Presentation of the 1998 Harrell L Strimple Award to Legrand Smith

Journal of Paleontology, Jul 1999 by Lieberman, Bruce S

Mr. President, members, and guests of the Paleontological Society I am very pleased and honored to present to you LeGrand Smith as a recipient of the Strimple award. It is hard to sum up the contributions that someone has made throughout the course of their lifetime, but thankfully in LeGrand's case this was made easier because many other paleontologists like Loren Babcock, Euan Clarkson, Greg Edgecombe, Niles Eldredge, Joseph Hannibal, Peter Isaacson, Barry Kues, Luis and Maria Gabriela Buatois, Ramiro Suarez-Soruco, and Carlos Villaroel enthusiastically supported his candidacy for this award.

Legrand, in his pursuits for the science of paleontology over the last 30 years, epitomizes all that is noble in the term amateur. He is unselfish and unaggrandizing when it comes to praise, acknowledgment, or receiving credit, and he tirelessly devoted his time, often in dangerous or inaccessible regions, to recovering fossils. His work and travels took him to several places in the South American continent including Uruguay, Argentina, and especially the Bolivian Andes. The mid-Paleozoic fauna of South America in particular, and the Malvinokaffric Realm in general, are highly endemic, characterized by many unique and distinctive species of which the trilobites I am most familiar with. During the mid-Paleozoic, much like what George G. Simpson documented for the later mammal faunas, there was a "splendid isolation" in South America that produced spectacular evolutionary results.

In addition to his full time work on behalf of the impoverished peoples of this region, LeGrand recognized the paleontological and evolutionary significance of this fauna. LeGrand took a professional's approach to the study of the Malvinokaffric in Bolivia. He familiarized himself with monographic treatments of this fauna conducted by James Clarke, Roman Kozlowski, Leonardo Branisa, and Reinhard Wolfart. From these works he learned the biostratigraphy of the region, and also what species were known from which localities. Although the treatments of these authors were very thorough, LeGrand realized that as he collected fossils from this region many new species were coming to light. Right away, he could tell which were the new taxa. In every case, LeGrand not only made sure that these specimens reached the light of day, but also the light of science. I have many of his characteristic postcards with on the front a picture of some trilobite and on the back a Bolivian postmark and a note to the effect of "Hey, this looks new, do you want to describe it." His collecting endeavors inspired numerous taxonomic, phylogenetic, biogeographic, biostratigraphic, and macroevolutionary studies of the Malvinokaffric Fauna. Taxa he brought to light include conularids, brachiopods, molluscs, phyllocarid crustaceans, numerous trilobites, and last but not least a merostomid. This spectacular Devonian horseshoe crab, the eponymous Legrandella lombardi, substantially expanded our knowledge of synziphosurid evolution and morphology.

Finally, I do not want to leave you with the impression that LeGrand's paleontological activities were restricted to the South American continent. He was also responsible for gathering an important collection of diverse Pennsylvanian gastropods and molluscs near Taos, New Mexico. One tie in seems to be his proclivity for work in high altitude environments.

In short, I hope I have conveyed the really profound impact that LeGrand has had on the growth of scientific knowledge in our field. I also hope I'll be receiving more of his new species postcards in the future. Even more importantly, I'm very pleased that LeGrand is a recipient of this award because he's a genuinely nice guy, self-effacing, and honorable. His work on behalf of the people of South America, his proud role as husband and father, and his commitment to friends make me even more pleased that LeGrand is receiving this award. In closing, I would like to quote something appropriate for LeGrand said by the President of the Entomological Society of London in the 1850's, Edward Newman, who said, "the actual collector ... The man who, in whatever station of life, devotes his time, by night and by day ... to the positive capture and preservation of those specimens which serve as the object for all our observations: he is the real labourer in the field, and if we would keep the lamp of our science constantly burning, it is to him alone that we can look for fuel to feed its flame." (Newman, 1854, p. 144-145)

REFERENCES

NEWMAN, E. 1854. President's address for 1853. Transactions of the Entomological Society of London, new series, 2:142-154.

BRUCE S. LIEBERMAN

Department of Geology, University of Kansas, 120 Lindley Hall, Lawrence, KS 66045