Sereno, Paul

▪ 1994

      With the relish of a paleontologist unearthing a grungy but valuable fossil, Americans in 1993 blew the dust off the mystique of dinosaurs and made them into pop culture icons. The appeal of dinosaurs, especially to the young, was exemplified by cuddly Barney, TV's purple dinosaur character, and by the blockbuster movie Jurassic Park. To the academic world, however, the media-celebrated, "Indiana Jones" adventures of real-life paleontologist Paul Sereno made Barney and robotic movie dinosaurs look completely manufactured by comparison.

      Unlike most paleontologists, who often wait a lifetime before making a significant discovery, Sereno demonstrated his astounding talent before reaching the age of 35 by seeking and locating fossils in places more experienced paleontologists had never even considered. In 1989 he announced that he and his team of co-workers had found the first well-preserved skull and complete skeleton of the oldest known dinosaur, Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis, in the Ischigualasto Formation near the foothills of the Andes near San Juan, Arg. Its remains led Sereno to conclude that this dinosaur was about 2.5 m (8 ft) long and had a unique double-hinged jaw that allowed it to hold struggling prey. This discovery, however, paled in comparison with Sereno's 1993 announcement that he and co-worker Ricardo Martinez had uncovered the first known skull of the most primitive dinosaur, which Sereno later named Eoraptor lunensis. Sereno determined that Eoraptor was the most primitive because it had not developed any of the specialized features found in later dinosaurs. He speculated that although it was not the common ancestor of all dinosaurs, it might be the closest complete example the world would ever get, and he said that it definitely confirmed the theory that all dinosaurs stemmed from small carnivorous bipedal prototypes. Sereno also won acclaim in the study of ancient birds. He was able to reconstruct the dinosaur-like Sinornis, thought to be the first bird capable of sustained flight, from 135 million-year-old remains sent to him by a Chinese colleague.

      Sereno was born in Aurora, Ill., on Oct. 11, 1957, to a large family that encouraged scientific as well as artistic pursuits. As an undergraduate at Northern Illinois University, Sereno majored in both art and biology, hoping to become an anatomic illustrator. Instead, he redirected his studies and completed a graduate degree in vertebrate paleontology at Columbia University, New York City. Sereno earned his doctorate in geologic sciences at Columbia in 1987 and promptly joined the University of Chicago's department of organismal biology and anatomy as an associate professor. Feeling most at home in the field, Sereno led expeditions to Asia, Africa, and South America. On these trips he made his famous discoveries while trying to assemble a clear picture of the family tree of the ornithischian dinosaurs (e.g., the stegosaurus). At the end of 1993, Sereno led an expedition to the Sahara to look for proof of the existence of a new species of plant-eating dinosaur. Scientists estimated that more than half the known species of dinosaurs had been discovered in only the past 20 years. Thanks to the expertise and luck of Sereno, there might be many more to come. (SUSAN RAPP)

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