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Anthony MartinProfessor of Practice

Education

  • BS, Geobiology, St. Joseph's College, Indiana
  • MS, Geology, Miami University, Ohio
  • PhD, Geology, University of Georgia

Research

Anthony (Tony) J. Martin is trained mostly as a geologist and paleontologist, but his main research interest is in ichnology, the study of modern and fossil traces. Among his fossil discoveries or co-discoveries are: the only known burrowing dinosaur; the oldest dinosaur burrows in the geologic record; the oldest fossil crayfish in the Southern Hemisphere; the oldest bird tracks in Australia; and the only known iguana nesting burrow in the geologic record. 

Dr. Martin is also the author of two editions of a popular college textbook, Introduction to the Study of Dinosaurs (Wiley-Blackwell), as well as Life Traces of the Georgia Coast (Indiana University Press), Dinosaurs Without Bones and The Evolution Underground (both with Pegasus Books), and Tracking the Golden Isles (University of Georgia Press). He is active on Twitter as @Ichnologist. In 2015, in recognition of his significant contributions to research, teaching, and public service, he was elected as a Fellow in The Explorers Club and a Fellow in the Geological Society of America. 

Opportunities for undergraduate research with Dr. Martin include those of modern or fossil animal traces, such as tracks and burrows. Students can also earn ENVS 299, 399, 495, and 499 credit by working on the Georgia Coast Atlas Project with Dr. Martin or Michael Page (Department of Environmental Sciences). The project is a partnership between Emory's University's Department of Environmental Sciences, Department of History, and Emory's Center for Digital Scholarship, using digital scholarship to explore the ecological and geographic dimensions of the Georgia coast. 

Books

Martin, A.J.  Life Sculpted: Tales of the Animals, Plants, and Fungi that Drill, Break, and Scrape to Shape Earth. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. Manuscript approved and in production; anticipated publication in April 2023. 

Martin, A.J. 2020. Tracking the Golden Isles: The Natural and Human Histories of the Georgia Coast. University of Georgia Press, Athens, Georgia: 304 p. 

Martin, A.J. 2017. The Underground Evolution: Burrows, Bunkers, and the Marvelous Subterranean World Beneath Our Feet. Pegasus Books, New York: 405 p. 

Martin, A.J. 2014. Dinosaurs Without Bones: Dinosaur Lives Revealed by Their Trace Fossils. Pegasus Books, New York: 460 p. (Paperback edition released in March 2015.) 

Martin, A.J. 2013. Life Traces of the Georgia Coast. Indiana University Press, Bloomington, Indiana: 692 p. 

Varricchio, D.J., Martin, A.J., and Katsura, Y. 2009. El Dinosaurio Que Excavó Su Madriguera [The Dinosaur That Dug Its Burrow]. ¡Fundamental! 15, Fundación Conjunto Paleontológico de Teruel-Dinópolis, Teruel, Spain: 72 p. (In English and Spanish.) 

Martin, A.J. 2006. Introduction to the Study of Dinosaurs [Second Edition]. Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford, U.K.: 560 p. 

Martin, A.J. 2006. Trace Fossils of San Salvador. Gerace Research Center, San Salvador, Bahamas: 80 p. 

Martin, A.J. 2001. Introduction to the Study of Dinosaurs [First Edition]. Blackwell Science, Malden, Massachusetts: 426 p. 

Published Research Articles and Abstracts (since 2020)

2022 
Martin, A.J., and Rindsberg, A.K. 2022. Neoichnology as actualism and its uses in paleontology. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 54 (4). 

2021 
Getty, P., Martin, A.J., and Hyatt, J.A. 2021. Turning back from a dinosaur track: a mammaliform trackway from the Early Jurassic Portland Formation of Connecticut, USA. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 53(6).  

Gouramanis, C., Martin, A.J., and Webb. J.A. 2021. Gariwerdichnus warreni igen. et isp. nov.: probable giant myriapod burrows from Late Silurian fluvial channels in the Grampians Group, Western Victoria, Australia. Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology, 45: 195-202.  https://doi.org/10.1080/03115518.2021.1926540 

Martin, A.J., et al. 2021. Cretaceous polar arthropods on walkabouts: newly discovered arthropod trace fossils from the Wonthaggi Formation (Barremian), Victoria, Australia. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 53(6). 

Martin, A.J., and Rindsberg, A.K. 2021. Ichnology as a tool for understanding ecological and geological changes of the Georgia barrier islands. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 53(2). 

Panscini, G., Varricchio, D.J., and Martin, A.J. 2021. Tracks of ornithopods putting their best feet forward in the Frontier Formation (Coniacian), Montana. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 53(6). 

Rindsberg, A.K., and Martin, A.J. 2021. Ichnogeny: growth and change in trace fossils. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 53(2). 

2020 
Martin, A.J., Stearns, D., Whitten, M.J., Hage, M.M., Page, M., and Basu, A. 2020. First known trace fossil of a nesting iguana (Pleistocene), The Bahamas. PLOS ONE, 15(12): e0242935. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242935  

Martin, A.J., Bransford, S., Page, M., Hakkila, L., Knuppel, A. 2020. Ossabaw Island flyover. Southern Spaces, published online April 22, 2020.