Evgeny Aleksandrovich Maleev was born on 25 February 1915 in the Russian Empire. After serving on the Eastern Front in World War II, he began his scientific career at Moscow State University, graduating from its Faculty of Biology in 1947 and joining the Paleontological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences.[1]
In 1948 Maleev joined the Joint Soviet-Mongolian Paleontological Expedition to the Gobi Desert, work that led to his naming of the armored dinosaur Talarurus in 1952 and the giant tyrannosaur Tarbosaurus in 1955. He also named the family Therizinosauridae in 1954, though he initially -- based only on its enormous claws -- misidentified Therizinosaurus as belonging to a giant turtle-like reptile; the fossils were only confirmed decades later to belong to a theropod dinosaur.[1]
Maleev continued research at the Institute until his death on 12 April 1966. Two dinosaurs, Maleevus and Maleevosaurus, were later named in his honor.[1]