Paul Sereno

Paul Callistus Sereno (born October 11, 1957) is a professor of paleontology at the University of Chicago who has discovered several new dinosaur species on several continents, including at sites in Inner Mongolia, Argentina, Morocco and Niger.^[1] One of his widely publicized discoveries includes a nearly complete specimen of Sarcosuchus imperator — commonly referred to as SuperCroc — found in Gadoufaoua, located in the Tenere desert of Niger.

Paul C. Sereno
Sereno in 2010
Born	(1957-10-11) October 11, 1957 (age 67) Aurora, Illinois, U.S.
Alma mater	Northern Illinois University (B.S., Biological Sciences, 1979) Columbia University (M.A., Vertebrate Paleontology, 1981; M. Phil., Geological Sciences, 1981; Ph.D., Geological Sciences, 1987)
Known for	Discoveries in paleontology; founder of Project Exploration
Children	2
Scientific career
Fields	Paleontology (vertebrate)
Institutions	University of Chicago
Doctoral students	Jeffrey A. Wilson
Author abbrev. (zoology)	Sereno

Biography

Youth and education

The son of a mail carrier^[2] and an art teacher at Prairie Elementary, Sereno grew up in Naperville, Illinois and graduated from Naperville Central High School. He completed his B.S., Biological Sciences from Northern Illinois University in 1979, M.A. in Vertebrate Paleontology, from Columbia University in 1981, M. Phil. in Geological Sciences in 1981, and Ph.D. in Geological Sciences, in 1987.

Career

Sereno was named one of People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People (1997).^[3]

Sereno co-founded Project Exploration, a non-profit science education organization to encourage city kids to pursue careers in science. He appeared in the 2009 DVD Dinosaur Discoveries, which included segments originally hosted by CBS anchorman Walter Cronkite. The program first aired onA&E in 1991 and was later rebroadcast on the Disney Channel through the late 1990s.

On August 14 2008, Sereno uncovered a large Stone Age cemetery at Gobero in the Nigerien Sahara, remnants of a people who lived from 10,000 to 5,000 years ago on the edge of what was then a large lake. The National Geographic based a documentary, Skeletons of the Sahara on this discovery, which premiered in 2013. ^[4][5][6]

Fossil species described by Sereno or his team

See also: Category: Taxa named by Paul Sereno

Dinosaurs Aerosteon Afrovenator Significant new material of Carcharodontosaurus, including Carcharodontosaurus iguidensis) Deltadromeus Eocarcharia Eodromaeus Eoraptor Erliansaurus Graciliceratops Significant new material of Herrerasaurus Jobaria Kryptops Neimongosaurus Nigersaurus Pegomastax Three new species of Psittacosaurus (P. meileyingensis, P. xinjiangensis, P. gobiensis)

Rajasaurus Raptorex Rugops Significant new material of Spinosaurus Significant new material of Sinornithomimus.[7] Spinostropheus Suchomimus Other fossil reptiles Marasuchus, an early relative of dinosaurs "The African Pterosaur" Sarcosuchus imperator Anatosuchus minor from Niger Araripesuchus rattoides from Niger and Morocco Kaprosuchus saharicus from Niger and Morocco Laganosuchus thaumastos from Niger and Morocco Laganosuchus maghrebensis from Niger and Morocco

Sereno at a dig in 2010

Sereno holding a cast of Sinornithomimus

Documentaries featuring Sereno and his discoveries

In addition to his many discoveries in the field, public communication has been a big part of Sereno's career.

Year	Title	Producer	Featured Fossils (Sites)
1991	At the Forefront	Kurtis Productions, Ltd., PBS
1992	Fragments of Time	New Explorers, PBS	Eoraptor (Argentina)
1992	The Dinosaurs! - Flesh on the Bones	WHYY-TV, PBS	Herrerasaurus (Argentina)
1993	The Next Generation, 1% Inspiration	WNET, PBS
1994	Skeletons in the Sand	New Explorers, PBS	(Niger)
1995	Paleoworld - African Graveyard, Part I: Hunting Dinosaurs	The Learning Channel	(Morocco)
1995	Paleoworld - African Graveyard, Part II: Discovering Dinosaurs	The Learning Channel	(Morocco)
1996	Paleoworld - Flesh on the Bones	The Learning Channel	Deltadromeus, Carcharodontosaurus (Morocco)
1997	Beyond T-Rex	Discovery Channel	Carcharodontosaurus (Morocco)
1998	Colossal Claw	National Geographic Explorer	Suchomimus (Sahara)
1998	Dinosaur Fever	National Geographic Explorer	sauropods (Niger)
1999	Africa's Dinosaur Giants	National Geographic Explorer	Jobaria (Niger)
2001	SuperCroc	NBC/NGC	Sarcosuchus
2006	Sky Monsters	NGC	pterosaur (Niger)
2009	Bizarre Dinos	NGC	Nigersaurus, Raptorex, Mykocephale
2009	When Crocs Ate Dinosaurs	NGChannel	BoarCroc, PancakeCroc, DuckCroc, DogCroc, RatCroc (Sahara, Australia)
2013	Skeletons of the Sahara	NOVA-NGTelevision	humans (Gobero, Niger)
2014	Bigger than T. rex	NOVA-NGTelevision	Spinosaurus (Morocco)