| Lawrence Lambe | |
| Birth Name: | Lawrence Morris Lambe |
| Birth Date: | 27 August 1863 |
| Birth Place: | Montreal, Canada East |
| Death Place: | Ottawa, Canada |
| Fields: | Geology, palaeontology, ecology |
| Signature: | Signature of Lawrence Morris Lambe (1863–1919).png |
Lawrence Morris Lambe (August 27, 1863 – March 12, 1919)[1] was a Canadian geologist, palaeontologist, and ecologist from the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC).[2] His published work, describing the diverse and plentiful dinosaur discoveries from the fossil beds in Alberta, did much to bring dinosaurs into the public eye and helped usher in the Golden Age of Dinosaurs in the province. During this period, between the 1880s and World War I, dinosaur hunters from all over the world converged on Alberta. Lambeosaurus, a well-known hadrosaur, was named after him as a tribute, in 1923.[3] In addition to paleontology, Lambe discovered a number of invertebrate species ranging from Canada to the Pacific Northwest. Lambe's contemporary discoveries were published in works such as Sponges From the Atlantic Coast of Canada and Catalogue of the recent marine sponges of Canada and Alaska.
Lambe was born in Montreal on August 27, 1863.[4] Lambe studied at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario from 1880 - 1883.[5]
Lambe published a number of biological works, starting in the 1880s and culminating in 1919. His most notable published works from his biological and zoological studies include his numerous Bibliography of Canadian Zoology editions, along with Sponges from the western coast of North America, and A new recent marine sponge (Esperella bella-bellensis) from the Pacific Coast of Canada. Lambe's work in western Canada began in 1897. He discovered a number of new dinosaur genera and species over the next few years, and spent much of his time preparing the fossil galleries of the GSC's museum.[6] In 1902, he described Canada's first dinosaur finds, various species of Monoclonius. He described Centrosaurus in 1904. Euoplocephalus was named by him, in 1910. In 1913, he named Styracosaurus. He was responsible for naming Chasmosaurus and Gorgosaurus, in 1914 and Eoceratops in 1915. In 1917, he created the genus Edmontosaurus. In 1919 came Panoplosaurus. He also discovered and named the hadrosaurid Gryposaurus.[7]
Inevitably, it was not only dinosaurs that Lambe discovered. The crocodilian Leidysuchus canadensis was described in 1907. This is the most commonly found crocodilian species found in the Late Cretaceous deposits of Alberta. He also studied fishes from the Triassic of Alberta[8] and the Devonian of New Brunswick, and also Paleozoic corals. He also collected Tertiary insects and plants in British Columbia. However, it is for his work on vertebrates from western Canada, especially dinosaurs, that he is most famous.
He died at his home in Ottawa on March 12, 1919.[4]