Re: Lull (RE: ABOUT THE REVERSED HALLUX AND..)

[longrich@alumni.princeton.edu]

On Friday, July 12, 2002, at 03:29 PM, Emma Rainforth wrote:

>  So, if you don't KNOW which are okay (and I mean 'okay' in the
> sense of 'acceptable' rather than 'superb'), it is best, as a general 
> rule
> of pollex, to not trust any - at least until such time as you have 
> examined
> the specimens in person.
> Actually, I would also say that (examining specimens) of ANY published 
> line
> drawings of footprints (as they are 2D representations of a 3D object).
> Photos  convey some sense of the 3D nature of an ichnite; stereo-pairs &
> Moire figs are better.

	This is also very good advice for anyone looking at bones... or 
shells, or muscles, or outcrops, or whatever. The best thing is almost 
invariably handling and personally examining the actual specimen.
	The various other methods of studying the stuff have their 
advantages and disadvantages. In some cases, photographs are superior. A 
photograph can allow features to be examined which are beyond the human 
eye's resolution, or visible in different wavelengths, and digital 
manipulation can emphasize particular features. Vague, blurry feathers 
on the Liaoning dinos, subjected to manipulation with the contrast and 
value settings in Adobe Photoshop, become... well, slightly less vague 
and blurry. Of course you're limited to the lighting and perspective 
chosen by the photographer.
	The weakness of the human illustration- interpretation- is also its 
strength since you can deemphasize noise and emphasize information, such 
that a good illustration can be superior to a photograph and one of the 
most effective means of conveying information about a photograph. Of 
course, you might be wrong about what is signal and what is noise... 
that suture might actually be a fracture, and vice versa. Some 
illustrations are better than others, of course.
	And of course you can ask other paleontologists. Personally I have 
learned enough about the fallibility of my own memory that I tend to be 
hesitant about trusting other people's observations too much.