World-Renowned Ornithologist Dies [Updated]

One of the earliest ornithologists to have supported the dinosaurian origin of birds was Bradley Livezey (above).

There is shocking news out of southwestern Pennsylvania that Livezey has died, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, local CBS news, and other area media.

The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office has identified the victim of a fatal car crash as Bradley Livezey, a world-renowned Carnegie Museum of Natural History ornithologist.

The crash occurred along Route 910 near North Chapel Drive and Pearce Mill Road in Pine at around 8:30 this morning. Livezey, 56, of Wexford, was pronounced dead at the scene at 9:07 a.m. today, February 8, 2011.

Lieutenant John Love told KDKA-TV that the driver of a blue Toyota coupe lost control of the vehicle and was struck by an oncoming pickup truck. He reported that the road was likely slickened by the snow and ice, which pelted the region throughout most of the morning.

Livezey served as the Curator of Birds at the museum. His research focused on flightless birds. A seminal paper he authored in 1986 led to classifications of birds adopted by many field guides and books on waterfowl.

His subspeciality in fossil birds was well-respected, involving examples such as his paper on the tenth skeletal specimen of Archaeopteryx, on genetic analysis for the study of the evolution of birds, and other discussions on vertebrate paleontology.

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Updated Info: I told Darren Naish about Livezey’s death overnight, and he has written an excellent tribute this morning.

Loren Coleman About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct). Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015. Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.

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