Thoughts on Tarbosaurus, part 4

Well, a lot has happened since the auction of a nearly complete Tarbosaurus was halted last May. At the end of December, Eric Prokopi surrendered his claim to the Tarbosaurus and other Mongolian and Chinese dinosaur fossils in his possession, and pleaded guilty to several charges surrounding the Tarbosaurus case. The Mongolian government is renewing its commitment to preserving its outstanding natural history heritage by creating a new dinosaur museum in capital city Ulaanbaatar, and several museums elsewhere in the countryside.

I hope the awesome leather Tarbosaurus makes the trip to the new digs.

Most recently, Paige Williams wrote an excellent article for the New Yorker interviewing many of the people involved in the Tarbosaurus case, including Prokopi. "Bones of Contention: A Florida man's curious trade in Mongolian dinosaurs" was an illuminating read for me, despite having followed the case closely. A few things struck a chord with me, because I was surprised by some of the attitudes displayed by people who are otherwise portrayed as 'passionate' about paleontology.

Prokopi started out as what seems like a pretty avid rockhounder and fossil buff growing up in Florida. Indeed, several previous news stories have portrayed Prokopi as simply doing what he loves. After university, he began selling fossils full time. He cleaned fossils, and sold small items to museums and nature centres. For the most part, this seems like pretty legit stuff. But then Paige quotes Prokopi: "One thing I was wondering is if any of these paleontologists you've talked to have given their argument of why paleontology is important...[fossils are] just basically rocks...It's not like antiquities, where it's somebody's heritage and culture and all that."

You can't have it both ways. You can't call yourself a 'commercial palaeontologist', co-opting the name of a scientific discipline, and then turn around and question the purpose or validity of palaeontology.

Later, Paige quotes Prokopi's wife Amanda: "And for what? For bones? No one's been murdered. We restored a dinosaur."

Tarbosaurus on display at the Mongolian Natural History Museum, in 2007.

So look, I get it. Stealing a dinosaur isn't as bad as murdering someone. And no, palaeontology isn't curing cancer or finding renewable energy or solving world conflict or any of those big-ticket items. But I'd like to think we live in a world where we don't have to funnel all of our resources into just the absolute bare minimum required to survive. I'd like to think that we have it in our hearts and our minds (and our pocketbooks) that we can study things that do not have immediate, direct, tangible, GIGANTIC benefits. I'd like to think that we live in a world where understanding nature and evolution and animals and biodiversity and our planet are TOTALLY OK things to spend one's time thinking about. Stealing a dinosaur doesn't have to be as bad as murder to still be a crime, and palaeontology doesn't have to cure cancer in order to have value.

I don't know what the take-away message from this post is, but I guess all of us in palaeontology and other sciences need to keep talking to the public, keep talking to policy makers, and keep trying to inject some enthusiasm for curiosity, exploration, and critical thinking into our everyday worlds. That's not too big a task, right?


For previous rants about this whole affair, see:
Thoughts on Tarbosaurus, part 1: in which I discuss the role of museums in conserving fossils.
Thoughts on Tarbosaurus, part 2: in which I discuss the identity of Tarbosaurus and how we know it's from Mongolia.
Thoughts on Tarbosaurus, part 3: in which I discuss why fossil poaching is a bad thing.

These are a few of my favourite things.

Well, it's been ages and ages since I posted, yet again. I have good reasons (as always) and will post more details soon, but for now I wanted to highlight some books and art by some of my friends, colleagues, and folks I just know from the blogosphere but who I think are pretty cool. Although it's probably getting too late to ship things in time for Christmas, I hope you'll keep these folks in mind throughout the year when you find yourself in need of palaeo-related gifts.

Niroot Puttapipat is an illustrator based out of London. His work is unlike anything else out there, and his dinosaurs have a lot of heart and humour. You can purchase books and prints via the Folio Society, and prints and other giftware at deviantART and RedBubble.

 

 

Lara Shychoski lives in Drumheller and is an awesome wildlife and palaeoartist! Her scratchboard illustrations always completely blow me away. You can purchase prints of her work at deviantART.

 

 

Dinosaur family crests, what more can I say? I'm a total sucker for minimalist graphic design, so I'm a big fan of David Orr's work. You can buy prints and other giftware at Red Bubble. 

 

 

 

All Yesterdays probably needs no introduction to anyone reading this blog, but having received my hardcopy in the mail last week I really have to reiterate what many others have said: it's a great book with a creative take on the way we reconstruct ancient animals. Make sure to look for the mountain manatee in the "All Todays" section. You can purchase it in ebook format from Amazon, or as a paperback from Lulu.

 

 

I'm looking forward to ordering a copy of A Field Guide to Mesozoic Birds and other Winged Dinosaurs after Christmas - it looks like a great compendium of information on animals that don't always get much play in popular dinosaur books. It's available at Amazon.

Published by the University of Alberta Press, Deep Alberta (by John Acorn, the Nature Nut) is a great resource for those interested in the palaeontology of Alberta - and not just the dinosaurs, either! Each two-page spread features a short story about special fossils, places, and people in Alberta.

 

The "Moment in Time" books are a little harder to get these days, but you can often find used copies through Amazon or Chapters. There are four books in the series - A Moment in Time with Troodon, Albertosaurus, Centrosaurus, and Sinosauropteryx. Each book is a little vignette into the life of a dinosaur, followed by lots of detailed information about the science behind the story.

And finally, please consider helping out the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum in Grande Prairie, Alberta, which recently got the go-ahead to begin construction! They are offering Cretaceous Christmas Gift Packages, which include t-shirts, fossil replicas, museum society memberships, and more. Or, you can donate directly to their IndieGoGo campaign, which has some really cool perks like signed copies of the Moment in Time books, palaeoart by Julius Csotonyi, and even the sold-out glow-in-the-dark Pachyrhinosaurus coin!
 

SVP, you're so silly.

Those chairs nearly killed me.

 

The annual Society of Vertebrate Paleontology meeting wrapped up yesterday. This year we got to visit the very nice city of Raleigh, North Carolina. There were many, many interesting talks and posters which I can't possibly cover in detail here, but I will look forward to the papers that will hopefully eventually come out of this meeting. SVP is the big-time serious palaeo conference for most of us here in North America...and yet, although at times the talks are SO SERIOUS, what I really like about SVP is how much fun everyone is having. And this brings me to the chairs. The chairs at the Raleigh Convention Centre seem to have built-in whoopie cushions. If you sat down too quickly, the result was unavoidable. (Raleigh Convention Centre: please don't change this!) And so, during the transition between each talk as people moved in and out of the session, a low murmur of toots resonated throughout the room. This was pretty funny during the talks, but was almost unbearable during the final banquet and awards ceremony on Saturday night. As we recognized the contributions of various members of the SVP, we would rise to give standing ovations. And as about 1000 people sat down simultaneously, the squeaky chairs were that much more noticeable.

 

Now, I don't mean to go on and on about the chairs...but the thing was, as the awards ceremony went on, I'm pretty sure the majority of people in the room were making a conscious effort to make the chairs squeak more loudly. SVP, I love you even more for this.

 

I love that our society gets the conference started with a big party in a museum, this year the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. We got to hang out with Jane and Acrocanthosaurus!

Meatballs! In! Space!

I love that the SVP hosts a giant silent auction to raise funds for various society projects. And I love that so many people donate so generously, and that so many talented people make awesome stuff for the auction.

I love that my colleagues wear ALL THE PINS.

 

I love that the auction committee dresses up for the live auction. Avengersaurs, assemble!

 

I love that the conference ends with a giant dance party featuring "Walk the Dinosaur", "I am a Palaeontologist", and "Time Warp". I love that so many of my colleagues are awesome dancers!

 

There's a lot to love about SVP and palaeontology, but most importantly I love that we don't take ourselves too seriously. We're passionate about our science, we're doing awesome and interesting research, and we're having fun. See you next year in Los Angeles!

(Also required reading: What do vertebrate paleontologists talk about?)



BREAKING UPDATE 22/10/2012: The squeaks have been recorded for posterity!

Let's Build the Currie Museum!

A message from my colleague Dr. Phil Bell:

Hi all,

 

Some of you are already aware of the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum, which is scheduled to be built in Grande Prairie, but certainly all of you are aware of Philip Currie himself. As part of the final push to raise the remaining construction funds, we have launched a crowd-fundraising campaign on www.indiegogo.com/curriemuseum. The aim is to raise $1,000,000 in 120 days. In the first hour alone, we raised $1,600!

 

Every donation, no matter how small, is important and donors are rewarded with a range of increasingly cool gifts including a museum logo pin, t-shirts, and original artwork by palaeo-art master Julius Csotonyi. It's all outlined on the website, so please check it out, spread the word, and help us build a world-class museum and research institute.

Many thanks!

 

Phil Bell

Head Palaeontologist

Pipestone Creek Dinosaur Initiative

 

 

 

The Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum has been working hard to raise funds for the construction of the museum, which will showcase fossils from northwestern Alberta and support research and education on Albertan dinosaurs. They've raised $17.4 million of the $30 million needed. Even without a museum building, the crew from the Currie Museum is doing an incredible amount of education, outreach, and research. Just last week, Phil visited the University of Alberta to CT scan a hadrosaur with skin impressions from Red Willow Creek. But it can only continue if the museum is funded and built. Please support the museum - they are good folks up there, and every little bit helps!

 

Aluk the Pachyrhinosaurus visits the Wapiti River Bonebed in 2009.

 

Hadrosaur mummies have been collected along Red Willow Creek.

 

New fossil lizards have been described from Kleskun Hills, the northernmost outcrops of badlands in Alberta.

The Wapiti River Pachyrhinosaurus bonebed has been excavated each year since 2007. We're still preparing material from that bonebed in order to figure out which species of Pachyrhinosaurus we have!

 

Crystal ROM

 

Now that I've talked about the ROM's current offerings of temporary special dinosaur exhibits, I thought I'd turn my attention to the permanent fossil galleries. The ROM has long been one of my favourite museums, and as a student of palaeontology the only museum I have visited more often for my research is the Tyrrell. The last five years have seen some major renovations at the ROM, including the construction of the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal.

 

The former entrance to the museum was grand and ornate and ushered you into the entrance hall known as the Rotunda, which featured a mosaic dome ceiling. The last time I visited the ROM's previous dinosaur galleries was in 2003, before I had a digital camera, so I'm afraid I don't have any photos of the old exhibits. Although I was fond of the dinosaur skeletons in fake-foliage jungle setting, it was clear that the fossil halls were in need of updating to reflect current ideas in palaeontology.

 

In 2007, the ROM opened a new addition to the museum, called the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal, which houses (among other things) the Mesozoic and Cenozoic fossil halls. Although at first I had mixed feelings about the crystal, I've come to really like the way it sprouts from the original museum building, and it certainly attracts attention.

 

The most recent iteration of the dinosaur galleries are housed within the bright, white rooms of the crystal. A lot of specimens are on display, in particular the ROM's large collection of Cretaceous Albertan dinosaurs.

The dinosaur exhibit does not overwhelm with a lot of text, but there is good information about each specimen (what's cast, what's real, etc.) provided nearby. In particular, I like the display of ontogenetic changes in the hadrosaurs Corythosaurus (shown here) and Lambeosaurus.

 

The ROM has one of the more extensive collections of ankylosaurid material, and a little bit is on display. The skull on display is the very nice ROM 1930, and the tail club, ROM 788, at 59 cm wide, is the second largest tail club referred to Euoplocephalus. I CT scanned this club before it was put on display, for my research on ankylosaur tail club swinging and impacts, and it only just fit through the aperture of the scanner.

 

 

The ROM also has a very nice collection of fossil mammals, including this really unusual Desmostylus....

 

...and wonderful South American megafauna, like this giant armadillo (foreground) and glyptodont (towards the back).

 

Another thing that is much appreciated about the ROM's new galleries is that extra care was taken to make sure that all of the specimens that are on display are accessible to researchers! One of these days I'll try to dig out some of my photos of the old galleries for comparison...

Remarkable ROM

The ROM has another temporary dinosaur exhibit on display right now, Dinosaur Eggs & Babies: Remarkable Fossils from South Africa. It showcases nests and embryos of the prosauropod dinosaur Massospondylus, which were described by ROM and University of Toronto scientists in 2005 (with a subsequent paper in 2010).

 

 

 

The nests were found in Golden Gate National Park, South Africa.

 

 

 

Preparation of the eggs revealed wonderfully preserved embryos! In addition to the nests, eggs, and embryos, there is a nice set of cast skulls showing growth changes in Massospondylus, and a very cute sculpture of a hatchling.

 

 

 

There's a nice mount of the related prosauropod Plateosaurus (shown here in correct bipedal posture!).

 

I've always loved prosauropod hands. Check out that thumb claw!

 

 

 

It's always fun to add new dinosaurs to my list of stuff I've seen - here is the snout of a juvenile Dracovenator, a Dilophosaurus-like theropod that lived alongside Massospondylus. The exhibit also has some adult skull fragments, and a panel-mounted Dilophosaurus skeleton.

 

I'm not sure how long this exhibit is on display, but it's well worth checking out if you're visiting the ROM for Ultimate Dinosaurs. It's located between the Jurassic and Cretaceous galleries.

Ultimate ROM

This summer, the Royal Ontario Museum unveiled a brand-new exhibit all about the dinosaurs of Gondwana. When Pangaea rifted apart during the Triassic, it split into two continents - Laurasia, represented by the modern northern continents of North America, Europe, and Asia, and Gondwana, represented by the modern southern continents of South America, Africa, Australia, and Antarctica, plus India, Madagascar, and New Zealand. The dinosaurs and other extinct terrestrial vertebrates of Gondwana differed from their northern neighbours, and we don't often see them in exhibitions in North America.

 

Ultimate Dinosaurs: Giants of Gondwana features lots of interesting and sometimes obscure dinosaurs, some really great artwork, and some neat technological things (of which I am sometimes skeptical, but can wholeheartedly endorse here).

 

 

 

After a brief but informative introduction to plate tectonics, we're introduced to some of the earliest dinosaurs, like Herrerasaurus, Eoraptor, and the early ornithischian Pisanosaurus. In an exhibit that is definitely dominated by saurischian dinosaurs, it was neat to see this little fellow! Take note of the beautiful murals in the background, painted by Canadian palaeoartist Julius Csotonyi.

 

 

 

Ah, Cryolophosaurus. My second favourite dinosaur from Antarctica! ;)

This restoration of Cryolophosaurus definitely seems to have a more Dilophosaurus-y look to the skull, perhaps a result of recent phylogenetic analyses recovering a close relationship between the Antarctic taxon and other early, crested theropods.

 

 

 

As we move into the Cretaceous, the dinosaurs are arranged by geographic area on platforms. First off are African dinosaurs, including Malawisaurus, Nigersaurus, Carcharodontosaurus, and (shown here), Suchomimus.

 

 

 

I was super excited to see a mounted skeleton of Ouranosaurus, a bizarre sail-backed iguanodontian.

 

 

 

Ok, hands-down my favourite critter featured in this exhibition was one of the smaller skeletons, and not a dinosaur! I am sorry, dinosaur colleagues! But his adorable stubby tail and marvelous coat of osteoderms stole my heart. This is Simosuchus, a herbivorous crocodilian from Madagascar.

 

 

 

 I'll perhaps also add that the Madagascar 'pod' of Majungasaurus, Rapetosaurus, Masiakasaurus, and Rahonavis was probably my favourite part of the exhibition, just because I've never seen any of these taxa as mounted skeletons before, and because they're just so, so weird. Also, Majungasaurus just wants a hug, WHY DON'T YOU LOVE ME, RAPETOSAURUS?

 

 

 

I was very fortunate to get to see a lot of Patagonian dinosaurs last November during my visit to Argentina, but I'd never seen Austroraptor before. He is BIG! This 'pod' also features Buitreraptor, Carnotaurus, and Amargasaurus.

 

 

 

 

Although the dinosaurs are the main attraction, the main take-home messages of the exhibition are 1) continents move and 2) evolution happens. The dinosaurs are just the vehicle for delivering an exhibit that is actually all about the effects of plate tectonics on evolution, and I think that's awesome. Palaeogeography is prominently featured throughout the exhibition, and there's even an interactive team puzzle where you reassemble the continents into Gondwana. However, one of the most incredible things in the exhibit were the two giant Blakey palaeomap globes, animated to show the drifting of the continents. As you enter the exhibit, Pangaea breaks apart, and as you leave, the continents assemble into their current positions, and then keep going into the future! The video projections are staggeringly beautiful.

 

Honestly, I think this is one of the best dinosaur exhibits I have seen. It is bright, colourful, up to date, and packed with really good information not just about dinosaurs, but about broader themes in geology and evolution as well. Ultimate Dinosaurs is at the ROM for a limited time (I think until the end of 2012) and then it (hopefully!) goes on tour. GO SEE IT!