Lawrence Lambe

Lawrence Morris Lambe (1849–1934) was a geologist and palaeontologist from the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC). He was Canada's first great geologist. His published work, describing the diverse and plentiful dinosaur discoveries from the fossil beds in Alberta, did much to bring dinosaurs into the public eye and helped usher in the "Golden Age of Dinosaurs" in the province. During this period, between the 1880s and World War I, dinosaur hunters from all over the world converged on Alberta. "Lambeosaurus", a well-known hadrosaur, was named after him as a tribute, in 1923.

Lambe's work in western Canada began in 1897. He discovered a number of new dinosaur genera and species over the next few years, and spent much of his time preparing the fossil galleries of the GSC's museum. In 1902, he described Canada's first dinosaur finds, various species of "Monoclonius". He described "Centrosaurus" in 1904. "Euoplocephalus" was named by him, in 1910. In 1913, he named "Styracosaurus". He was responsible for naming "Chasmosaurus" and "Gorgosaurus", in 1914 and "Eoceratops" in 1915. In 1917, he created the genus "Edmontosaurus". In 1919 came "Panoplosaurus". He also discovered and named the hadrosaurid "Gryposaurus".

Inevitably, it was not only dinosaurs that Lambe discovered. The crocodilian "Leidysuchus canadensis" was described in 1907. This is the most commonly found crocodilian species found in the Late Cretaceous deposits of Alberta. He also studied Devonian fishes from New Brunswick and Paleozoic corals, collected Tertiary insects and plants in British Columbia but it is for his work on vertebrates from western Canada, especially dinosaurs, that he is most famous.

External links

* [http://search.eb.com/dinosaurs/dinosaurs/odinosu058p1.html Impression of Lambe's 'slothful Gorgosaurus' drawn by John Sibbick]