Phillipe d'Everard (paleontologist): Difference between revisions

{{Infobox person

| name              = Phillipe Edmond d'Everard

| honorific_suffix  = [[Order of the Kestrel|OC]]

| disappeared_status =  

| death_date        = {{Death date and age|1938|2|2|1865|10|22}}

| death_cause        = Complications associated with {{wpl|pneumonia}}

| body_discovered    =  

| alma_mater        = [[University of Collinebourg]]

| occupation        = {{wpl|Paleontology}}, {{wpl|zoology}}, {{wpl|herpetology}}

| era                =  

| employer          =  

}}

==Biography==

===Early life, education and first expeditions===

===Discovery of Caphirosaurus, First Great War and professorate===

[[File:Howard Carter, Lord Carnarvon and Lady Evelyn Herbert at Tutankhamen's tomb.jpg|thumb|Phillipe d'Everard (right) with [[Thibault d'Avignon]] (left) and Marie d'Avignon in [[Serracene]], 1902]]

Based on his newest finds from [[Serracene]], d'Everard was able to complete and publish his description of the new theropod which he named ''[[Caphirosaurus|Caphirosaurus imperator]]''. Based on his finds from 1900 and 1902, d'Everard also reclassified shed teeth discovered by [[Thibault d'Avignon|d'Avignon]] in 1874 and Krankos' post cranial elements from 1894 as being ''[[Caphirosaurus]]'' remains. The generic name is derived from the name of the country in which it was discovered, Caphiria, and the Istroyan word σαῦρος (sauros, meaning "lizard"). d'Everard used the Latin word ''imperator'', meaning "emperor", for the specific name. The full binomial therefore translates to "Caphirian lizard emperor" or "Emperor Lizard of Caphiria", emphasizing the animal's size and perceived dominance over other species of the time.<ref>d'Everard, Phillipe E.: ''The Emperor Lizard of Caphiria - Caphirosaurus imperator'', [[University of Collinebourg]]. 1902.</ref> The paper and subsequent press conference and lectures received substantial press coverage, much more so than before seen in paleontology, and is credited by many to have elevated the world of paleontology from academia to the public eye.<ref>Balboa, Maximus: ''A comprehensive history of paleontology'', pg. 5-9 + 54-59. 2004.</ref>

===Iscastan expeditions and 1920s===

d'Everard finally returned to [[Caphiria]] in 1919 to continue his field work in [[Sarpedon]]. In June of 1919, the expedition led by d'Everard uncovered remains of ''[[Joanusaurus]]'' in the Aravera mountains of the [[Caphiria|Caphirian]] province [[Iscasta]], the first find of ''[[Joannusaurus]]'' outside [[Levantia]]. d'Everard initially viewed the specimen as a subadult ''J. davignoni'', but upon closer inspection it was recategorized as a new subspecies, ''J. iscastae''. ''J. iscastae'' differs from ''J. davignoni'' by its longer snout and smaller physical stature, findings that d'Everard published in his December of 1919 monograph "''Caphirian Joanusaurs''".<ref>d'Everard, Phillipe E.: ''Caphirian Joanusaurs'', [[University of Collinebourg]]. 1919.</ref> Based on scholarly consensus and the somewhat limited knowledge of paleobiology and paleodiversity in late-Jurassic and early Cretaceous [[Sarpedon]] (as part of [[Sarpolevantia]]), d'Everard surmised that ''Joanusaurs'' were probably apex predators in present day [[Caphiria]] such as they had been shown to be in and around the [[Greater Levantine Formation]].

d'Everard fielded several further expeditions to [[Iscasta]] throughout the 1920s, excavating numerous new species of dinosaurs, fish and reptillians. d'Everard took part in the 1925 expedition to [[Cesindes]] led by paleontologist duo [[Jour & Leon]], which uncovered another partial ''[[Caphirosaurus]]'' skeleton, about 25% complete. Initially described as a new genus with the name ''Imperatorsaurus'', it was soon recognized as a subspecies of ''Caphirosaurus'' with the aid of d'Everard and given the name ''C. caesar''.<ref>Jour & Leon et al.:'' Ave Caesar - C. caesar monograph'', [[University of Gabion]]. 1925.</ref> d'Everard began alternating annually between field seasons and lecturing at the [[University of Collinebourg]] from the late 1920s until his death.

===Final expeditions and death===

d'Everard's body was prepared by a local mortician and shipped home to [[Yonderre]] in April of 1938. His wife had been informed by letter of condolence from d'Everard's aide in the middle of February as well as the Rector of the [[University of Collinebourg]] Joanus Lavreau. For his contributions to science throughout the last half-century, d'Everard was granted a state funeral held in [[Collinebourg]] attended by thousands including [[Grand Duke of Yonderre]] [[Joanus X de Martigueux]]. d'Everard was buried in [[Sainte-Catherine]], [[Kubagne]]. Most of his personal collection of fossils and knick knacks was given away to the [[University of Collinebourg]] and museums around [[Yonderre]] following his death.

==Personality and views==

===Personality and views on evolution===

[[File:Edward Drinker Cope’s study in 1897.jpg|thumb|d'Everard's study in 1933]]

As a young man, d'Everard read d'Arvinne's ''On the Origin of Species'' which largely shaped his understanding of evolution, of which he published his own "''Origin of the Fittest: Essays in Evolution''" in 1914.<ref>d'Everard, Phillipe E.: ''Origin of the Fittest: Essays in Evolution'', [[University of Collinebourg]]. 1914.</ref> d'Everard was a lifelong proponent of the now-widely accepted theory that modern birds are derived theropod dinosaurs, a hotly debated topic in his lifetime. When asked during a lecture in 1912 if anything could be gleamed from evolution as the product of a Creator or indeed divine intervention, d'Everard surmised that "[t]he Creator must be inordinately fond of beetles", stating that "the earth is home to endless million different species of them".  

Phillipe d'Everard married the eleven years younger Hedvig Schmidt (1876-1962), a [[Toubourg]] native, in 1894. The couple had three children, [[Marshal of Yonderre]] [[Rachet d'Everard]] (1903-1997), ballet dancer [[Sophie d'Everard]] (1907-2002) and the stillborn Killian d'Everard (1909). When not on expeditions, the d'Everards lived chiefly in the [[d'Everard Bourg]] in [[Sainte-Catherine]], although Phillipe frequently spent nights in dormitories provided by the [[University of Collinebourg]] during his professorate.  

==Legacy==

"d'Everard's rule", suggesting that mammalian lineages gradually grow larger over geologic time, while named after him, is "neither explicit nor implicit" in his work according to modern paleontologists.<ref>Fürster, Johann: ''Mammalian derivation of the Permian period'', pg. 11-14. 1999.</ref>

==See also==

* [[Thibault d'Avignon]]

* [[History of paleontology]]

* [[Greater Levantine Formation]]

* ''[[Caphirosaurus]]''

* ''[[Joanusaurus]]''

* ''[[Everardtadens]]''  

* ''[[Everardceratops]]''

==Notes==

[[Category:Yonderre]]

[[Category:Barons of Kubagne]]

[[category:Barons of Yonderre]]

[[Category:University of Collinebourg]]

[[Category:Canonical Article]]