Date of Birth: June 14, 1928
Place of Birth: Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina
Parents: Héctor Elías Bonaparte Lacroix and Margarita Ibarrola
Spouse: ?
Date of death: February 18, 2020
Place of death: Mercedes, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Legacy: Architect of South American palaeontology,
Major Patagonian fossil discoveries
Major Patagonian fossil discoveries
José Fernando Bonaparte
J.F.B, the son of an Italian sailor, was born in Rosario, Argentina, and raised in Mercedes, Buenos Aires.
Despite a lack of formal training in paleontology he started collecting fossils at an early age and created a museum in his home town. He later became curator of the National University of Tucuman where he was named Doctor Honoris causa in 1974, and became a senior scientist at the National Museum of Natural Sciences in Buenos Aires in the late 1970s.
He has found and/or named many South American dinosaurs and, according to Peter Dodson from the University of Pennsylvania, "almost single-handedly dragged Argentina to sixth spot in the world dinosaur charts". Funnily enough, he has mentored several paleontologists who have gone on to chip-in with a fair few discoveries of their own, including Rodolfo Coria.
Despite a lack of formal training in paleontology he started collecting fossils at an early age and created a museum in his home town. He later became curator of the National University of Tucuman where he was named Doctor Honoris causa in 1974, and became a senior scientist at the National Museum of Natural Sciences in Buenos Aires in the late 1970s.
He has found and/or named many South American dinosaurs and, according to Peter Dodson from the University of Pennsylvania, "almost single-handedly dragged Argentina to sixth spot in the world dinosaur charts". Funnily enough, he has mentored several paleontologists who have gone on to chip-in with a fair few discoveries of their own, including Rodolfo Coria.
References
• Lessem D (1993) "Jose Bonaparte: Master of the Mesozoic — Paleontologist". Omni.
• Spalding DAE (1993) "Dinosaur Hunters".
• Novas FE (2009) "The Age of Dinosaurs in South America".
• Novas FE (2021) "José Fernando Bonaparte (1928–2020)". Ameghiniana, 58(2): 177-179. DOI: 10.5710/1851-8044-58.2.177.
• Martinelli AG and Forasiepi AM (2021) "The legacy of JOSÉ FERNANDO BONAPARTE (1928-2020): From dinosaurs to mammals from the Mesozoic Era of South America". Prehistoric Times, #139.
Discoveries and descriptions ...
