“Proyecto Dinosaurios”

10/29/07
Posted by Luis M. Chiappe

The Dinosaur Institute has been awarded a National Science Foundation-funded project for Enhancing Diversity in the Geosciences (OEDG). The project aims at building a network of cooperation between community colleges in the greater Los Angeles area, the Dinosaur Institute, and the University of Southern California (USC), and is using the appeal of dinosaurs to engage under-represented undergraduates in geoscience research. The new program will expose the students to some of the academic activities of professional paleontologists including, collection-based projects at the Museum, lecture series, and a variety of fieldwork. At the end of the year the students will give a talk on their experience and present their project work. The OEDG is set up to encourage students to transfer to a 4-year college and continue onto graduate studies.

Fieldwork

10/23/07
Posted by Luis M. Chiappe

The Dinosaur Institute's summer field season began in June with an expedition to the beautiful badlands of San Juan County, southeastern Utah. We took a small crew of eight people, consisting of some of our staff and volunteers, along with colleagues from Spain and Portugal. The purpose of this trip was to explore the important late Jurassic aged rocks (~150mya) in that area and examine the potential for future expeditions. The drive from Los Angeles took us through some of the most beautiful parts of the Southwest, including the Permian aged pinnacles of Monument Valley and the red Triassic rocks of the Navajo Nation. We set up camp for three weeks on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) property near the town of Blanding, UT. This was the Museum's first collecting trip in this area, therefore a lot of time was spent examining maps, driving and hiking. The badlands were mostly made up of layers of green/gray and purple sediments. Overall the mission was a success! We uncovered several sauropod specimens that we were able to bring back to the lab this year but we also discovered some exciting sites for next year! These include Stegosaurus remains, sauropod tracks and yet unknown dinosaur remains.

In late July, we set out on the 2007 Carl Holland Dinosaur Expedition, returning to Carter County in southeastern Montana. This was our 5th year working in the late Cretaceous deposits on BLM land near the small town of Ekalaka. As always our expedition started with a two and a half day drive from Los Angeles in our field vehicles and all of our gear. We set up camp in a great shaded location kindly chosen by rancher Mr. Charles Parks on his private property. Our primary mission this year was to collect a Triceratops skeleton that had been discovered in 2006. It took the best part of a month to expose, plaster jacket and transport the partial skeleton back to Los Angeles. We had a larger team for this trip consisting of some of our staff, students, and volunteers, but we were also joined by colleagues from the American Museum of Natural History (New York), the Natural History Museum in Vienna (Austria), and local enthusiasts. We also found several micro-sites close-by where we collected the remains of tiny mammals, crocodiles, and a variety of other vertebrate fauna that lived alongside Triceratops. We also discovered a new site for next year, potentially a duck-billed dinosaur skeleton! The Triceratops is planned to go on display in the museum's new dinosaur gallery.

Giant ‘Terror Bird’ Fossil Found

12/02/06
Posted by Luis M. Chiappe

An article published in this week’s scientific journal Nature details an enormous fearsome fossil of the extinct phorusrhacids, giants called ‘terror birds’. This study is co-authored by Dr. Luis Chiappe and Dr. Sara Bertelli of the Dinosaur Institute. The phorusrhacids were vicious flightless birds able to snap up dog-sized creatures that flourished in South America between 60 and 2 million years ago.

The new fossil was discovered in 15-million-year-old rocks in Patagonia (located in Comallo, Argentina). This specimen includes a horse-sized, virtually complete skull of a gigantic phorusrhacid that would have stood about 10 feet tall. Apart from this fossil being the remains of the largest known bird to date, it also gives us important information regarding the significant changes that occurred during the evolution of terror birds. The study shows that the skulls of the largest terror birds were very different from those of their smaller relatives. Furthermore, the new study challenges the traditional view that during the evolution of these birds, they became slower and less agile as they grew bigger.

During much of the time that terror birds existed, South America was an island continent where species evolved in isolation from the rest of the world. With no large carnivorous mammals to compete with, the terror birds became the top predators of this continent. The new fossil adds significantly to our knowledge of the evolution of terror birds, and future discoveries are likely to reveal a much greater diversity of these fascinating birds

Glorified Dinosaurs

11/28/06
Posted by Luis M. Chiappe

How is the bloodthirsty T. rex on-screen in your local cinema related to the birds you see gathering in the park? A glimpse into this book shows that the past few years have seen the link between modern birds and dinosaurs proven time and again. Written by one of the foremost authorities in his field, Glorified Dinosaurs details both the story behind this recent evolutionary discovery, as well as the finer points of the discoveries themselves. The results of exhaustive expeditions around the world have been published to explain, much of it for the first time in book form, a unique look into the evolutionary story of birds. The link is easily formed through discussion of physical changes in the context of functional advances.

Created less for academics and more for enthusiasts everywhere, Glorified Dinosaurs offers thorough access to these breathtaking discoveries in a very readable format, supplemented through full color photos and illustrations. Critically acclaimed from researchers and experts around the world, Glorified Dinosaurs is sure to become a must-have resource for anyone interested in birds, dinosaurs or evolution in general.

Dr. Luis M. Chiappe is the Director of the Dinosaur Institue as well as Curator of the Vertebrate Paleontology department at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. He has published numerous works on the evolution of birds and dinosaurs, and is considered one of the foremost authorities in the world on the topic of avian evolution.