Computers in Paleontology
Andy Epton
What is paleontology? It is defined as: “a science dealing with the life of past
geological periods as known from fossil remains.” Paleontology uses bones and other
fossilized material, such as leaves and eggs, to give us information about life in the past.
Although paleobotany and paleoclimatology are disciplines of paleontology, animals
such as dinosaurs are most commonly associated with the study of paleontology. In
1822, the first dinosaur bones, consisting of some bones and teeth,were discovered by
the British geologist Gideon Algernon Mantellin Sussex, England. He knew that the
bones were from a large animal of some sort. He sent the teeth and bones to the French
naturalist Georges, Baron Cuvier (Asimov par.1). Cuvier made major contributions to
the field of vertebrate paleontology. He also studied comparative anatomy, the study of
physical similarities among vertebrates, which led him to be the first person to classify
fossils (Cuvier, Georges, Baron par.1). Cuvier examined the teeth and a bone that looked
like a horn of some kind. Using this information, Cuvier incorrectly identified the bones
as belonging to a “rhinoceroslike mammal.” While doing some fieldwork in North
America a couple of years later, Gideon Mantell found the teeth of an iguana. Upon
closer examination, he realized that these teeth were exactly like the ones he had
discovered a couple of years earlier, though the iguana’s teeth were smaller. He then
realized that the first set of teeth did not belong to a mammal but a reptile. A giant reptile
that he named iguanadon, or “iguana-tooth.” He was the first person to discover a
“terrifying lizard”, or as we know it, a dinosaur (Asimov pars.1-3). However, the story
doesn’t end there. Since the dinosaur had teeth like an iguana and was named iguanadon,
it is supposed to look like an iguana, right? Not necessarily, but that is what people
thought. There is that problem with the “horn,” though. Iguanas do not have horns. Yet,
the bones that Mantell found included a “horn.” So, artists went back to Cuvier’s theory
of a “rhinoceroslike” creature. When they sketched the animal as it might have looked,
they added a horn to a giant iguana. Little did they know that this “horn” would turn out
to be iguanadon’s thumb. Many dinosaurs were inaccurately portrayed in the early years
of paleontology. This is due to the fact that all they had to base their information on was
a few bones and an overactive imagination. Only when complete skeletons were found
did early paleontologists reconstruct the dinosaurs as best as they could. Computers have
helped in reconstructing the past. They have helped paleontology immensely.
Going Medieval
I am going to “go medieval” for a second. What does the medieval period have to
do with paleontology? Did I not say that paleontology has been around since the early
1800’s? Yes, I did say that. I was not talking about the whole medieval period, just the
order system. It is a system of rank. If a king, some knights, and serfs were at a table,
the king would sit down first and at the head of the table. So, I will talk about the king of
dinosaurs first. Naturally, I am talking about Tyrannosaurus rex, “tyrant lizard king.” T.
rex, I will be referring to him/her as thus from here on out, was not necessarily the
biggest of the carnivorous dinosaurs, but s/he was the first big carnivore discovered.
Therefore, it was crowned king of the dinosaurs. T. rex is a theropod, “a bipedal, flesheating dinosaur.” The largest theropods are called carnosaurs. T. rex falls into this
category.
Only about six complete skeletons of T. rex have ever been discovered. When the
first one was found and assembled, the paleontologist wanted to put him/her in an agile
bird-like position with his/her tail in the air and back parallel to the ground. However, it
is extremely difficult to support two tons of bone in this manner. So, the paleontologists
had to stand him/her upright with his/her tail dragging on the ground. Unfortunately, this
is how the world first saw T. rex and this is how s/he would be depicted for decades. T.
rex, along with all of the other dinosaurs, was thought to be cold-blooded since s/he was a
reptile. Also, the “fact” that he stood upright was another factor in determining his coldblooded nature. Since his/her tail dragged on the ground, s/he obviously didn’t have the
strength or energy to support it. This led scientists to the conclusion that T. rex depended
on the sun for his/her body heat. Animals that depend on the sun for body heat, coldblooded animals, only have the energy to do so many things for so long. Apparently,
holding his/her tail up was not one of those things. So, T. rex was dubbed cold-blooded.
This view changed in the late 1960’s. A young paleontologist named Robert Bakker
stunned the dinosaur world when stated that dinosaurs were not cold-blooded, they were
warm-blooded. Bakker says that dinosaurs were swift, bird-like creatures that took care
of their families. Bakker has been quoted as saying, “Tyrannosaurus rex should never be
called a five-ton lizard. T. rex was, in fact, a 10,000-pound turkey with a really bad
attitude.” Transforming T. rex into a bird-like, reptilian animal has encountered
controversy. For decades, s/he has been portrayed as a stiff, upright lizard. Computers
have aided this transition. Using his/her footprints that s/he left behind at an ancient
water hole, paleontologists are able to calculate how fast T. rex ran. Applying these
calculations to an agile, bird-like T. rex, scientists can determine whether or not T. rex
would be able to run in that position. They utilize computer modeling to simulate T.
rex’s movements. Also, three-dimensional modeling allows anybody to manipulate a
two-ton skeleton. It makes building skeletons and moving the extremely large bones
around easy. Determining how fast T. rex ran can tell paleontologists whether or not T.
rex was able to keep running at high speeds for extended periods of time. If s/he was,
then s/he was probably not cold-blooded. Also, if T. rex ran at high rates of speed, then
that proves that s/he did not stand upright with his/her tail dragging the ground. Since
they cannot ask a skeleton to run and see how it moves, scientists use computers, as I
mentioned above, to make T. rex run. That may not seem that important to the average
person, but it might prove very beneficial to the ongoing debate of whether or not
dinosaurs were warm-blooded.
In his movie, Jurassic Park, Steven Spielberg portrayed T. rex as having no depth
perception. S/he could not see objects that were not moving. Kent Stevens, a computer
scientist for the University of Oregon, decided to find out if this is true. Using models of
different dinosaur heads and lasers, Stevens mapped the field of vision for different
theropods. Stevens said, “The models helped me estimate how the bumps adorning the
nose and brows had an effect on vision…” (Coates 25). Stevens saw the movie and
found the scene where T. rex turns his/her nose up to two humans simply because they
were still absurd. Depth perception, stereopsis, occurs in the area where the individual
lines of sight overlap from each eye. Different images taken at different angles from each
eye is displayed onto each retina which in turn gives the brain a three dimensional image
(25-26). In the early 1900’s, viewers were made that allowed people to see pictures in 3D. A card consisting of two pictures taken at slightly different angles. When held in
front of both eyes, the pictures looked the same. However, when the card was placed in
the viewer, each eye was restricted to look at one picture. The brain saw the two pictures
as one three-dimensional photograph. Most animals have the capability to judge depth,
though some do not. Those that cannot judge depth have eyes that see widespread fields
but do not overlap. This gives them a panoramic view. Humans lose the ability to see
depth when eyesight in one eye is lost. They no longer receive two pictures to make a 3D image. Over time, though, our brains sometimes compensate us for the loss of depth.
The lack of reliable depth perception would have prevented T. rex from becoming a
formidable predator. Imitating depth perception by bobbing his/her head would have
alerted his/her prey to his/her presence (26).
Stevens met Garfield Minott, paleo-artist, at the Royal Ontario Museum. Minott
sculpts dinosaur heads. His interest in the dinosaur field of vision growing, Kent Stevens
enlisted Minott for his supply of model heads. In Oregon, he began working on his
project. Minott provided Stevens with “a menagerie of model heads –
Carcharadontosaurus, T. rex, Daspletosaurus, Allosaurus, Nanotyrannus, Velociraptor,
and Troodon…” (27). Each head came with two glass eyes. Minott describes the placing
of eyes in his models as “natural.” After studying dinosaurs’ closest relatives, birds and
lizards, he has a feel for where to put the glass orbs.
Kent Stevens stabilized the heads to a laboratory device. An erect pane of glass
was placed several inches from the dinosaur’s snout. A laser pen was situated close
enough to light up one of the eyes but off to the side of the head. An “origin” position
was indicated on the pane of glass. The human viewing field is easy to map. People are
able to tell what they see. Stevens wondered, “But how do you do that on a
dinosaur?…You can’t get on the inside and look out…” (28). Using creativity and The
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, he started mapping. Covering one
of his eyes, Stevens observed the “dinosaur’s left eye from a location on the animal’s far
right.” He thus applied the “Bugblatter Principle.” “If you can’t see it, it can’t see you,”
from Adams’ book. He marked, on the pane of glass, where he could just barely see the
left eye over its nose. Knowing that dinosaurs did not see on “one horizontal plane,” he
marked locations above and below using the same procedure. He repeated this procedure
with the right eye until he had a set of “parentheses.” Within these parentheses, the
dinosaur had depth perception. He scanned his findings into a computer. He wrote some
software that would allow him to evaluate his results. T. rex had a field of view that was
wide, like a hawk’s field of view. Allosaurus’s was more like an alligator’s field of view.
This means that Allosaurus was an “ambush predator.” S/he had to wait for prey to get
close before s/he could attack (27-28). T. rex may prove to be the king of the dinosaurs
after all.
CAT Scan anyone?
Since its development in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, the CAT scanner has
been used primarily on humans. Now, even dinosaurs have received a CAT scan.
Computerized axial tomography, CAT, is an advanced form of X-ray imaging.
Paleontologists use this technology to view the inner cavities of dinosaur skulls. Almost
everything in the skull, from the nasal passages to eye sockets to ear canals, have been
studied using the CAT scan. However, skulls are not the only bones to be viewed through
the use of the CAT scan. Paleontologists use this technology to determine the thickness
of the bones making up the extremities. Knowing the thickness has an impact on how the
dinosaur walked, how well s/he carried his/her weight, and his/her posture. Using serial
CAT, scientists can build whole specimens from existing fragments (Leakey S179). CAT
scans also differentiate between substances of different densities. A bone can be located
inside of a rock using a CAT scan (McDonald A20).
Let us travel up a dinosaur’s nose to try to solve one the biggest questions of
paleontology: are dinosaurs warm-blooded? Inside the noses of warm-blooded animals,
there are small bones called maxilloturbinals. These small bones are responsible for
clogging up the nose when someone catches a cold. Their mucous-covered surfaces
swell up and clog the nose. However, they serve a more important function than filtering
dust and bacteria. Willem Hillenius, a physiologist/paleontologist at UCLA, says that
maxilloturbinals make warm-blooded animals warm-blooded. Kangaroo rats were the
first to show how valuable these turbinals are. They prosper in arid deserts without
drinking water. Yet, they have to keep their lungs moist for oxygen to dissolve in their
blood. The turbinals trap water before it escapes the body. They reclaim the water that is
in the humid exhaled air coming from an animal. Warm-blooded animals breathe much
more rapidly than cold-blooded animals, thus more water is being lost.
Since the extremely thin turbinals rarely survive the fossilization process, it is
difficult to say whether or not ancient animals had turbinals. However, distinguishing
ridges to which turbinals attach do survive the process of fossilization (Zimmer 24-25).
When Hillenius looked at dinosaur skulls, he did not find any of these ridges. He
concluded, from the lack of the ridges, that dinosaurs were not warm-blooded. Some
paleontologists remain skeptical about the turbinals being an indicator of internal heat
regulation. Hillenius and his colleague, John Ruben, turn to the size of the nasal cavity
for more proof of endothermic tendencies. Ostriches have extremely large nasal cavities
because they have to house large turbinals. However, crocodiles have narrow nasal
cavities. They do not need turbinals therefore they do not have any. To measure these
cavities, Hillenius and Ruben teamed up with someone who specializes in viewing fossils
with a CAT scan, Andrew Leitch. Dinosaur skulls are very fragile and very few are in a
condition good enough to be scanned. The team scanned three different skulls:
Nanotyrannus; Ornithomimus, a small bird-like dinosaur; and Hypacrosaurus, a duckbilled dinosaur. All three dinosaurs fell into the category of reptiles when the data was
charted (Morell 102-106). However, Dr. Robert Bakker found something different.
Dr. Robert Bakker, from the University of Colorado, teamed up with Andrew
Leitch and Mike Williams, curator of the Cleveland Museum to study the skull of
Nanotyrannus. Nanotyrannus is a distant relative to T. rex. As the twenty-inch skull
made its way through the CAT scanner, images that they did not expect showed up on the
screen. Running down the middle of the cranial cavity was a long, skinny bone called a
parasphenoid. Tyrannosaurs do not have this bone. They also discovered that
Nanotyrannus has turbinals. “This critter is more advanced than anybody suspected,”
they yelled into the phone. They had called their fourth partner, Phil Currie, of the Royal
Tyrell Museum of Paleontology. The CAT scan had exposed an animal of “unimagined
sophistication, a high-tech predator that combined the eyes and brain of an eagle with the
snout and hearing of a wolf…” (Bakker 59). These discoveries have caused
paleontologists to reexamine T. rex’s family tree and reconsider the origins of all
carnivorous dinosaurs.
Nanotyrannus is not the only thing that has made Robert Bakker famous. He was
one of the first people to suggest that dinosaurs were warm-blooded. Here, he turns his
attention to another controversy: are dinosaurs the ancestors of birds? In the skulls of
animals, there is an exit hole for the “V1” nerve. This nerve exits the skull laterally
through this hole escorted by two other nerves. These nerves turn forward and run to the
nose. Here it serves as a tactile sensor. It is this way in all animals except birds. In
birds, this nerve exits by itself through a hole in the front of the braincase. Bakker went
looking for this hole in T. rex. Using an extremely low-tech method, a wire hanger,
Bakker poked and prodded the skull of a T. rex looking for the V1 exit hole. He was
notably surprised when he found it. The hole was “bored precisely to avian
specifications…” (65). While Bakker was physically probing skulls, Andrew Leitch was
using more high-tech devices. Leitch ran an Albertosaur skull through a CAT scan. Both
the wire hanger and the CAT scan yielded the same results, the V1 exit hole was in the
front of the braincase. After running several other skulls through the scanner, they
noticed that some of the dinosaurs had another thing in common with birds. They had air
chambers carved into the back of their skulls. Even T. rex, the prototypical carnosaur,
had, as Bakker puts it, “pneumatic plumbing inside the skull…” (66). Not only did this
show that dinosaurs were closely related to birds, but it suggested that they were also
warm-blooded.
The CAT scan allows paleontologists to view the inner contents of a bone without
destroying it. Before the invention of the CAT scan, a paleontologist might
“accidentally” drop a specimen on the floor just to see the insides of it. This destroyed
very valuable specimens. Fortunately, paleontologists now use CAT scans (68).
Computers ain’t just for solitaire anymore.
Computers are not used just for playing solitaire anymore. They are used for
cataloging data, showing graphic representations of the data, and research. However, in
order for computers to be useful, one must have access to them. Computer supporters say
that there is a “democratization” of knowledge. The Internet allows information to be
distributed to the public for free. No longer is going to a library and checking out a book
necessarily required. Just “log on” to the Internet and gain knowledge. Ian Johnson says,
“knowledge is power… but access is a prerequisite…”(par. 2). People without access to
the Web do not have access to the vast amount of information stored on it. They are at a
disadvantage. Johnson uses Third World countries as an example. In these countries,
books are a luxury too few can afford. Now with the increasing use of computers in the
First World countries, the gap between the two is constantly growing. This would hinder
any view from Third World nations that would be of value from entering its field of
study. Differing views are vital to a science. Too much of a certain view would be
detrimental to that field (par. 1).
The Net allows anybody to write anything about everything. It also allows people
to steal material from one argument and pawn it off as their own. In books, this is called
plagiarism, but how can you copyright a web site. Also, in books, the author’s views are
expressed in their book. To access these views, you have to buy the book. Articles on
the Internet are free. Authors do not receive compensation for their hard work (par. 2).
It’s like a book, but without the pages.
Dictionaries catalog the meanings of words. Encyclopedias catalog the
descriptions of items. Computers can catalog anything that anybody wants to catalog.
Oil drilling companies take on paleontologists to look for fossils that would lead them to
oil. Most of these fossils are microscopic. Looking through a book to find certain
microscopic fossils to find out if they are indicators of oil would be extremely tedious
and time- consuming. A program of fossil drawings would speed up the process of
analyzing the fossils. Computers increase the speeds of many programs. They shorten
the time that programs take in finishing.
What’s in the future?
The future of paleontology is very shady. New things are being discovered
everyday. The same is true for computers. Technology is growing so rapidly. With this
growing technology, the past is being uncovered just as quickly. Who knows what kind
of information about dinosaurs will be discovered next? I don’t think anybody knows.
Works Cited
Asimov, Isaac. “Iguanadon.” Asimov’s Chronology of Science and Discovery
HarperCollins Publishers, 1994.
Bakker, Robert. “Inside the Head of a Tiny T. Rex.” Discover March 1992: 58-69.
Coates, Karen J. “Through Dinosaur Eyes.” Earth June 1998: 24-31.
Computational Paleontology. Home page. Computational Paleontology.
http://www.notam.uio.no/~oyvindha/compal.html.
DIRT-Computer Applications. Home page. DIRT.
http://www.mysterydate.com/amber/Dirt/application.html.
Eden, Glyn. “Computers in Archaeology.” Computers in Archaeology.
http://www.archaeology.usyd.edu.au/~eden/.
Johnson, Ian. “Some Problems.” Computers in Archaeology
http://www.archaeology.usyd.edu.au/~zaharis/computers.htm.
Leakey, Richard E. “Computers Bring Old Bones to Life.” Forbes 2 Dec.1996: S179.
McDonald, Kim A. “CAT Scans Provide Clues to Dinosaur Evolution.”
The Chronicle of Higher Education 10 May 1996: pA20.
Morell, Virginia. “A Cold, Hard Look at Dinosaurs.” Discover Dec. 1996: 98-106.
Siegel, Lee. “Paleontologist: Dinosaurs Smarter Than Some People.”
The Salt Lake Tribune—Nation/World 20 May 1998
http://www.sltrib.com/1998/05201998/nation_w/nation_w.htm.
Williams, Sarah. “Identifying Fossils by Computer.” Science 1 June 1990: 1080.
Zimmer, Carl. “The Importance of Noses.” Discover Aug. 1994: 24-25.