Re: T rex feathers

[Dora Smith <villandra@austin.rr.com>]

Yup, I missed the bio section on Paul Sereno's website+ACE-   It actually didn't
look like the bio of Paul Sereno+ADs- it looked like the bio of staff members
who work at Paul Sereno.   It lists under about Paul Sereno+ADs- bio+ADs- 
curricula
vitae+ADs- staff.   How do those three go in the same category?    I wanted to
reach staff, not read bio and curricula vitae of people who worked for what
appeared to be an organization named Paul Sereno so I went right to that
page.

I checked the discoveries page too, and it listed stuff found by Paul
Sereno, but that didn't make it clear that the entity named Paul Sereno was
a person.   It also didn't include T rex.

I was thrown by the fact that he isn't listed on his own staff page.    And
the home page says only that he is a famous paleontologist, and clicking on
his name there doesn't go anywhere+ACE-  I wondered if perhaps he was someone
who had died, and this organization was named after him+ACE-

He is a contract whatever with National Geographic, I'm not clear what sort
of contract, but he is very involved with their articles on paleontological
exploration, and I got the idea that some of his work is directly for them.
This supports the notion that if he had found feathers on a T rex, he might
sell them the information, or consider them as owning it - and not tell
anyone for a year until this piece of news can be sold in a popular magazine
for profit+ACE-   The report that was posted to this list was that he was going
to publish the discovery a year from now in National Geographic.   Since he
is closely linked with National Geographic and he does sell them scientific
knowledge for profit, the story looks more likely to be genuine.   If this
turned out to be the case, I would be disgusted enough not to exactly be
waiting with baited breath for the information, which more than likley is a
vague feather imprint in a rock.

He has also written in such places as Nature and Science, though+ADs- so if he
had made such a discovery it would be reasonable to expect him to report it
immediately.

Thanks for your impressions of Kyle's report.    Taht is what I wanted to
know.    The BHI web site pretty much appears to be in the business of
selling fossils.   Their web site doesn't even claim they have research
staff+ACE-    And their only contacts are sales contacts.   Without more
information, I thought he might be trying to sell me bogus information or
even a T rex+ACE-   This also colored my perceptions of the Paul Sereno website.
:)+ACE-

Yours,
Dora Smith
Austin, Texas
villandra+AEA-austin.rr.com
----- Original Message -----
From: +ACI-Jordan Mallon+ACI- +ADw-j+AF8-mallon+AEA-hotmail.com+AD4-
To: +ADw-dinosaur+AEA-usc.edu+AD4-
Sent: Friday, May 28, 2004 10:29 PM
Subject: RE: T rex feathers


+AD4- +AD4-From: Dora Smith +ADw-villandra+AEA-austin.rr.com+AD4-
+AD4-
+AD4- +AD4-Someone named Kyle Lindsey wrote me privately, for some reason, that 
his
+AD4- +AD4AIg-friends+ACI- at the Black Hills Institute have dug up a T rex in 
Montana and
+AD4- +AD4AIg-had just found some feather imprints on near the humerus.+ACI-
+AD4-
+AD4- While I haven't heard of the impressions Kyle made mention of (and, in
fact,
+AD4- I would be pretty skeptical of them myself), I do know that Kyle is a
young,
+AD4- dedicated amateur paleontologist (who has done work for the BHI), and I
+AD4- doubt very much that his story is bogus.  No matter the origin of the
+AD4- impessions, I am sure there is some nugget of truth to his e-mail.
+AD4-
+AD4- +AD4-And he told me that the web site for Paul Sereno, whatever that is, 
is
+AD4- +AD4- +AD4-http://www.paulsereno.org.
+AD4-
+AD4- Paul Sereno is arguably one of the best-known paleontologists in the field
+AD4- today.
+AD4-
+AD4- +AD4-I followed this link and found no obvious sign of an individual named
Paul
+AD4- +AD4-Sereno at it+ADs- though supposedly he is a paleontologist.
+AD4-
+AD4- You must have missed this, then:
+AD4- http://www.paulsereno.org/bio.htm
+AD4-
+AD4- Though, admittedly, I don't know of his connections with any T. rex finds
+AD4- either.  (But wasn't he digging in T. rex country this past year or so?  I
+AD4- remember hearing something about that...)
+AD4-
+AD4- Jordan Mallon
+AD4-
+AD4- Undergraduate Student, Carleton University
+AD4- Vertebrate Paleontology +ACY- Paleoecology
+AD4-
+AD4- Paleoart website: http://www.geocities.com/paleoportfolio/
+AD4- http://dino.lm.com/artists/display.php?name+AD0-Mallon
+AD4- MSN Messenger: j+AF8-mallon+AEA-hotmail.com
+AD4-