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Jacob Lawson Wortman
A doctor-turned-fossil hunter, this early American paleontologist helped uncover some of the great vertebrate discoveries of the late 1800s and early 1900s. His career carried him from western field expeditions to major museum work with some of the best-known names in the science.
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About the author
Trained as a physician, Jacob Lawson Wortman became far better known for his work in vertebrate paleontology. He joined expeditions and research efforts tied to leading figures and institutions of his time, including Edward Drinker Cope, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Carnegie Museum of Pittsburgh.
Wortman built a reputation as a skilled collector and field worker with broad knowledge of fossil vertebrates. He took part in major fossil-hunting expeditions in the American West and contributed to the study of prehistoric mammals and other ancient animals during a formative period for American paleontology.
He was born in 1856 and died in 1926. Though he is less famous today than some of the scientists he worked alongside, his field discoveries and museum work helped shape the collections and research that introduced generations of readers and visitors to prehistoric life.