# Hans-Dieter Sues

Hans-Dieter Sues (Rheydt, 1956) is a German-born American palaeontologist who is Senior Scientist and Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.
He received his education at Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz (University of Mainz), University of Alberta, and Harvard University (Ph.D., 1984). Before assuming his present position, Sues worked as Curator of Vertebrate Palaeontology and as Vice-President for Collections and Research at the Royal Ontario Museum and Professor of Zoology at the University of Toronto and as Associate Director for Research and Collections at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh.
He is interested in the diversity, palaeoecology, and evolutionary history of Paleozoic and Mesozoic tetrapods, especially archosaurian reptiles and cynodont therapsids, and the history of biology and palaeontology. Sues has discovered numerous new dinosaurs and other extinct terrestrial vertebrates in Paleozoic and Mesozoic continental strata in North America and Europe.
He has authored or co-authored over 150 articles and book chapters on vertebrate paleontology and paleoecology. Sues has written The Rise of Reptiles (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2019) and Triassic Life on Land: The Great Transition (with N. C. Fraser; Columbia University Press, 2010). He has edited Evolution of Herbivory in Terrestrial Vertebrates (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2000) and co-edited Terrestrial Ecosystems through Time (with A. K. Behrensmeyer et al.; Univ. of Chicago Press, 1992), In the Shadow of the Dinosaurs: Early Mesozoic Tetrapods (with N. C. Fraser; Cambridge Univ. Press, 1994), Major Transitions in Vertebrate Evolution (with J. S. Anderson; Indiana Univ. Press, 2007), and Terrestrial Conservation Lagerstätten: Windows into the Evolution of Life on Land (with N. C. Fraser; Dunedin Academic Press, 2017). He is also active in promoting the value of natural history collections for addressing major questions in current science.
Sues was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2003 and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1998. The pachycephalosaur Hanssuesia is named for him.
Below is a list of taxa that Sues has contributed to naming:
| Year | Taxon | Authors |
| 2025 | Thuringopelta werneburgi gen. et sp. nov. | Sues & Schoch |
| 2024 | Wirtembergia hauboldae gen. et sp. nov. | Sues & Schoch |
| 2023 | Idiosaura virginiensis gen. et sp. nov. | Kligman, Sues, & Melstrom |
| 2023 | Rutiotomodon tytthos gen. et sp. nov. | Sues & Schoch |
| 2023 | Melanedaphodon hovaneci gen. et sp. nov. | Mann, Henrici, Sues, & Pierce |
| 2020 | Oryctorhynchus bairdi gen. et sp. nov. | Sues, Fitch, & Whatley |
| 2020 | Polymorphodon adorfi gen. et sp. nov. | Sues, Schoch, Sobral, & Irmis |
| 2020 | Vinitasaura lizae gen. et sp. nov. | Sues & Kligman |
| 2019 | Hassiacoscutum munki gen. et sp. nov. | Witzman, Sues, Kammerer, & Fröbisch |
| 2018 | Fraxinisaura rozynekae gen. et sp. nov. | Schoch & Sues |
| 2014 | Anzu wyliei gen. et sp. nov. | Lamanna, Sues, Schachner, & Lyson |
| 2011 | Daemonosaurus chauliodus gen. et sp. nov. | Sues, Nesbitt, Berman, & Henrici |
| 2011 | Sarahsaurus aurifontanalis gen. et sp. nov. | Rowe, Sues, & Reisz |
| 2009 | Levnesovia transoxiana gen. et sp. nov. | Sues & Averianov |
| 2008 | Postosuchus alisonae sp. nov. | Peyer, Carter, Sues, Novak, & Olsen |
| 2007 | Urbacodon itemirensis gen. et sp. nov. | Averianov & Sues |
| 2006 | Clevosaurus brasiliensis sp. nov. | Bonaparte & Sues |
| 2003 | Teraterpeton hrynewichorum gen. et sp. nov. | Sues |
| 2001 | Sauropareion anoplus gen. et sp. nov. | Modesto, Sues, & Damiani |
| 1999 | Plinthogomphodon herpetairus gen. et sp. nov. | Sues, Olsen, & Carter |
| 1998 | Haligonia bolodon gen. et sp. nov. | Sues & Baird |
| 1998 | Scoloparia glyphanodon gen. et sp. nov. | Sues & Baird |
| 1998 | Acadiella psalidodon gen. et sp. nov. | Sues & Baird |
| 1994 | Afrovenator abakensis gen. et sp. nov. | Sereno, Wilson, Larsson, Dutheil, & Sues |
| 1993 | Gomphiosauridion baileyae gen. et sp. nov. | Sues & Olsen |
| 1993 | Xenodiphyodon petraios gen. et sp. nov. | Sues & Olsen |
| 1992 | Euscolosuchus olseni gen. et sp. nov. | Sues |
| 1986 | Dinnebitodon amarali gen. et sp. nov. | Sues |
| 1980 | Zephyrosaurus schaffi gen. et sp. nov. | Sues |
| 1978 | Saurornitholestes langstoni gen. et sp. nov. | Sues |

## Selected works

* Sues, Hans-Dieter; Fraser, Nicholas C. (2010). Triassic life on land: the great transition. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0231135221.
* Sues, Hans-Dieter (2019). The rise of reptiles: 320 million years of evolution. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-1421428673.