R. J. G. Savage
| R. J. G. Savage | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | Robert Joseph Gay Savage 2 July 1927 Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Died | 9 May 1998 (aged 70) Bristol, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Fields | Palaeontology |
| Institutions | University of Bristol |
| Alma mater |
Queen's University Belfast University College London |
| Doctoral advisor | D. M. S. Watson |
| Spouse | Shirley Coryndon (m. 1969; d. 1976) |
Robert Joseph Gay Savage (2 July 1927 – 9 May 1998) was a British palaeontologist known as Britain's leading expert on fossil mammals. He worked at the University of Bristol for nearly 40 years and studied fossils around the world, especially in North and East Africa. He produced the 1986 popular science book Mammal Evolution: An Illustrated Guide and co-edited several technical books in the Fossil Vertebrates of Africa series with fellow palaeontologist Louis Leakey.
Savage was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland on 2 July 1927 to an old family prominent in Ulster. He recalled a large rack of antlers of the extinct Irish elk mounted in the entrance hall of the family home, which colleague Michael Benton writes may have inspired Savage to pursue the study of fossil mammals. He attended grammar school at Methodist College, Belfast and Wesley College, Dublin before and during the period of World War II. He enrolled in Queen's University Belfast, earning a BSc in Zoology (1948) and a first BSc in Geology (1949). For doctoral research, he was given a choice between working with Francis Rex Parrington at Cambridge University or D. M. S. Watson at University College London. He chose to work with Watson, becoming his final student, and earning a PhD in 1953 with a dissertation on the fossil otter Potamotherium.
Savage was hired as assistant lecturer at Queen's University in 1952, before he had completed his PhD. He worked with geologist J. K. Charlesworth in expanding and moving the geology department to a new building. In 1954, Savage was hired as a lecturer and curator of the Geological Museum at the University of Bristol, where he remained for the rest of his career. He was reader in vertebrate palaeontology from 1966 to 1982, and a named professor in vertebrate palaeontology from 1982 until his retirement in 1992.
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