Judith Schiebout

Dr. Judith A. Schiebout
Curator
Museum of Natural Science
119 Foster Hall
Louisiana State University
Baton Rouge, LA 70803
Email: jschie@lsu.edu
Telephone: 225-578-2717

 

Biography

My father was in the Air Force, so I traveled a lot as a child. Both parents were educators and both encouraged reading and intellectual curiosity. I loved ancient animals from when I first read of them, and was intrigued by the works of Roy Chapman Andrews. In high school in central Texas, I hunted fossils with my Dad. My college mentor was John A. Wilson at the University of Texas at Austin Department of Geology. “Doc” Wilson started me on research on the Paleocene in Big Bend, west Texas. I earned my Ph.D. in 1973 at UT and joined the faculty at LSU in 1976. 

Research Interests

I am a vertebrate paleontologist whose research emphases include: paleoecology and vertebrate paleontology, particularly the biostratigraphy and paleogeography of southern North America and China in the Tertiary; Tertiary mammals; Louisiana fossil vertebrates, particularly in the Miocene and Pleistocene, and fluvial deposition. I have a particular interest in locating more fossils in the heavily vegetated state of Louisiana, despite its lack of outcrops. Dr. Suyin Ting adds an Asian emphasis to LSU VP efforts.

This year I resumed work on a book planned for submission to the LSU Press, which had been interrupted by illness. It is entitled “Louisiana in Deep Time: Natural History of Louisiana vertebrate fossils throughout the development of the state of Louisiana”. 

Courses

I have developed and teach two freshman science courses (General Education credit): Geology 1066, Dinosaurs, Catastrophes, and Extinctions, and WGS 1001, Evolution of Sex and Gender.

I have also taught Geology 4111, Vertebrate Paleontology, and Geological seminars.

I have advised graduate students who went on to work in academia, geological industries, and museums. 

Public Lectures

I present a lecture for schools and other groups, entitled, “ Why Dinosaurs Didn’t Live in Louisiana, but Giant Camels did: the Parade of Ancient Life in our State” for the Speaking of Science Program. To schedule a lecture, contact the SoS office at ofp@regents.state.la.us. 

Selected Publications

West Texas Cretaceous and early Tertiary:

1974. Schiebout, J. A. Vertebrate paleontology and paleoecology of Paleocene Black Peaks Formation, Big Bend National Park, Texas, Tex. Mem. Mus. Bull. 24, 87 pp.

1987. Schiebout, J. A., C. A. Rigsby, C. D. Rapp, J. A. Hartnell, and B. R. Standhardt. Stratigraphy of Late Cretaceous, Paleocene, and early Eocene rocks of Big Bend National Park, Texas. Journal of Geology, v. 95, no. 3, pp. 359-375.

2008. White, P. D. and J.A. Schiebout. Paleogene paleosols and changes in pedogenesis during the initial Eocene thermal maximum: Big Bend National Park, Texas, USA. Geological Society of America Bulletin 120 (11), 1347-1361. 

Louisiana and east Texas:

1986. Schiebout, J. A. and W. van den Bold (eds.), Montgomery Landing site, marine Eocene (Jackson) of central Louisiana, Proceedings of Symposium, 1986 GCAGS Annual Meeting, 238 p.

1994. Schiebout, J. A., Fossil vertebrates from the Castor Creek Member, Fleming Formation, western Louisiana. Gulf Coast Assoc. Geol. Soc. Trans. v. 44, p. 675-680.

1997. Schiebout, J. A., The Fort Polk Miocene microvertebrate sites compared to those from east Texas, The Texas Journal of Science, v. 49, no.1, p. 23-32.

1998. Schiebout, J. A. , Suyin Ting, and J. T. Sankey, Microvertebrate concentrations in pedogenic nodule conglomerates: recognizing the rocks and recovering and interpreting the fossils. Palaeontologia Electronica, 1(2): 54p., 2 MB.

2003. M. J. Williams and J. A. Schiebout, Correlation and Paleoenvironments of Fleming Formation Vertebrate Fossil Sites in Louisiana and Texas. Gulf Coast Assoc. Geol. Soc. Trans. v. 53, p. 859-865.

2004. Schiebout, J. A., S. Ting, Michael Williams, Grant Boardman, Wulf Gose, D. R. Wilhite, P.D. White, and Brandon Kilbourne. Paleofaunal & Environmental Research on Miocene Fossil Sites TVOR SE and TVOR S on Fort Polk, Louisiana, with Continued Survey, Collection, Processing, and Documentation of other Miocene localities. Louisiana. Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District. Open-file report, 56 p.

2006. Schiebout, J.A., J. H.Wrenn, Suyin Ting, J. L. Hill, M. D. Hagge, M. J. Williams, G. S. Boardman, and B. B. Ellwood. Miocene Vertebrate Fossils Recovered from the Pascagoula Formation in Southeastern Louisiana, Gulf Coast Assoc. Geol. Soc. Trans. v.56, p. 745-760.

2008. Schiebout, J.A., P.D. White, and G.S. Boardman. Taphonomic Issues Relating to Concentrations of Pedogenic Nodules and Vertebrates in the Paleocene and Miocene Gulf Coastal Plain: Examples from Texas and Louisiana, p. 17-30 in J, Sankey and S. Baszio (eds), Vertebrate Microfossil Assemblages: Their Role in Paleoecology and Paleobiology. Indiana University Press, 296 pp.

2008. White, P. D. and J.A. Schiebout. Paleogene paleosols and changes in pedogenesis during the initial Eocene thermal maximum: Big Bend National Park, Texas, USA. Geological Society of America Bulletin 120 (11), 1347-1361. 

Asian Early Cenozoic:

1982. Ting, S.Y., J. A. Schiebout and M. C. Chow. Morphological diversity of early Tertiary pantodonts: a new tapir-like pantodont from China. Third N. American Paleo. Convention. Proc. v.1, p. 547-550.

1987. Ting, Su-yin, J. A. Schiebout, and M. C. Chow. A skull of Pantolambodon, North China, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology (Mammalia, Pantodonta) from Ningxia. v. 7, p. 155-161.

2005. Ting, Suyin, Yuanqing Wang, Judith A. Schiebout, Paul Koch, William Clyde, Gabrial Bowen Yuan Wang, New early Eocene mammalian fossils from the Hengyang Basin, Hunan, China. Bulletin of Carnegie Museum of Natural History. No 36, p.291-301.

Contact Us

Museum of Natural Science
119 Foster Hall
Louisiana State University
Baton Rouge, LA 70803
Phone: 225-578-2855

Email

Hours & Admissions

Admission: Free
Open
: Mon - Fri, 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.*
Closed: Sat; Sun; state holidays
*Closed Fri at 2 p.m. during school year.

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