Walter W. Granger
Encyclopedia
Walter Willis Granger was an American vertebrate
paleontologist
who participated in important fossil
explorations in the United States
, Egypt
, China
and Mongolia
.
, Granger was the first of five children born to Charles H. Granger, an insurance agent and veteran of the American Civil War
, and Ada Haynes Granger. Granger developed an early interest in taxidermy
; and in 1890, at age 17, he obtained a job working as a taxidermist with a friend of his father's at the American Museum of Natural History
in New York City
. Working in the field with the museum's expeditions in the American West
in 1894 and 1895, Granger became interested in hunting fossils. In 1896, he joined the museum's Department of Vertebrate Paleontology. In 1897, on an expedition to Wyoming
, he discovered Bone Cabin Quarry
near Laramie
. Over the next eight years, the site yielded the fossils of 64 dinosaur
s, including specimens of stegosaurus
, allosaurus
and apatosaurus
.
News of German
and British
vertebrate fossil discoveries in Egypt led Granger to embark in 1907 with his superior Henry Fairfield Osborn
on the first American fossil hunt outside North America
. The Fayum
region of Egypt contained one of the most complete assemblages of Cenozoic
animals yet found and yielded a collection of specimens that enhanced the museum's reputation as well as Granger's.
As assistant curator
of the museum's Department of Vertebrate Paleontology, Granger was sufficiently free of administrative duties that for many years he could spend an average of five months a year in the field, mostly in the American West, as well as write two or three important papers each year. In 1921, he went to China and Mongolia as chief paleontologist of the museum's third expedition there. Under the direction of Johan Gunnar Andersson
, Granger helped open and begin excavating the site at Zhoukoudian
that yielded "Peking Man
" (Homo erectus pekinensis). The initial discovery of a hominid tooth at Zhoukoudian was made in 1921 by another paleontologist, Otto Zdansky
.
Granger's work in China also took him to the Three Gorges area of the Yangtze River
, but his five expeditions in 1922, 1923, 1925, 1927 and 1928 into the Gobi Desert
of Mongolia in association with the legendary Roy Chapman Andrews
led to Granger's most famous discoveries, including velociraptor
, oviraptor
and protoceratops
, dinosaur finds that the public tended to associate with the more famous Andrews.
Granger became Curator of Fossil Mammals at the museum in 1927 and also took the post of Curator of Paleontology in the museum's Department of Asiatic Exploration and Research. In 1935, he became president of the prestigious Explorers Club.
Although Granger was one of the foremost paleontologists of his time, he did not receive a formal academic degree until 1932 when Middlebury College
in Vermont awarded him an honorary doctorate
.
, while on a field expedition. His ashes were scattered on his mother's grave in Pleasant View Cemetery in his hometown of Middletown Springs, Vermont.
, "the greatest collector of fossil vertebrates that ever lived." Following Granger's death, the museum renamed its Asiatic Hall of Fossils the "Walter Granger Memorial Hall."
Vertebrate
Vertebrates are animals that are members of the subphylum Vertebrata . Vertebrates are the largest group of chordates, with currently about 58,000 species described. Vertebrates include the jawless fishes, bony fishes, sharks and rays, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds...
paleontologist
Paleontology
Paleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...
who participated in important fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
explorations in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and 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...
.
Early life and career
Born in Middletown Springs, VermontMiddletown Springs, Vermont
Middletown Springs is a town in Rutland County, Vermont, United States. The population was 745 at the 2010 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 22.9 square miles , all land....
, Granger was the first of five children born to Charles H. Granger, an insurance agent and veteran of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, and Ada Haynes Granger. Granger developed an early interest in taxidermy
Taxidermy
Taxidermy is the act of mounting or reproducing dead animals for display or for other sources of study. Taxidermy can be done on all vertebrate species of animals, including mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians...
; and in 1890, at age 17, he obtained a job working as a taxidermist with a friend of his father's at the American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Working in the field with the museum's expeditions in the American West
Western United States
.The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time...
in 1894 and 1895, Granger became interested in hunting fossils. In 1896, he joined the museum's Department of Vertebrate Paleontology. In 1897, on an expedition to Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
, he discovered Bone Cabin Quarry
Bone Cabin Quarry
Bone Cabin Quarry lies approximately fifteen miles north of Laramie, Wyoming near historic Como Bluff. During the summer of 1897 Walter W. Granger, a paleontologist from the American Museum of Natural History, came upon a hillside littered with Jurassic period dinosaur bone fragments...
near Laramie
Laramie, Wyoming
Laramie is a city in and the county seat of Albany County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 30,816 at the . Located on the Laramie River in southeastern Wyoming, the city is west of Cheyenne, at the junction of Interstate 80 and U.S. Route 287....
. Over the next eight years, the site yielded the fossils of 64 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, including specimens of stegosaurus
Stegosaurus
Stegosaurus is a genus of armored stegosaurid dinosaur. They lived during the Late Jurassic period , some 155 to 150 million years ago in what is now western North America. In 2006, a specimen of Stegosaurus was announced from Portugal, showing that they were present in Europe as well...
, allosaurus
Allosaurus
Allosaurus is a genus of large theropod dinosaur that lived 155 to 150 million years ago during the late Jurassic period . The name Allosaurus means "different lizard". It is derived from the Greek /allos and /sauros...
and apatosaurus
Apatosaurus
Apatosaurus , also known by the popular but scientifically deprecated synonym Brontosaurus, is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived from about 154 to 150 million years ago, during the Jurassic Period . It was one of the largest land animals that ever existed, with an average length of and a...
.
News of German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and British
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
vertebrate fossil discoveries in Egypt led Granger to embark in 1907 with his superior Henry Fairfield Osborn
Henry Fairfield Osborn
Henry Fairfield Osborn, Sr. ForMemRS was an American geologist, paleontologist, and eugenicist.-Early life and career:...
on the first American fossil hunt outside North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. The Fayum
Al Fayyum
Faiyum is a city in Middle Egypt. Located 130 km southwest of Cairo, it is the capital of the modern Faiyum Governorate. The town occupies part of the ancient site of Crocodilopolis...
region of Egypt contained one of the most complete assemblages of Cenozoic
Cenozoic
The Cenozoic era is the current and most recent of the three Phanerozoic geological eras and covers the period from 65.5 mya to the present. The era began in the wake of the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous that saw the demise of the last non-avian dinosaurs and...
animals yet found and yielded a collection of specimens that enhanced the museum's reputation as well as Granger's.
Later career
Curator
A curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material...
of the museum's Department of Vertebrate Paleontology, Granger was sufficiently free of administrative duties that for many years he could spend an average of five months a year in the field, mostly in the American West, as well as write two or three important papers each year. In 1921, he went to China and Mongolia as chief paleontologist of the museum's third expedition there. Under the direction of Johan Gunnar Andersson
Johan Gunnar Andersson
Johan Gunnar Andersson , Swedish archaeologist, paleontologist and geologist, closely associated with the beginnings of Chinese archaeology in the 1920s...
, Granger helped open and begin excavating the site at Zhoukoudian
Zhoukoudian
Zhoukoudian or Choukoutien is a cave system in Beijing, China. It has yielded many archaeological discoveries, including one of the first specimens of Homo erectus, dubbed Peking Man, and a fine assemblage of bones of the gigantic hyena Pachycrocuta brevirostris...
that yielded "Peking Man
Peking Man
Peking Man , Homo erectus pekinensis, is an example of Homo erectus. A group of fossil specimens was discovered in 1923-27 during excavations at Zhoukoudian near Beijing , China...
" (Homo erectus pekinensis). The initial discovery of a hominid tooth at Zhoukoudian was made in 1921 by another paleontologist, Otto Zdansky
Otto Zdansky
Otto A. Zdansky was an Austrian paleontologist.He is best known for his work in China, where he, as an assistant to Johan Gunnar Andersson, discovered a fossil tooth of the Peking Man in 1921 at the Dragon Bone Hill, although he did not disclose it until 1926 when he published it in Nature after...
.
Granger's work in China also took him to the Three Gorges area of the Yangtze River
Yangtze River
The Yangtze, Yangzi or Cháng Jiāng is the longest river in Asia, and the third-longest in the world. It flows for from the glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai eastward across southwest, central and eastern China before emptying into the East China Sea at Shanghai. It is also one of the...
, but his five expeditions in 1922, 1923, 1925, 1927 and 1928 into 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...
of Mongolia in association with the legendary Roy Chapman Andrews
Roy Chapman Andrews
Roy Chapman Andrews was an American explorer, adventurer and naturalist who became the director of the American Museum of Natural History. He is primarily known for leading a series of expeditions through the fragmented China of the early 20th century into the Gobi Desert and Mongolia...
led to Granger's most famous discoveries, including velociraptor
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...
, oviraptor
Oviraptor
Oviraptor is a genus of small Mongolian theropod dinosaur, first discovered by the paleontologist Roy Chapman Andrews, and first described by Henry Fairfield Osborn, in 1924...
and protoceratops
Protoceratops
Protoceratops is a genus of sheep-sized herbivorous ceratopsian dinosaur, from the Upper Cretaceous Period of what is now Mongolia. It was a member of the Protoceratopsidae, a group of early horned dinosaurs...
, dinosaur finds that the public tended to associate with the more famous Andrews.
Granger became Curator of Fossil Mammals at the museum in 1927 and also took the post of Curator of Paleontology in the museum's Department of Asiatic Exploration and Research. In 1935, he became president of the prestigious Explorers Club.
Although Granger was one of the foremost paleontologists of his time, he did not receive a formal academic degree until 1932 when Middlebury College
Middlebury College
Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college located in Middlebury, Vermont, USA. Founded in 1800, it is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges in the United States. Drawing 2,400 undergraduates from all 50 United States and over 70 countries, Middlebury offers 44 majors in the arts,...
in Vermont awarded him an honorary doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
.
Personal life
Granger married a cousin, Anna Deane Granger (1874-1952), in 1904. They had no children. Granger died in 1941 of heart failure in Lusk, WyomingLusk, Wyoming
Lusk is a town in Niobrara County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 1,447 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Niobrara County. The town was laid out in June 1886 by engineers working on the Wyoming Central Railway. It was named after Frank S...
, while on a field expedition. His ashes were scattered on his mother's grave in Pleasant View Cemetery in his hometown of Middletown Springs, Vermont.
Legacy
Granger's career was one of solid accomplishment in the field of collecting and analyzing fossils. Involved with some of the most important dinosaurian and mammalian fossil discoveries of his time, he labored mostly outside the public's eye, respected by his peers as possibly, in the words of his colleague George Gaylord SimpsonGeorge Gaylord Simpson
George Gaylord Simpson was an American paleontologist. Simpson was perhaps the most influential paleontologist of the twentieth century, and a major participant in the modern evolutionary synthesis, contributing Tempo and mode in evolution , The meaning of evolution and The major features of...
, "the greatest collector of fossil vertebrates that ever lived." Following Granger's death, the museum renamed its Asiatic Hall of Fossils the "Walter Granger Memorial Hall."