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NSF PS 01-06 - August 2, 2001
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Statement by Dr. Jack Hayes
Program Director for Ecological and Evolutionary Physiology
On dinosaur nasal discovery
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is proud to have
funded this research by Lawrence Witmer of Ohio University.
Witmer's work is important because it helps biologists
to more realistically depict the soft tissue biology
of dinosaurs and to explore their respiratory functions
in more detail. Placement of the nostrils determines
how air would flow and might affect the nasal passages'
role in olfaction and exchange of heat or water.
Putting bones together correctly is a paleobiologist's
specialty. Do it correctly, and you get clues to how
an extinct animal lived. Make a mistake, and you might
end up with a fossil horse that walked on two legs
or a Tyrranosaurus rex that walked on four. Learning
the biological rules for assembling the bones of extinct
animals is notoriously hard, but learning the rules
for how to place the rest of the animal on those bones
may be even harder.
While the connection to dinosaur biology is what will
excite most people, Witmer's results are significant
for two other reasons. First, they expand our knowledge
of soft tissue anatomy in birds, reptiles and mammals
-- an area of research that has slowed in recent years.
Second, they show how studies of modern animals may
enable paleobiologists to infer the structure of soft
tissues that don’t fossilize well. If biologists can
reconstruct the soft tissue anatomy of dinosaurs,
they will be better able to understand how dinosaurs
lived.
See also:
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