Romer, Alfred Sherwood

Romer, Alfred Sherwood

(1894–1973) zoologist, paleontologist; born in White Plains, N.Y. He was a zoology professor (1934–65), curator of vertebrate paleontology, and director of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard (1946–61). He pioneered the use of comparative anatomy to study the evolution of fossil vertebrates, specializing in Permian reptiles; his major publications include Vertebrate Paleontology (1933, 3rd edition 1966), The Vertebrate Body (1949, 4th edition 1970) and Osteology of the Reptiles (1956).