Jeffrey A. Wilson also known as "JAW "is a professor

Professor

A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...

 of geological sciences

Geology

Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...

 and assistant curator at the Museum of Paleontology at the University of Michigan

University of Michigan

The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

.

His doctoral

Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...

 dissertion was on sauropod evolution and phylogeny, and he has continued this work in cladistic

Cladistics

Cladistics is a method of classifying species of organisms into groups called clades, which consist of an ancestor organism and all its descendants . For example, birds, dinosaurs, crocodiles, and all descendants of their most recent common ancestor form a clade...

 analysis and revision of the group (see e.g. Wilson and Sereno 1994, 1998, Wilson 2005b, and especially Wilson 2002). With Paul Sereno

Paul Sereno

Paul Callistus Sereno is an American paleontologist from the University of Chicago who discovered several new dinosaur species on several continents. He has conducted excavations at sites as varied as Inner Mongolia, Argentina, Morocco, and Niger...

, he defined the clade

Clade

A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...

s Macronaria

Macronaria

Macronaria is a clade of sauropod dinosaurs from the Middle Jurassic to Late Cretaceous Periods of what are now North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Africa. The name means 'large nostrils' , in reference to the large nasal openings high on the head that probably supported fleshy...

 and Somphospondyli (Wilson & Sereno 1998).

Wilson was also involved in the discovery and description of Pabwehshi pakistanensis, the first discovery of decent (diagnostic) Cretaceous

Cretaceous

The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...

 crocodylian fossil remains from the Indian subcontinent, in the discovery of Rajasaurus narmadensis

Rajasaurus

Rajasaurus is a genus of carnivorous abelisaurian theropod dinosaur with an unusual head crest. Between 1982 and 1984, its fossilized bones were discovered by Suresh Srivastava of the Geological Survey of India...

, the most completely known theropod dinosaur from India and a member of the family Abelisauridae

Abelisauridae

Abelisauridae is a family of ceratosaurian theropod dinosaurs. Abelisaurids thrived during the Cretaceous Period, on the ancient southern supercontinent of Gondwana, and today their fossil remains are found on the modern continents of Africa and South America, as well as on the Indian...

, description of a number of North African dinosaurs (theropods and sauropods) from Niger

Niger

Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...

, and rediscriptions of the Cretaceous sauropods Titanosaurus

Titanosaurus

Titanosaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur, first described by Lydekker in 1877. It is known from the Maastrichtian Lameta Formation of India...

 colberti (as Isisaurus

Isisaurus

Isisaurus is a genus of dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period. Isisaurus was a sauropod , which lived in what is now India....

) and Nemegtosaurus

Nemegtosaurus

Nemegtosaurus was a sauropod dinosaur from Late Cretaceous Period of what is now Mongolia. It was named after the Nemegt Basin in the Gobi Desert, where the remains — a single skull — were found...

(previously thought to be a diplodocoid

Diplodocoidea

Diplodocoidea was a superfamily of sauropod dinosaurs, which included some of the longest animals of all time, including slender giants like Supersaurus, Diplodocus, Apatosaurus, and Amphicoelias...

, but now recognised as a titanosaur

Titanosaur

Titanosaurs were a diverse group of sauropod dinosaurs, which included Saltasaurus and Isisaurus. It includes some of the heaviest creatures ever to walk the earth, such as Argentinosaurus and Paralititan — which some believe have weighed up to 100 tonnes...

).

His younger brother, Dr. Gregory P. Wilson, studies Mesozoic mammal

Mammal

Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...

s and is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Washington

University of Washington

University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...

, and adjunct curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture

Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture

The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture has been a Washington state museum since 1899. It is located at the University of Washington campus at the intersection of N.E. 45th Street and 17th Avenue N.E. in Seattle, Washington, USA, in the University District. It is the only major natural...

.

List of dinosaurs named

Name	Year	Status	Coauthor(s)		Notes	Images
Afrovenator Afrovenator Afrovenator is a genus of megalosaurid theropod dinosaur from the mid Jurassic Period of northern Africa. It was a bipedal predator, with a mouthful of sharp teeth and three claws on each hand...	1994 1994 in paleontology -Dinosaurs:* Aff. Rebbachisaurus gastroliths documented.* The "Talkeetna Mountains Hadrosaur" specimen was discovered in a quarry being excavated for road material. The quarry is near the Glenn Highway, approximately 150 miles northeast of Anchorage... .	Valid taxon.	Paul Sereno Paul Sereno Paul Callistus Sereno is an American paleontologist from the University of Chicago who discovered several new dinosaur species on several continents. He has conducted excavations at sites as varied as Inner Mongolia, Argentina, Morocco, and Niger... Wilson Larsson	Dutheil Sues
Deltadromeus Deltadromeus Deltadromeus is a genus of large basal ceratosaurian theropod dinosaur from Northern Africa. It had long, unusually slender hind limbs for its size, suggesting that it was a swift runner. The skull is not known. Two fossil specimens of a single species Deltadromeus (meaning "delta runner") is a...	1996 1996 in paleontology -Newly named crustaceans:-Dinosaurs:* In the summer excavation resumed on the Talkeetna Mountains Hadrosaur, discovered in a quarry near the Glenn Highway, approximately 150 miles northeast of Anchorage.-Newly named dinosaurs:... .	Valid taxon.	Paul Sereno Paul Sereno Paul Callistus Sereno is an American paleontologist from the University of Chicago who discovered several new dinosaur species on several continents. He has conducted excavations at sites as varied as Inner Mongolia, Argentina, Morocco, and Niger... . Duthiel. Iarochene. Larsson.	Lyon. Magwene. Sidor. Varricchio.
Isisaurus Isisaurus Isisaurus is a genus of dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period. Isisaurus was a sauropod , which lived in what is now India....	2003 2003 in paleontology -New taxa:-Newly named dinosaurs:Data courtesy of George Olshevsky's dinosaur genera list and Dr. Jeremy Montague's dinosaur genus database.-New taxa:-New taxa:-Non-mammalian:-newly named:-Conifers:-Angiosperms:... .	Valid taxon.	Wilson.	Upchurch.
Jobaria Jobaria Jobaria was a sauropod dinosaur discovered in the Sahara Desert in 1997. It was named after "Jobar", a creature of local legends, and is thought to have been about 18 metres long. It was found in the Tiourarén Formation, originally thought to represent the Hauterivian to Barremian stages of the...	1999 1999 in paleontology -Insects:-Newly named taxa:-Newly named dinosaurs:Data courtesy of George Olshevsky's dinosaur genera list and Dr. Jeremy Montague's dinosaur genus database.-New taxa:-New taxa:-Non-mammalian:-References:... .	Valid taxon.	Paul Sereno Paul Sereno Paul Callistus Sereno is an American paleontologist from the University of Chicago who discovered several new dinosaur species on several continents. He has conducted excavations at sites as varied as Inner Mongolia, Argentina, Morocco, and Niger... . Beck. Dutheil. Larsson. Lyon.	Moussa. Sadleir. Sidor. Varricchio. Gregory P. Wilson.
Nigersaurus Nigersaurus Nigersaurus is a genus of diplodocoid sauropod dinosaur from the middle Cretaceous period, about 119 to 99 million years ago during the Aptian or Albian age. This dinosaur was described by Paul Sereno and colleagues in 1999...	1999 1999 in paleontology -Insects:-Newly named taxa:-Newly named dinosaurs:Data courtesy of George Olshevsky's dinosaur genera list and Dr. Jeremy Montague's dinosaur genus database.-New taxa:-New taxa:-Non-mammalian:-References:... .	Valid taxon.	Paul Sereno Paul Sereno Paul Callistus Sereno is an American paleontologist from the University of Chicago who discovered several new dinosaur species on several continents. He has conducted excavations at sites as varied as Inner Mongolia, Argentina, Morocco, and Niger... . Beck. Dutheil. Larsson. Lyon.	Moussa. Sadleir. Sidor. Varricchio. Gregory P. Wilson.
Rajasaurus Rajasaurus Rajasaurus is a genus of carnivorous abelisaurian theropod dinosaur with an unusual head crest. Between 1982 and 1984, its fossilized bones were discovered by Suresh Srivastava of the Geological Survey of India...	2003 2003 in paleontology -New taxa:-Newly named dinosaurs:Data courtesy of George Olshevsky's dinosaur genera list and Dr. Jeremy Montague's dinosaur genus database.-New taxa:-New taxa:-Non-mammalian:-newly named:-Conifers:-Angiosperms:... .	Valid taxon.	Wilson. Paul Sereno Paul Sereno Paul Callistus Sereno is an American paleontologist from the University of Chicago who discovered several new dinosaur species on several continents. He has conducted excavations at sites as varied as Inner Mongolia, Argentina, Morocco, and Niger... . Srivastava.	Bhatt. Khosla. Sahni.
Rugops Rugops Rugops is a genus of theropod dinosaur which inhabited what is now Africa approximately 95 million years ago...	2004 2004 in paleontology -New taxa:-newly named:-newly named:-New taxa:-Newly named dinosaurs:Data courtesy of George Olshevsky's dinosaur genera list and Dr. Jeremy Montague's dinosaur genus database.-New taxa:-New taxa:-Non-mammalian:... .	Valid taxon.	Paul Sereno Paul Sereno Paul Callistus Sereno is an American paleontologist from the University of Chicago who discovered several new dinosaur species on several continents. He has conducted excavations at sites as varied as Inner Mongolia, Argentina, Morocco, and Niger... . Wilson.	Conrad.
Spinostropheus Spinostropheus Spinostropheus is a genus of small ceratosaurian dinosaur that lived in the late Jurassic period of Niger. Once thought to be a species closely related to the abelisaurs , subsequent studies have confirmed the original interpretation as a basal ceratosaur closely related to Elaphrosaurus...	2004 2004 in paleontology -New taxa:-newly named:-newly named:-New taxa:-Newly named dinosaurs:Data courtesy of George Olshevsky's dinosaur genera list and Dr. Jeremy Montague's dinosaur genus database.-New taxa:-New taxa:-Non-mammalian:... .	Valid taxon.	Paul Sereno Paul Sereno Paul Callistus Sereno is an American paleontologist from the University of Chicago who discovered several new dinosaur species on several continents. He has conducted excavations at sites as varied as Inner Mongolia, Argentina, Morocco, and Niger... . Wilson.	Conrad.
Suchomimus Suchomimus Suchomimus is a genus of large spinosaurid dinosaur with a crocodile-like mouth that lived sometime between 121-112 million years ago, during the late Aptian stage of the Cretaceous period in Africa.-Description:...	1998 1998 in paleontology -Amphibians:A. C. Henrici. 1998. A new pipoid anuran from the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation at Dinosaur National Monument, Utah. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 18:321-332-Dinosaurs:... .	Valid taxon.	Paul Sereno Paul Sereno Paul Callistus Sereno is an American paleontologist from the University of Chicago who discovered several new dinosaur species on several continents. He has conducted excavations at sites as varied as Inner Mongolia, Argentina, Morocco, and Niger... . Beck. Dutheil. Gado. Larsson. Lyon.	Marcot. Rauhut. Sadleir. Sidor. Varricchio. Gregory P. Wilson.

External links

• Partial bibliography at DinoData (note that several other Wilsons are included; the subject of this article is J.A. Wilson since the 1990s)
• Dinosaurs named by Jeffrey A. Wilson, at DinoData