|
Contact Information
Email: SANKAR.CHATTERJEE@ttu.edu
Phone: (806) 742-1986
Fax:
Mailstop:
Website:
Habla Español: no
Spanish Interview: no
Expertise
Topics
Dinosaurs
Dinosaurs : Mass Extinction
Evolution
Fossils
Fossils : Birds
Fossils : Vertebrates
Geology : Plate Tectonics
Paleontology : Plate Tectonics
Paleontology
Areas of Expertise
dinosaurs, mass extinction, evolution, fossils, birds, vertebrates, geology, plate tectonics, paleontology
Biography
Education
Bachelor of Science (Geology), 1962, Jadavpur University, India.
Master of Science (Applied Geology), 1964, Jadavpur University, India.
Predoctoral Fellow, 1967-1968, London University.
Ph.D. (Geology), 1970, Calcutta University, India.
Postdoctoral Fellow, 1977-1978, Smithsonian Institution.
Dr. Chatterjee's work has focused on the origin, evolution, functional anatomy, and systematics of Mesozoic vertebrates, particularly basal archosaurs, dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and birds. He has done important work on poorly known Late Triassic reptiles in India, including phytosaurs, rhynchosaurs, and prolacertiforms, but he is best known for his work on vertebrates recovered in the 1980s from the Post Quarry in the Late Triassic Cooper Canyon Formation (Dockum Group) of West Texas. This material includes the large rauisuchian Postosuchus (named for the nearby town of Post), and controversial specimens Chatterjee identified as being avian (Protoavis). The recognition of these specimens as avian pushes back the origin of birds at least 75 million years.
Dr. Chatterjee continues to participate in Dockum vertebrate paleontology, and takes an active interest in the fieldwork and research being conducted by his students and other workers at Texas Tech. In recent years, his interests have focused on flying archosaurs. He has worked on the biomechanics of flight in birds and pterosaurs and cranial kinesis in birds, and has also delved into ontogenetic and evolutionary issues relating to heterochrony in birds. Dr. Chatterjee is also involved with explorations into the neuroanatomy of these archosaurs. Larger scale interests involve plate tectonics (his original specialty) and paleobiogeography. Recently, Dr. Chatterjee proposed the Shiva structure in India as an impact crater of the asteroid that caused the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction.
Related Articles
Professor Discovers How "Big Bird" Flew
Texas Tech Paleontologist’s Discovery Ignites Discussion Around The World
A Theory of Flight
Paleontologist Finds Evidence That Meteorite Strike Near Bombay May Have Wiped Out Dinosaurs