Re: [dinosaur] 3 things the public needs to know about Dinosaurs

["Yazbeck, Thomas" <yazbeckt@msu.edu>]

my list:

1. dinosaurs are big bucks (e.g. Jurassic Park intellectual property)
2. dinosaurs look spiffy (again, great intellectual property)
3. dinosaurs help score funding for research on other organisms (because they look spiffy)
   

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From: dinosaur-l-request@usc.edu <dinosaur-l-request@usc.edu> on behalf of tharonyx <john-schneiderman@cox.net>
Sent: Saturday, February 8, 2020 5:06 PM
To: dinosaur-l@usc.edu <dinosaur-l@usc.edu>
Subject: [dinosaur] 3 things the public needs to know about Dinosaurs

 

1. Dinosaurs (the study of Dinosaurs) are a gateway to other sciences and learning opportunities
2. Dinosaurs are NOT Dragons or Monsters, although they stimulate the imagination not matter how old you are!
3. Dinosaurs are everywhere, worldwide, mostly found in rocks exposed at the surface, just image how many are yet to be discovered.

 

How many non-avian dinosaur species existed? Figuring just the Mesozoic (251-65 my), average “lifespan” for species is about 1 my., number of species at any moment as about for a specific class is about 4,000-8,000 species. So my estimate is about 500,000 to 1,000,000 species of non-avian dinosaurs existed during the whole of the Mesozoic. Of which only 1,250 valid species (0.125%-0.250%) have been discovered. Toss in avian-dinosaurs and include the Cenozoic and you get at least 1,500,000 species! That’s a lot of Dinosaurs!!!

 

John Schneiderman

John-schneiderman@cox.net

 

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