Elizabeth (Betsy) Laura Nicholls (January 31, 1946 – October 18, 2004) was an American-Canadian
paleontologist who specialized in
Triassic marine reptiles.[1] She was a paleontologist at the
Royal Tyrrell Museum in
Alberta, Canada.
She was the co-editor with American vertebrate paleontologist Jack Murff Callaway of the book Ancient Marine Reptiles. Latoplatecarpus nichollsae was named in her honor,[1] as was Nichollsemys.[3]
On May 6, 2017 the
Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre established the Dr. Elizabeth 'Betsy' Nicholls Award for Excellence in Paleontology at its annual Dig Deep Gala. The announcement was made in the presence of Nicholls' husband and children to whom a plaque was given in honour of the occasion.[7][8]
Selected publications
Giant ichthyosaurs of the Triassic—a new species of Shonisaurus from the Pardonet Formation (Norian: Late Triassic) of British Columbia, EL Nicholls, M Manabe - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 2004
New material of Qianichthyosaurus Li, 1999 (Reptilia, Ichthyosauria) from the Late Triassic of southern China, and implications for the distribution of Triassic icthosaurs, EL Nicholls, C Wei, M Manabe - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 2003
New thalattosaurs (Reptilia: Diapsida) from the Triassic Sulphur Mountain Formation of Wapiti Lake, British Columbia, EL Nicholls, D Brinkman - Journal of Paleontology, 1993
New material of Toxochelys latiremis Cope, and a revision of the genus Toxochelys (Testvoines, Chelonioidea), EL Nicholls - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 1988
The first record of the mosasaur Hainosaurus (Reptilia: Lacertilia) from North America, EL Nicholls - Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 1988
The oldest known North American occurrence of the Plesiosauria (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) from the Liassic (Lower Jurassic) Fernie Group, Alberta, Canada, EL Nicholls - Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 1976