Re: The Falcarius story by a non-science reporter

[Jeff Hecht <jeff@jeffhecht.com>]

That kind of one-paragraph story is very hard to do right. The back story of 
how Falcarius was found is interesting, and raises interesting questions about 
fossil poaching -- but even that wasn't handled well. -- Jeff Hecht


At 9:44 AM -0400 5/13/05, mkirkaldy@aol.com wrote:
>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