Thomas R. Holtz Jr.

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Thomas Richard Holtz Jr. (born September 13, 1965 in Los Angeles ) is an American vertebrate paleontologist. His specialty are the theropods ("predatory dinosaurs"), especially the tyrannosaurids .

Holtz grew up near Houston , studied geosciences at Johns Hopkins University ( Bachelor 1987) and received his PhD from Yale University in 1992 . The subject of his dissertation was the construction of the metatarsus of Cretaceous theropods. He is a senior lecturer at the University of Maryland at College Park and has authored or co-authored several books on dinosaurs.

Holtz was among the first to investigate the phylogeny of theropods using cladistic methods . Among other things, he was involved in the classification of tyrannosaurs that is common today among coelurosaurs instead of carnosaurs . He also introduced some new group names for communities of descent he had identified , for example in 1994 the name Arctometatarsalia for a group that is characterized by the Arctometatarsus, a metatarsus that is “progressively” built for theropods. In the same work he coined the name Bullatosauria for the Arctometatarsalier subgroup of ornithomimosaurs and troodontids . In 1996 he introduced the name Maniraptoriformes for the group that goes back to the common ancestor of birds and ornithomimosaurs. In addition to phylogeny and taxonomy, he also dealt with hunting behavior and the biomechanics of theropods.

In addition, Holtz examined the effects of continental drift on the phylogeny of the dinosaurs.

He is involved in the Tree of Life Web Project and maintains the website of the tyrannosaurids. Holtz was also a consultant for the BBC documentary series Walking with Dinosaurs .

Fonts

  • Dinosaurs: The Most Complete Up-To-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages. Random House 2007
  • with Michael William Skrepnick: T. Rex: hunter or scavenger? Random House, New York 2003
  • Dinosaur predation: evidence and ecomorphology. In: PH Kelley, M. Kowalewski, TA Hansen (editors): Predator-Prey Interactions in the Fossil Record. Topics in Geobiology, Volume 20, Kluwer Press, 2003, pp. 325-340
  • Contributions to David Weishampel , Peter Dodson, Halszka Osmólska : The Dinosauria . 2nd edition, 2004 ( Tyrannosauroidea , Mesozoic Biogeographia of Dinosauria with RE Chapman, MC Lamanna, Saurischia with Osmolska, Basal Tenurae with RE Molnar, Philip Currie )
  • Contributions to James O. Farlow, Michael Brett-Surman: The Complete Dinosaur. Indiana University Press, 1997 ( Dinosaur hunters of the southern continents , The osteology of the Dinosaurs with Brett-Surman, The taxonomy and systematics of the Dinosaurs with Brett-Surman)
  • with Michael Brett-Surman: Dinosaur Field Guide. Random House, 2001
  • Little Giant Book of Dinosaurs. Sterling Press 2001
  • Arctometatarsalia revisited: the problem of homplasy in reconstructing theropod phylogeny. In: J. Gauthier, LF Gall (editor): New Perspectives on the Origin and Early Evolution of Birds: Proceedings of the International Symposium in Honor of John H. Ostrom. Yale University Press, 2001, pp. 99-122
  • Chasing Tyrannosaurus and Deinonychus around the tree of life: Classifying Dinosaurs. In: JG Scotchmoor, DA Springer, BH Breithaupt, AF Fiorillo (editor): Dinosaurs: The Science Behind the Stories. Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, Paleontological Society, American Geological Institute, 2001. Online, pdf
  • with James O. Farlow, Stephen Gatesy, John Hutchinson, John Robinson: Theropod locomotion. In: American Zoologist. Volume 40, No. 4, 2000, pp. 640-663 online
  • Classification and evolution of dinosaur groups. In: GS Paul (editor): The Scientific American Book of Dinosaurs. St. Martin's Press, 2000, pp. 140-168
  • A new phylogeny for the carnivorous dinosaurs. In: Gaia - Revista de Geociências do museu Universidade Lisboa. Volume 15, 1998, pp. 5-61, online, pdf
  • with Michael Brett-Surman: The World of Dinosaurs. Greenwich Workshop Books, 1998
  • Phylogenetic taxonomy of the Coelurosauria (Dinosauria: Theropoda). In: Journal of Paleontology. Volume 70, No. 3, 1996, pp. 536-538
  • The arctometatarsalian pes, an unusual structure of the metatarsus of Cretaceous Theropoda (Dinosauria: Saurischia). In: Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Volume 14, 1995, pp. 480-519
  • The phylogenetic position of the Tyrannosauridae. Implications for theropod systematics . In: Journal of Paleontology. Volume 68, No. 5, 1994, pp. 1100-1117
  • An unusual structure of the metatarsus of Theropoda (Archosauria: Dinosauria: Saurischia) of the Cretaceous. Yale University, 1992 (dissertation)

Web links

  • Home page on the University of Maryland website

Individual evidence

  1. TJ Holtz, Jr .: The phylogenetic position of the Tyrannosauridae. 1994 (see writings ), p. 1108
  2. TJ Holtz, Jr .: Phylogenetic taxonomy of the Coelurosauria. 1996 (see writings ), p. 538
  3. TR Holtz, Jr .: Tyrannosauridae. Tyrant dinosaurs. August 29, 2000 version, Tree of Life Web Project