The Falcarius story by a non-science reporter

[mkirkaldy@aol.com]

The reporter has no understanding of the topic or issues, and note the 
snide comment about 15 minutes of fame:

TIME Magazine, May 09, 2005, p. 20
Notebook
Missing Link
By COCO MASTERS

"Someone in Hollywood should snap up the movie rights to the backstory 
of Falcarius utahensis, the 125 million-year-old dinosaur with 4-in. 
claws and spoon-shaped molars unveiled last week. Scientists say it 
offers the first glimpse into how dinos made the transition from small, 
agile meat eaters to elephant-size vegetarians. Falcarius, as it turns 
out, was dug up by a black-market fossil collector named Lawrence 
Walker, who found it on federal land in Utah while digging at night 
under a tarp. Convinced he was onto something big, the poacher tipped 
off a paleontologist he knew, James Kirkland, and led him to the site. 
Kirkland tried to protect his source but, asked under oath how the 
dinosaur was discovered, reluctantly turned Walker in. Kirkland got his 
15 minutes of fame last week. Walker served five months in prison. --By 
Coco Masters"

Mary