{{Short description|Argentinian paleontologist (born 1974)}} {{Infobox person | name = Diego Pol | image = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1974|6|23}} | birth_place = Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina | death_date = | death_place = | occupation = Paleontologist | known_for = Dinosaur paleontology in Patagonia | awards = Bernardo Houssay Award }}

thumb|Fossils of ''Eoabelisaurus'', Egidio Feruglio Museum thumb|Fossil of a titanosaur from Chubut, Egidio Feruglio Museum

'''Diego Pol''' (born 23 June 1974, Rosario) is an Argentine paleontologist, specialized in Mesozoic era dinosaurs of Patagonia.<ref name="mefpol">{{cite web|url=http://www.mef.org.ar/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=156%3Adiego-pol&catid=47&Itemid=82&lang=en|title=Diego Pol|publisher=Egidio Feruglio Museum|access-date=19 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141102002111/http://www.mef.org.ar/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=156%3Adiego-pol&catid=47&Itemid=82&lang=en|archive-date=2 November 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://scholar.google.com.ar/citations?user=2zoy94wAAAAJ&hl=en|title=Diego Pol at Google Scholar}}</ref> He is a principal researcher of CONICET at the Museum of Paleontology Egidio Feruglio in Trelew. He is notable for his contributions to the discovery and naming of several dinosaur species, such as ''Lorosuchus'', ''Manidens'', ''Glacialisaurus'', ''Eoabelisaurus'', and others.

== Biography == {{BLP sources section|date=September 2025}} Diego Pol was born on 23 June 1974 in Rosario, Argentina, but moved to Buenos Aires in his childhood. He studied at the Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires and in 1999 graduated with a degree in Biological Sciences from the Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences at the University of Buenos Aires.

In 1999, he moved to New York City, United States, where he obtained a master's degree and a PhD in a joint program of the American Museum of Natural History and Columbia University.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=http://www.investigadordelanacion.mincyt.gob.ar/pdfs/CV/CV_2013/CV_Pol.pdf|title=CV of Diego Pol |publisher=MinCyT|access-date=24 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170829145833/http://www.investigadordelanacion.mincyt.gob.ar/pdfs/CV/CV_2013/CV_Pol.pdf|archive-date=29 August 2017}}</ref> His PhD thesis focused on the evolution of basal dinosaurs and Mesozoic crocodyliforms, under the supervision of Dr. M. A. Norell.<ref name=":0" />

In 2005 he completed postdoctoral studies at the Mathematical Biosciences Institute of Ohio State University. There, under the direction of Dr. D. Janies (OSU) and Pablo Goloboff (CONICET), he worked on heuristic methods for searching phylogenetic trees.

In 2006 he returned to Argentina to work at the Egidio Feruglio Paleontological Museum, conducting fieldwork and studying fossils discovered there.<ref name="mefpol" /> His research focuses on phylogenetic relationships and the evolution of Mesozoic archosaurs.

Together with José Luis Carballido, he was part of the team that discovered what turned out to be the largest titanosaur in the world in Chubut Province in 2011, presented to the public in May 2014.<ref name="bbc">{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-27441156 |title='Biggest dinosaur ever' discovered |publisher=BBC}}</ref> This dinosaur, ''Patagotitan mayorum'', was featured in the 2016 documentary ''Attenborough and the Giant Dinosaur'', where Pol appeared alongside David Attenborough and Ben Garrod.<ref>{{cite journal|title=A new giant titanosaur sheds light on body mass evolution among sauropod dinosaurs|last1=Carballido|first1=José L.|last2=Pol|first2=Diego|date=9 August 2017|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences|volume=284|issue=1860|article-number=20171219|issn=0962-8452|doi=10.1098/rspb.2017.1219|last3=Otero|first3=Alejandro|last4=Cerda|first4=Ignacio A.|last5=Salgado|first5=Leonardo|last6=Garrido|first6=Alberto C.|last7=Ramezani|first7=Jahandar|last8=Cúneo|first8=Néstor R.|last9=Krause|first9=Javier M.|pmc=5563814}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Attenborough and the Giant Dinosaur (TV Movie 2016) - IMDb|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5336784/|access-date=7 October 2020}}</ref>

That same year, he was one of the four winners of the 2013 Bernardo Houssay Award presented by the Argentine Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, given to researchers under 45.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mincyt.gob.ar/noticias/se-conocieron-los-ganadores-de-los-premios-houssay-houssay-trayectoria-y-jorge-sabato-2013-10407 |title=2013 Houssay, Houssay Trajectory and Jorge Sabato Awards winners |publisher=Argentine Ministry of Science}}</ref>

In 2023 he received the Konex Foundation Platinum Konex Award for his work in Paleontology over the last decade.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fundacionkonex.org/n1466-ya-se-conocen-los-konex-de-platino-y-konex-de-brillante|title=Platinum and Diamond Konex Awards announced |publisher=Konex Foundation|access-date=6 October 2023}}</ref>

He is also deputy editor of ''Ameghiniana'', the bimonthly publication of the Argentine Paleontological Association.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.apaleontologica.org.ar/?cat=61|title=Ameghiniana Editorial Committee|access-date=19 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304194746/http://www.apaleontologica.org.ar/?cat=61|archive-date=4 March 2016}}</ref>

== Selected publications == A selection of Diego Pol's most cited publications: * Turner, A. H., Pol, D., Clarke, J. A., Erickson, G. M., & Norell, M. A. (2007). A basal dromaeosaurid and size evolution preceding avian flight. ''Science'', ''317''(5843), 1378–1381. * Buckley, G. A., Brochu, C. A., Krause, D. W., & Pol, D. (2000). A pug-nosed crocodyliform from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar. ''Nature'', ''405''(6789), 941. * Pol, D. (2003). New remains of Sphagesaurus huenei (Crocodylomorpha: Mesoeucrocodylia) from the Late Cretaceous of Brazil. ''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology'', ''23''(4), 817–831.

== References == {{Reflist}}

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Category:1974 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century explorers Category:Argentine paleontologists Category:People from Rosario, Santa Fe Category:University of Buenos Aires alumni Category:Columbia University alumni Category:American Museum of Natural History