Barnum Brown facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Barnum Brown
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Brown in 1897
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| Born | February 12, 1873 Carbondale, Kansas, U.S.
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| Died | February 5, 1963 (aged 89) New York City, New York, U.S.
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| Alma mater | University of Kansas |
| Known for | Discovered first documented remains of Amphipithecus mogaungensis and Tyrannosaurus rex |
| Spouse(s) | Marion Raymond Brown Lillian McLaughlin Brown |
| Children | Frances R. Brown |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Paleontology |
Barnum Brown (February 12, 1873 – February 5, 1963) was a famous American paleontologist. People often called him Mr. Bones because he spent his life hunting for fossils. He made one of the most important dinosaur discoveries ever: the first documented remains of the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex. His career spanned from the late 1800s into the mid-1900s, making him a legendary figure in the world of fossil hunting.
Contents
Who Was Barnum Brown?
His Early Life and Discoveries
Barnum Brown was born in Carbondale, Kansas on February 12, 1873. His parents, William and Clara Silver Brown, had moved to Kansas earlier. His father, William, worked as a farmer, raising corn, hogs, and cattle. During a time of conflict in Kansas, he also dug and sold coal and transported supplies with ox-drawn wagons.
From a young age, Barnum helped with chores on the farm. He started his first fossil collection by finding ancient corals and Native American arrowheads while plowing fields. His parents saw his interest in science and sent him to the best school available in Carbondale. After finishing school at 16, he traveled to Montana with his father. In 1893, he began studying at the University of Kansas.
Learning at the University of Kansas
At the University of Kansas, Brown quickly became interested in archaeology and paleontology. As a freshman, he took a class with Samuel Wendell Williston, a professor who invited Brown on fossil-collecting trips. These trips took him to Nebraska and South Dakota in 1894, and to Wyoming in 1895. Williston became Brown's mentor, guiding his early studies.
Adventures with the American Museum of Natural History
While on a trip in South Dakota in 1894, Brown met a team from the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). In 1896, his professor, Williston, recommended Brown for a job with the museum. Brown left college early to join an expedition to Wyoming. He impressed the museum's curators by finding a nearly complete skeleton of an ancient mammal called Coryphodon. In 1897, the AMNH offered Brown a job as an assistant curator and a scholarship for further studies.
Brown traveled all over the country for the AMNH, finding and trading for fossils. He collected many different types of scientific specimens, not just dinosaurs. He often named new fossils after people or events important to him at the time.
Discovering Dinosaurs in Montana
Brown worked in Como Bluff, Wyoming, in the late 1890s. There, he discovered an important Diplodocus specimen. He also developed new ways to protect and collect fossils. Later, he led an expedition to the Hell Creek Formation in southeastern Montana. In 1902, he made his most famous discovery: the first documented remains of Tyrannosaurus rex. By 1910, Brown was promoted to Associate Curator at the AMNH.
The Hell Creek expeditions brought in huge amounts of fossils, enough to fill entire train cars. Brown's teams sometimes used controlled dynamite blasts to remove large rocks covering their finds. They moved everything with horse-drawn wagons and hard work.
Exploring Canada's Fossil-Rich Rivers
After almost ten years in Montana, Brown moved his work to Alberta, Canada. He explored the Red Deer River near Drumheller in the mid-1910s. Brown and his crew floated down the river on a flatboat, stopping to look for fossils. Another famous family of fossil hunters, the Sternbergs, were also working in the same area. A friendly rivalry grew between Brown's team and the Sternbergs, leading to many exciting discoveries.
In 1910, Brown's team made another significant find in Dry Island Buffalo Jump Provincial Park. They uncovered several hind feet from a group of Albertosaurus. These fossils were stored at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City for many years. In the 1990s, Dr. Phil Currie used an old photograph to relocate the original dig site in Canada. New excavations began in 1998 and continued for several years, revealing more about these ancient creatures.
Brown's last major fieldwork was in 1955, when he was 83 years old. He returned to the Claggett Shale in Montana and collected a plesiosaur skeleton. He was a member of many important scientific groups, including the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology.
Finding Ancient Primates
In 1923, Brown traveled with his wife, Lilian, to Yangon, in what was then Burma. He searched for fossils in areas with Pondaung Sandstone. Near the town of Mogaung, he found a jawbone with three teeth. He didn't realize how important this find was until 14 years later. In 1937, another paleontologist, Edwin H. Colbert, identified it as a new species of primate. It was named Amphipithecus mogaungensis, meaning "ape-like creature of Mogaung." This fossil was considered the earliest known anthropoid (a group that includes monkeys and apes) in the world at the time.
Barnum Brown's Public Life
Barnum Brown lived during a time of amazing scientific discoveries. He was known for his colorful personality. At dig sites in Canada, he was often seen wearing a large fur coat.
During World War I and World War II, Brown helped his country by working for government agencies. On his many trips abroad, he also sometimes shared information with oil companies. Sinclair Oil supported many of Brown's expeditions, especially during the Great Depression. The company still uses a Diplodocus, a dinosaur discovered by Brown, as its logo.
His Family and Legacy
On February 13, 1904, Barnum Brown married Marion Raymond, a school teacher. She joined him on several expeditions, including a 1905 trip where he found two more Tyrannosaurus rex specimens. They had a daughter, Frances R. Brown, in 1908. Marion passed away in 1910. Frances was mostly raised by her grandparents and later became a dean at colleges. She wrote a book about her father called Let's Call Him Barnum in 1987.
In 1920, Brown met Lillian MacLaughlin Brown in Egypt. They married in Calcutta, India, in 1922. Lillian also wrote three books about her adventures with her husband, including I Married a Dinosaur.
Barnum Brown passed away on February 5, 1963, just before his 90th birthday. He was buried in Oxford, New York, his first wife's hometown.
An actor named Laurie Murdoch played Barnum Brown in the 1998 IMAX film T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous.
See also
In Spanish: Barnum Brown para niños
