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Re: T rex feathers

From: "Dora Smith" <villandra@austin.rr.com> 

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.

Well, I would imagine Paul Sereno has helped to uncover many more fossils than just the ones listed there (http://paulsereno.org/discoveries.htm). The names listed there are just the ones he's both discovered, described, and named. (T. rex was originally described back in 1905 by H. F. Osborn, which is perhaps why, if Sereno was indeed in on a T. rex dig recently, it isn't listed there. Or it might be due to the fact that the site hasn't been updated in 2 years.)

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.

What do you mean "for them"? National Geographic does fund a lot of his field work and research, but his results are published in publically accessible journals... yes, with the occassional summary article written for Nat Geo. Nothing wrong with that. They give him money for research; his research, in turn, benefits 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

I doubt it. National Geographic is not considered a scientific journal in which these sort of discoveries are first described, and I have to think Sereno knows this. I don't know why you're interpreting him to be such a bad guy...

The report that was posted to this list was that he was going
to publish the discovery a year from now in National Geographic.

Sure, he might. Who's to say that's the first place the information will be released, though? Maybe it will be published in National Geographic Research - a recognized scientific journal. In any case, until this news can be heard from a more reputable source than just an internet message board, it's all hogwash anyway.

Since he
is closely linked with National Geographic and he does sell them scientific
knowledge for profit,


How do you know that?

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.

I hate to burst your bubble, but this happens all the time in science. New discoveries are kept under wraps until they can be properly studied, discussed amongst fellow colleagues, and written about. There are a number of fossils we've been waiting years to hear more about, but until they've been properly "processed", there's no point in getting upset about it. That's just the name of the game.

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.

Again, these discoveries are almost never reported immediately. The time span between making an initial discovery and going to print can last several months and usually last on the order of years.

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.


Have you tried reading this page?
http://www.bhigr.com/pages/wwd/wwd_main.htm
Or this one?
http://www.bhigr.com/pages/wwd/wwd_rsch.htm

Best,

Jordan Mallon

Undergraduate Student, Carleton University
Vertebrate Paleontology & Paleoecology

Paleoart website: http://www.geocities.com/paleoportfolio/
http://dino.lm.com/artists/display.php?name=Mallon
MSN Messenger: j_mallon@hotmail.com

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