David Gillette

David Gillette is an American paleontologist best known for his discovery of the dinosaur Diplodocus hallorum. At the time of its discovery, it was the longest dinosaur known.

Diplodocus hallorum

Diplodocus

Gillette found eight huge bones of the Diplodocus in northwestern New Mexico in May 1985. Thinking that this was a dinosaur unknown to science, Gillette began comparing the dinosaur bones he found to those of other dinosaurs. TAfter carefully analyzing the results, he presented the results in a press conference at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. He gave the new dinosaur the name Seismosaurus halli, or "earth shaker." Seismosaurus was later recognized as a species of Diplodocus, and renamed Diplodocus hallorum.

In 1993, Gillette published his book, Seismosaurus: The Earth Shaker, about the dinosaur he discovered. It was published by Columbia University Press and illustrated by Mark Hallett. The book was re-printed in paperback in 1999.