Re: Dinosaur Art Show at Bruce Museum, Greenwich, Connecticut

[Dann Pigdon <dannj@alphalink.com.au>]

Quoting Danvarner@aol.com:

> Try this:      
> http://www.brucemuseum.org/exhibitions/exhibit.php?exhibit=120
> 
> And the proper term is "Restoration", not "Reconstruction". Skeletons you  
> reconstruct, living extinct animals you restore. W. E. Swinton defined that a 
> long time ago

I consider the opposite to be true. To 'restore' something is to return it to 
it's original condition. 
Since we don't know what living non-avian dinosaurs looked like originally, we 
can't be said 
to 'restore' them. At best we attempt to 'reconstruct' them using various lines 
of evidence.

In the case of a partial skeleton, you could be said to 'restore' parts of it 
by mirroring paired 
elements to replace those that have been lost (assuming there were no 
pathologies or 
developmental irregularities in the animal). Any non-paired missing elements 
(or if both of a pair 
are missing) can only be 'reconstructed' using close relatives (as is the case 
for partial non-paired 
elements).

-- 
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Dann Pigdon
GIS / Archaeologist              http://geo_cities.com/dannsdinosaurs
Melbourne, Australia             http://heretichides.soffiles.com
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