- Robert L. Carroll
Robert Lynn Carroll (born
May 5 1938 ,Kalamazoo, Michigan ) is a vertebratepaleontologist who specialises inPaleozoic andMesozoic amphibian s andreptile s.Carroll was an only child and grew up on a farm near
Lansing, Michigan . He was introduced topaleontology by his father shortly after his fifth birthday, and by the time he was eight he had decided he wanted to be a vertebrate paleontologist. In that same year he received as a Christmas present the leftfemur of an "Allosaurus ", courtesy ofEdwin H. Colbert , whom his father had told about his interest. In his teen years his parents took him on many fossil hunting trips toWyoming andSouth Dakota . Allosaurus was discovered by Edwin Harris Colbert at the year 1942 inWyoming .After high-school, he went to
Michigan State University , where he received a BSc, majoring inGeology . From there he went toHarvard University where he studied biology and paleontology underAlfred Sherwood Romer . His thesis dealt with theDissorophidae , a group of Paleozoic amphibians.Dr Carroll is professor of biology at
McGill University , and the author or co-author of a large number of scientific papers on fossil vertebrates, as well as a number of important monographs, text-books and more general books.His areas of research include the origins of terrestrial vertebrates, the origin and early evolutionary radiation of
amniote s, the origin and interrelationships of theLissamphibia n groups, the anatomy and relationship of Paleozoic and Mesozoic amphibians and reptiles, large scale patterns and processes of vertebrate evolution, and the use of Mesozoic marine reptiles as a model for investigating factors controlling the patterns and rates of evolution.He currently lives in Montreal. He is married to Anna DiTuri, a retired business school teacher, and they have one child, David.
Partial bibliography
* Carroll, R.C. 1987. Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution. W. H. Freeman and Co. New York.
* Stearn, C. and Carroll, R.C. 1989. Paleontology: The Record of Life. John Wiley and Sons. New York.
* Carroll, R.C. 1997. Patterns and Processes of Vertebrate Evolution. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
* Carroll, R.L., Bossy, K.A., Milner, A.C., Andrews, S.M., and Wellstead, C.F. 1998. "Lepospondyli". Encyclopedia of Paleoherpetology, P. Wellnhofer (ed.). Dr. Friedrich Pfeil, München.
* Carroll, R.C. 2000. Amphibian Biology, vol 4, Palaeontology, The Evolutionary History of Amphibians, Surrey Beatty & Sons,External links
* [http://www.redpath-staff.mcgill.ca/rcarroll.htm Robert L. Carroll] Home page
* [http://science.ca/scientists/scientistprofile.php?pID=335 science.ca Profile : Robert L. Carroll]
* [http://www.vertpaleo.org/awards/2004_RomerSimpson_Carroll.htm 2004 A. S. Romer-G. G. Simpson Medal]
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