Dick Jefferies
Encyclopedia
Richard P.S. Jefferies was a paleontologist famous for developing the Calcichordate Theory of the origin of chordates, now widely discredited. Jefferies joined the British Museum
in 1960, and was largely based there for the remainder of his career.
s that had been brought into the museum from Shropshire
, and by 1967 he published a paper entitled "Some chordates with Echinoderm affinities" with regards the mitrates, which are commonly viewed as apentameral echinoderms. Over the years, he continuously added to the theory, which was modified later such that each chordate evolved from its own mitrate and as such are paraphyletic.
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
in 1960, and was largely based there for the remainder of his career.
Developing the Calcichordate Theory
Jefferies first came into contact with some carpoid material in February 1964; some mitrateMitrate
Mitrates are a group of stem group Echinoderms, which may be closely related to the hemichordates.-Morphology:The organisms were a few millimetres long. Like the echinoderms, they are covered in armour plates, each of which comprises a single crystal of calcite...
s that had been brought into the museum from Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
, and by 1967 he published a paper entitled "Some chordates with Echinoderm affinities" with regards the mitrates, which are commonly viewed as apentameral echinoderms. Over the years, he continuously added to the theory, which was modified later such that each chordate evolved from its own mitrate and as such are paraphyletic.