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Carl Wish I could be there. In answer to question #2. I have no problem with the publicity dinosaurs get in the media. Without dinosaurs in the popular media I would not have aquired my lifetime passion for paleo. I learned to read on dinosaur books and since then my interest in all things paleontological has been unswerving. It is perfectly understandable why big creatures with long necks, nasty horns or sharp teeth grab more attention from those covering such things than say clams or even (dare I say it?) nannoplankton. Additionally I don't see many of my colleagues beating down the doors of publishers with nannofossil articles. That said I do have one pet peeve. That is the popular notion that the K/T boundary is marked only by the extinction of the dinosaurs. The media needs to get it straight, gradual or instantaneously there was some kind of general holocost at that time and dinosaurs were just a small part of it. Some new virus or egg devouring beasties just won't cut it as an explanation. This is perpetuated by Bakker (the media's paleo main squeeze) who seems to be myopic on this point. I would like to see the tool of biostratigraphy get more attention in press releases about oil and gas discoveries. There is a paleontologist lurking behind just about every good seismic interpretation but all I read is 3D seismic! 3D seismic!... I digress...just gets me all worked up... Anyway after spending my entire (so far) professional career working for "The Cause" I can not begrudge the dinosaur folks their spotlight. Mike ======================================================================= | Michael J. Styzen Phone: (504) 588-4308 | | Shell Offshore Inc. Room: OSS-1808 | | P.O. Box 61933 Email: mstyzen@shellus.com | | New Orleans LA 70161 | =======================================================================
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