Draft:Walter Stein (paleontologist)

Walter W. Stein (born 1971) is an American paleontologist, geologist, educator and fossil hunter. He is the co-founder of PaleoAdventures an independent commercial paleontology company dedicated to excavating and preserving vertebrate fossils. Stein extensively researches the fauna of the Late Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation in South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana. Walter is best known for his dinosaur discoveries which have been sold or donated to museums around the world, particularly in Japan, Korea, Europe, and the United States. In 1998 while at Triebold Paleontology Inc, he was part of the team that excavated and prepared the holotype specimens of Anzu Wyliei, discovered by fossil hunter Fred Huss and sold to the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburg. In 2002 Stein discovered a partial Tyrannosaurid specimen known as “Sir William” which is a potentially new species of Daspletosaurus. Sir William is currently housed at the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center. In 2014, while exploring a ranch in Perkins County, South Dakota Stein found what later turned out to be the largest Triceratops ever discovered. This specimen, known as “Big John” (named after the land owner, John Rhynard), was sold to Zoic, an Italian laboratory that finished fossil preparation and auctioned it for a record 7.7 million dollars. In January 2023, it was announced that Tampa businessman Siddhartha Pagidipati and his family would be loaning Big John to the Glazer Children's Museum in Tampa, Florida for a three-year public exhibition. The specific name of the dinosaur Dakotaraptor steini is in honor of paleontologist Walter Stein. . Stein has published numerous scientific and popular works on dinosaur paleontology, including his book, "The Top 256 Rules of Paleontology." His work is valued by many academic paleontologists yet some remain critical of his commercial enterprises and support of private collections.

Education Walter Stein grew up in New Jersey. He attended Appalachian State University in Boone North Carolina and studied geology. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1994.