Discover and a new AMNH book

[Ralph Chapman <MNHAD002@SIVM.SI.EDU>]

  Two quick notes:

1) Mention was made of the article in the May 95 Discover on the Utah
dino DNA stuff. Latest I heard - and mentioned on the list - was that their
sequence was id'd as one of many human sequences and obviously contamination
which was disputed byu the UTah group but I've heard no additional
follow-up. I think Discover is abit behind the wave on this one. The article
does contain a little on Horner and Mary Schwietzer's work which comes
across here and everywhere else as better thought out, documented and
conservative - which is really what you would want in these things. It's
got to be nailed better than the Utah group has it before it's really
publishable IMHO. Also, Discover managed to include a picture of a
Parasaurolophus and label it an Albertosaur. There is a nice note on
croc haemoglobin and how it allows them to stay underwater longer than
the prey they're holding there (which is handy for the croc, a pain in the
butt for the prey). It also is pretty similar to human haemoglobin.

2) The AMNH guys (Norell, Gaffney & Dingus) have a new fancy book
out:

 Norell, M.A., E.S. Gaffney & L. Dingus. 1995. Discovering Dinosaurs
     in the AMNH. Knopf. List price is $35 I got it at a discounter
     for $28. ISBN 0-679-43386-4. 204 p. and WELL illustrated
     with lots o' specimen photos.

It's a beautiful book concentrating on the upcoming AMNH dino hall
specimens with a big top dino questions and answers section and another
on expeditions. I haven't read yet but scanned so don't know how
AMNHish it is on many matters. I did note it was very proactive (oops
government word creeps in) about avian dinosaurs and non-avian dinosaurs
(no surprise there). Will freak out some paleornithologists. It's
visually amazing and has the world's best dino collection to build on.

Ralph Chapman, NMNH