Sankar Chatterjee (born 1943) is an Indian-American paleontologist and professor of geosciences at Texas Tech University, where he also serves as the curator of paleontology at the Museum of Texas Tech University. He is widely recognized for his extensive work on dinosaur evolution, the origin of birds, Permian-Triassic extinction events, and impact craters.
Early Life and Education
Sankar Chatterjee was born in Kolkata, India. He received his B.Sc. (Hons) in Geology from Presidency College, Kolkata, and his M.Sc. in Geology from the University of Calcutta. He later earned his Ph.D. in Geology from the University of Calcutta in 1970.
Career and Research
Chatterjee's career has been marked by significant discoveries and influential hypotheses across various fields of paleontology and earth sciences. He joined Texas Tech University in 1979 and has been a prominent researcher there ever since.
Dinosaur Paleontology
Chatterjee has conducted extensive fieldwork in India, leading to the discovery of several important fossil sites and specimens. His work has focused on the late Triassic and early Jurassic periods, shedding light on the early evolution of dinosaurs.
- Indian Dinosaurs: He is known for his work on dinosaurs from the Lameta Formation of India, including early sauropodomorphs and theropods.
Origin of Birds and Protoavis
One of Chatterjee's most notable and controversial contributions is his research on the origin of birds.
- Protoavis texensis: In 1986, Chatterjee announced the discovery of Protoavis texensis from the Late Triassic of Texas, which he claimed was a bird older than Archaeopteryx. This assertion sparked considerable debate within the paleontological community, with many researchers disputing its avian classification or its age, suggesting the material might represent a chimera of different animals or a non-avian dinosaur. Despite the controversy, Protoavis continues to be a subject of discussion regarding avian origins.
Impact Events and Extinctions
Chatterjee has also made contributions to the study of impact events and their role in mass extinctions.
- Chicxulub Impact and Deccan Traps: He has proposed that the Chicxulub impactor may have initiated the massive volcanic eruptions of the Deccan Traps in India, thereby contributing to the end-Cretaceous extinction event in a more complex scenario than a single impact alone.
- Shiva Crater Hypothesis: Chatterjee is a proponent of the "Shiva Crater" hypothesis, suggesting the existence of a massive, 500-kilometer-wide impact structure beneath the Arabian Sea, off the coast of India. He posits that this proposed impact event occurred around the time of the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event and might be linked to the Deccan Traps volcanism. This hypothesis, however, remains largely unconfirmed and debated within the scientific community due to lack of definitive geological evidence.
- Permian-Triassic Extinction: His research also includes investigations into the causes and consequences of the Permian-Triassic extinction, the largest mass extinction event in Earth's history.
Affiliations
- Professor of Geosciences, Texas Tech University
- Curator of Paleontology, Museum of Texas Tech University
Selected Publications
Chatterjee has authored or co-authored numerous scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals, focusing on topics such as dinosaur systematics, avian phylogeny, biochronology, and extraterrestrial impacts. His work has been published in prestigious journals like Nature, Science, and the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.