Dynamic dinosaur theories

National Geographic features an interview with paleontologist Holly Woodward of Oklahoma State University about the results of a new study that casts doubt on the existence of a separate Nanotyrannus species - and showing that fossils previously thought to be Nanotyrannus were most likely juvenile T. rex.

“This study is another nail in the coffin of Nanotyrannus. I think it's about time to put that coffin into the ground,” [Dr. Stephen Brusatte, a paleontologist at the University of Edinburgh] says. “Although I hold out hope that an adult Nanotyrannus might be found, at this point I'd say it's about as equally likely as finding an actual fossil unicorn in the same rocks.”

Popular culture tends to glamorize dinosaurs, making them into objects of terror - but this is the kind of research that helps us understand how these animals were living, evolving creatures that responded to the circumstances of their ecosystem. And that paleontology itself is a dynamic field where theories are evolving and changing as new evidence comes to light.

Eureka Exhibits’ Be the Dinosaur encourages kids to think beyond the fossils and dinosaur drama, and experience what it might have been like to be a dinosaur in an ecosystem. (BTW: Parents of human teenagers can only help but wonder, could the teenage T. rex be bothered to clean its bedroom?)