RE: BBC THEROPOD PROGRAMME

["Thomas R. Holtz, Jr." <tholtz@geol.umd.edu>]

> From: owner-dinosaur@usc.edu [mailto:owner-dinosaur@usc.edu]On Behalf Of
> darren.naish@port.ac.uk
>
> Last night BBC2 screened a documentary on big dinosaurs - - I can't
> remember the title. As you'll doubtless have heard it covered
> _Argentinosaurus_, _Giganotosaurus_, the new carcharodontosaur,
> and Phil Currie's work on the Barnum Brown albertosaur bonebed.

[snip]

Incidentally, the word I have from the documentarians is that IF this comes
to the U.S., it will either be an episode of NOVA or a stand-alone feature
on Discovery.

> On this point they showed
> opposing views. Angela Milner, Matt Carrano (filmed on visit to the
> NHM) and Mark Norell were all shown as saying that group-hunting
> for giant theropods wasn't likely based on what we know about
> trackways, behavioural complexity etc etc. I think Tom was non-
> committal.

Maybe I was non-committal: I haven't decided yet.

(Actually, it is very hard to get across a view point that "we don't know:
more data would be most helpful" on a documentary for some reason.)

> Tom
> Holtz played with carcharodontosaur teeth. There was no mention of
> feathers. Why they filmed Tom in the park and not in his office has
> become the subject of some speculation.

Because my room was so cluttered at the time that I had problem finding the
floor... :-)

(Incidentally, I was filmed sans contact lenses; this was just a day or two
after getting back from the Galapagos, where I tore a contact.  We started
to shoot with my glasses on, but they kept on reflecting the camera.  Ah,
the sacrifices we make for the public... :-).

> New ish of _Natural History_ has a Gould article on feathered
> theropods that completely misses the point. More later if I have time.

Indeed.

                Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
                Vertebrate Paleontologist
Department of Geology           Director, Earth, Life & Time Program
University of Maryland          College Park Scholars
                College Park, MD  20742
http://www.geol.umd.edu/~tholtz/tholtz.htm
http://www.geol.umd.edu/~jmerck/eltsite
Phone:  301-405-4084    Email:  tholtz@geol.umd.edu
Fax (Geol):  301-314-9661       Fax (CPS-ELT): 301-405-0796