The New York Paleontology Society met today in the Linder Theater at the American Museum of Natural History, and the speaker described his research that got him invited to be co-curator of the current exhibit of Giant Dinosaurs at the museum. Dr. Martin Sander explained that there had to be a good evolutionary reason for sauropods to grow so big. Turns out they were more efficient grazers because their necks were lighter than they would seem to appear--due to air pockets in the long necks. Dr. Carolyn Gee, a colleague of his, joined the discussion and shared about the different foods available to these creatures, include horsetails (known as equisetum), which delivered the most bang for the buck.
Now I am eager to see the exhibit, but I want to wait until the crowds thin out.
My friend Phil Tates showed me a letter from the Denver Museum of Science, thanking him for his contributions to their insect collection. He has specimens in the Smithsonian, the AMNH, and museums in Nebraska and Kansas, too. Not bad for a guy who is entirely self-taught!
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