Saturday, September 16, 2006
Prehistoric puzzles: A sculptor pieces together ancient fossils (The Scientist)
The Scientist - Think you've seen all there is to see of the dinosaurs? Not so fast: a new statistical study by Drs. Steven C. Wang and Peter Dodson of Swarthmore College has revealed that 71% of dinosaur genera on earth still remain to be discovered. That's good news for paleontologists and amateur dinosaur enthusiasts. But it's also good news for Richard Webber, a New York sculptor who has carved out a professional niche reconstructing fossilized remains.
Webber worked on the renovation of the American Museum of Natural History's fossil hall in the mid-90s, where he built the Indricotherium, the world's largest land mammal, and helped to re-mount the museum's Tyrannosaurus rex. [T-Rex]
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The "new statistical study" was posted on Tuesday, September 05, 2006:
Scientist Says Lots of Dinosaurs Remain
From The Washington Post: Good news for dinosaur fans: There are probably a lot more of them waiting to be discovered. At least, their fossils are.
Peter Dodson of the University of Pennsylvania and Steve Wang of Swarthmore College estimate that 71 percent of all dinosaur genera - groups of dinosaur species - have yet to be discovered.
"It's a safe bet that a child born today could expect a very fruitful career in dinosaur paleontology," Dodson said in a statement.
The estimate appears in Tuesday's issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). [News, Palaeontology]
-------Also reported on the Washington Post's 'Findings' page.
The PNAS paper is "Estimating the diversity of dinosaurs" (Abstract)
Books on Dinosaurs from the Science and Evolution Bookshop: UK | US
Books on Paleontology from the Science and Evolution Bookshop: UK | US
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