Re: Sue on ABC

[Dinogeorge@aol.com]

In a message dated 5/28/00 0:56:53 AM EST, jhecht@world.std.com writes:

<< As a journalist writing for a general science magazine, I haven't 
 seen much new science of interest to our audience in Sue. She adds 
 some details to our understanding of T. rex that are important to 
 serious dinophiles and paleontologists. >>

Tracy Ford and I, having seen the news programs on the unveiling of the 
skeleton of Sue, are wondering whether Sue really is a Tyrannosaurus rex. 
Trouble is, the news shows are filled with quick shots and weird camera 
angles that don't give you much of a handle on what the skull and skeleton 
really look like. Not to mention that it's a cast (as far as I know), and 
that the skull has apparently been "straightened out" from its original 
crushed state. But the skull does look too long and too narrow occipitally to 
be a T. rex like the one in New York, and the neural spines on the posterior 
dorsal and anterior caudal vertebrae seem way taller than in the New York and 
Carnegie specimens. Much too soon to jump to conclusions yet, even though 
Stephan Pickering has given Sue the nomen nudum Tyrannosaurus 
stanwinstonorum; the differences could be due to wonky casting, wonky camera 
angles in the news shots, old age of the individual, all kinds of things. 
Wonder whether anyone else has noticed these things or other peculiarites 
about the skeleton.