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Robert T. Bakker

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For the Dutch Olympic rower, seeRobert Bakker (rower).
Robert T. Bakker
Bakker in 2008
Born(1945-03-24)March 24, 1945(age 79)
Bergen County, New Jersey,United States
Alma materYale University(B.A., 1968)[1]
Harvard University(Ph.D, 1971)[1]
Known forThe "dinosaur renaissance"
Scientific career
FieldsPaleontology
InstitutionsJohns Hopkins University
Houston Museum of Natural Science
Doctoral advisorJohn Ostrom
Doctoral studentsBlaire Van Valkenburgh

Robert Thomas Bakker(born March 24, 1945) is an Americanpaleontologistwho helped reshape modern theories aboutdinosaurs,particularly by adding support to the theory that some dinosaurs wereendothermic(warm-blooded).[2]Along with his mentorJohn Ostrom,Bakker was responsible for initiating the ongoing "dinosaur renaissance"in paleontological studies, beginning with Bakker's article" Dinosaur Renaissance "in the April 1975 issue ofScientific American.His specialty is theecologicalcontext andbehavior of dinosaurs.

Bakker has been a major proponent of the theory that dinosaurs werewarm-blooded,smart, fast, and adaptable. He published his first paper ondinosaur endothermyin 1968. His seminal work,The Dinosaur Heresies,was published in 1986. He revealed the first evidence of parental care at nesting sites forAllosaurus.He also observed evidence in support ofEldredgeandGould'stheory ofpunctuated equilibriumin dinosaur populations. Bakker currently serves as the Curator of Paleontology for theHouston Museum of Natural Science.

Biography[edit]

Bakker (right) teaching at theHMNSin 2008

Bakker was born inBergen County, New Jersey.He attributes his interest in dinosaurs to his reading an article in the September 7, 1953, issue ofLifemagazine. He graduated fromRidgewood High Schoolin 1963.[3]

AtYale UniversityBakker studied underJohn Ostrom,an early proponent of the new view of dinosaurs, and later earned hisPhDatHarvard.He began by teaching anatomy atJohns Hopkins UniversityinBaltimore,Marylandand Earth and Space Sciences, where future artistGregory S. Paulworked and collaborated informally under his guidance. Most of Bakker's fieldwork has been done inWyoming,especially atComo Bluff.Still, he has traveled as far asMongoliaandSouth Africain search of dinosaurhabitats.He also worked as an assistant at theUniversity of Colorado.

Theories[edit]

MountedGorgosaurusskeleton with several bone injuries, from the "Dinosaur Mummy: CSI" exhibit at theHMNS,Bakker on the right

In his 1986 workThe Dinosaur Heresies,Bakker puts forth the theory that dinosaurs werewarm-blooded.His evidence for this includes:

  • Almost all modern animals thatwalk uprightare warm-blooded, and dinosaurs walked upright.
  • Theheartsof warm-blooded animals can pump much more effectively than the hearts ofcold-bloodedanimals. Therefore, the giantBrachiosaurusmust have had the type of heart associated with warm-blooded animals in order to pump blood up to its head.
  • Dinosaurs such asDeinonychusled a very active life, behavior which is much more compatible with a warm-blooded animal.[4]
  • Some dinosaurs lived in northernlatitudeswhere it would have been impossible for cold-blooded dinosaurs to maintain their body temperature.
  • The rapid rate ofspeciationandevolutionfound in dinosaurs is typical of warm-blooded animals and atypical of cold-blooded animals.[5]
  • The hypothesized population ratios of predatory dinosaurs to their prey is a signature trait of warm-blooded predators rather than cold-blooded ones.
  • Birds are warm-blooded and evolved from dinosaurs; therefore, a change to a warm-blooded metabolism must have taken place at some point. There is far more change between dinosaurs and their ancestors (basalarchosaurs) than between non-avian dinosaurs and birds.[6]
  • A warm-blooded metabolism is an evolutionary advantage fortop predatorsand largeherbivores;if dinosaurs had not been warm-blooded there should be fossil evidence of warm-blooded animals evolving to fill these ecological niches. No such evidence exists; in fact, by the end of theCretaceous,mammals had become much smaller than theirstem-mammalancestors.
  • Dinosaurs grew rapidly, evidence for which can be found by observing cross-sections of their bones.[7]Warm-blooded animals grow at a similar rate.

Bakker is also a proponent of the idea thatflowering plants evolvedbecause of their interactions with dinosaurs.[8]He also believes the principal cause of extinction for all non-avian dinosaurs was in fact a plague caused by invasive species crossing land bridges, retorting that, had the comet been large enough to kill off every non-avian dinosaur, it would have also wiped out the various taxa known to have survived the K-T extinction event.[9]

Writing[edit]

Bakker lecturing in 2011

Bakker's fictional novelRaptor Redtells of a year in the life of a femaleUtahraptorduring the lowerCretaceous.In the story, Bakker elaborates on his knowledge of the behavior ofdromaeosaurids( "raptor" dinosaurs) and life at the time of their existence.

Religious beliefs[edit]

As aPentecostal,[10]Ecumenical Christianminister, Bakker has said there is no real conflict betweenreligion and science,and that evolution of species and geologic history is compatible with religious belief. Bakker views the Bible as an ethical and moral guide, rather than a literal timetable of events in the history of life. He has advisednon-believersandcreationiststo read the views put forward bySaint Augustine,who argued against a literal understanding of theBook of Genesis.[11]

Influence on popular media[edit]

Bakker's earliest known appearance was in the 1976BBCNova episodeThe Hot-Blooded Dinosaursaired on WGBH Boston.[12]

Bakker appears in the 1989BBCseriesLost Worlds, Vanished Livespresented byDavid Attenborough,in the third episodeDinosaurdiscussing his theory regardingTyrannosaurus rexand other theropods being warm-blooded animals. Bakker later renamedAttenborosaurus,a species ofplesiosaurafter Sir David.[13]

Bakker was an advisor for the 1992PBSseries,The Dinosaurs!.He had many appearances in the TLC television seriesPaleoworld,and was also among the advisors for the filmJurassic Park,with some of the early concept art being informed by Bakker's works.[14][15]Bakker also appeared in theSega CDversion ofJurassic Park.[16]

Dr. Bakker was a guest in episode 27 ( "Surprise" ) of theWilliams StreetoriginalSpace Ghost Coast to Coast.

Bakker appeared in the 1992 VHSWhatever Happened to the Dinosaurs?

He was profiled on location at his Wyoming dinosaur excavation site in an episode of theDiscover Magazine (TV series)onThe Disney Channelin 1992.[17]

Bakker and his 1986 book are mentioned in the originalJurassic Park.[14]The bearded paleontologistDr. Robert Burke,who is eaten by aTyrannosaurus rexinSteven Spielberg's filmThe Lost World: Jurassic Park,is an affectionatecaricatureof Bakker. In real life, Bakker has argued for a predatoryT. rex,while Bakker's rival paleontologistJack Hornerviews it as primarily ascavenger.According to Horner, Spielberg wrote the character of Burke and had him killed by theT. rexas a favor for Horner. After the film came out, Bakker recognized himself in Burke, loved the caricature, and actually sent Horner a message saying, "See, I told youT. rexwas a hunter! "[18]

Bibliography[edit]

  • Bakker, Robert T. (1986),The Dinosaur Heresies,William Morrow.
  • Bakker, Robert T. (1995),Raptor Red,Bantam Books.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ab"Robert T. Bakker [1945]".New Netherland Institute.Retrieved13 August2015.
  2. ^"Hot-Blooded or Cold-Blooded??".Berkeley.
  3. ^"NJEA honors outstanding NJ public school grads"(PDF),NJEA Reporter,51(2), October 2007, archived fromthe original(PDF)on 10 September 2008,retrieved9 July2008,A 1963 graduate of Ridgewood High School in Bergen County, Bakker credits the December 7, 1953 issue ofLifemagazine, which he unearthed at his grandfather's house, for his interest in dinosaurs.
  4. ^Bakker 1986,p. 98.
  5. ^Bakker 1986,p. 395.
  6. ^Bakker 1986,p. 298.
  7. ^Bakker 1986,p. 347.
  8. ^Bakker, Robert T. (17 August 1978). "Dinosaur Feeding Behaviour and the Origin of Flowering Plants".Nature.274(5672). London: Macmillan: 661–663.Bibcode:1978Natur.274..661B.doi:10.1038/274661a0.S2CID4162574.
  9. ^"WFS Profiles:Dr. Robert T. Bakker | WFS".Retrieved3 July2023.
  10. ^"Creation Science Commentary Dr. Bob, The Creation Scientist!".
  11. ^Robert Bakker(profile),Melbourne,Australia: Evolution – The Festival, 2009, archived fromthe originalon 14 September 2009.
  12. ^"The Hot-Blooded Dinosaurs".3 January 1976.
  13. ^"Attenborosaurus: a celebrity reptile".
  14. ^ab"Go on a Dinosaur Dig with Robert T. Bakker".Archived fromthe originalon 30 September 2019.Retrieved13 February2018.
  15. ^The Making of Jurassic Parkby D. Shay & J. Duncan, Boxtree Ltd; 1st Edition. edition (30 Jun 1993), p. 21, 113ISBN1-85283-774-8
  16. ^"Jurassic Park (Sega CD)".Sega Visions.October 1993. p. 29.Retrieved22 July2016.
  17. ^"DISCOVER MAGAZINE Series:Bob Bakker, Dinosaur Heratic.".2 December 2014.
  18. ^"Robert Bakker".CPedia.Retrieved18 July2010.[permanent dead link]

External links[edit]

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