Samuel Stutchbury | |
|---|---|
 Undated portrait of Samuel Stutchbury | |
| Born | (1798-01-15)15 January 1798 |
| Died | 12 February 1859(1859-02-12) (aged 61) |
| Nationality | English |
| Known for | Co-discovery ofThecodontosaurus |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Geology,Natural history |
Samuel Stutchbury (15 January 1798 – 12 February 1859) was anEnglishnaturalist andgeologist.[1][2] AlongsideHenry Riley, Stutchbury was the co-discoverer ofThecodontosaurus, which in 1836 was the fourthdinosaurgenus to be named.[3] He also played a part inGideon Mantell's naming ofIguanodon.[4] As ageological surveyor he mapped a large area ofeastern Australia.[1]
Stutchbury was born on 15 January 1798 inLondon, the son of a gauging instrument maker. In 1820 he became assistantconservator at theHunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons and in 1821 was made an associate of theLinnean Society of London.[2] In 1824 he had a part in Gideon Mantell's identification ofIguanodon, which in 1825 would become the second dinosaur to be formally named. It was Stutchbury who realised that Mantell'sfossils of teeth resembled the teeth of theiguana specimen which Stutchbury had just prepared at the Hunterian Museum.[4]
In 1825 he sailed onSir George Osborne and laterRolla as azoologist in an expedition of the Pacific Pearl Fishery Company toNew South Wales and theTuamotus.[1][2]
From 1831–50 Stutchbury wascurator of the museum at the Bristol Institution (nowBristol City Museum and Art Gallery).[2] Fossil finds from excavations that he carried out atBristol with local naturalist Henry Riley led to their announcement ofThecodontosaurus in 1836. This was only the fourth dinosaur genus to be named, although it was originally omitted from the groupDinosauria when the group was named byRichard Owen in 1842.[3][5]
In 1841 Stutchbury became a Fellow of theGeological Society of London.[2]
From 1850–55 he worked as a geological and mineral surveyor inAustralia. Originally appointed to survey the New South Wales gold finds, he eventually mapped 32,000 square miles (over 82,000 square km) fromNew South Wales toQueensland.[1][2]
Stutchbury died on 12 February 1859 inBristol. A number of fossil and recent organisms have been named after him.[1][2]
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