Tree trunks (was RE: Bruhathkayosaurus matelyi?)

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

> From: owner-DINOSAUR@usc.edu [mailto:owner-DINOSAUR@usc.edu]On Behalf Of
> Tim Williams
>
>
> Rahul Daryanani wrote:
>
> >I think you've made your point, Mr. Taylor. I really wouldn't blame someone
> >for mistaking this thing for a tree-trunk.
>
> I would if they were claiming to be a paleontologist.  The original
> description is atrocious, as Mike said.

Hey, folks,

To be fair: not all units are the Dinosaur Park or the Djadokhta. In some 
preservation is really, really, really crappy. You might
get all sorts of authigenic growth on the fossils, or alteration of the 
original material. In outcrops like that, it isn't out of
the question to be fooled into thinking bone is wood and vice versa, especially 
from simple surficial appearances. This is why a
section of the fossil would help resolve if it is bone or wood.

                Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
        Senior Lecturer, Vertebrate Paleontology
Department of Geology           Director, Earth, Life & Time Program
University of Maryland          College Park Scholars
        Mailing Address:
                Building 237, Room 1117
                College Park, MD  20742

http://www.geol.umd.edu/~tholtz/
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