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Elvira Wood

1865 – 1928

American paleontologist

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About Elvira Wood

Lived 1865 – 1928 (aged 63). Elvira Wood was an American scientific illustrator and paleontologist.

Elvira Wood (February 11, 1865 She attended the State Normal School at Framingham. She earned a master's degree and a doctorate (1910) from Columbia University. Her doctorate thesis was titled The Phylogeny of Certain Cerithiidae. It was published by the New York Academy of Sciences.

Paleontology

Museum and education work She worked at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University in the 1890s and again during the 1910s.

In 1907, she began work as an instructor in paleontology at Barnard College, where she would earn several degrees. Her work was cited well into the 1970s. She became Curator in Columbia's Geology Department in 1909.

United States Geological Survey In 1903, Wood became the assistant to Charles D. Walcott, Director of the United States Geological Survey (USGS). She was a member of the Boston Society of Natural History and the National Geographic Society. Charles D. Walcott named the Middle Cambrian fossils Aluda woodi and Coscinocyathus elvira in her honor.

Publications

Wood, Elvira. Marcellus Limestones of Lancaster, Erie Co., N.Y. Paleontologic Papers 2, New York State Museum, December 1901. Wood, Elvira. A new Crinoid from the Hamilton of Charlestown, Indiana, American Journal of Science, Vol. XII, October 1901, pp. 1–14. Pl. V. Wood, Elvira. On New and Old Middle Devonic Crinoids, Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Washington D.C., August 6, 1904, pp. 56–84, Pl. XV-XVI. Wood, Elvira. A Critical Summary of Troost's Unpublished Manuscript on the Crinoids of Tennessee, Smithsonian Institution United States National Museum Bulletin 64, Washington D.C., 1909, pp. 1–150, Pl. 1–15. Wood, Elvira. The Phylogeny of Certain Cerithidae, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Volume XXIV, New York, May 1910, pp. 1–92, Pl. I-IX. Wood, Elvira. The Use of Crinoid Arms in Studies of Phylogeny, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Volume XX, New York, 1914, pp. 1–14, Pl. I-V. Wood, Elvira. The Ancestry and Descendants of Ebenezer Wood of West Gouldsborough, Maine, Springfield Printing and Binding Company, Springfield, Mass. 1930.

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Important facts

Birth century
Nationality
Education
Barnard College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Employers
Museum of Comparative Zoology, United States Geological Survey, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Elvira Wood's

Frequently asked questions

Who was Elvira Wood?

American paleontologist

When was Elvira Wood born?

Elvira Wood was born on 11 February 1865 in Gouldsboro, Maine.

When did Elvira Wood die?

Elvira Wood died on 30 December 1928 in Waltham.

What was Elvira Wood's occupation?

Elvira Wood was a scientific illustrator and paleontologist.

What nationality was Elvira Wood?

Elvira Wood was American.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Elvira Wood

· Wikidata: Q106096101

· DBpedia: Elvira Wood (paleontologist)

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Elvira Wood. https://biography.guide/elvira-wood-scientific-illustrator/

MLA: "Elvira Wood." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/elvira-wood-scientific-illustrator/.

Chicago: "Elvira Wood." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/elvira-wood-scientific-illustrator/.

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