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Sunday, September 4, 2016

Good, Semi-good, and Bad Dino Sources 3

This post is the 3rd & last part in the "Good, semi-good, and bad dino sources" series. If you haven't read the 1st ( http://blogevolved.blogspot.com/2013/03/good-semi-good-and-bad-dino-sources.html ) or 2nd part ( http://blogevolved.blogspot.com/2014/05/good-semi-good-and-bad-dino-sources.html ), I recommend reading them b/c the former explains how said series works & the latter explains what's changed since the former.

Good

The AMNH ("The American Museum of Natural History": http://www.amnh.org ) is the best popular source of any dino museum next to the NHM (See "Good": http://blogevolved.blogspot.com/2013/03/good-semi-good-and-bad-dino-sources.html ). AFAIK, the AMNH has published more/better popular dino books (2 of which I reviewed) & organized more/better dino exhibitions (3 of which I mentioned in reviews) than any other dino museum.*

Remember what I said about Martyniuk & Willoughby (See "Good": http://blogevolved.blogspot.com/2014/05/good-semi-good-and-bad-dino-sources.html )? The same goes for Brougham ("softdinosaurs | Jason Brougham Paleontological Art": http://jasonbrougham.com ). His species reconstructions in general & "Three dinosaur genera: Gallus, Zhongornis, Bambiraptor" in particular remind me of Audubon's Bird Guide ( https://www.audubon.org/field-guide ) & Norell's comments about quill knobs on Velociraptor ("The more that we learn about these animals the more we find that there is basically no difference between birds and their closely related dinosaur ancestors like velociraptor. Both have wishbones, brooded their nests, possess hollow bones, and were covered in feathers. If animals like velociraptor were alive today our first impression would be that they were just very unusual looking birds": http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070920145402.htm ), respectively.

You could say that Csotonyi ("csotonyi.com": http://www.csotonyi.com ) & Hartman ("Scott Hartman's Skeletal Drawing.com": http://www.skeletaldrawing.com ) are the new & improved GSPauls (See "Semi-good": http://blogevolved.blogspot.com/2013/03/good-semi-good-and-bad-dino-sources.html ): Csotonyi is "one of the world's most high profile and talented contemporary paleoartists" ( http://www.amazon.com/Paleoart-Julius-Csotonyi/dp/1781169128 ); Hartman is "a terrific resource for artists looking for reference material for illustrating dinosaurs" ( http://chasmosaurs.blogspot.com/2012/06/this-thursday-learn-anatomy-from-scott.html ); Like GSPaul, both are scientists whose "scientific training has been instrumental in informing [their] artwork" ( http://www.scienceworld.ca/blog/love-science-and-art-julius-csotonyis-dinosaurs ); Unlike GSPaul, neither are "needlessly controversial" ( http://www.skeletaldrawing.com/home/2012/01/great-skeletal-repose-of-2011_20.html ).

Remember what I said about Hone (See "Good": http://blogevolved.blogspot.com/2013/03/good-semi-good-and-bad-dino-sources.html )? He has since written a dino book like Holtz ("The Tyrannosaur Chronicles: The Biology of the Tyrant Dinosaurs", which is for casual readers: http://www.amazon.com/Tyrannosaur-Chronicles-Biology-Tyrant-Dinosaurs/dp/1472911253 ). Yay!

Whether they're called "Jersey Boys Hunt Dinosaurs" or "Prehistoric Beast of the Week" (henceforth PBOTW: http://prehistoricbeastoftheweek.blogspot.com/ ), DiPiazza & friend(s) are, to paraphrase Thomas Edison ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJ1Mz7kGVf0 ), "so dope that [they] even make New Jersey look good". There are 3 main reasons for why I think that is: 1) To quote DiPiazza ( http://prehistoricbeastoftheweek.blogspot.com/p/meet-team.html ), "Never before has there been a site that revolved around paleontology that ALSO had a strong foothold in modern animal biology, particularly endangered species conservation"; Naish's "Tetrapod Zoology" is similar, but more for the enthusiast, while PBOTW is more for casual readers; Point is, very few sources are consistently good at combining paleontology & zoology;** 2) DiPiazza is "a published paleo-artist, having painted images of dinosaurs and other prehistoric life for displays in museums, books, magazines, scientific publications, and websites. His professional experience, working closely with and observing living animals, gives him an inspirational edge when creating paleo-art" ( http://prehistoricbeastoftheweek.blogspot.com/p/meet-team.html ); In other words, DiPiazza's paleoart is both the medium & the message of PBTOW's awesomeness; 3) DiPiazza & friend(s) remind me of a young Bakker in terms of background & outreach ( http://prehistoricbeastoftheweek.blogspot.com/p/media.html ); I hope they write/illustrate dino books like Bakker too, someday.

"Paleoaerie" ( http://paleoaerie.org/ ) is to AR what "Prehistoric Beast of the Week" is to NJ.

SV-POW! ("Sauropod Vertebra Picture of the Week": https://svpow.com/ ) is the ultimate source of sauropod anatomy info. Classicalguy's "Sauropod Vertebra Picture Adventure!" ( http://classicalguy.deviantart.com/art/Sauropod-Vertebra-Picture-Adventure-411152781 ) sums up why. Put another way, SV-POW! is basically a sauropod-centric version of Naish's "Tetrapod Zoology".

If Conway et al. are the A-Team of paleoart (See "Good": http://blogevolved.blogspot.com/2013/03/good-semi-good-and-bad-dino-sources.html ), then Witton is the Lone Ranger ("HOME - markwitton": http://www.markwitton.com/ ): Whenever there's trouble, he rides in on his giant pterosaur & saves the day; His Spinosaurus posts are an especially good example of that ( http://markwitton-com.blogspot.com/search/label/Spinosaurus ).

*I'm specifically referring to Norell et al.'s "Discovering Dinosaurs: Evolution, Extinction, and the Lessons of Prehistory, Expanded and Updated" (which mentions the AMNH's "Hall of Dinosaurs": http://blogevolved.blogspot.com/2013/04/my-2nd-pair-of-reviews.html ) & Abramson et al.'s "Inside Dinosaurs" (which mentions the AMNH's "Hall of Dinosaurs", "Fighting Dinos", & "Dinosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries": http://blogevolved.blogspot.com/2016/08/my-15th-pair-of-reviews.html ) for casual readers.

**Some paleontologists have tried w/mixed results (E.g. Cau; See "Semi-good" for what I mean: http://blogevolved.blogspot.com/2013/03/good-semi-good-and-bad-dino-sources.html ). Some zoologists have tried w/even worse results (E.g. Marven; See "Bad" below for what I mean).

Semi-good

Rey's "Re: Horner Talks" ( http://dml.cmnh.org/1997Jul/msg00306.html ) sums up why Horner ("John R. Horner - Faculty and Staff": http://www.montana.edu/wwwes/facstaff/horner.htm ) is a semi-good source of dino info.

Bad

Remember what I said about Peters, Dr. Pterosaur/Doug Dobney, & Gwawinapterus/Johnfaa (See "Bad": http://blogevolved.blogspot.com/2013/03/good-semi-good-and-bad-dino-sources.html )? The same goes for Jackson ("sciencepolice2010 | Become a better scientist in under an hour! See 'Essential First Post'"), but worse b/c he's basically all 3 combined into 1 horrible being. Don't take my word for it, though. Compare Jackson's comments on Naish's "The ‘Birds Come First’ hypothesis of dinosaur evolution" ( http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2009/06/08/birds-come-first-hypothesis/ ) to Hone's "To those who would prove us wrong – a guide to scientific dialogue" (which is basically a list of how not to be Jackson: https://archosaurmusings.wordpress.com/2009/05/29/to-those-who-would-prove-us-wrong-a-guide-to-scientific-dialogue/ ).

Zorak's "Nigel Marven is the Worst" ( http://www.anorbitalgrouse.com/video/nigel/ ) sums up why Marven ("Nigel Marven") is a bad source of dino info.

Remember what I said about Blasing & Dixon (See "Bad": http://blogevolved.blogspot.com/2014/05/good-semi-good-and-bad-dino-sources.html )? The same goes for Strauss ("Dinosaurs at About.com"). RaptorRex's "Another Dinosaur Field Guide!?" ( http://raptorrexdinosauria.blogspot.com/2015/09/another-dinosaur-field-guide.html ) sums up what I mean. I hate to say it b/c, based on what I've read, Strauss is a nice guy. Carr's 11/13/2013 tweet ( https://twitter.com/KarenCarr_Illus/statuses/400718813361999872 ) sums up what I mean.