Edwin Harris Colbert

Edwin Harris Colbert (September 28, 1905 — November 15, 2001 ) was a distinguished American vertebrate paleontologist and prolific researcher and author. He received his A.B. from the University of Nebraska, then his Masters and Ph.D. from Columbia University, finishing in 1935.

Born in Clarinda, Iowa, he grew up in Maryville, Missouri. Among the positions he held was Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History for 40 years, and Professor Emeritus of Vertebrate Paleontogy at Columbia University. He was a protege of Henry Fairfield Osborn, and a foremost authority on the Dinosauria.

He described dozens of new taxa and authored major systematic reviews, including the discovery of more than a dozen complete skeletons of a primitive small Triassic dinosaur, Coelophysis at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico, in 1947 (one of the largest concentrations of dinosaur deposits ever recorded), publication of their description, and a review of ceratopsian phylogeny.

His fieldwork in Antarctica in 1969 helped solidify the acceptance of continental drift, by finding a 220-million-year-old fossil of a Lystrosaurus. His popularity and his text books on dinosaurs, paleontology, and stratigraphy (with Marshall Kay) introduced a generation of scientists and amateur enthusiasts to the subject. He was the recipient of numerous prizes and awards commemorating his many achievements in the field of science.

He became curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff, Arizona in 1970. Along with his wife, Margaret, he had five sons. He died at his home in Flagstaff.

Works
He wrote more than 20 books and over 400 scientific articles.
 * 1945: The Dinosaur Book: The Ruling Reptiles and Their Relatives
 * 1977: Dinosaur World. - ISBN 9780873960816.
 * 1983: Dinosaurs : An Illustrated History. - ISBN 9780843733327.
 * 1984: The Great Dinosaur Hunters and Their Discoveries. - ISBN 9780486247014.
 * 1985: Wandering Lands and Animals: The Story of Continental Drift and Animal Populations. - ISBN 9780486249186.
 * 1989: Digging into the Past: An Autobiography. - ISBN 9780942637083.
 * 1995: The Little Dinosaurs of Ghost Ranch. - ISBN 9780231082365.
 * 1997: Age of Reptiles. - ISBN 9780486293776.
 * 1980: Fossil-Hunter's Notebook: My Life with Dinosaurs and Other Friends. - w/Elias Colbert. - ISBN 9780525107729.
 * 2001: Colbert's Evolution of the Vertebrates: A History of the Backboned Animals Through Time. - w/Eli C. Minkoff & Michael Morales. - ISBN 9780471384618.