Joseph Leidy

From EvoWiki

Joseph Leidy (1823-1891), was among the first generation of American paleontologists, and though widely overlooked today, his contributions are considerable. Leidy was a professor with the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, and had a formative influence on the young E.D. Cope. Leidy named, in 1856, the first dinosaur taxa recognized from North America: Trachodon, Troodon, Deinodon, and Paleoscincus. Perhaps to be expected, these taxa, all described on the basis of fossil teeth, have not withstood the test of time, and today only Troodon remains a viable binomial. Leidy was also involved in the description and restoration of Hadrosaurus foulkii recovered in New Jersey, in 1858, which marked the first time a large and fairly complete dinosaur skeleton was discovered in the United States. In addition to these contributions, Leidy made extensive use of the microscope in anatomy and made significant advances in our understanding of parasitology.