Mignon Talbot

Mignon Talbot (August 16, 1869 – July 18, 1950) was an American paleontologist. Talbot recovered and named the only known fossils of the dinosaur Podokesaurus holyokensis, which were found near Mount Holyoke College in 1910, and published a scientific description of the specimen in 1911. In 1909 she became the first woman elected to be a member of the Paleontological Society. In the state of New York, she contributed to the Helderbergian crinoids and studied the faunas of Stafford limestone.

Born in Iowa City, Talbot received a Ph.D. in geology from Yale University in 1904, the first woman to do so. There she was a student of Charles Schuchert. She was named a professor of geology and geography at Mount Holyoke College in 1904. In 1908, Talbot became professor and chairman of the Geology department. In 1929, she became the chairman of both Geology and Geography departments. During her thirty-one years at Mount Holyoke College, she amassed a large collection of invertebrate fossils and Triassic footprints and minerals. The museum burned down in 1917 and almost all the specimens were destroyed, including the one extant partial skeleton of Podokesaurus. Talbot retired in 1935 and is said to have remained passionate about her profession.