Re: "Archaeoraptor" really two animals

[Phillip Bigelow <bh162@scn.org>]

On Fri, 7 Apr 2000, Loren Coleman wrote:
> Nat'l Geographic Confirms Mistake
> WASHINGTON (AP) - Six months after proclaiming a newly discovered fossil to
> be a possible link between dinosaurs and birds, the National Geographic
> Society has confirmed that the find is really a composite of at least two
> different animals. 

Another case of National Geographic Society "doing" science via a press
conference?  AAARRGGGHHH! 

<snip>

 
> "I hope people are going to view what we do here in the overall context,"
> Allen said, "so that the one aberration is not going to damage our
> reputation in the long run." 


I'd say that Nat. Geo. just repeated the same act that they implied they
would no longer commit.

A peer-reviewed, team-authored paper, such as a Rapid Communication in
_JVP_, would have been a more appropriate venue. 

Whatever happened to the custom of: FIRST the release of the scientific
paper; THEN the press conference?  Course, if Nat Geo is footing the bill,
it gets to set its own rules, eh?

            <pb>