Palaeontologist Steve Brusatte: we owe Jurassic Park a debt of gratitude

The leading fossils expert says we are learning new things daily about the dinosaurs thanks to technological advances – and that film…There are a few precautions to bear in mind when approaching a palaeontologist. The first, and perhaps most crucial, is don ’t mention Ross fromFriends. It ’s not funny and it’s not clever and it really won ’t be appreciated. Don’t suggest that dinosaurs couldn’t have been evolutionary successes because they’re extinct. And do not, under any circumstances, refer to someone with outdated attitudes as a “dinosaur”.“I hate this idea that because dinosaurs are old, they’re out of touch, they’re out of tune, they’re failures. That’s ridiculous,” saysSteve Brusatte, a palaeontologist at theUniversity of Edinburgh and author of a new Jurassic blockbuster,The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: The Untold Story of a Lost World.Continue reading...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Dinosaurs Palaeontology Fossils Zoology Evolution Science Source Type: news