MARGINALIA
Dinosaurs, the Media and Andy Warhol
Keith Thomson
From Cuddly to Sad
This past October, as the date for the annual meeting of the Society
of Vertebrate Paleontology drew near, the world waited for the
inevitable sensational announcement that would hog the headlines
while a great deal of excellent work was ignored. Predictably,
sensation once again found our poor, put-upon friend
Tyrannosaurus rex; but this one was a classic. As the
London Times trumpeted: "Neurotic T-rex cast in a
Woody Allen role." On the web, the Associated Press had spread
the news: "T-rex wasn't happy ? T-rex was probably
T-wrecks." Obviously someone was getting his 15 minutes of
fame!
What happened had started out with good straightforward science.
Elizabeth Rega at Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona
and Chris Brochu at the University of Iowa had read a paper
concerning skeletal abnormalities in T. rex, especially the
Chicago specimen known as Sue. There was evidence of osteomyelitis
of the left fibula, healed rib fractures and healed jaw lesions.
They concluded: "While the number of these pathologies indicate
that Sue was not healthy during life, the maturity of the specimen
and the clear evidence of healing indicate that Sue was a robust
individual who successfully survived many insults ?. No evidence of
cause or manner of death is apparent." So far, so sober. No
drama there and no headlines, either.
Then the Associated Press interviewed Robert Bakker, who was not an
author of the paper but who announced the meaning in Rega and
Brochu's study that everyone else had missed: "If we did
Jurassic Park 4, T-rex would be portrayed in an angst-ridden
role—sort of a large Woody Allen character. ? They were beat
up, limping, had oozing sores, were dripping pus and disease ridden,
and had to worry about their children starving and other T-rexs
coming in and kicking them out." And worse, the London
Times article wrongly claimed that "Mr Bakker's view
is endorsed by Elizabeth Rega," thus adding injury to insult.
Here the gap between the science and the hyperbole is truly
staggering. Perhaps it is only some paleontologists, not the
dinosaurs, who are like Woody Allen—sometimes combative,
sometimes cuddly, bearing the scars of old battles and confused?
Perhaps this sort of thing is perfectly harmless or even positive
for paleontology, on the grounds that all publicity is good,
especially if it remains divided into 15-minute chunks. But the
creationists certainly had a field day with the faked
"feathered dinosaur."
Admittedly, all progress in science involves the breaking of old
stereotypes, and mistakes will be made all along the way. Who knows,
maybe even a Tyrannosaurus with true feathers will someday
be found; that is what makes science a real adventure. And, as
Robert Browning famously wrote, "Ah, but a man's reach should
exceed his grasp" (Andrea del Sarto, 1855). Perhaps,
though, both the scientists and the public deserve to travel a less
jolting path toward enlightenment.
© Keith Thomson
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