Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Our other egg specialist was Gerald Grellet-Tinner from the Uni-
versity of Texas at Austin. Gerald was a student of another of our close
colleagues and friends, Timothy Rowe, a professor in the Department
of Geosciences. Tim's research over the last fifteen years has shed con-
siderable new light on the evolution of both primitive dinosaurs
called ceratosaurs and the early relatives of our own group of verte-
brates, the mammals. His pioneering studies of vertebrate fossils
through the use of CAT scans have also made a significant contribu-
tion to the field of vertebrate paleontology. Gerald's thesis had taken
the study of bird eggs in a totally new direction by applying the
methods of cladistics to explore what the structure of bird eggshell can
tell us about how birds evolved from one another. Initial results are
promising and his work shows that the structure of eggshell contains
important clues for understanding the genealogical relationships of
egg-laying organisms. Gerald plans to extend his novel approach to the
study of dinosaur eggshell while continuing his research at the Natural
History Museum of Los Angeles County. His tall, sturdy stature,
along with his gregarious personality and wild stories of past adven-
tures, makes him a natural for fieldwork, and his keen sense of obser-
vation, as well as his geological background, proved invaluable to our
efforts.
We were also joined by two intrepid correspondents, Malcolm Rit-
ter of the Associated Press and Tom Hayden of
Newsweek
magazine,
who helped bring our continuing efforts to the attention of the public.
Our return to Patagonia was sponsored by the Natural History
Museum of Los Angeles County. Since our last expedition, Luis had
become an associate curator in that museum's Department of Ver-
tebrate Paleontology, and his museum played an essential role in
arranging for two new vehicles from Honda through its Office of Cor-
porate Sponsorship. The National Geographic Society, the InfoQuest
Foundation, and the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation once again
generously provided essential funding for the trip. Finally, after more
than a year of preparation, planning, and research, we were ready to
return to the scene of the catastrophe. We planned to spend the
entire month of March 1999 at the site, searching for clues that
would help us solve more of the mysteries of the ancient calamity.
After flying to Buenos Aires in late February, we gathered equip-
ment and supplies before leaving for Auca Mahuevo on the twenty-
