Stephen A. Czerkas Explained

Stephen Andrew Czerkas
Birth Date:September 19, 1951
Birth Place:Alhambra, California
Death Date:January 22, 2015 (aged 63)
Nationality:American
Fields:Paleontology
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Spouse:Sylvia
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Stephen Andrew Czerkas (born September 19, 1951, in Alhambra, California; died January 22, 2015) was an American sculptor and paleontologist. He frequently worked as a contributor to both museums and the motion picture industry, and was later the director and co-founder of The Dinosaur Museum, which purchased the Archaeoraptor fossil chimera.[1] [2] His life-sized replicas of dinosaurs, including members of the Deinonychus and Allosaurus genera, were among the first to incorporate accurate feathering and dorsal spines.[3] [4]

Life and work

Czerkas' sculptural works have been featured in the National Museum of Natural History, the Vienna Museum of Natural History, and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, among other museums.[5] [6] [7] In addition, Czerkas contributed to the motion picture industry, notably producing photorealistic sculptures for the 1977 film Planet of Dinosaurs.[8]

He is perhaps best known for his part in the Archaeoraptor controversy, in which Czerkas purchased a part-bird, part-dinosaur specimen for The Dinosaur Museum from a Chinese dealer.[9] This fossil specimen courted a great deal of controversy, after which it was determined that the fossil had been glued together as a composite of multiple species.[10] [11] [12] This controversy continues to circulate in creationist media sources as a purported example of widespread fraud in the evolutionary sciences.[13] [14] [15]

Czerkas had a wife, Sylvia. Stephen Czerkas died on January 22, 2015, of liver cancer.[16]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2012-05-18 . Friday Photos: Dinosaur Museum . https://web.archive.org/web/20220305190145/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/friday-photos-dinosaur-museum . dead . March 5, 2022 . 2022-03-05 . National Geographic . en.
  2. Web site: Dinosaur Museum: Art and Feathers, Blanding, Utah . 2022-03-05 . RoadsideAmerica.com . en.
  3. Web site: 2014-07-05 . Why Jurassic Park had it all wrong . 2022-03-05 . Australian Geographic . en-AU.
  4. Web site: Abdale . Jason R. . 2015-01-31 . News: Stephen Czerkas, famous paleo-artist, dies at 63 . 2022-03-05 . DINOSAURS AND BARBARIANS . en.
  5. Web site: Laviola . Karen . 1986-03-16 . Dinosaur Art Exhibit Brings Behemoths to Life . 2022-03-05 . Los Angeles Times . en-US.
  6. Web site: What would a feathered Velociraptor look like? – Flying Dinosaurs . 2022-03-05 . en-US.
  7. Web site: Dinosaurs, Past and Present . 2022-03-05 . Smithsonian Institution . en.
  8. Web site: 2015-02-16 . Stephen Czerkas 1951–2015 . 2022-03-05 . William Stout's Journal . en-US.
  9. News: Sloan . Christopher P. . November 1999 . Feathers for T. rex? . 98–107 . National Geographic.
  10. Dalton . Rex . 17 February 2000 . Feathers fly over Chinese fossil bird's legality and authenticity . Nature . 403 . 689–690.
  11. News: Simons . Lewis M. . 2000 . Archaeoraptor Fossil Trail . 128–132 . National Geographic.
  12. Web site: Guardian Staff . 2000-02-07 . Is it a bird? Is it a dinosaur? No, it's a fake . 2022-03-05 . the Guardian . en.
  13. Web site: Evolution Fraud and Myths . 2022-03-05 . www.nwcreation.net.
  14. Web site: Sibley . Andrew . September 16, 2005 . Feathered dinosaurs and the Disneyfication of palaeontology . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20061030015410/http://www.csm.org.uk/news.php?viewmessage=34 . October 30, 2006.
  15. Web site: Second Look Causes Scientist to Reverse Dino-Bird Claim . 2022-03-05 . www.icr.org . en.
  16. Web site: Stephen Andrew Czerkas, 1951 - 2015 . 2022-03-05 . dinosaur-museum.org.

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