Please - Someone Stop Me

I am actually sitting down to watch Big Brother. Oh God. I have work to do. I have a PhD to do. I have a Cetiosauriscus manuscript to finish asap. Yet now my whole summer has evaporated. I've only just finished watching 24 and Bones (couple more episodes of Lost to watch), and I thought I might be able to step away from the TV.

I just hope it's as diabolical as it has always been and that the participants are even more dismal than in previous years. I hope this is as awful as the Southern Comfort binge that makes you never go near a bottle of it again.

A Correction

I rather hastily published a letter about Dinosaur National Monument (which in turn had been rather hastily written). A response to the VertPaleo Listserver has corrected some inaccuracies, and I accept that it is only correct that I publish the correction too. I would say that I still think the best place for ALL the fossils is in Vernal, UT - we mustn't assume that a university or large museum with academic ties is always the best place purely because it's got the academic aspect.

I would also have appreciated more well-argued and less bitchy comments to my previous post. I'm more than happy to back down, but catty "get your facts straight" comments really do nothing to enhance my willingness to admit I was wrong. Here's the letter.

Thanks for forwarding a copy of the letter created by the Utah Professional Paleontologist Council (UPPC) supporting Dinosaur National Monument (DNM). In contrast to the flavor of the letter, we at BYU, and especially the Earth Science Museum, are fully supportive of DNM and its surrounding communities and, having worked at several museums ourselves, we fully understand the importance of tourism as it relates to dinosaurs. We also must note several errors in the letter which we would like to address below. Furthermore, we suggest that

1. the UPPC should be more professional in the future and check its statements for accuracy, and
   
2. a letter should not be posted until it has been reviewed, corrected, and approved by Utah's vertebrate paleontologists.

Unfortunately, UPPC has already posted the letter and accompanying annotations to the Vert Paleo server, which makes the UPPC look less than professional and damages the reputation of the organization. Although there are a number of errors in the document, some of which border on liable[sic], we enumerate below only the major errors relating to Brigham Young University and its Earth Science Museum (BYU).

1. Although perhaps not intentional, the letter gives the impression that BYU is actively seeking to become the repository for the entire DNM collections. In fact, DNM will only look for temporary housing for its type specimens, which number less that a couple of dozen. The vast majority of specimens will remain at DNM.
   Furthermore, BYU did not approach DNM seeking to be their temporary repository.
   
2. BYU has "restrictive hiring practices". In fact, BYU is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not unlawfully discriminate in employment practices on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, age, veteran status, or disability. The University does exercise the "religious" exemption granted in Chapter 60, Title 41, Part 60 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Within the context of this religious preference, BYU considers equal opportunity, as defined by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, essential to the workplace and classroom.
   
3. BYU does not qualify for National Science Foundation (NSF) grants. This is a gross error! In 2005, the latest year for which detailed reports are available, BYU received over 20 million dollars in federal monies, 75% of which were from the NSF. The Earth Science Museum has benefited from several major NSF grants which were used to fund preparation, improve facilities, and support specific research projects.
   
4. "BYU uses student as volunteers - cheap but transient". True, we do use students, but as paid employees, to do preparation under the supervision of two vertebrate paleontologists that hold PhDs and have worked in museums since they themselves were college students. It is true that the students are here for only a few years. For example Allen Shaw, who prepared a DNM field jacket containing two sauropod skulls (some with bones only a millimeter thick) left for the Carnegie Museum where he became the manager of the paleontological laboratory.
   Other BYU students went on to do preparation at the Museum of the Rockies and the Royal Tyrrell Museum – again, without further training. We do not use students because they are "cheap" but because it affords them an invaluable opportunity to gain hands on experience which serves them when they, themselves become paleontologists. BYU follows the mentoring model wherein undergraduates, not just graduates, work in research environments, whether it is running an LA-ICP-MS, microprobe, or air scribe.
   
5. The BYU Earth Science Museum is rarely visited, except by professional paleontologists. Our collections are widely used by researchers, but our museum is utilized by over 25,000 visitors each year.
   
6. "Most of their (BYU's) fossil storage is in an old Albertson's building." Clearly the person that wrote this has never done research in our collections. We house a small fraction of the collection, primarily mammals, in the aforementioned building. We are in the process of moving out of the building into a new 7556 sq ft collections building. The Museum has a 1,800 sq ft lab and 13,868 sq ft of floor space for collections - more than any other paleontology institution in the state and one of the largest in the nation. Furthermore, our collection space is optimized for large dinosaurs and the museum owns three forklifts which are used to safely and securely move the large specimens on industrial pallet rack systems. No other museum is so well equipped to handle large specimens.

Additional Information
BYU has had a viable paleontology program since 1953. The careers of BYU paleontologists cover 165 years and include eight paleontologists. The museum has never had a budget cut - a statement that no state or federal agency can make. We currently have two vertebrate paleontologists at the museum and the program continues to increase in quality and scope.

Thanks for the opportunity to correct some of the errors in the UPPC document. We hope that in the future the UPPC truly represents Utah's vertebrate paleontologists in a professional manner.

Saving Dinosaur National Monument

On the second evening of our honeymoon, Paul and I stayed in Vernal, UT. The next day we went to Dinosaur National Monument. Several months earlier I had been saddened to learn of the closure of the Visitors' Center. The preserved bonebed was one I was looking forward to seeing, and even Paul was quite excited in his non-palaeontological way. Despite the closure, the staff were doing their best, and there were still two coach-loads of Japanese tourists. The drive along the Green River was so beautiful, and the river so quiet and calm. But for a need to reach Jackson, WY, by that evening, we could happily have stayed longer.

So I am even more distressed to hear that funding to repair the Visitors' Center is not forthcoming, and that rather than reaching a local solution which would keep the fossils not half an hour's drive from the National Park, there is a proposal to ship them down to Brigham Young University. We in the vertebrate palaeontology community have been asked to publicise this, and our objection, in any way we can. Not being American, I have no representation in the Senate. So I am limited in what I can do. What follows is a letter Jerry Harris included in an e-mail sent to the Vertpaleo Listserver last night. This is a long one - I don't think I can fit the e-mail and the letter in, but as soon as an archive exists of the full e-mail I will post the link. Thank you for reading, and if you are American, please write to your Congressman.

FROM: YOUR NAME
TO: ALL CONCERNED PARTIES (SEE ATTACHED LIST)
REGARDING: CHANGES AT DINOSAUR NATIONAL MONUMENT THAT IMPACT THE NATION AS WELL AS NORTHEASTERN UTAH AND NORTHWESTERN COLORADO

Enclosed are data concerning facility developments and collection management at Dinosaur National Monument and the impact of proposed plans nationally as well as Vernal and surrounding communities in northeastern Utah and northwestern Colorado.

Dinosaur National Monument was established on Oct. 4, 1915 by Presidential Proclamation to preserve "an extraordinary deposit of Dinosaurian and other gigantic reptilian remains of the Jurassic period, which are of great scientific interest and value."

The Quarry Visitor Center (DNM-QVC) was opened in 1958 as a premier Dinosaur attraction, to national as well as international acclaim. In 2001 it was given National Historic Landmark status. It should be a World Heritage Site. Due to cumulative structural failures, the DNM-QVC was closed in July 2006. With that closure, the paleontological community lost its most visible attraction, and the educational community lost a great stepping stone for future scientists. Congressional funding was earmarked for renovation of this facility with reopening on 100 anniversary of the quarry's discovery - 2009.

In addition, a partnership between Dinosaur National Monument, the Utah Field House of Natural History State Park, as well as the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and US Forest Service (USFS) was established in 2001. This was done in order to build a new repository meeting federal museum collection standards in Vernal, UT for fossil resources from the National Park Service (NPS) as well as other federal and state lands (Uinta Research and Curation Center).

NPS Management Policies (2001); Section 4.8.2.1 specifically address paleontological resources:

"Paleontological resources, including both organic and mineralized remains in body or trace form, will be protected, preserved, and managed for public education, interpretation, and scientific research."

Although these projects were once very high on the facilities list, financial commitments at the federal level (Iraq War and Hurricane Katrina) have caused these crucial facilities to be demoted on the National Park Service fiscal agenda, Unfortunately, the Quarry Visitor Center, which was also on line to be rehabilitated, was forced to close last year due to structural instability.

DNMQ closures and the economic impact to NE UT and NW CO

1)

• With the closure of DNM-Quarry Visitor Center (QVC), normal visitation to the area dropped dramatically -Utah Field House of Natural History State Park visitation was cut in half from 100,000 per year to only 50,000 last year.
  
• If it is assumed that a minimum expenditure for a family of four is $100 per day of visit (knowing that motels are full), Vernal and regional businesses are losing $2.5 to $10 million per year in revenue.
  
• Dinosaur National Monument lost more than $300,000 in visitation fees last year alone- $10/car fees were discontinued in July 2006 when the Quarry closed - assume 300,000 visitors @ 4/car, a loss of $750,000 for DNM each year.
  
• How many jobs were lost with the Quarry closure? DNM personnel as well as support, and service groups have been impacted. How many more will be lost if the Quarry is not revitalized? Vernal is economically stable now, but energy development ebbs and flows. What will be left when that industry slows down again?
  
• Will northeastern Utah dinosaur collections be lost forever? These facilities (DNM-QVC and UFH) were built to keep these collections in the Uinta Basin, for visitors to enjoy in perpetuity.
  
• A federal/state partnership was established in 2000 to build a joint federal repository that would meet all DNM, BLM, USFS, and state fossil collection needs. The building of the curation facility needs support from everyone effected - the entire community.
  
• The National Science Foundation favors partnerships like this one in Uintah County. Joint use of storage facilities as well as shared research and educational facilities can be used as granting tools for the NSF and other federal granting agencies.
  
• Additional partnerships can be developed to further the goals of educating the public as well as protection of the non-renewable resources highlighted in museums exhibits (e.g., Ute Tribe, USU, UBATC, and other federal and state agencies as well as public and corporate entities).
  
• The National Scenic Byway program could be tapped for additional federal funding (Dinosaur National Monument's Quarry Visitor Center is a major facet in TWO National Scenic Byways - Wildlife through the Ages and the Dinosaur Diamond).

2)

• There is a DMN proposal to send dinosaur fossils currently stored throughout DNM to Brigham Young University - particularly significant specimens (e.g., Allosaurus jimmadseni - which has not been officially named so is not a type specimen).
  
• Some DNM personnel claim there is no appropriate storage space in Vernal - the old museum site is currently being used by the state to store its collections (some of which originated at DNM). The UFH has plenty of room for exhibit items at the new museum and Uintah County Commissioners are willing to let DNM use the other half of the old museum for storage of specimens until the new repository is built. They are even willing to upgrade security and fire suppression needs.
  
• Moving the fossils to BYU severely limits the chance that they will ever return to Vernal. If the fossils are moved to BYU temporarily, they will need to be brought back at some point - if the repository is ever built. Will there be a need for a repository in Vernal if everything is in Provo?
  
• There would need to be two moves of very fragile materials - collections and displays. The chances for damage to the type specimens as well as other fragile dinosaur bones is heightened with each mile of travel - 20 miles to Vernal vs. 350 mile round-trip to BYU. Considerable costs associated with the move would more than double for the trip out and back.
  
• The old museum has a workable preparation laboratory. Some upgrading would be necessary, but DNM has state of the art equipment they could continue to use. In addition, they have a top-flight preparator on staff who can direct DNM volunteers in the preparation of backlogged specimens from the Monument. BYU uses students as volunteers-cheap, but transient. Many of the DNM volunteers are long-standing and are professionally capable of recovering significant fossil resources for future study.
  
• From a scientific research standpoint, BYU has not received National Science Foundation funding, due to BYU's restrictive hiring practices. Federal funds are not normally distributed to religious organizations.
  
• BYU Earth Science Museum has dinosaur fossils, but they are rarely visited except by paleontologists. Most of their fossil storage is in an old Albertson's building that BYU is planning to develop for another program.

3)

• Previously developed interagency and intra-agency partnerships have been developed delineating the following needs for DNM and UFH collections:
  
• * Repository Needs for DNM as defined in 2001 agreements.
  
• * Paleontological collections area: 14,000 square feet - this includes DNM and UFH collections (includes archaeological collections).
  
• * Archaeological lab and storage space - 400 square feet.
  
• * Paleontology laboratory space - 2,500 square feet in common with UFH.
  
• * Offices - 4 - curatorial and educators - 690 square feet.
  
• * Research area - common area with UFH - 500 square feet.
  
• * Library - common area with UFH - 550 square feet.
  
• * Field equipment storage area - common area with UFH - 500 square feet.
  
• * Archival room - common area with UFH - 500 square feet.
  
• * Art storage room - common area with UFH - 500 square feet.
  
• * Maintenance room, boiler room, bathrooms, kitchen, lunchroom, copy room - common area with UFH - 500 square feet.

Utah Field House and Dinosaur National Monument have common curation needs and the need for a paleontology lab, which were to be shared at one facility (see Ditmanson, 2000). Part of the approach was also to share an educational facility as well as common exhibits that would reduce the costs for each entity. Uintah County and Vernal City purchased land that could be used for both facilities in Vernal.

Transfer of part of that parcel was completed with the construction of the new UFH museum. Congressional approval is necessary for the National Park Service to accept the associated parcel for the new repository. Considerable preliminary work has been done as well as local, state, and federal funding spent planning for this new facility by the NPS, DNM, and UFH - the next step is blue-prints. That progress should not be lost or diminished.

Based upon these partnerships including the BLM, USFS, and USU-Uinta Basin Branch (as addressed in a March 3, 2000 letter from then DNM superintendent Dennis Ditmanson), the state of Utah proceeded to build a new museum for UFH incorporating some of the above-mentioned common areas (non-italicized). No storage space or fossil preparation lab was included in the new facility, because of this agreement. In addition, DNM's plans for rehabilitation/replacement of the structure over the dinosaur fossil quarry and exhibit areas do not include any plans for either a paleontology lab or collections/curation space at the QVC. If a new facility is not constructed in Vernal adjacent to the UFH museum as planned, both institutions will be left without the infrastructure critical to continue their paleontology programs. Significant amounts of money were raised in Utah (primarily Vernal) based on the premise that there would be a joint UFH, repository, and preparation laboratory. The repository space was to be built by the NPS as part of this federal, state, and local partnership - a win-win solution for everyone. Additional shared space that was incorporated into the new UFH was intended to also meet DNM needs including:

1. an audio-visual room that can present the story of vertebrate paleontology in NE Utah and NW Colorado,
   
2. exhibit space that could easily display and protect specimens like the Allosaurus jimmadseni, and
   
3. an easily remodeled, conjoined wall that will allow visitors to view preparation work on vertebrate fossils from the area.

In conclusion, we would like to reiterate:

• Rebuilding Dinosaur National Monument's Quarry Visitor Center must be given the highest priority in the National Park Service. It is crucial to sustain tourism in northeastern Utah and northwestern Colorado. The educational gap cannot be filled-no other quarry is like this one.
  
• The DNM fossils would less likely to be damaged during transport, better protected, as well as appreciated by the public if they are temporarily housed locally-as part of the Utah Field House exhibits and collections stored at the old UFH museum building.
  
• There needs to be immediate congressional approval for the land exchange and reallocation of funding appropriated for the Uinta Research and Curation Center in Vernal (the federal repository).

Partnerships like these are vital to rural America. Tourism helps drive stable development in these areas; Vernal is a definitive example. We strongly urge Dinosaur National Monument personnel as well as the National Park Service at the regional and national levels to pursue these partnerships with vigor. Together we can accomplish anything - rebuild, renew, and reposit these wonderful examples of a rich Jurassic Age. Vernal is Dinosaurland - let's keep it that way!!

It's All In The Snap, Crackle And Pop

Eating a bowl of cereal could help you get pregnant, says the Daily Mail.

I would have thought a bottle of tequila was far more effective in "getting you pregnant", and much more fun...

Birds?!

I absolutely adore the new Volvic adverts, with the extremely cute Tyrannosaurus Alan. The original one is ace:


But in the latest one George the Volcano refers to the pterosaurs as BIRDS!! Nooooooooooooooooooo!


Paul tells me that I really shouldn't expect so much from an advert with a talking volcano and dinosaur. And I suppose purple pterosaurs are pushing it a bit too. But it's the principle of the thing! Still a really cute set of adverts though.

Come on world, I'll have you for breakfast!

My First Citation

I was bored one evening (because my extensive reading list is clearly not extensive enough!), and googled Cetiosauriscus, the dinosaur I worked on as part of my MSci. I tried out the new Google Scholar search engine, still in beta mode. And I was thrilled to bits to see that my 2003 SVP abstract was in there as the second entry. I was even more delighted to see that three papers had cited it!

I did mention this in passing to the Pauls (my current supervisor and my MRes supervisor) after our journal club meeting, and their response was "Well it's the only published work on the bloody thing", or words to that effect, but I still think it's pretty cool. I know one author, Jerry Harris, is a regular reader of this blog, so thanks for making a part-time grad student very happy!

Shambo The Sacred Cow

I've been following the case of Shambo, the cow living in a Hindu temple in Wales. Shambo was found to have bovine tuberculosis in a routine screening, and according to the law he must be put down to prevent the spread of the infection.

Since starting my current job, I've had to read Farmers Weekly and Farmers Guardian for relevant stories, and it's impossible not to absorb some of the non-wheat-related issues in farming today. Bovine TB is a big problem. As far as I'm aware, whole herds have to be slaughtered if bovine TB is found, so it seems the Welsh Assembly have already been fairly lenient in allowing only Shambo to be destroyed.

As sympathetic as I am to the plight of the Hindus defending Shambo (although I have little experience of the faith I do understand how sacred the cow is), I feel very strongly that an exception should not be made in this case. We do not let Rastafarians off for possessing or supplying cannabis (at least no more than we do any other group of users). We do not allow female genital mutilation because certain minority Muslim groups demand it as part of their religion. Sikhs remove their ceremonial knives before flights or entering restricted buildings. There are an awful lot of things that are illegal in this country for every single religion, and a lot of things that are legal that religions object to - in almost all cases they work around it (such as Jews in north London roping off the pavements to separate themselves on the Sabbath from the vast number of cars careering round the North Circular). Perhaps there are exceptions (the only thing that springs to mind as a possibility is the Islam-friendly mortgage, but that's more a bank thing than a law thing). I'd be interested in any examples.

At some point Shambo was infected with TB. And he could in turn infect other cattle. To protect the other cows he must be slaughtered, as tragic as that is. Otherwise, he may infect a neighbour's cattle. Protesters may be able to save one sacred bull, but they're unlikely to be able to save Farmer Jones' 50-strong Holstein herd.

Why We Need More Scientific Literacy #4

If any of you are unfortunate enough to read the Daily Express (sadly this article isn't deemed important enough to go online), then you might have seen "Found: Bones of an 80ft dinosaur". The Express, along with the Mail and Metro, are allergic to the word "palaeontologist", so it's just "scientists" all the way through (but this is still better than the Mirror and Sun referring to "boffins"). For the most part it's a rather piss-poor rendition of the actual story and its significance - if you want to know more I'd suggest reading the actual Queensland Museum media release. But it's this one paragraph that made me scream in frustration:

A team in eastern Australia has uncovered bones from a previously unknown reptile from the Titanosaurus group, which includes the brontosaurus and diplodocus.

Where do I start? There is no such thing as "the Titanosaurus group" - there are titanosaurs, but Titanosaurus is a now-defunct genus. The "brontosaurus" (for the love of God, at least capitalise if you won't italicise) does not exist - it's Apatosaurus. Yes I know, Brontosaurus is a way cooler name, but the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature says it has to be Apatosaurus. And Diplodocus would only be related to the new specimens in that they are all neosauropods - the clade Diplodocidae (which contains Diplodocus) is the sister clade to Macronaria (which contains the titanosaurs).

Yes, it's a bit pedantic, but someone has to be a pedant. If all these palaeontology stories are filled with inaccuracies (I read the media release - why didn't Cyril Dixon, who wrote the article, do so too?), we have to assume that all the chemistry, physics, history, IT, literature etc stories are filled with inaccuracies. And if the "intellectual study" stories are inaccurate, then what confidence do we have that the really important international news that affects our daily lives is being reported faithfully?

Anything Happen While I Was Away?

I met with my supervisors, sorted out my plan of action for the next few months, and got my student card and e-mail address. As I expected, I'll be starting with a LOT of reading. I'm looking forward to having online access to journals again (although my palaeo friends have done a good job getting PDFs for me) and being back in the loop. While I've stayed on the Dinosaur, VertPaleo and PaleoNet mailing lists, I haven't really paid a lot of attention over the past few years, so I expect I have some catching up to do.

So, did I miss anything?