Don't leave the girls out (was FW: Dinosaur Exhibit)

["Ralph W. Miller III" <gbabcock@best.com>]

Regarding Ann Rock's concerns over the "fighting male dinosaur bias" in
dinosaur exhibits and education (as relayed by list member Don Lamson), I would
have to say that, yes, there is certainly something for girls who want to learn
about female side of dinosaurs, or at least the "kinder, gentler" aspects of
dinosaur behavior.

To begin with, girls should understand that women have been active in the field
of paleontology for some time, and are actively engaged in such studies today.
A very incomplete list of current female dinosaur paleontologists would include
Karen Chin, Anusuya Chinsamy, Catherine A. Forster, Eva B. Koppelhus, Teresa
Maryanska, Renee Hernandez-Rivera, Angela Milner, Judith A. Schiebout, Mary
Higby Schweitzer, Miranda K. Smith, and Darla Zelenitsky.  Female paleoartists
include Donna Braginetz, Karen Carr, Marianne Collins, Betty Cunningham,
Eleanor Kish, Sylvia J. Czerkas, and Jean Day Zallinger.

Some dinosaur exhibits lavish considerable attention to the diversity of life
which coexisted with the dinosaurs, and this "ecological view" of the Mesozoic
may interest girls.  When did flowers first appear?  Mammals?  Birds?  Some
exceptional dioramas can be seen at the California Academy of Sciences in San
Francisco, California (www.calacademy.org/naturalhistory).  Museums also often
display murals which depict dinosaur environments.

More to the point,  paleontologist Jack Horner has demonstrated evidence for
parental nurturing behavior in duckbill dinosaurs , and this is reflected in
the displays at the Museum of the Rockies, where he is the curator of
paleontology (www.montana.edyu/wwwmor/tour.html).  _Maiasaura_, the dinosaur he
and his colleagues have studied most intensively, bears the name which means
"good mother lizard."  Dinosaur names which end in "a" as opposed to "us" are
considered "female" names.  Other female dinosaur names include _Laellynasaura_
(named after the girl who discovered it), _Scipionyx_, _Caudipteryx_,
_Protarchaeopteryx_, and _Sinosauropteryx_.  Look under "fun stuff" at
<www.montana.edu> for more information on the Museum of the Rockies and for
some dinosaur articles and activities.  See also Horner's books, including
_Maiasaura_: A Dinosaur Grows Up_ and _Dinosaur Lives_.  The duckbills were
very successful, due perhaps in part to the care they apparently showed their
nestbound young, as well as their gregarious nature and their sophisticated
chewing anatomy.  One fossil site reportedly represents the preserved remains
of a colony of 10,000 _Maiasaura_ individuals!  It boggles the mind.

For a good look at some of the more exciting dinosaur research of late,
including dinosaur eggs and babies, and "feathered dinosaurs" (supporting a
link between theropod dinosaurs and modern birds), see
<www.nationalgeographic.com/dinorama/>.  Incidentally, a specimen of the first
"feathered dinosaur," _Sinosauropteryx_, apparently holds two tiny eggs within,
leading some scientists to suggest that the specimen is female, and that the
theropod would lay two eggs at a time, a hypothesis consistent with the pattern
of dinosaur eggs noted in a  _Troodon_ nest.  The _Sinosauropteryx_ specimen
may be the only confirmed case of sex identity among (non-avian, extinct)
dinosaurs.  The "eggs," and three distinct types of "feathered dinosaur" can be
seen in the July 1998 _National Geographic_.  The link between birds and
dinosaurs is a big topic in itself, and should certainly be of interest to
girls and boys alike.

The discovery of a "brooding _Oviraptor_" yielded further insight into dinosaur
behavior and, by extension, metabolism (particularly considering that the
recently discovered fourth species of Chinese "feathered dinosaur" is also an
oviraptorosaurid).  See <www.amnh.org> and search for "brooding Oviraptor."
Note: we don't know if the brooding theropod is male or female, as birds
certainly share nest tending duties.  Comparisons can be made between the
family lives of the dinosaurs and their nearest kin, the crocodilians and the
birds.

See also <www.nmmnh-abq.mus.nm.us/nmmnh/exhibits.html> to learn about the
sounds _Parasaurolophus_ made with its hollow crest.  The referenced specimen
may be male, or not, but this honking activity is, again, the sort of thing
that brings the social life of dinosaurs to life for boys and girls of all
ages.  And both morphs of a given species of _Parasaurolophus_ probably honked;
they just would have sounded different (due to different crest shapes).

While it has been implied by Pete Larson (of the Black Hills Institute for
Geological Research) that, for instance, "Sue," the biggest _T. rex_ (named for
its discoverer Sue Hendricksen), is a female, this notion has not been
confirmed by Chris Brochu, who is studying the specimen at the Field Museum in
Chicago.  Some dinosaur species seem to occur in two morphotypes within a
population, but which is male and which is female?  Some scientists believe
that the females were larger and more robust than the males, but we don't know
that for sure.  Which sex is more aggressive?  We don't know.  It could well be
that some conspecific dinosaur fights were between males and females, or just
between females.  Which sex was more nurturing or protective of the young, or
was there any distinction?  We don't know.  (List members, please correct me if
I'm wrong about any of this).  As far as I know, about all that we can say for
sure in this regard is that only the females laid eggs!

Tracks and skeletons suggest that many dinosaurs were quite gregarious, which
brings to mind incredibly epic scenes, but don't expect to see 10,000 full size
_Maiasaura_ sculptures or a herd of full size diplodocids at your local natural
history museum any time soon.

-- Ralph W. Miller III       gbabcock@best.com

"Contrary to popular belief, dinosaurs did not spend ALL of their time killing
each other."