David Gillette

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David Gillette is a paleontologist, best-known for his discovery of the Seismosaurus hallorum. At the time of its discovery, Seismosaurus was the longest dinosaur known to man.

[edit] Gillette's Seismosaurus hallorum discovery

Gillette found eight huge bones of the Seismosaurus in northwestern New Mexico in May 1985. Thinking that this was a dinosaur unknown to science, Gillette began comparing the dinosaur bones he found to other dinosaur bones. These tests took Gillette more than a year to complete. After carefully analyzing the results, he confirmed his hypothesis, and presented the results in a press conference at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. He gave the new dinosaur the name seismosaurus hallorum, or "earth shaker." He later submitted a report to the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology that was a summary of his discovery, which was published two years later, after peer review by other paleontologists.

In 1993, Gillette published his book, Seismosaurus: The Earth Shaker, about the dinosaur he discovered. It was published by Columbia University Press and illustrated by Mark Hallett. The book was re-printed in paperback in 1999.