Lieuwe Dirk Boonstra


Lieuwe Dirk Boonstra was a South African palaeontologist whose work focused on the mammal-like reptiles of the Middle and Late Permian, whose fossil remains are common in the South African Karoo. He was the author of a large number of papers on Therapsids and Pareiasaurs, and described and revised a number of species.

Work

In 1927 Boonstra was appointed Assistant Palaeontologist of the South African Museum and promoted to Palaeontologist in 1931. He remained at the museum until his retirement in 1972. He was the sole curator of the museum's Karoo vertebrate fossil collection for 45 years.

Awards

He was awarded the Queen Victoria Scholarship by the University of Stellenbosch and received the Havenga prize for Biology from Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns in 1959.

Publications

Volume 64 of the Annals of the South African Museum was dedicated to Boonstra. The 88 publications and books he wrote between 1928 and 1969 are listed in it.