis on North American hadrosaurs that was based on the skull collection housed at the AMNH.
In 1952 Ostrom married Nancy Grace Hartman (d. 2003). They had two daughters, Karen and Alicia.
Ostrom taught for one year at Brooklyn College in 1955 before joining the faculty at Beloit College the following year. In 1961 he accepted a professorship at Yale University, where he remained throughout his career. As a new professor at Yale, Ostrom was named the assistant curator for vertebrate paleontology at the Peabody Museum of Natural History. He became full professor and curator in 1971.
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John Ostrom
John Harold Ostrom (February 18, 1928 – July 16, 2005) was an American paleontologist who revolutionized the modern understanding of dinosaurs. Ostrom's work inspired what his pupil Robert T. Bakker has termed a "dinosaur renaissance".
Beginning with the discovery of Deinonychus in 1964, Ostrom challenged the widespread belief that dinosaurs were slow-moving lizards (or "saurians"). He argued that Deinonychus, a small two-legged carnivore, would have been fast-moving and warm-blooded.
Further, Ostrom's work made zoologists question whether birds should be considered an order of Reptilia instead of their own class, Aves. The idea that dinosaurs were similar to birds was first proposed by Thomas Henry Huxley in the 1860s, but was dismissed by Gerhard Heilmann in his influential book The Origin of Birds (1926). Prior to Ostrom's work, the development of birds was generally believed to have split off early on from that of dinosaurs.
Ostrom showed more bird-like traits common in dinosaurs and proved that birds themselves are coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs. The first of Ostrom's broad-based reviews of the osteology and phylogeny of the primitive bird Archaeopteryx appeared in 1976. Ostrom lived to see the eventual discovery of feathered dinosaurs in northeastern China, confirming his theories about dinosaurs being progenitors of birds, and the existence of dinosaurs with feathered plumage.
Ostrom was born in New York on February 18, 1928 and grew up in Schenectady. As a pre-medical undergraduate student at Union College, he originally aimed to prepare for medical school in order to become a physician like his father. However, an elective course in geology and George Gaylord Simpson's book The Meaning of Evolution inspired him to change his career plans. He earned his bachelor's degree in biology and geology from Union College in 1951.
Ostrom enrolled at Columbia University as a graduate student with Ned Colbert as his advisor. In 1951 Simpson invited Ostrom to spend the summer as a field assistant in the San Juan Basin of New Mexico. Ostrom also worked as a research assistant with Colbert, who was the Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), Ostrom earned his doctorate in geology (vertebrate paleontology) in 1960 with a thesis on North American hadrosaurs that was based on the skull collection housed at the AMNH.
In 1952 Ostrom married Nancy Grace Hartman (d. 2003). They had two daughters, Karen and Alicia.
Ostrom taught for one year at Brooklyn College in 1955 before joining the faculty at Beloit College the following year. In 1961 he accepted a professorship at Yale University, where he remained throughout his career. As a new professor at Yale, Ostrom was named the assistant curator for vertebrate paleontology at the Peabody Museum of Natural History. He became full professor and curator in 1971.