Halszka Osmólska was a Polish

Poles

thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...

 paleontologist who had specialized in Mongolia

Mongolia

Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...

n dinosaur

Dinosaur

Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...

s.

She was born in Poznań

Poznan

Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...

. A member of the 1965 and 1970 Polish–Mongolian expeditions to the Gobi Desert

Gobi Desert

The Gobi is a large desert region in Asia. It covers parts of northern and northwestern China, and of southern Mongolia. The desert basins of the Gobi are bounded by the Altai Mountains and the grasslands and steppes of Mongolia on the north, by the Hexi Corridor and Tibetan Plateau to the...

, she described many finds from these rocks, often with Teresa Maryańska

Teresa Maryanska

Teresa Maryańska is a Polish paleontologist who has specialized in Mongolian dinosaurs, particularly pachycephalosaurians and ankylosaurians. A member of the 1964, 1965, 1970, and 1971 Polish–Mongolian expeditions to the Gobi Desert, she has described many finds from these rocks, often with...

. Among the dinosaurs she described are: Elmisaurus

Elmisaurus

Elmisaurus is an extinct genus of dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous. It was a theropod belonging to the Oviraptorosauria. Its fossils have been found in Asia and North America. It is known from only its feet and hands....

(and Elmisauridae (1981), Hulsanpes

Hulsanpes

Hulsanpes is the name given to a monotypic genus of theropods, sometimes considered a primitive bird. First described as a dromaeosaur, it lived during the Late Cretaceous. Its fossil remains were found in the Campanian Barun Goyot Formation at Khulsan, Ömnögovi Province, Mongolia...

(1982), Borogovia

Borogovia

Borogovia was a theropod dinosaur genus which lived during the Late Cretaceous Period, in what is now Mongolia. The agile carnivorous troodontid takes its name from creatures known as 'borogoves' in the Lewis Carroll poem, Jabberwocky....

(1987), and Bagaraatan

Bagaraatan

Bagaraatan was a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous period. Its fossils were found in the Nemegt Formation of Mongolia. Bagaraatan may have been around 3–4 metres in length....

(1996); with Maryańska, Homalocephale

Homalocephale

Homalocephale is a genus of dinosaur belonging to the pachycephalosaurid family, which lived during the late Cretaceous period of what is now Mongolia, 80 million years ago. The genus was described in 1974 by Osmólska & Maryañska, and consists of a single species, H...

, Prenocephale

Prenocephale

Prenocephale was a small pachycephalosaurid dinosaur genus from the Late Cretaceous and was similar in many ways to its close relative, Homalocephale, which may simply represent Prenocephale juveniles. Adult Prenocephale probably weighed around and measured around long...

, and Tylocephale

Tylocephale

Tylocephale is a genus of pachycephalosaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period. It was a herbivorous dinosaur estimated to have been about 1.4 metres in length...

(and Pachycephalosauria

Pachycephalosauria

Pachycephalosauria is a clade of ornithischian dinosaurs. Well-known genera include Pachycephalosaurus, Stegoceras, Stygimoloch, and Dracorex. Most lived during the Late Cretaceous Period, in what is now North America and Asia. They were all bipedal, herbivorous/omnivorous animals with thick skulls...

) (1974), Bagaceratops

Bagaceratops

Bagaceratops, meaning "small-horned face" , is a genus of ceratopsian dinosaur that lived in what is now Mongolia around 80 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous...

(1975), and Barsboldia

Barsboldia

Barsboldia was a genus of large hadrosaurid dinosaur from the early Maastrichtian Nemegt Formation of Ömnogöv', Mongolia. It is known from a partial vertebral column, partial pelvis, and some ribs...

(1981); with Maryańska and Altangerel Perle

Altangerel Perle

Altangerel Perle is a Mongolian palaeontologist.He is employed at the National University of Mongolia. He has described species such as Goyocephale lattimorei, Achillobator giganticus and Erlikosaurus andrewsi. He has been honored by Polish palaeontologist Halszka Osmólska, who named the species...

, Goyocephale

Goyocephale

Goyocephale is a genus of pachycephalosaurid dinosaur which lived during the Late Cretaceous period. It lived in what is now Mongolia.Goyocephale probably weighed 10–40 kg. The type species, Goyocephale lattimorei, was formally described by Perle, Maryañska, and Osmólka from an incomplete...

(1982); with Ewa Roniewicz, Deinocheirus

Deinocheirus

Deinocheirus is a genus of large theropod dinosaur, possibly an ornithomimosaurian, which lived in what is now southern Mongolia, during the late Cretaceous Period .-Discovery and naming:...

(1967); with Roniewicz and Rinchen Barsbold, Gallimimus

Gallimimus

Gallimimus is a genus of ornithomimid theropod dinosaur from the late Cretaceous period Nemegt Formation of Mongolia. With individuals as long as , it was one of the largest ornithomimosaurs...

(1972); with Kurzanov, Tochisaurus

Tochisaurus

Tochisaurus is a genus of small theropod dinosaur. It lived during the Late Cretaceous Period. Its fossils, consisting solely of the metatarsus, were found in Mongolia. The type species is T. nemegtensis, formalized by Kurzanov and Osmólska in 1991...

(1991); and with several other authors, Nomingia

Nomingia

Nomingia is a genus of oviraptorid theropod dinosaur hailing from the Late Cretaceous Bugin Tsav Beds of Mongolia.-Discovery and naming:...

(2000). Her other work included discussions of the paleobiology

Paleobiology

Paleobiology is a growing and comparatively new discipline which combines the methods and findings of the natural science biology with the methods and findings of the earth science paleontology...

 of hadrosaurid

Hadrosaurid

Hadrosaurids or duck-billed dinosaurs are members of the family Hadrosauridae, and include ornithopods such as Edmontosaurus and Parasaurolophus. They were common herbivores in the Upper Cretaceous Period of what are now Asia, Europe and North America. They are descendants of the Upper...

s, and co-editing the two editions of The Dinosauria. As of 2004, she was affiliated with the Instytut Paleobiologii of the Polska Akademia Nauk. She is recognized for her work in the names of the Mongolian oviraptorid

Oviraptoridae

Oviraptoridae is a group of bird-like, herbivorous and omnivorous maniraptoran dinosaurs. Oviraptorids are characterized by their toothless, parrot-like beaks and, in some cases, elaborate crests. They were generally small, measuring between one and two metres long in most cases, though some...

 Citipati osmolskae

Citipati

Citipati is a genus of oviraptorid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period of what is now Mongolia . It is one of the best-known oviraptorids, thanks to a number of well-preserved skeletons, including several specimens found in brooding positions atop nests of eggs...

, the Chinese

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

 dromaeosaurid

Dromaeosauridae

Dromaeosauridae is a family of bird-like theropod dinosaurs. They were small- to medium-sized feathered carnivores that flourished in the Cretaceous Period. The name Dromaeosauridae means 'running lizards', from Greek dromeus meaning 'runner' and sauros meaning 'lizard'...

 Velociraptor osmolskae

Velociraptor

Velociraptor is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur that existed approximately 75 to 71 million years ago during the later part of the Cretaceous Period. Two species are currently recognized, although others have been assigned in the past. The type species is V. mongoliensis; fossils...

, the archosauriform

Archosauriformes

Archosauriformes is a clade of diapsid reptiles that developed from archosauromorph ancestors some time in the Late Permian...

 reptile Osmolskina czatkowicensis

Osmolskina

Osmolskina is a genus of archosauriform reptile which lived during the Early Triassic in what is now Poland. The type species, Osmolskina czatkowicensis, was described by Magdalena Borsuk−Białynicka and Susan Evans in 2003. The generic name honors the late female Polish paleontologist Halszka...

, and the Polish Pliocene

Pliocene

The Pliocene Epoch is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5.332 million to 2.588 million years before present. It is the second and youngest epoch of the Neogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Pliocene follows the Miocene Epoch and is followed by the Pleistocene Epoch...

 lagomorph

Lagomorpha

The lagomorphs are the members of the taxonomic order Lagomorpha, of which there are two living families, the Leporidae , and the Ochotonidae...

 Prolagus osmolskae

Prolagus

Prolagidae is an extinct family within the order of lagomorphs, which also includes the Leporidae . One genus, Prolagus, is recognised within the family. This family as Prolaginae was previously considered a subfamily of Ochotonidae. Prolagus first appeared in the Early Miocene in Europe, where it...

.

Selected publications

• H. Osmólska and E. Roniewicz (1970). Deinocheiridae, a new family of theropod dinosaurs. Palaeontologica Polonica 21:5-19.

• H. Osmólska, E. Roniewicz, and R. Barsbold (1972). A new dinosaur, Gallimimus bullatus n. gen., n. sp. (Ornithomimidae) from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia. Palaeontologia Polonica 27:103-143.

• H. Osmólska (1972). Preliminary note on a crocodilian from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia. Palaeontologia Polonica 27:43-47.

• T. Maryańska and H. Osmólska (1974). Pachycephalosauria, a new suborder of ornithischian dinosaurs. Palaeontologia Polonica 30:45-102.

• T. Maryańska and H. Osmólska (1975). Protoceratopsidae (Dinosauria) of Asia. Palaeontologica Polonica 33:133-181.

• H. Osmólska (1976). New light on the skull anatomy and systematic position of Oviraptor. Nature 262:683-684.

• H. Osmólska (1981). Coossified tarsometatarsi in theropod dinosaurs and their bearing on the problem of bird origins. Palaeontologica Polonica 42:79-95.

• T. Maryańska and H. Osmólska (1981). First lambeosaurine dinosaur from the Nemegt Formation, Upper Cretaceous, Mongolia. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 26(3-1):243-255.

• T. Maryańska and H. Osmólska (1981). Cranial anatomy of Saurolophus angustirostris with comments on the Asian Hadrosauridae (Dinosauria). Palaeontologia Polonica 42:5-24.

• H. Osmólska (1982). Hulsanpes perlei n.g. n.sp. (Deinonychosauria, Saurischia, Dinosauria) from the Upper Cretaceous Barun Goyot Formation of Mongolia. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie Monatshefte 1982(7):440-448.

• A. Perle, T. Maryańska, and H. Osmólska (1982). Goyocephale lattimorei gen. et sp. n., a new flat-headed pachycephalosaur (Ornithischia, Dinosauria) from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 27(1-4):115-127.

• T. Maryańska and H. Osmólska (1984). Postcranial anatomy of Saurolophus angustirostris with comments on other hadrosaurs. Palaeontologia Polonica 46:119-141.

• T. Maryańska and H. Osmólska (1985). On ornithischian phylogeny. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 30(3-4):137-149.

• H. Osmólska (1987). Borogovia gracilicrus gen. et sp. n., a new troodontid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 32(1-2):133-150.

• R. Barsbold, H. Osmólska, and S.M. Kurzanov (1987). On a new troodontid (Dinosauria, Theropoda) from the Early Cretaceous of Mongolia. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 32(1-2):121-132.

• S. M. Kurzanov and H. Osmólska (1991). Tochisaurus nemegtensis gen. et sp. n., a new troodontid dinosaur (Dinosauria, Theropoda) from Mongolia. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 36(1):69-76.

• H. Osmólska (1996). An unusual theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Nemegt Formation of Mongolia. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 41(1):1-38.

• R. Barsbold and H. Osmólska (1999). The skull of Velociraptor (Theropoda) from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 44(2):189-219.

• R. Barsbold, H. Osmólska, M. Watabe, P.J. Currie, and K. Tsogtbaatar (2000). A new oviraptorosaur (Dinosauria, Theropoda) from Mongolia: the first dinosaur with a pygostyle. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 45(2):97-106.

• T. Maryańska, H. Osmólska, and M. Wolsan (2002). Avialan status for Oviraptorosauria. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 47(1):97-116.

• H. Osmólska, P.J. Currie, and R. Barsbold (2004). Oviraptorosauria. In: D.B. Weishampel, P. Dodson, and H. Osmólska (eds.), The Dinosauria (second edition). University of California Press, Berkeley 165-183.

External links

• Photo of Osmólska.