Dr. Thomas Holtz is my George Clooney.

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.

Tap Talk Tuesday with Dr. Phillip Manning!

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!

Works Cited:

Dr.Phil Manning (School of Earth, Atmospheric and Enviormental Science - The University of Manchester). Web.10 Jan. 2012

Hello and Introduction

Howdy all!
I'm new to the team here at the Prehistoric Pub and to blogging in general. I figured I would introduce myself to you all and let you get to know me!
I'm Rob Gay and I am a paleontologist in Arizona. Ever since I was a kid I have loved dinosaurs and other prehistoric wildlife and knew that this is what I wanted to be. Flash forward to the present and here I am - living the dream as it were.

Here's me, contemplating the dream.

My research has focused on the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic of the Colorado Plateau (you can look at some of my publications here). I am particularly interested in how the terrestrial faunas of what is now the American Southwest were structured 50 million years after the Permo-Triassic extinction (the largest in the history of the world) and how this structure changed and adapted to the "new world" of the Jurassic after the Triassic-Jurassic extinction.

I am currently engaged in several projects related to this overall line of research. I am doing a study on collections biases in the Kayenta Formation to see how our view of this ecosystem may be skewed. This may in turn impact our understanding of how these ecosystems actually functioned. This might seem a minor point but if we want to see how biological systems recover from extinction then we need to know what the systems actually looked like and how they functioned.

I also have been working for several years now in the Chinle Formation of southeastern Utah, both with a team from the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site at Johnson Farm and the Natural History Museum, as well as with a team from my high school paleontology program - the only one at a public school in the country. The Chinle Formation is well known in Arizona (at the Petrified Forest) and in New Mexico (at places like Ghost Ranch) for the amazing variety of life from the dawn of the age of dinosaurs. Utah is also well known for its prehistoric life, but the Late Triassic Period has been rather underrepresented. Between work in Lisbon Valley and at Comb Ridge we are starting to piece together just what this area looked like 203 million years ago. We have identified new and unusual types of reptiles as well as documenting the presence of a plant-eating crocodile-like reptile known as Crosbysaurus. In the case of Crosbysaurus, this is the first time it has been reported from the state of Utah.

The tooth of Crosbysaurus from Comb Ridge. Abbreviations: Ap, apex; DD, distal denticles; MD, mesial denticles; RP, resorption pit. Scale = 1 mm. Image is from Gay and St. Aude (2015), CC-BY 4.0

I am very pleased with our Comb Ridge work in general because it is all with my high school students. They get a chance to experience real-world hands-on science by being involved in all aspects of vertebrate paleontology - including publication! I know I will blog a lot more about this in the future so I won't belabor it here!

In addition to all of my paleontology work I am also a dog-parent of two awesome beasts. I like playing video games. I enjoy craft beers; I am on a saison kick right now due to it being summer, but IPAs are my thing generally. I'm looking forward to letting more people know about my students' research, my research, and generally interacting with folks on here. Cheers!

Lego Jurassic World!

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!

Paleontologist Dr. Thomas Holtz

Unlock Code:  sBzBCQCyBCDBDBC

Paleontologist Lee Hall

Unlock Code:  DDBSBCGBVCVChBC

Paleontologist Jeff Martz

Unlock Code:  hCBVBCrCcBCjCQCH

Paleontologist Ashley Hall

Unlock Code:  BWBXBCnBdBCfBTB

Mixologist Gary Vecchiarelli

Unlock Code:  QcBwBCwCRCCpBFBJ

Paleontologist Heinrich Mallison

Unlock Code:  QBxBPBVCCVCfC

Paleontologist Andrew A. Farke

Unlock Code:  BBBSBCQCXCCqBxBN

Paleontologist James I. Krikland

Unlock Code:  DBBZBCFDWCCwBMCC

Paleontologist Donald Prothero

Unlock Code:  QwBfBClBmBClBxBH

Paleontologist Steve Brusatte

Unlock Code:  WCBkBCZCVCCXCxBJ

Paleontologist Anthony Maltese

Unlock Code: kCBDCCrCVCCXCxBJ

Paleontologist Tony Martin

Unlock Code:  hCBDCCpCVCCXCxBN

More Coming!  Check back soon!

Science Sunday with paleontologist Matthew Bonnan!

Matthew Bonnan is a vertebrate paleobiologist and an Associate Professor of Biology at Stockton University in New Jersey. His research focuses on the evolution of locomotion in sauropod dinosaurs and more broadly on the evolution of forelimb posture in reptiles, birds, and mammals. His research combines traditional anatomical approaches with computer-aided modeling, and recently XROMM (X-ray Reconstruction of Moving Morphology) to reconstruct the three-dimensional movements of limb bones in live mammals and reptiles. He lives in Hammonton, New Jersey, with wife and fellow academic Jess Bonnan-White, his two children, Quinn and Max, and several pets.

Question 1: 

You are one of my heroes in the field of paleontology.  Who did you admire growing up?

Hi, Gary. I’m flattered to be considered someone’s hero – it’s an honor! Have you met me? =) Growing up, I suppose several people who authored books on science and paleontology would vie for that title, including Bob Bakker, Greg Paul, and Carl Sagan. Honestly, though, it was Dougal Dixon who would prove to be the most inspiring because he responded to a type-written letter I sent him. I was thirteen and had read his book, Time Exposure. In that book, he made the argument that Tyrannosaurus rex was probably not fast and likely a scavenger. This did not sit well with me, and I wrote him, marshalling what data I could from the books in my bedroom, to explain why he was wrong. He not only responded, but was kind and encouraging even though he disagreed with some of my “theories.” It taught me a valuable lesson – in science, we can disagree without having to be disagreeable.

Question 2:

At what age did you get inspired to pursue a career in paleontology? 

I was five when I decided to be a paleontologist, but I don’t actually know why I decided that – I didn’t really have an “aha” moment like some people describe. Instead, I just got to really liking dinosaurs and reptiles in general, and that was how it went. Also, my fascination for dinosaurs waned like it does for many kids. Truth be told, I was also very fascinated by sound effects in movies and how soundtracks are edited. As a little kid, I would buy the records (I know, right, vinyl before it was cool!) of movies like Star Wars and listen to the music passages over and over until they were part of my DNA. Then if I saw the movie again, I would mentally note how they changed the music to fit a scene, and would try to replicate that on my cassette player at home. In college, I even did a stint as a DJ and got to edit and remix music for a show. I still do that as a hobby, so music production and editing might have won out.

But in middle school, out of boredom, I picked up a book on a bookshelf that Barrie Jaeger, a friend of my mother’s, had given me when I was five. It was John C. McLoughlin’s book, Archosauria: A New Look at the Old Dinosaur, and I was now old enough to read and understand it. And it blew my little mind. Here were dinosaurs that could be covered with feathers, or warm-blooded! His descriptions of herds of sauropods being following theropods was just so arresting to my middle-school mind, and I realized dinosaurs were actually pretty cool. It was around this same time that the books by Bakker and Paul were published, and I read those cover to cover, and was insanely jealous of the artwork. So, by the time I entered high school, it was pretty clear I was going to be a paleontologist for real … at least in my mind.

Question 3:

What was your favorite dinosaur growing up?  What dinosaur is your favorite now?

My favorite dinosaur growing up was Apatosaurus, although I did like Deinonychus and Velociraptor before they were cool. =) Something about sauropods was always fascinating – the size, the long necks, the image of these giants migrating across the landscape. My favorite dinosaur now is Aardonyx – I did help discover and name it, so there is some bias there.

Question 4:

Paleontology is such a diverse field these days involving many disciplines.  What advice would you give to an aspiring paleontologist today?

Paleontology is interdisciplinary, so you have to be flexible and open to different experiences. I think it’s important to identify your strengths and weaknesses and your likes and dislikes, and that’s why volunteering and internships are so important. You will never understand any science until you do it, so any experiences are valuable. For example, I think we give young people a skewed idea of what modern paleontology is about. There’s this an unspoken assumption that all of us are great in the field and spend every summer digging out new specimens. Some of us certainly are, but I am not among those who do. I found that anatomy and functional morphology (how the shape of the skeleton informs us about how it works) were my strengths and where my excitement in research lies. I have had the privilege of going to the field many times, but my strength is not in geology and field work. The discovery of Aardonyx, for example, was a team effort, and my role was assessing the anatomy and functional morphology of the dinosaur. But other members of the team helped us figure out when in time it was and the geological context – Johann Neveling, for example, is an outstanding field geologist, and were it not for his expertise we might not have any good idea about when and under what circumstances Aardonyxcame to be buried. Adam Yates is an outstanding taxonomist, and so he was able to establish the species based on his expertise.  And we were blessed to work with AnusuyaChinsamy-Turan who did the bone histology work which showed us Aardonyx was young and still growing. I guess what I’m getting at is that modern paleontology is diverse and requires integrated teamwork. Ideally, you all bring your joy and expertise to a problem or project, and the end result is bigger and better than the sum of its parts.

I suppose my strongest advice is go where the opportunities are and study the things that fewer people are looking at. Don’t pigeon-hole yourself too early and be flexible. There are so many things to study, and a great strategy is to study the organisms that fewer people are interested in at that time. In this way, you become a rare expert on a group of organisms or a part of their anatomy that few other people are, and that opens doors because it makes you a more valuable collaborator. As I found for myself, almost any organism or anatomy or evolutionary history is bound to have mysteries and questions to solve.

Question 5:

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?

To me, the most difficult part of going to graduate school was watching my peer group get jobs, settle down, have families, and all of that other life stuff. I think it can be emotionally trying even if you are steadfast in your pursuit of research and you are doing something you love. You’re spending most of your 20s and in some cases part of your 30s earning very little, living paycheck to paycheck, and playing a game of calculated risk. After a while, it feels like your family and friends are looking at you like, “what are you doing with their life?” Sometimes people tell you something like that to your face.

I wrote a recent blog post on this topic, so to reiterate that a bit, I would say there is no one path to success. In the sciences, there can be this unspoken (or spoken) assumption that success is defined narrowly by landing a research job in a big lab with lots of graduate students. But there are many opportunities for those who can combine teaching and research. And you often end up working in teams these days, so many of us partner with different people in different labs or field stations, collaborating to use all sorts of equipment and supplies that would not be available to any one individual.

The good news is, once you manage to land a professorship, you often find that you will catch up with and in some cases surpass your peer group in terms of the life stuff. But there is no doubt going to graduate school is a difficult choice and a commitment. This is why you have to love what you do to get you through the difficult and financially poorer times. And to come full circle back to being flexible, don’t limit yourself in terms of what jobs you will or won’t take. Certainly, know your value and be true to yourself, but if you only wait for a particular type of position, you are often severely limiting your job prospects.

Question 6:

What was or is your favorite research project?  What are some of your current projects?

I suspect I am like a lot of scientists I know in that the current project tends to be the favorite project because that is where your mental energies and excitement are directed. To be fair, the discovery and description of Aardonyx was a highlight I will forever treasure. But since graduate school I have had nagging questions about forelimb posture in dinosaurs that were just not getting answered to my satisfaction using shape analysis and anatomical study. I felt I had sort of reached the end of what I could learn with morphometrics and comparative anatomy about four or five years ago, and wanted to do something I had always dreamed of doing since graduate school: x-ray movies of live reptiles and birds to see how their bones moved when they were alive.

I am grateful to Beth Brainerd, Stephen Gatesy, David Baier, Peter Falkingham, and the XROMM practitioners at Brown University for providing an unbelievable opportunity to learn their technique. For those who don’t know, XROMM allows you to reconstruct three-dimensional moving X-rays of live animal skeletons! One of the lessons that has slowly but surely sunk into my head is that when doing science, especially something new to you, start simple and get complex over time. Ideally, doing X-ray movies of alligators would have been fantastic, but the logistics of doing that right off the bat would have been daunting and dangerous. But then it occurred to me that forelimb posture in early mammals is debated (it seems early mammals had a less-than-erect forelimb posture), and so far as I could tell there were few studies on live bone movements (in vivo kinematics) on rat forelimbs. So what I’ve been up to the past three years has been learning XROMM and filming and analyzing rat forelimb skeleton movements. And it’s been fascinating. And I can’t say too much more because we’ve got a paper on this very thing that will come out sometime later this year, so you can all find out then.

I was fortunate in the meantime to receive internal support and support from various New Jersey funding streams to begin assembling my own XROMM lab at Stockton! Our lab director, Justine Ciraolo, is just the best and has been so supportive in getting our lab setup.  It helps as well to work with an amazingly friendly and helpful animal caretaker, John Rokita. I also have this fantastic physics colleague, Jason Shulman, who has been a great collaborator – there’s a lot of physics involved with any analysis of movement! We (my undergraduate students and I) currently have bearded dragons and monitor lizards, and we’re training those to run on a treadmill – that’s so they stay in front of cameras and X-ray equipment long enough to capture their step cycles. Yes, I know, lizards are not archosaurs and they’re not anywhere close to the size of sauropods, but they are in the size range of many of the early ancestors of dinosaurs and the earliest archosaurs had a non-erect forelimb posture. So we’ll see what we find. Bone form and function go together, and my hope is that once we learn more about how the bones of the forelimb move in living reptiles, we can compare the shapes to fossil reptiles and start putting some brackets on what was and was not possible in terms of movement. It’s all very exciting for me!

Question 7:

Jurassic Park was the movie I remember as a kid that fueled my passion for dinosaurs.  What was your most memorable movie?

Honestly, it was the Star Wars trilogy and the Indiana Jones movies that were my favorites growing up, and Jaws was in there too. I was a bit too old for Jurassic Park to fuel my passion, but I do remember being blown away by what were then amazing special effects. But I was also interning for Jim Kirkland, Dinamation International Society, and the Museum of Western Colorado that summer (1993), and so I was already being skeptical about what was projected on the screen.

Question 8:

I remember meeting my first professional paleontologist.  Do you remember the first paleontologist you ever met?  Were you a nervous wreck?  

I was in 6^th or 7^th grade when I met my first paleontologists at the Field Museum in Chicago – I grew up in Roselle, Illinois, which is in the Northwest suburbs around Chicago. I remember my mom took to me to a special kid and adult event on dinosaurs at the Field Museum and there was a lecture on dinosaurs by Bill Simpson and some other paleontologists at the museum. I nervously raised my hand and asked a question about coelurosaurs being related to birds (this was ~1986) and I was relieved that my question was answered professionally and seriously!  I think none of us realize the effect we have on others and how what seem simple gestures at one time can have profound and lasting impacts on someone’s life.

Question 9:

Dinosaurs and the animals that lived at the same time as them were amazing creatures.  Why do you feel dinosaurs continue to fascinate us?

I think dinosaurs stir the wonder and mystery that enthralls all of us. A dinosaur skeleton confronts you with the realization that on this same planet were different times and pasts that were alien but also very, very real. It’s that vertigo sense of deep time – that things have not been static but have and continue to change. Dinosaurs put things in perspective – there is no such thing as a typical time on Earth.  I know many paleontologists grow weary of answering questions about the death of the dinosaurs (well, the non-avian dinosaurs), but I think that does play a role in their popularity. Here you had these amazingly diverse and successful animals and then in a geological blink they were gone, perhaps under fairly catastrophic circumstances. If non-avian dinosaurs could go extinct, what about us? It’s fairly deep and heady stuff.

As a kid in the 1980s, I “knew” that birds had to be dinosaurs from reading books like Bakker’s Dinosaur Heresies, and so I think what has been mind-blowing to see is how much the acceptance of birds as dinosaurs has changed. When I was a Kindergartener in the 1970s, everyone “knew” the dinosaurs were gone for good. Now, we see them all around us – you can reach out and touch a live dinosaur! But I think it also shows us that dinosaurs were animals, and to truly understand them, we have to understand, preserve, and respect their living relatives and the great diversity of creatures that we co-inhabit the planet with.

Question 10:

What is your favorite time period?

Well, that’s a hard one. Not too long ago I would have told you the Jurassic period because that is when sauropods first became huge. But the Triassic is really pulling my heartstrings lately –that’s when the forelimbs of dinosaurs and mammals began a transition from a less to a more erect posture, and I want to know more about that.  The Cretaceous gets all the press, and for many good reasons, but I have come to value the beginnings of the Mesozoic to be equally intriguing because that is foundation upon which the great Cretaceous diversity was built upon.

Question 11:  Where can folks go to learn more about your research?

I have a blog called The Evolving Paleontologist: http://matthewbonnan.wordpress.com/

You can also follow me on twitter: @MattBonnan

Question 12:

What’s your favorite drink?

Bourbon and coke.

Gary:  Thank you! 

Tap Talk Tuesday with Lee Hall!

I am currently a paleontological consultant working out of the Los Angeles area. In 2011 I graduated from Montana State University with my B. Sc. in Paleontology. My job involves a combination of research, writing and field monitoring throughout southern California's deserts and other fossil-laden places. Consulting is a different world than academic paleontology, but it is an interesting and enriching experience. I also maintain some personal research projects on my own time, and I am happy to continue to contribute to the scientific literature. I think 5-year-old Lee would be happy to know I've made it this far.

Striking a pose with a cast of "Stan" at the Discovery Science Center in Anaheim, California. (Photo provided by Lee Hall.)

Question 1: You are currently involved in the field of paleontology. Who did you admire growing up in regards to this fascinating field?

It's kind of weird, but I didn't really have an idol as a kid. In a way, I admired books. Until I started working with museums, everything I knew about science was derived from reading. One of my favorite books was "Hunting Dinosaurs" by Louie Psihoyos. It was (and still is) a great look at the diverse research topics in dinosaur paleontology. That book introduced me to a lot of the scientists who were answering cool questions about dinosaurs. At that point I went from just wanting to find fossils to wanting to be like the people in that book.

Question 2: At what age did you get inspired to pursue a career in paleontology?

I got serious about it in high school, and luck played a decent part. I was always the nerdy kid who knew about dinosaurs growing up. I thought I'd just "be a paleontologist" when I grew up. In a small Great Plains farm town. We had one museum with fossils: the W. H. Over museum. I think there was a cast of Archelon on display and maybe an ammonite or two- not much. My hometown did have a small college and there were a couple of paleontologists there: Dr. Gary Johnson, who studied Permian sharks, and Dr. Tim Heaton, who worked on sea cave faunas in southeast Alaska. When I was a freshman, I interviewed them for a big research project for my English class. Later that year there was a visiting speaker for Earth Science Week- Dr. Jack Horner from the Museum of the Rockies. He was kind enough to invite me to work on his field crews in Montana for the next summer. At that point, I got pretty serious about it.

Question 3: What was your favorite dinosaur growing up? What dinosaur is your favorite now?

Growing up? Probably T. rex, but my favorite dinosaur toy was a crappy Styracosaurus- one with sharp teeth and practically no frill. I think it was orange. Now I would have to say that Styracosaurus is my favorite dinosaur. That head is crazy!

Excavating "T-tops" the Triceratops in 2011 from the Hell Creek. We first found the squamosal bone, the large blade-like lateral bone of the frill. While excavating around it, the syncervical (the fused first vertebrae of the neck) was discovered. This site was notorious for the long hike it took to get there. Another Triceratops site found later that summer was nicknamed the "Not 2 mile Trike" site. (Photo provided by Lee Hall.)

Question 4: Paleontology is such a diverse field these days involving many disciplines. What advice would you give to an aspiring paleontologist today?

Paleontology is a serious scientific discipline. You will have to take a lot of technical geology and biology courses. It isn't just about finding dinosaur bones. Should you choose to pursue paleontology as a career, be prepared to work very hard and make a lot of sacrifices. Be an opportunist and jump at any chance you can get to learn or try something new. Those skills will make you or break you in the long run. Above all else, work as hard as you can.

Question 5: Were there any subjects in college you dreaded?

Calculus. I was a terrible math student. I had to take it 5 times at two different schools before I passed it. Looking back, I'll say this about calculus: the 'calculus' stuff isnt' the hard part. It's the algebra. It's always the algebra. Once my algebra got better, calculus was no problem. Algebra is to calculus as instructions are to LEGO sets. You're going to have a hard time without knowing how the guts work.

Question 6: What was or is your favorite research project? What are some of your current projects?

I've really enjoyed working on a two-parter project with my friend Denver Fowler (who is currently pursuing a PhD at Montana State) and my fiancee Ashley Fragomeni (an assistant curator at the Raymond Alf Museum of Paleontology in Claremont, CA. Oh, and she's an educator at the LA Museum of Natural History. And the Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits. She does a lot.) A couple of years ago, Denver and I published a paper about sauropod hindclaws. We were assessing the validity of something called the substrate grip hypothesis, which suggested that the unique form of sauropod hind claws lended them to acting sort of like cleats in mud. We compared this to the scratch-digging hypothesis, which suggested that the morphology of hindfoot claws in sauropods was more useful for digging, and perhaps for excavating nests. Fast forward to this past year, myself Ashley and Denver have been working on part 2 of that study, which is essentially a follow up looking through the fossil trackway record for evidence of these behaviors. It's really very interesting! I've also been working with John and Kari Scannella (of Montana State) on a project involving horned dinosaurs, and it has allowed me to do some research into pathologies. Really gross, and really fascinating.

Question 7: Jurassic Park was the movie I remember as a kid that fueled my passion for dinosaurs. What was your most memorable movie?

Well I'm a huge fan of Star Trek, and one of the few movies I got to see in theaters as a kid was the last of the original crew's films (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country). But I think Jurassic Park was one of the most fun movie experiences of my childhood. It certainly didn't hurt my enthusiasm for fossils and natural history, and I benefited from the flood of paleontology books and media that inundated television, magazines and book stores for years afterwards. I must have seen it half a dozen times. I'd scrape together pennies and nickels to buy a ticket, and the college kid at the ticket kiosk would take a look at the pile of change and just wave me in. Then I'd use the change to buy popcorn and candy.

The freshly jacketed syncervicals of a Triceratops, excavated from Montana's Hell Creek formation. (Photo provided by Lee Hall.)

Question 8: I remember meeting my first professional paleontologist. Do you remember the first paleontologist you ever met? Were you a nervous wreck?

I was a little nervous. My earliest recollection was with Dr. Gary Johnson at the University of South Dakota. I was amazed by his collection of shark spines, teeth and bones and his office smelled richly of pipe tobacco. He was very nice to me, and very patient with my questions. I remember he had framed fantasy art hanging at the top of his walls sort of ringing the room. They were vivid, stylized depictions of pterosaurs and saber toothed cats, and *ahem* huntresses. My first impression with a paleontologist was pretty unforgettable.

Question 9: Dinosaurs and the animals that lived at the same time as them were amazing creatures. Why do you feel dinosaurs continue to fascinate us?

I don't want to over analyze this question, so the meat of it is this. Our brains love to categorize organisms: food, venomous, predator, fast/slow, bitey, etc. We also recognize that skeletons are direct evidence of an animal having been very much alive at one point, so we can look at a dinosaur and our brains try to fit it into these categories. But we are left to our imaginations to fill in the gaps. It's a very strange place for your brain to be caught- sort of back in time but in the present, imagining behaviors and noises and colors all at once. You ultimately feel that they would surely have eaten you or stomped you or impaled you in life, but those fears are rendered inert by the fact that they're extinct. And that's fascinating to us hominids.

Question 10: What is your favorite time period?

I love the cretaceous. No contest. It's where I've spent most of my time in the field. There's no place like home. On the opposite end of that spectrum is quaternary alluvium. For a dinosaur paleontologist, it's like being forced to visit your grandma's weird friend's house. Everything is different. And it smells funny.

Question 11: Coelophysis is my favorite dinosaur from the sites I work in ! What is your favorite dinosaur from your fieldwork sites?

I've spent a lot of time in the Hell Creek formation, and I really love finding Triceratops bones. They're just cool. Frills, horns, and beaks- I remember one day I was prospecting and walked up on a small mudstone knob. I froze in place because a Triceratops skull was laying on its side right in front of me. Just like that. I could see all the bones: nasal horn, postorbital horns, orbit, jugal. Nothing beats an experience like that.

Question 12: Geology, among many disciplines of study, is such a vital subject when studying the past. Why do you feel this background is important to know when hunting dinosaurs?

Understanding geology allows you to give fossils a time and a place to exist. Rocks give you environments. They give you events. They give you time. Once you realize that you can build a much more complete image of our past Earth. Fossils can be a very powerful tool for understanding how evolution works and for examining its processes and directions. Or they can sit in a foyer. Point being, to get the fully rounded picture you need to look at the rocks. Being a paleontologist is like trying to put together a book whose pages have been dropped from a plane and scattered across the desert for years, bleaching, fading and tearing. You'll never get all those pages back, but if you're going to call yourself a paleontologist and a scientist you'd better never stop trying to find them.

John Scannella (in black) and I assess the logistics of flipping a large jacket at the "Ducky Tail" site. This specimen consisted of most of the legs and tail of an Edmontosaurus from the Hell Creek. It was very cool because the neural spines of the caudal vertebrae preserved a string of pathologies that extended over quite a few of the bones. We ended up flipping the jacket with human power and flew it out with a Huey helicopter. (Photo provided by Lee Hall.)

Question 13: Where can our audience go to learn more about your work and support what you do?

If people want to read some stuff about me they can check out my (unprofessionally maintained) website at: http://sites.google.com/site/leehallpaleo
I spent quite a few years working at the Museum of the Rockies and Montana State University (Shout out to Drs. David Varricchio, Frankie Jackson and Jim Schmitt!) and I detail some of that work on my website.

I have a twitter account (doesn't everyone now?) @paleeoguy

I'll also be gladly accepting offers for fully funded graduate program opportunities if anyone is interested in a self-motivated guy with a BSc in paleontology, 10+ years of field experience and a small (but independently growing!) list of publications (See you at SVP).

Question 14: What else do you enjoy? What other interesting hobbies do you have?

I love making prop replicas. I made a pretty cool Ghostbusters outfit back in college. I had the whole thing, the pack, the suit, blinking lights. It was legit. If I had a garage I'd probably always be in there trying to put something together. As it stands, I'm currently in a 1 bedroom apartment in Los Angeles and spend a lot of time out in the desert. No room, no time. Someday I'd like to really get back into it. Have I said that I like Star Trek? I've never been to a convention, but I have seen a few actors around LA who played roles in the various TV shows. I have a cat.

We used helicopters to remove large fossil jackets from the field. Jackets would be lifted, rolled or wiggled into a cargo net and a chopper would fly in and drop a cable to pick up the goods. One of us would clamp the net cable to the chopper cable, give the pilot a thumbs up, and get out of the way! (Photo provided by Lee Hall.)

Question 15: Have you ever been to New Jersey?

No! I was actually born in Maryland and lived on the east coast until I was 5 or 6, then the family moved to South Dakota. Is the Haddonfield marl pit gone? I've always thought it would be cool to see the approximate area where Cope and Marsh last parted on amiable terms. Come to think of it, my college roommate was from Piscataway and his mom would send us cheesecake from a local bakery. That's the closest I've come!