Leonard Frank Spath
Encyclopedia
Leonard Frank Spath was a British paleomalacologist and an ammonitologist, a specialist of ammonite
s.
He gained a B.Sc in geology at Birkbeck College in 1912 and obtained employment at the British Museum as an assistant curator in the geology department. He undertook two geology field trips, to Tunisia and Newfoundland, around that time which he used as an opportunity to collect fossils. He lster gained a D.Sc from London University and was a lecturer in Geology at Birkbeck, University of London
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He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in March 1940 when his candidacy citation read : Attached to the Department of Geology in the British Museum (Nat Hist) for research on the fossil Cephalopoda (Ammonoids and Nautiloids) and the arrangement of that collection; and generally consulted by palaeontologists and Institutions for identifying fossils in these groups. Distinguished for his original studies of Mesozoic Ammonites, in which subject he is the leading authority. Has formulated original and clarifying theories of the phylogenetic relations of the Cephalopoda in general and of the jurassic and cretaceous ammonites in particular. His work has resulted in many important elucidations of inter-continental stratigraphical correlation and has done much to advance precise geological knowledge. Author of important monographs on Jurassic Cephalopoda of Cutch ('Palaeontologica Indica', 1927) and the Ammonoidea of the Gault of England (Palaeontographical Society); also the Jurassic and Liassic Ammonites (British Museum Catalogue, 1934 and 1938). Has published more than 100 papers and monographs
He won the prestigious annual scientific Lyell Medal
given by the Geological Society of London in 1945.
Ammonite
Ammonite, as a zoological or paleontological term, refers to any member of the Ammonoidea an extinct subclass within the Molluscan class Cephalopoda which are more closely related to living coleoids Ammonite, as a zoological or paleontological term, refers to any member of the Ammonoidea an extinct...
s.
He gained a B.Sc in geology at Birkbeck College in 1912 and obtained employment at the British Museum as an assistant curator in the geology department. He undertook two geology field trips, to Tunisia and Newfoundland, around that time which he used as an opportunity to collect fossils. He lster gained a D.Sc from London University and was a lecturer in Geology at Birkbeck, University of London
Birkbeck, University of London
Birkbeck, University of London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It offers many Master's and Bachelor's degree programmes that can be studied either part-time or full-time, though nearly all teaching is...
.
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in March 1940 when his candidacy citation read : Attached to the Department of Geology in the British Museum (Nat Hist) for research on the fossil Cephalopoda (Ammonoids and Nautiloids) and the arrangement of that collection; and generally consulted by palaeontologists and Institutions for identifying fossils in these groups. Distinguished for his original studies of Mesozoic Ammonites, in which subject he is the leading authority. Has formulated original and clarifying theories of the phylogenetic relations of the Cephalopoda in general and of the jurassic and cretaceous ammonites in particular. His work has resulted in many important elucidations of inter-continental stratigraphical correlation and has done much to advance precise geological knowledge. Author of important monographs on Jurassic Cephalopoda of Cutch ('Palaeontologica Indica', 1927) and the Ammonoidea of the Gault of England (Palaeontographical Society); also the Jurassic and Liassic Ammonites (British Museum Catalogue, 1934 and 1938). Has published more than 100 papers and monographs
He won the prestigious annual scientific Lyell Medal
Lyell Medal
The Lyell Medal is a prestigious annual scientific medal given by the Geological Society of London, equal in status to the Murchison Medal, awarded on the basis of research to an Earth Scientist of exceptional quality...
given by the Geological Society of London in 1945.