Éric Buffetaut
Éric Buffetaut is a French paleontologist, author and researcher at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique since 1976 where he is a Doctor of Science and Director of Research. Buffetaut is a specialist of fossil archosaurs, mainly dinosaurs and pterosaurs, and has published many books on paleontology. He is one of the major paleontologists to support the thesis of the fall of a meteorite as the main cause of the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event.
Notable works
Below is a list of taxa that Buffetaut has contributed to naming:Archaeodontosaurus descouensi Caletodraco cottardi Castignovolucris sebei Chalawan thailandicus Dolichochampsa minima Eogavialis africanum Euthecodon arambourgi Hatzegopteryx thambema Isanosaurus attavipachi Isalorhynchus genovefae Kinnareemimus khonkaenensis Liubangosaurus hei Normanniasaurus genceyi Normannognathus wellnhoferi Ostafrikasaurus crassiserratus Phuwiangosaurus sirindhornae Psittacosaurus sattayaraki Rhabdodon septimanicus Siamamia naga Siamodon nimngami Siamosaurus suteethorni Siamotyrannus isanensis Tarascosaurus salluvicus Tilemsisuchus lavocati Trematochampsa taqueti Variraptor mechinorumBuffetaut demonstrated in 1982 that Dakosaurus and Aggiosaurus are actually members of the Metriorhynchidae.
In 1997, the crocodylomorph Musturzabalsuchus buffetauti was named in his honor. In 2025, the ctenochasmatid pterosaur Garudapterus buffetauti was named in his honor.
Buffeataut works mainly with Mesozoic reptiles including crocodylomorphs, pterosaurs and dinosaurs.