William Parsons
New Dinosaur genus from Montana.jpg) Tatankacephalus cooneyorum Parsons and Parsons, 2009 |
 William and Kristen Parsons, Research Associates in paleontology |
| Scientific presentations |
Research Interests
Since 1985, Bill Parsons has been working as a scientific illustrator for the Buffalo Museum of Science. What first brought him to the museum community was an interest in creating a series of etchings related to vertebrate fossils. While creating the various etching plates that were a part his original intent, he became interested in, and volunteered to work at, the newly developed Pleistocene excavation that the museum's geology department, was conducting in Byron, NY under the supervision of Dr. Richard Laub.
Since then Bill has created scientifically accurate illustrations for the Buffalo Museum's departments of geology, anthropology, and invertebrate zoology as well as for several other scientists and institutions working in related fields of interest. His illustrations have appeared on the covers of the journals Science and Nature as well as the cover of Discover magazine. Also, his work appeared in such magazines as Time, Natural History, Popular Science, Rolling Stone, US News and World Report, on the front page of The New York Times and USA Today, and on the television programs and websites of the Discovery Channel and National Geographic magazine.
Along with the application of his artistic abilities to these various fields of science, he along with his wife Kris, began to take a serious interest in the areas of archeology and vertebrate paleontology. While continuing each year to work on staff at the Hiscock site (Bill and his wife were married at the site in 1994), their interests have led to a variety of field research projects including the discovery of a small assemblage of Clovis-style Paleo-Indian artifacts near the northern-most end of the Smith River in central Montana.
A number of interesting finds resulting from vertebrate paleontological investigations that have focused on the faunal community of the lower Cretaceous Cloverly/Kootenai geologic formations of central Montana include the only complete skull of the armored dinosaur Sauropelta edwardsi, five specimens of Deinonychus antirrhopus (one being a juvenile), two forms of Mesozoic mammals (at least one of which is new to science), one of the oldest snakes ever found, and a hatchling-sized juvenile Tenontosaurus tilletti a herbivorous dinosaur. They have published their results in the journal, Current Research in the Pleistocene, and in abstract form in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology as these abstracts relate to presentations given at the annual conference of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. More publications are in progress.
Publications
Parsons, William L. & Parsons, Kristen M. 2009. A new ankylosaur (Dinosauria: Ankylosauria) from
the Lower Cretaceous Cloverly Formation of central Montana. Canadian Journal of Earch Science
46, 721-738. pdf
Parsons, William L. & Parsons, Kristen M. 2009. Further descriptions of the osteology of Deinonychus
antirrhopus (Saurischia, Theropoda) . Bulletin of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences 38, 43-54. pdf
Parsons, K. M., and W. L. Parsons, 2001. Three Anzick-styled Bifaces. Current Research in the Pleistocene;
Edited by Bradley T. Lepper, Volume 18.
Parsons, W. L., and K. M. Parsons, 1998. Anzick-Style Fluted Projectile Point. In Current Research in the
Pleistocene, Edited by Bradley T. Lepper, Vol. 15.
Parsons, W. L., 1990. Procedure for the preservation of bone that has been submerged in water. In
Current Research in the Pleistocene, Edited by Jim Mead, Vol. 7
Laub, R.S., M. DeReimer, C.A. Dufort and W.L. Parsons, 1988. The Hiscock Site: a rich Quaternary
locality in Western New York State, In Late Holocene Paleoecology and Archeology of the Eastern
Great Lakes Region. Edited by R. S. Laub, N.G. Miller and D.W. Steadman, Bulletin of the Buffalo
Society of the Natural Sciences, 33, pp.67-81.
