Re: Shameless paper request, and a naive question

[Denver Fowler <df9465@yahoo.co.uk>]

How exactly do you determine that all elements are fully ossified without 
cutting them across the suture? You can only infer that they are fused, without 
cutting. Obliteration of the suture on the external surface is not always 
reliable.

 ----------------------------------
Denver Fowler
df9465@yahoo.co.uk
http://www.denverfowler.com
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----- Original Message ----
From: Michael Erickson <tehdinomahn@live.com>
To: Dino List <dinosaur@usc.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, 13 October, 2009 11:03:27
Subject: Shameless paper request, and a naive question


Shameless Paper Request:

Can anyone supply me with

Bakker, Williams, and Currie (1988). "Nanotyrannus, a new genus of
pygmy tyrannosaur, from the latest Cretaceous of Montana." Hunteria,
1: 1â30

I'd very much appreciate it. That's not fluff, I mean it.


Naive Question:

In the paper I am requesting, isn't it determined that _Nanotyrannus_ is an 
adult, due to full ossification of the cranial elements? If this is the case, 
how can _Nanotyrannus_ be a juvenile at all, let alone a juvenile 
_Tyrannosaurus rex_? Is there some kind of awesome paper I'm missing? And if 
there is, does said paper CONVINCINGLY refute Bakker, Williams, and Currie's 
claim the cranial elements are fully ossified?

See, I told you it was a naive question.                            
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