Feeding a Rex: Dead or Alive

A scavenging T. rex may diminish the real and cultural ferocity of this extinct dinosaur but that was a reasonable assumption in recent years. Would a T. rex pass up a free meal; or would he prefer the chase? A new study led by Chris Carbone, Intra-guild competition and its implication for one of the biggest terrestrial predators, Tyrannosaurus rex (also see http://www.livescience.com/animals/t-rex-hunted-prey-110125.html ) suggest that the food supply favors a hunting rex, restoring the king to its esteemed position, rather than the dumpster-diving reptile. Based on an estimate of body-size of herbivorous dinosaurs in the Late Cretaceous, nearly half were in the small kg range where small theropod dinosaurs would be in direct competition with T. rex. Avoiding the challenges of competition, "T. rex and other extremely large carnivorous dinosaurs...would have primarily hunted large vertebrate prey, similar to many large mammalian carnivores in modern-day ecosystems."

A book token is worth a thousand words (or more)

From the Guardian website, the favor of books instead of toys is supported by the long history of 'book tokens'. "Book tokens are like money, but better - you can't be distracted by spontaneous non-book purchases that you'll only regret later..." writer David Barnett glee's. And, quite aptly notes, that "Buying a book "cold"," - buying one as a gift for someone who is only modestly biblio inclined - "is like buying underwear as a present - you either completely ace it or get it spectacularly, shame-inducing wrong." Book tokens to the rescue.

Closing the Books

"Up to 800 - a fifth of the total - [librairies in the UK] could close as local authorities look for savings," according to the Guardian.

Ammonite Food Viewed by X-ray Eyes

Authors Kruta et al (2011, the Role of Ammonites in the Mesozoic Marine Food Web Revealed by Jaw Preservation, Science, vol. 331, p. 70-72; also see Tanabe, 2011, The Feeding Habits of Ammonites, Science, vol. 331, p. 37-38) utilize synchrotron x-ray microtomography, the newest wonder-tool of palaeontology - to examine the innards of a small handful of Baculites, a squid-like creature with an external shell, extremely common in Late Cretaceous deposits of North America but with a much earlier origin. What they find is the buccal mass - the upper and lower jaw, and radula - which is considerably less preserved. Within one, they "document a larval shell of a gastropod and three fragments of crustaceans." Based on jaw morphology (which is often related to diet) they are able to determine that "are incompatible with biting and tearing large prey". The "buccal apparatus in Baculites" they contend "is an adaptation for capturing and eating small organisms in the water column" rather than the more aggressive snagging and consuming large prey. Favoring small organisms may have been their downfall at the end of the Cretaceous Period with "the marked ... decline in several groups of plankton."
It will be interesting to see if 1) synchrotron x-ray microtomography has the same capabilities across a wider spectrum of ammonoid species, and 2) if the feeding strategy remains the same. Whatever, this new 'paleo-toy' has great potential.

Paleo Murder Mystery - But does it work?

According to the Washington times, The Dinosaur Hunter by Homer Hickam places paleontologists, murder, police detectives into a mixing bowl to create something that is completely inedible. That said, as a collector, it will still be something I'll get; for those dreary, rainy days in the summer where a book and a comfortable couch or bed will do just nicely.

The Oprah Chilling Effect

An article by New Republic columnist Hillary Kelly laments some of the impact Oprah Winfrey has on literature. Particularly when Oprah delves (rarely) into the classics. In December she chose two Dickens classics, Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities as books to cozy up with with hot chocolate, reading by the fire. A quaint scene for sure. The problem is, she hadn't read them when she boasted her recommendations in that typical "scale-climbing voice." Kelly's critique is that "she has asked millions of people to follow her into some of the more difficult [and dark] prose to come out of the nineteenth century - prose she knows nothing about." With angst of an English teacher her choice and influence with regards to these two titles provides "no real guidance" to readers who "cannot grow into lovers of the canon."

For (Paleo) Art's Sake.

The creator of the most iconic images in 20th century evolutionary history was artist Charles R. Knight (1874-1953). While working for, under contract, the American Museum of Natural History, Knight's artistic vision was at times in contrast with the largest figure in early 20th century evolutionary thinking (and possibly one of the largest egos to match), that of Henry F. Osborn (1857-1953). In a recent article in History of Science (Seriality in the Making: The Osborn-Knight Restorations of Evolutionary History, 2010, vol. xlviii, p. 461-481). M. Sommer proposes that "Osborn established a serial workflow. Most of all, the definition of a series of working steps aimed to ensure that the paintings transmitted what for Osborn was the educational message of evolutionary history." However, as Sommer clearly shows, "the cooperation of 'science' and 'art' in the [mural] projects reveals that neither the series of working steps codified in contracts to steer production, nor the message communicated through the serial exhibit of the final murals, could be entirely controlled."
Photo: AMNH

Now Available: Did Dinosaurs Eat People?: And Other Questions Kids Have About Dinosaurs

Not quite available, but to be released soon. "Could dinosaurs swim? How big were their teeth? What color was their skin? You’ve got questions about dinosaurs, and Kids’ Questions has answers!"