Written by Dale Granger Thursday, 13 August 2009 00:00
WORLD-renowned dinosaur paleontologist Professor Scott Sampson will shatter a few myths about Tyrannosaurus rex and his prehistoric relatives when he arrives in Perth as a keynote speaker for Science Week.
Prof Sampson, previously the on-air host for the Discovery Channel Series Dinosaur Planet and currently serving the same role in a new children’s TV series called Dinosaur Train, will also discuss the relevance of dinosaurs to our world, addressing such issues as mass extinctions and global warming.
Prof Sampson says we can learn a lot from the dinosaurs.
“The dinosaur’s demise may well have been caused by an asteroid hitting the Earth. Awareness of this catastrophe caused us to seriously consider how we might deflect an asteroid on a collision course with Earth.
“There are also issues such as global warming and mass extinctions. The dinosaur extinction can help teach us how the biosphere recovers from such devastating events.
“Dinosaurs lived at a time of extreme global warming, when there were no polar ice caps. And they experienced a mass extinction unlike anything we have seen since—until now. At the current pace of extinctions, half the species alive today will be gone by the end of this century. So understanding the world of dinosaurs may just help us face our own plight,” he says.
Prof Sampson also wants to correct a few myths about these fascinating creatures.
“Dinosaurs are not actually extinct. They are alive and well, with more living species than those of hairy mammals. Birds, it appears, are actually feathered dinosaurs, the direct descendants of small, carnivorous dinosaurs like Velociraptor.
“As such they are a tremendous success story, being around for a great deal longer than we (humans) have.”
In contrast to the old view of dim-witted lizards lurching around parched landscapes, dinosaurs turn out to be complex and interesting creatures.
“Some lived in herds and others cared for their young,” Prof Sampson says.
“They were much more agile, intelligent and fascinating than often depicted as just engaging in cinematic blood-and-guts battles between giant predators and prey.”
Sampson was a graduate student when Steven Spielberg produced Hollywood’s dinosaur epic, Jurassic Park.
He says the film heightened awareness of dinosaurs, while perpetuating myths that needed to be corrected.
“I think Spielberg did a lot to heighten general interest. You can’t be too critical because, after all, the movie was not supposed to portray real life. It was entertainment.
“But Jurassic Park did focus on the bloodthirsty theme of dinosaurs. When we make documentaries one of our jobs is to go beyond the hunting and killing to communicate some of the nuances of how nature works, whether we’re talking about dinosaurs or modern day animals.”
