When people ask me what I would do if I met this or that celebrity, I always say the same. "I don't get starstruck." I really don't. Being a bartender for so many years in popular spots, I have met my fair share of celebrities. However, believe it or not, I get more giddy meeting amazing people in the field of science. These celebrities are rockstars in my book. Not only are they cool, but they inspire future generations with awesomeness. Dr. Thomas Holtz is my George Clooney. Why George Clooney Gary? Well, just like George Clooney screams Hollywood, Dr. Holtz screams science and paleontology. The world needs more celebrities in the field of education. Dr. Holtz is one of those celebrities.
Hats off to you Dr. Holtz and Happy Birthday. Thank you for being an inspiration to us all. I haven't posted in a great while, so I thought what better way to clean off the rust than to honor a great paleontologist. I took the summer off to work hard, venture off on two field classes, and try to relax before going into another year of classes. Special thank you to Lisa Buckley and Robert Gay for contributing to this site. You are good friends and this site is yours also. The pub is about sharing science and promoting good friends, so anything I can do, I do my best to help others.
P.S. My son is a big fan of Dr. Holtz and not long ago made a character of him in Lego's video game Jurassic World along with others. Click here to see! Thought I'd share it again if you haven't seen it. It is truly an epic creation.
Okay, welcome to my part 2 of X on how the past was likely horrifying if we had lived through it. Today is going to be about what the Mesozoic Era might have sounded like. Apologies ahead of time but this will be a video-heavy post.
When we picture (or rather hear) what dinosaurs (and other prehistoric reptiles) may have sounded like most people will think back to dinosaur movies where the beasts are rampaging. Roaring, snorting, growling, and hissing creatures fill the screen with angry sounds. After the release of Jurassic Park, many of the sounds created by Universal's sound studio have been remixed and reused by other films both on large and small screens. Let's quickly review some of the iconic sounds that these creatures made back in the early 1990s.
Tyrannosaurus breaks out of its pen. Prepare to get T. rekt. Copyright Universal Studios.
My close friend (unfairly portrayed here) Dilophosaurus. Copyright Universal Studios.
The famous scene with Velociraptors in the kitchen. Copyright Universal Studios.
This gives us a great variety of sounds. From the deep bass rumbling roar of the Tyrannosaurus to the chirps of the Dilophosaurus, and the high-pitched screech of the Velociraptor we have great mood-appropriate sounds from our animal villains and protagonists. I especially love the sounds that the Tyrannosaurus in Jurassic Park makes. It gave me chills in the theater all those years ago and it still is exciting to me. But it also makes me question whether an actual Tyrannosaurus sounded like its cinematic depiction.
Since Tyrannosaurus and the other dinosaurs depicted in Jurassic Park are archosaurs, I figured it would be a reasonable place to start looking at the sounds our extinct friends might have made. If we can use extant phylogenetic bracketing for integument and parental care (among other things), why not the possible vocal capabilities? I decided to look at crocodiles and ratites + hoatzin, as my EPB.
What I found was frightening. The first thing I learned is that ratite sounds are not cute.
A modern Rhea, doing Rhea things.
Ostriches with their absurdly low booming sounds.
The frighteningly unexpected growls of the modern Cassowary.
The Hoatzin. Long video, but you can hear the sharp, chuffing near the start between parrot calls.
Being the glutton for punishment that I am, I decided to make myself listen to crocodilian sounds. Not only are they equally terrifying, but they also share some similarities to some of the ratite sounds.
Crocodilians have primeval sounding roars and the occasional hiss.
What is the takeaway from this investigation? For me, it is the idea that screeching, chirping, and otherwise boisterous dinosaurs may not be as plausible as Hollywood would like us to believe. Both croc and modern less-derived birds generally do not make "songs" or "calls" but rather deep rumbles/roars and occasional hisses/clicks. The shriek of the Jurassic Park Velociraptor, spliced together with dolphin and monkey sounds doesn't seem so plausible to me. Nor does the pretty sounding cry of our oddly-hopping Dilophosaurus (or it's rattlesnake-mincing attack cry) make much sense if the similarities between our EPB creatures represent a real signal. But what of our beloved Tyrannosaurus call?
A collection of all the Tyrannosaurus rex sounds from Jurassic Park
To me, this is the most convincing of all the theropod sounds produced for cinema. It sounds the most like the creatures I sampled for my EPB. But there is also another potential problem: size. Just as a tuba sounds deeper than a flute, the size of an animal's resonating chamber (larynx/sirynx) affects the deepness of the sounds it produces. Our largest terrestrial animal today, the African Elephant, is able to produce infrasound (sound too low to hear). The idea of large theropods or sauropods being able to produce infrasound is not itself unreasonable. The large birds and crocs I listened are already producing super-low frequency sounds and crocs are known to produce infrasound during mating season. The Mesozoic world may have been punctuated by low frequency roars and rumbles and silent periods interrupted by a strange feeling in your bones as a large sauropod or theropod let out a noise too low for our ears to hear.
"But wait," my ornithischian fans cry out (Pete, I'm looking at you...)! "What is this saurischian bias?" Well one reason for my saurischian bias is that most (but not all!) movie dinosaurs that make sounds are saurischians. Another is that we have to do a bit less speculation on the possible sounds some ornithischians would have made thanks to Sandia Labs and their 3D reproduction of a Paraaurolophus crest. While not perfect, it gives us an idea of what type of sounds large hadrosaurs may have been able to produce. It is worth noting that this reconstructed vocalization is a low sound, similar to what I've been suggesting for saurischians.
Ignore the metallic overtones...
Compared to the Jurassic ParkParasaurolophus cry...
Moral of the story: the Mesozoic would sound very little like what we imagine it to, based on depictions in cinema and television. Dinosaurs at least would have been making sounds more like their modern relatives than the mixed-up mammal sounds studios are fond of using. This would create an audio landscape deeply unfamiliar to our modern ears.
I'll leave you with one more clip: perhaps the most accurate dinosaur sounds in all of cinema history. Next time from me: discussion of a new tooth paper out in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology standardizing theropod tooth nomenclature, an issue near and dear to me at the moment!
1969's Valley of Gwangi, featuring an Allosaurus and a Styracosaurus
Okay, show of hands: who has seen Jurassic World? If you haven't seen it I promise this article won't be spoiler-filled. I promise I won't discuss plot points. In fact, I won't discuss anything that you can't see in the trailers. What I will discuss, though, is teeth!
So if you have seen any of the promotional material for Jurassic World you know that the scientists have created a "genetically modified hybrid" named "Indominus rex." Leaving aside issues about genetic modification and dinosaurs in the Jurassic Park universe, one of the tag lines for this new animal was "Bigger. Louder. More teeth."
Fair enough. From the trailers you know that Dr. Wu says, "She was designed to be...bigger than the T. rex." This also makes sense -Tyrannosaurus is obviously a super-cool animal and would be a big draw at an amusement park like Jurassic World. If you were setting out to make a world-beating attraction then you could do worse than to choose T. rex. While other theropods may have been larger, it is certainly the most charismatic and probably the most well known. So when they are saying that "Indominus" is bigger, louder, and has more teeth they are probably comparing her to Tyrannosaurus.
There's just one problem with that. "Indominus" doesn't have more teeth that T. rex.
As you can see, Tyrannosaurus has a combined total of 15 premaxillary and maxillary teeth. Now let's take a look at some of the promotional images and trailer stills from Jurassic World.
All images (C) Universal Studios.
How many teeth do you see? I count between nine to 11, depending on which motion-blurred image I'm using as reference. This is a situation different from, say David Peters, because in the case of "Indominus" there is no actual skull to do tooth counts with. Unfortunately I have to make do with images.
Here is Chris Pratt under a vehicle in a still taken from a Jurassic World trailer. I have numbered the teeth in the upper jaw (that I can make out), though the depth of field and motion blur make it difficult to be certain on their ID.
So last time I checked 9 < 15. Even 11 < 15. The big, scary "Indominus" has fewer teeth than a Tyrannosaurus. Maybe they were referring to ornithomimosaurs when they were making their comparison? Who can say.
Does this really matter? No, not really. Me nit-picking the strange, croc-toothed creation from Jurassic World doesn't change anything in the grand scheme of things. I just found it amusing that one of their promo points is in fact wrong. It doesn't impact how I feel about the movie, which I enjoyed. It shouldn't change how you feel about the movie.
Want more Jurassic World teeth analysis? Join me next time here at the Prehistoric Pub when I try to figure out what the heck is going on with the "Indominus" dentition!
It's a rainy day out in the field, so while I wait for things to dry up around here, I thought I'd post an an interview. This interview however was from way back in 2011. The questions I asked pretty much set the standard for the questions I still ask today when interviewing. I have tweaked them over the years, but I came up with the following series of questions because it was what I wanted to know as a kid. The interviews I've given over the years have been wonderful. I appreciate the time that everyone has set aside to do them for me and I'm always thankful for the opportunity. OK, let's see what it's doing outside. I will report more soon from the field, but in the meantime, enjoy one of my first interviews below. Until later later everyone!
For those of you who may not know, Dr. Phillip Manning is an internationally renowned paleontologist, fossil hunter and writer. He has taught vertebrate paleontology and evolution at the Universities of Liverpool and Manchester and currently heads the Paleontology Research Group in the School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences (SEAES) at the University of Manchester. Dr. Manning has published papers on many diverse subjects, including dinosaur tracks, theropod biomechanics, arthropod paleontology, vertebrate locomotion, and the evolution of flight in birds. Along with his long list of many accomplishments that continues to grow, Dr. Manning has also worked with National Geographic on an amazing series called Jurassic CSI.
Dr. Manning has always been a hero of mine. On May 17, 2011, I finally got a chance to meet the good doctor in person at a lecture being given by Dr. Jack R. Horner at The Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, PA. It was an absolute honor to meet such an educated gentleman in the field of paleontology. I only wish that I had my copy of Grave Secrets of Dinosaurs by Dr. Manning for him to autograph. I have fond memories of picking up this book when it first came out and never putting it down. I highly recommend picking it up.
Upon meeting Dr. Manning, I was a nervous wreck, but his humbleness will quickly calm you down. He is a brilliant man, but also very down to earth. Passionate about his work and someone I admire greatly. I appreciate him taking the time to hangout and talk with me that night. I learned a lot. Not long after that awesome night of meeting Dr. Manning, we exchanged e-mails. I asked if he would be interested in doing an interview for my website and he graciously said yes! So, without further ado ladies and gentlemen, I give you our interview. Special thanks Dr. Phillip Manning.
You are one of my heroes in the field of paleontology. Who did you admire growing up? I watched Sir David Attenborough on TV whenever I could. The series 'Life on Earth' was quite life-changing for me...I realised we lived in a big world. I have to point out, I was about 7 years old, living in a village in rural Somerset...quite the middle of no-where, but beautiful! I have been lucky enough to meet and work with Sir David on a BBC series a few years ago and he was 'the real deal', a splendid gentlemen and a scholar.
At what age did you get inspired to pursue a career in paleontology? When I first moved to Somerset aged about 6 or 7, I discovered I had Lower Jurassic (Lias) fossil in my own garden. That's when it started proper. However when I was aged 5, i visited the British Museum of Natural History in London, now called the Natural History Museum. Stood before me was the mount of Andrew Carnegie's Diplodocus...wow...that also had a major 96 feet impact on a very small child.
What was your favorite dinosaur growing up? What dinosaur is your favorite now? I had two favourites as a child, and yes...you can probably guess them both...Triceratops and T. rex. I am sooooooo grateful to have been able to find both these dinosaurs in the Hell Creek Formation now. In recent years I have grown very fond of Archaeopteryx....and hope to publish another paper on this beastie soon!
Paleontology is such a diverse field these days involving many disciplines. What advice would you give to an aspiring paleontologist today? My advice is simple, choose the subjects which you most enjoy, as it will be these in which you have most chance to excel. There is no single route into palaeontology, which I know is some folks chosen career path. Many of my palaeo colleagues come from both arts and science background...like myself, others are pure science and some are pure art. The key here, is I took a path that was dictated by no one. If there is a 1+1=2 path to palaeo, I'm afraid i do not know it, as thankfully we are all very different. Darwin made a point of celebrating variation within a single species :-) and we are no exception to this rule. To put it another way, there is no 'one size fits all' route for me to advise any budding bone-hunters out there. This is probably a good thing.
However, If a person has a specific university course in mind, then I urge them to look at the entry requirements now...as this will be an affective gatekeeper after High School. If you have your heart set on being a palaeontologist, you have already taken the most important step. There are few places you can learn passion for a subject, as that is something only a few are gifted with at an early age. It seems that many such folks are also 'one' of the lucky ones.
Going to college these days and then on to grad school has become a daunting task. Many people are unaware of how long it takes to make it to the finish line. The rewards are great, but what would you say to someone pursuing professional studies after college? This is a very tough question, as here I should put-on my 'professor hat' and spout the virtues University and grad school...however, like I said before...we are all very different. Some folks are terrible scientists and do not enjoy the rigours of academia, this is fine...it would be a strange world if we all ended up as 'Dr'. Some of the best field palaeontologists and great thinkers of the field did not have a formal college education. This is fine, many 'trained' academics have a tough time keeping up with 'amateur' enthusiasts. The 9 or 10 years it takes to scratch your way through 1st degree, masters and PhD can and usually is, very tough. I did it, but many do not complete their studies. I have to admit, that doing my MSc and PhD was certainly the hardest things I have done in my life.
What was or is your favorite research project? What are some of your current projects? Some of my favourite projects have involved digging-up dinosaurs on the Isle of Wight. I was lucky enough to help excavate the then un-named, Neovenator from the Lower Cretaceous back in 1989. It was more of a mud-bath than an excavation, as the Wessex Formation from whence it came is a tad sticky. This reminds me of my favourite joke! 'What's brown and sticky?.................a stick :-).....sorry!! My most recent projects have been involved with working on the Stanford Synchrotron, a particle accelerator than can generate super-intense x-rays that allows us to analyse the chemistry of fossils. We have mapped 120 million year old pigment patterns in Chinese fossil birds and even gotten a whiff of pigment in the famous Archaeopteryx....this work continues.
Jurassic Park was the movie I remember as a kid that fueled my passion for dinosaurs. What was your most memorable movie? I have to admit, Jurassic Park was quite a fun romp. I watched the UK premiere, as was studying for my Masters at the University of Manchester at the time. However, my favourite film...is not a palaeo-one, but Lord of the Rings....which I am sure will be overtaken by The Hobbit when that is released.
I remember meeting my first professional paleontologist. Do you remember the first paleontologist you ever met? Were you a nervous wreck? That's another tough question, as I was lucky enough to be taught Geology at school, so had an early intro to the field. However, when I was about about 11 years old I visited the local Museum in the ancient city of Wells (Somerset). I had some fossils that I needed identifying, as I was sure I had found a Lower Jurassic vertebra from a marine reptile....which it turned-out I had! Well's Museum is a strange little place (seemed huge to me then) and the Curator had an apartment in the Museum (strange, funny, odd, but what a great job!). I remember knocking on his door and then sitting down at a small table with my fossils finds. I honestly can't remember if I was worried or not...I think that happens when your much older. Most kids are fearless...I could do with some of that 'fearless' every now and then in my field of work.
Dinosaurs and the animals that lived at the same time as them were amazing creatures. Why do you feel dinosaurs continue to fascinate us? Dinosaurs are the ultimate 'safe' monsters. They are well and truly extinct, but 'monsters they be'...The sheer size and weirdness of these beasties never ceases to gob-smack me every time I see a new specimen.
What is your favorite time period? The years from 1800 to 1860. This was an age of discovery. Here the world changed forever, from an Earth that was perceived to be 6000 years old and created by the hand of God, to an Earth of immense age inhabited by species that have evolved through the natural selective processes of 'decent with modification; into the 'endless forms most beautiful' to paraphrase good old Darwin. The foundations of 'modern geology' and the underpinning of palaeontology was also achieved in this period of time...it must have been a very exciting intellectual landscape in which to romp.
The time span in which the dinosaurs lived in was huge. How do paleontologists remember all that information from such a vast era? Do paleontologist focus on one particular subject? We do not remember, those who say they do....are being economic. We use books, like anyone else, to brush-up on our knowledge as and when required. With the advent of the internet, we can now fact-check things and publish papers ever faster than before...which can be a pain in the rear sometimes, as many papers that should not be published...are!
Project Dryptosaurus has been my passion for as long as I could remember. Why do you feel Dryptosaurus is such an important dinosaur? Dryptosaurus is a curious beastie in many ways. I have to be honest, I prefer Cope's name Laelaps, but this is sadly no longer valid :-( We have the lovely Tom Holtz to blame for that...thanks Tom ;-) However, we can thank Tom for bringing your beastie into the hallowed realm of the tyrannosaurs...woof! Any late Cretaceous large theropod excites folks...especially if they are the kin of T. rex. Here we have one of the worlds oldest discovered big predators from the Late Cretaceous, slap bang near some of the biggest human population centres in North America...we should know more about Dryptosaurus than T. rex!
Today we set out for the badlands of New Mexico and had a rather productive first day. It was a scenic drive and as you get further out, civilization begins to disappear in your rear view mirror. On our way, we enjoyed a wonderful geology lesson via Dr. Axel and also fancied our new field vehicle! Yup, you heard right, we now have a new truck. Complete with air conditioning! Our last truck was very old and has been put out to pasture. I will miss that suburban. She was a good ride and I will always have fond memories of her.
Our old truck.
The new Beast!
On our way into the field.
I was up at 5AM and waited to get picked up by the good doctor. He was there right on the tick as always and soon we were on our way to the museum to load up. There we would meet up with the others. Loading up the trucks is the first important thing we need to do. You definitely don't want to forget anything or you will be up a Triassic creek without a paddle!
Getting the lab ready the night before for when we return.
The first day in the field is usually comprised of uncovering the site and getting organized. Sometimes you have specimens in the ground that could not be taken out during the last class or field season. That being the case, these finds need to be tended to ASAP in order to get them out safe. After a brief lecture, we set out around the site to secure any finds that were left behind. Specimens left behind are wrapped in plaster casts or covered with tarps to keep them safe from the harsh elements of the desert. Along with uncovering the finds, we all have the pleasure of unloading the equipment we will be using for the time we are at the site.
Tarp covering important specimens from last field class.
The first day is mostly about prepping the site, but just by prospecting around, you can see evidence of what this area once looked like. Fish! Yes, fish scales, fish parts, and lots of fish fossils liter the quarry floor. They tend to look exploded, but overall they are very beautiful to look at. They are a perfect fossil in which to gauge what the area must of been like during the Late Triassic.
Fish fossil. Notice the beautiful scales.
At our locality, fossils we find are sometimes found on the surface. Trace fossils are often seen in the area. Gretchen, our museum director, found a gorgeous example. A trace fossil is an imprint of a specimen. Dinosaur tracks are good examples of trace fossils. Plants, insects, and other types of organisms can leave fossilized imprints for us to find. Below are a few examples of burrows found in the area. These are trace fossils that have become very prevalent in recent field seasons.
Burrows from an overturned piece of mud stone.
Gorgeous piece found by Gretchen.
You can also find bone material out on the surface at times. While unwrapping a site we call Bravo West, Gretchen our museum director found a small bone. Finds that are found out and about are sometimes labeled as a "Float." Float meaning we don't know for sure where the fossil might have come from. A good example would be a couple of turtle shell pieces I found while prospecting about. Way above our dig site is a formation from the Pleistocene. In seasons past, large turtle shells have been found at the base of the cliff side. Now, where is the source of these pieces? That is yet to be discovered!
Small bone found by Gretchen while uncovering Bravo West.
Turtle shell pieces that were transported down a steep hill.
Out in the field, you sometimes encounter wildlife. While it is rare to spot something like a wild boar or mountain lion, little creatures scamper about. I was lucky enough to get up, close, and personal with a Collard Lizard. He was very calm as I approached him. Probably doesn't get many Jersey Boys bothering him, so he let my presence slide. No spiders thank the maker! I am terrified of Tarantulas. Hopefully I don't encounter any this field season.
I really enjoyed our first day in the field. Always something new and exciting to learn. I had a productive first day and so did our team! We have a great group this year as always and we all made fantastic discoveries. All this on the first day! Not far from where I am currently working, the previous field team uncovered a phytosaur mandible! It will take some time to get out, but it looks sweet! The first thing I uncovered was a tooth. Right under it was a vertebrae. These two items remain as it is pouring rain outside. The weather outside is pretty nasty at the moment. In all my years coming out here, I have never seen the weeds so high from all the rain. Everything I found was located several centimeters below the quarry floor. My best find of the day was a piece of a phytosaur skull! A decent size too! We shall see what tomorrow brings.
Tooth I found.
Looking good, but not the smartest field gear to wear out in the desert. This was during the cool morning.
I mentioned yesterday that I would be posting live from the field. Well, by live I mean whenever I get a chance ha ha. As things progress, I will be limited on time, but I will post whenever I can from out here! Until next time, have a great night everyone.
Fossil of a fresh water clam Dr. Axel found while examining my phytosaur skull.
Jurassic World! My family loved it! So many great moments, but one of the most memorable scenes for me was also the most brief. It involved a gentleman evading a pterosaur attack while carefully moving his margaritas. Two margaritas to be exact. Epic! As a mixologist, I fully appreciate this move. Not to mention how much those drinks must of cost! Earlier in the movie, a gentleman made a comment about $7 dollar sodas, so I'm sure these puppies must of fetched about 15 bucks a piece! You bet your ass I'd take my margaritas with me! I don't have a clip, but a brilliant artist made an animated gif about it! If you click the picture, it will take you to the source.
In honor of Jurassic Park, the movie, & Jimmy Buffett, I give you a Jurassic Margarita made by yours truly! All the ingredients shown here made with fresh lime juice, dash of simple syrup, salted rim, & dash of cherry juice for effect. Enjoy!
The park is open and everybody is talking about Jurassic World! My family and I loved it and you can say for sure that we are definitely obsessed with the movie. I love having the feelings I did when I first saw the original film. Seeing Jurassic World brought back old memories and created new ones for my son Joey. Along with making a day of going to see Jurassic World, we picked up the Lego game featuring all four films! Lego Jurassic World is an epic game.
Lego Jurassic World is an amazing game. We picked it up prior to seeing the film, so being that the game featured all four films, we were careful to not play the new movie levels. After all, this game is like playing the movies, but with Legos! One aspect of the game that definitely stands out is the soundtrack. Wow, truly wow. We were so excited and blown away listening to Lego Jurassic World's stunning musical score. From the music to sound effects, this game was perfect. The game also features the actors voices from all four films! Another great part of the game my son Joey loves is the comedy that the game implements into the levels and cut scenes. I don't want to spoil the game for those who haven't played it, so I will just say the game has a lot of surprises that are cute and funny.
OK, so as if this game wasn't awesome enough, it also allows you to create your own Lego characters! That being said, my son Joey was so excited to create some of daddy's friends that are real people working in the field of paleontology! How cool is that? Below are a few examples and I will continue to add more in time as he creates them, so check back to this post soon. Each character Joey created has a code that you can enter in the Jurassic World's Visitor Center via the game. Simply enter the code and play as the Lego character you want. I also included links to learn more about the real people. Happy Lego building everyone!
In 1865, paleontologist Joseph Leidy described an isolated tooth found in Gloucester County, New Jersey. He believed it to be a marine reptile at first and named the beast Tomodon. As fate would have it, Joseph Leidy later changed the name to Diplotomodon in 1868 because the original name had been taken for another animal. Ironically enough, a dinosaur by the name of Dryptosaurus would suffer this same name ordeal years later. Diplotomodon means "double cutting tooth." It lived during the same time as Dryptosaurus.
In 1870, paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope described the tooth and believed it to be from a carnivorous dinosaur. This idea is pretty much shared today. Today, the tooth is mostly regarded as a nomen dubium or simply put, an unknown. The sad part of this story is that although the tooth was described and photographed, it was lost. Hopefully in the future more will be discovered, but only time will tell.
Works Cited:
Gallagher, William B. When Dinosaurs Roamed New Jersey. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers UP, 1997. 104, 110. Print.
Wow...remember the Jurassic Park Institute website? For those of you who don't, the following article appeared in a 12/01/2001 issue of THE Journal:
Universal Studios has launched the Jurassic Park Institute (JPI), a science-based and educationally focused program that will include a Web site, a dinosaur-themed in-school program, traveling dinosaur-themed museum exhibits, and an online kids club in partnership with education.com. Working with some of the world's leading paleontologists, JPI will be factual and scientifically accurate.
The first phase of the institute's development is the launch of http://www.jpinstitute.com/, a Web site that features a variety of news, information, games, activities and guides for dinosaur enthusiasts. Visitors will find the latest dinosaur news, ranging from recent discoveries, to editorials from leading paleontologists, to entertainment news. Students will also be able to play a variety of dinosaur-themed games, and search through the Dinopedia to learn about their favorite dinosaurs and the world in which they lived. They can also locate dinosaur exhibits in their local areas. Beginning in early 2002, the site will be expanded to include a dynamic, in-school program. A series of traveling dinosaur exhibits is also set to begin in spring 2002.
The institute continues with the launch of JPI Rangers Club, a membership-based site located in education.com's KidSpace channel. The club will provide members with exclusive educational online games and activities, an online journal and more. Universal Studios, Hollywood, CA, http://www.universalstudios.com/.
I remember logging onto this awesome site on a daily basis and couldn't wait to see what was new! I hope one day we will see this amazing site resurrected. It really was a great idea and the possibilities could have been endless. One part I remember most from The Jurassic Park Institute was a section called "DINOPEDIA". On this page, you could access information on pretty much any dinosaur known at the time. You could even look up three dinosaurs from New Jersey! Well, Diplotomodon today is mostly considered a nomen dubium, which basically means "unknown." Below are the cards from the site that are no longer accessible. Enjoy!
