Gregory Retallack

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Gregory Retallack
Greg Retallack, near Suplee, central Oregon, 1982
Born (1951-11-08) 8 November 1951 (age 73)
Hobart, Tasmania
NationalityAustralian
CitizenshipAmerican and Australian
Alma materMacquarie University,
University of New England (Australia)
Known forPaleopedology
Spouse(s)Diane Retallack, Director Eugene Concert Choir
Scientific career
Thesis A biostratigraphy for terrestrial Triassic rocks of Gondwanaland  (1978)
Doctoral advisorRodney E. Gould
Websitehttps://blogs.uoregon.edu/gregr/

Gregory John Retallack (born 8 November 1951) is an Australian paleontologist, geologist, and author who specializes in the study of fossil soils (paleopedology). His research has examined the fossil record of soils though major events in Earth history, extending back some 4.6 billion years.[1] He has written two textbooks on paleopedology.[2]

Biography

Retallack moved with his family from

professor emeritus.[citation needed
]

Retallack on Mount Cook, New Zealand, 1974

A fossil collector since the age of 6, Retallack was outspoken concerning federal seizure in 1993 of

Pete Larson.[4]

Work

Evolution of life on land

In 1973,

Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary in Montana implicated abrupt paleoclimatic change and acid rain from extraterrestrial impact in the extinction of dinosaurs[10]
Work on the
tetrapods suggest a woodland hypothesis for the evolutionary transition from fish to amphibian.[12]

Retallack discovered fossil soils at classical South Australian sites for the

Ediacara biota and reported it is evidence that these fossils formerly regarded as marine were instead terrestrial organisms such as lichens, slime molds and microbial colonies.[13] Retallack has also reinterpreted volcanic tuffs of Newfoundland as terrestrial lapilli and sanidine tuffs, and so found fossiliferous Ediacaran paleosols there as well[14] A Paleoproterozoic paleosol with problematic fossils (Diskagma) comparable with the living Geosiphon (a fungus) could suggest a long evolutionary history for life on land.[15] Diskagma from South Africa is as old as 2.2 billion years, pushing back the arrival of life on land much further than the previous record of 1.2 billion years.[16][17] Such putative ancient and complex life on land could support the view that life originated in soil.[18]

Oligocene fossil soils of well-drained woodlands (red bands) and swamps (black spots) in the Painted Hills, Oregon[19]

Retallack's work on Late Permian mass extinction

Canadian Broadcast Corporation[25] and Dave Miller for Oregon Public Broadcasting.[26]

In a challenge to

young earth creationism age of the Earth, and at Yellowstone there are at least 24 successive fossil forests.[29]

Paleobotany

In addition to paleopedology, Retallack continues research in

angiosperms.[34] Retallack also developed new techniques in cuticle analysis for using stomatal index of fossil Ginkgo leaves to obtain past atmospheric carbon dioxide.[35] This work led Retallack to propose the concept of paleoenvironmental regulation by the Proserpina Principle: plants cool the planet, whereas animals warm it.[36]
Retallack's name is honored by several fossils including Cladophlebis retallackii, fossil fern foliage,[37] Sapindopsis retallackii early angiosperm leaves[38] and Hypisodus retallacki, a fossil mouse deer.[39]

Paleosols (massive red bands) at horizons for Ediacaran fossils in Brachina Gorge, South Australia.[13]

Archeology

In a study of soils at 84 temples of

hunter-gatherers.[40]

Boards

Retallack has served as an associate or technical editor for such scientific journals as Geology,

Journal of Sedimentary Research. His fellowships include the Geological Society of America, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science
.

He served as the president and vice president of the Cordilleran Section of the Paleontological Society, of the Oregon Academy of Sciences,[41] and of the University of Oregon Chapter of the Society of Sigma Xi.

Critical reception

Early reviews of Retallack's textbooks have been positive. Of Soils of the Past, David Fastovsky concludes "it is requisite for all persons trying to understand paleosols".[42] Of A Colour Guide to Paleosols, Daniel Yaalon concludes "Highly recommended for students and researchers alike for an introductory insight to paleopedology and to whet and refine their skills in paleosol interpretation."[43] Both reviews however baulked at the unfamiliarity of soil science terminology and classification in these texts.[42][43]

Retallack's approach to the description and interpretation of paleosols has been widely adopted.[44] Some controversy concerned use of modern soil taxonomies for paleosols,[45] but Retallack's approach has since been validated by development of additional geochemical proxies for soil taxonomic criteria.[46] Retallack's confirmation of abrupt paleoenvironmental change on land at the Cretaceous-Tertiary[10] and Permian-Triassic boundaries,[11] has been supported by later research on extinction.[citation needed]

Retallack's initial

paleosols and thus could not be marine fossils,[13] is a provocative challenge to prior interpretations,[2] and has been supported in some quarters,[49] but disputed in others.[50] However this hypothesis of Retallack is not universally accepted by the paleontological community.[51][52] Nature called it a "controversial claim" in a news report, in which paleontologist Guy Narbonne said "Most of us appreciated that Retallack's lichen hypothesis was innovative thinking and tested his ideas critically, but it quickly became clear that there are simpler explanations for the features Retallack had validly noted, and most of us moved on to more promising explanations."[53]

In 2020, Retallack and other researchers claimed to have found Dickinsonia fossils from Bhimbetka rock shelters, India.[54] However, in 2023 other researchers have stated that the material was actually the decayed remnants of a beehive.[55] Retallack and colleagues acknowledge this mistake discovered because of effacement of the fossil in a way impossible for real Dickinsonia.[56][57]

Awards and honors

Retallack has been honored for his research, including the Stillwell Award of the Geological Society of Australia, for best paper in the society journal in 1977, Ingerson Award of the Geochemical Society in 2015, and the Antarctica Service Medal of the U.S. National Science Foundation in 1999.[citation needed] He has been an invited lecturer throughout the U.S., and also to Germany, England, China, Thailand and India.

Bibliography

Scholia has a profile for Gregory Retallack (Q16150140).

Textbooks

  • Soils of the past: an introduction to paleopedology, 3rd edition, Wiley, Chichester, 2019,
    ISBN 978-1-119-53040-4
  • A colour guide to paleosols, John Wiley and Sons, Chichester, 1997,
    ISBN 0-471-96711-4
  • Soil grown tall: the epic saga of life from earth, Springer Nature, Cham, Switzerland, 2022,
    ISBN 978-3-030-88738-4

Selected publications

References

  1. ISBN 978-1-119-53040-4
    .
  2. ^
    doi:10.1038/ngeo1713
    .
  3. ^ Retallack, G.J. (2022). "Curriculum Vitae".
  4. ^ Retallack, G. J. (1993). "Fossils are for everyone". Newsweek. 121: 8.
  5. ^ Retallack, G. J. (1973). "Stratigraphy, palaeobotany and environmental analysis of an area around Pittwater, north of Sydney, N.S.W.". BSC Honours Thesis, University of New England. Armidale, New South Wales.
  6. doi:10.1080/00167617708728964
    .
  7. doi:10.1080/08120099708728303
    .
  8. doi:10.1146/annurev-earth-050212-124001
    .
  9. ^ Retallack, G. J. (2007). "Paleosols". In Henke, W.; Tattersall, I. (eds.). Handbook of paleoanthropology, Volume 1. Principles, methods and approaches. Vol. 1. Berlin: Springer Verlag. pp. 383–408.
  10. ^ a b Retallack, G. J. (2004). "End-Cretaceous acid rain as a selective extinction mechanism between birds and dinosaurs". In Currie, P. J.; Koppelhus, E. B.; Shugar, M. A.; Wright, J. L. (eds.). Feathered dragons: studies on the transition from dinosaurs to birds. pp. 35–64.
  11. ^
    S2CID 46914712
    .
  12. S2CID 128827936
    .
  13. ^
    S2CID 205232092
    .
  14. doi:10.1130/B30892.1
    .
  15. ^ a b Retallack, G. J.; Krull, E. S.; Thackray, G. D.; Parkinson, D. (2013). "Problematic urn-shaped fossils from a Paleoproterozoic (2.2 Ga) paleosol in South Africa". Precambrian Research. 235: 71–87.
    doi:10.1016/j.precamres.2013.05.015
    .
  16. ^ Peter Byrne (24 April 2014). "Early Life in Death Valley". Quanta Magazine. Retrieved 8 May 2014. Reprinted in ScientificAmerican.com
  17. doi:10.1016/j.precamres.2013.05.015
    .
  18. ^ Retallack, G. J. (2007). "Coevolution of life and earth". In Stevenson, D. (ed.). Treatise of geophysics: Earth evolution. Amsterdam: Elsevier. pp. 295–320.
  19. ISBN 978-0-8137-2344-0
    .
  20. ^ "The day the Earth nearly died". Youtube. 12 March 2009. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  21. ^ "Death and rebirth". Youtube. 9 June 2009. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  22. S2CID 56409337
    .
  23. ^ "Terror raptor". Youtube. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  24. ^ "Land creatures may not have come from the sea". National Public Radio. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  25. ^ "Fossils could preserv oldest land life". Canadian Broadcast Corporation. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  26. ^ "Evidence of the oldest life on land". Oregon Public Broadcasting. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  27. doi:10.1130/0091-7613(1980)8<309:ROTDEO>2.0.CO;2
    .
  28. doi:10.1130/0091-7613(1981)9<52:CARORO>2.0.CO;2
    .
  29. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0464-106
    .
  30. doi:10.1080/03115517508619477
    .
  31. S2CID 140566050
    .
  32. JSTOR 2399379
    .
  33. S2CID 129439745
    .
  34. doi:10.1016/0195-6671(86)90027-3
    .
  35. S2CID 4430851
    .
  36. ^ Retallack, G. J. (2007). "Soils and global change in the carbon cycle over geological time". In Holland, H. D.; Turekian, K. K. (eds.). Treatise of geochemistry. Oxford: Pergamon Press. pp. 581–605.
  37. ^ Holmes, W. B. K. (2003). "The middle Triassic megafossil flora of the Basin Creek Formation, Nymboida Coal Measures, New South Wales. Part 3. Fern-like foliage". Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. 124: 53–108.
  38. ^ Wang, H.-S.; Dilcher, D.L. (2018). "Early Cretaceous angiosperm leaves from the Dakota Formation, Hoisington III locality, Kasas, United States". Palaeontologia Electronica. 21.3.34A: 1–49.
  39. ^ Meehan, T. J.; Martin, L. D. (2004). "Emended genus description and a new species of Hypisodus (Artiodactyla: Ruminantia; Hypertragulidae)". In Lucas, S. G.; Zeigler, K. E.; Kondrashov, P. E. (eds.). Paleogene mammals. Albuquerque: New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin. pp. 237–143.
  40. S2CID 15115738
    .
  41. ^ "The Oregon Academy of Science". Oregon Academy of Science. Archived from the original on 7 August 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  42. ^
    doi:10.1111/j.1365-3091.1991.tb01867.x
    .
  43. ^
    doi:10.1016/S0037-0738(97)00105-X
    .
  44. ^ Driese, S. G.; Nordt, L. C. (2012). New frontiers in paleopedology and terrestrial paleoclimatology. Tulsa, Oklahoma: Society for Sedimentary Geology.
    ISBN 978-1-56576-322-7
    .
  45. doi:10.1016/S0341-8162(00)00109-0
    .
  46. S2CID 129449965
    .
  47. S2CID 129180481
    .
  48. S2CID 82550765
    .
  49. PMID 23235825
    .
  50. PMID 23235825
    .
  51. S2CID 82550765
    .
  52. S2CID 8556856
    .
  53. S2CID 130305901
    . Retrieved 19 November 2013.
  54. S2CID 229451488
    .
  55. S2CID 255846878
    .
  56. S2CID 257227632
    .
  57. ISSN 1342-937X
    .
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