Lev Alexandrovich Nessov
Lev Nessov | |
|---|---|
| Born | Lev Alexandrovich Nessov 1947 |
| Died | (aged 48) |
| Alma mater | Leningrad State University |
| Known for | Research on Mesozoic vertebrates of Central Asia |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Paleontology |
Lev Alexandrovich Nessov (Russian: Лев Александрович Несов; 1947 — 1995) was a Russian paleontologist.
Biography
Lev Alexandrovich Nessov was born in Tallinn, Estonia in 1947. He graduated with a degree in paleontology from Leningrad State University in 1969. His main research focus was on Mesozoic vertebrates from the Soviet part of Central Asia.[1]
Nessov often took the train or bus from Leningrad to Central Asia where he took long hikes into the desert to find fossils.[2]
He authored two scientific monographs and about 170 research articles. Nessov established more than 350 taxa of extinct organisms.[1]
Several taxa were named in his honor: Samrukia nessovi (pterosaur), Gurilynia nessovi and Explorornis nessovi (Cretaceous birds), Levnesovia (hadrosaur), Nessovbaatar (multituberculate), Deltatheridium nessovi (Cretaceous mammal), Karakhtia nessovi (vendobiont) and Puppigerus nessovi (Eocene sea turtle).[1][3]
Nessov took his own life in 1995 at the age of 48 because the dissolution of the Soviet Union resulted that his travels were restricted.[2]
References
- ^ a b c Kielan-Jaworowska, Z. (2013). In Search of Early Mammals (in Polish). University of Warsaw Press. p. 25-27.
- ^ a b "Giant 'phoenix' bird rises again". The Guardian. 10 August 2011.
The latter part of its name honours Lev Nessov, an eccentric Russian palaeontologist who used to take the bus or train from St Petersburg into Central Asia to embark on long hikes into the desert to hunt for fossils. He killed himself in 1995 at the age of 48 after the breakup of the Soviet Union restricted his travels.
- ^ "Asian 'phoenix' lived with the dinosaurs". Phys. 10 August 2011.
The scientists have named the bird Samrukia nessovi, after a mythological Kazakh phoenix known as the samruk, and after Lev Nessov, a celebrated Russian palaeontologist who died in 1995.