Mignon Talbot was an Americanpaleontologist. Talbot recovered and named the only known fossils of the dinosaur Podokesaurus holyokensis, which were found near Mount Holyoke College in 1910, and published a scientific description of the specimen in 1911. In 1909 she became the first woman elected to be a member of the Paleontological Society. In the state of New York, she contributed to the Helderbergian crinoids and studied the faunas of Stafford limestone. Born in Iowa City, Talbot received a Ph.D. in geology from Yale College in 1904, the first woman to do so. There she was a student of Charles Schuchert. She was named a professor of geology and geography at Mount Holyoke College in 1904. In 1908, Talbot became professor and chairman of the Geology department. In 1929, she became the chairman of both Geology and Geography departments. During her thirty-one years at Mount Holyoke College, she amassed a large collection of invertebrate fossils and Triassic footprints and minerals. Unfortunately, the museum burned down in 1917 and almost all the specimens were destroyed, including the one extant partial skeleton of Podokesaurus. Talbot retired in 1935 and is said to have remained passionate about her profession.
Research and findings
Talbot was the first female paleontologist to spontaneously discover the fossils of the dinosaur Podokesaurus holyokensis. The fossils were found near Mount Holyoke college where she was a professor. The location was by the Connecticut River between two outcroppings of mountains in a bed of sandstone. During a meeting at the Paleontological Society in December 1910, the dinosaur was first labelled as a herbivore by Talbot. As her research continued she also identified the creature as theropod and alongside Yale University professorRichard Swan Lull. A colleague of Lull, Friedrich von Huene, moved Podokesaurus holyokensis to a new family based on genus. The specimen was formally described in June 1911 by Talbot, who thereby became the first woman to name a non-avian dinosaur. Many of her research notes are considered historical artifacts. Talbot's contributions to geology were later reproduced into a collection decided upon by various scholars.
Personal life
Born in an upper-middle class with her maternal grandfather being a doctor and her father being a superintendent for a school with deaf children she had the opportunities to pursue a post-secondary education and further a career in academia. She was one of three children, her sister being Dr. Ellen Bliss Talbot, a professor of philosophy at the same university as Mignon, and a brother, Herbert S. Talbot. Throughout her years of university, she was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and Phi Beta Kappa. After her successful career as a paleontologist and professor, she retired in Stevens House, South Hadley.
