RE: JP III Item

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

> From: owner-dinosaur@usc.edu [mailto:owner-dinosaur@usc.edu]On Behalf Of
> Mike Taylor
>
> > Date: Mon, 27 Nov 2000 09:34:43 -0700 (MST)
> > From: Richard W Travsky <rtravsky@uwyo.edu>
> >
> > Came across a reference to this from the AintItCoolNews web site.
> > USAToday had an article on Jurassic Park III at
> >
> >  http://www.usatoday.com/life/enter/movies/movie916.htm
>
> ... which says:
>
>       At 44 feet long, from head to tail, and weighing in at 26,000
>       pounds, he's bigger than a T-rex
>
> 26000 lb, that's the best part of twelve tons.  Is this just a
> mistake, or has _Spinosaurus_ been revisited and fattened up?

Folks, this Jurassic Park, NOT paleontology.  Expect any size estimates to
be over-estimates for the sake of entertainment.  (_Velociraptor_ faster
than cheetahs and smarter than chimps, etc.).

Speaking of paleo-entertainment, I caught most of the Sabretooth show on The
Discovery Channel last night.  Great to see the paleomammalogists getting
their chance in the spotlight.  It was also nice to hear that they didn't
redub the narrator's voice from English to American... ;-)

                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