John Ostrom
(1928-2005)
discovered
and described
Deinonychus, now
hailed as one of
the most important
fossil finds in history.
He reconstructed
it as a speedy,
warm-blooded
predator – at odds
with the perception
that dinosaurs were
slow and lumbering.
He brought back
the idea that birds
evolved from
dinosaurs.Richard Owen
(1804-1892) was
head of what is
now the Natural
History Museum. He
was an influential
anatomist and
palaeontologist, who
described dinosaurs
as a group. He
reconstructed a series
of the earliest known
species, including
Megalosaurus,
Iguanodon and
Hylaeosaurus.Robert T Bakker
(1945-) was a student
of John Ostrom.
Bakker went on
to lead the charge
of the ‘dinosaur
renaissance’,
theorising on
physiology and
locomotion and
stirring up controversy
by suggesting that,
unlike modern lizards,
dinosaurs were
warm-blooded. The
jury is still out on that
one.Gregory S Paul
(1954-) is an artist
and palaeontologist
whose books
and anatomically
accurate dinosaur
illustrations have
inspired a generation
of artists and many
of the dinosaur
illustrations you
see today. His work
pioneered the revised
look of dinosaurs in
the 1970s.Xu Xing
(1956-) has
discovered more
dinosaurs than just
about anyone else
alive today. These
include more than half
of the feathered dinos
found in China.CAST OF
CHARACTERSas comparative anatomy) is helpful here,
and many dinosaur experts are excellent
anatomists. To those in the know, small
details of the shape of bones can reveal a
great deal of information about the animal
they came from. For example, dinosaurs
and birds (which are a kind of theropod
dinosaur) are unique in having a hole in
their pelvis called a ‘perforated
acetabulum’ into which the top of the
thigh bone (femur) fits on each side. This
is a unique trait of dinosaurs, allowing
them to stand erect with their legs
underneath their bodies, rather than
sprawling out to the sides as in other
reptiles. The dinosaur hip also allows
experts to identify between the two
major branches of the dinosaur family –
ornithischians and saurischians.
Theropods, the carnivorous group of
saurischian dinosaurs to which T. rex,
Allosaurus, and now Dakotaraptor
belong, have a series of other telltale
traits in the fossils. These include hollow
bones full of air pockets, three fingers on
the hands, and much reduced fourth and
fifth digits on the feet. Maniraptorans,
the group of theropods from which birds
evolved, have more distinct features,
including an unusual wrist joint with a
bone called a ‘semilunate carpal’. This
gave these carnivores more flexible
wrists – useful for seizing prey with their
hands – and allowed the flight stroke of
birds to evolve.
When you’re out on a dig with experts
you realise that even small details, such as
the shape of teeth or the curves of limb
bones, are enough for experts to make
rapid assessments about the specific types
of dinosaur that they belonged to.
BEYOND BONES
Bones, however, are only the start of a
dinosaur reconstruction. It’s also
important to think about muscles. For
example, discs of muscle between the
vertebrae of a sauropod dinosaur such as
Brachiosaurus or Diplodocus would have
made a great difference to the overall
length of the animal. Muscles are added
by referencing the exact positions and
shapes of muscles in living animals.
Fossilised bones often have ‘muscle scars’
that show attachment points, which
aid in this process. Since we know
Six innovative scientists who helped us
d p osaurs looked likeMike Benton
(1956-) is a
palaeontologist at the
University of Bristol.
He led a team of
researchers in 2010
to determine the
colour of dinosaurs.
They showed that
Sinosauropteryx
was covered in fluffy
ginger and white
feathers.decipher what dino