Joseph Leidy (September 9, 1823 – 30 April 1891)	Back     Site Map
	Joseph Leidy was professor of anatomy at the University of Pennsylvania, and later was a professor of natural history at Swarthmore College. He was an exception in the palaeontological community, as far as his income came not from rich relaties or state funding, but from teaching and tedious administrative duites. His passion for palaeontology was far reaching and his breakthrough came with his book "Extinct Fauna of Dakota and Nebraska" (1869) which contained many new species of the North American continent. He described and named the very first fossil dinosaur remains in 1856, discovered by Ferdinand Hayden whilst on a survey mission in the west. Leidy also named the holotype specimen of Hadrosaurus foulkii, discovered by William Parker Foulke and recovered from the marl pits in Haddonfield of New Jersey, famously the first almost complete dinosaur skeleton ever found. References and Further Reading Joseph Leidy: The last man who knew everything. Leonard Warren. 1998. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-07359-3 URLs http://www.ansp.org/museum/leidy/index.php http://www.cartage.org.lb/en/themes/Biographies/MainBiographies/L/Leidy/1.html	Joseph Leidy