Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER
TWO
What Were We Searching For
and How Did We Decide
Where to Look?
The most common components of dinosaur research are the discov-
ery of previously unknown species and the analysis of their diversity
and evolutionary history. Other important biological components
are the study of how dinosaurs changed through time, as well as how
they moved and behaved. These intriguing scientific investigations,
however, must be founded on a clear understanding of the genealog-
ical relationships of each species. Without knowing the origin of
each group, which represents the starting point for later physical
transformations, it is impossible to reconstruct how a new anatomi-
cal structure or behavior came to be. Related geological research
involves estimating the age of the rocks that contain dinosaur fossils
and determining what the rocks can tell us about the climates and
environments in which the dinosaurs lived.
Fossilization is a natural geologic phenomenon, and fossils are
found worldwide. But to discover new dinosaur species, a paleontol-
ogist can't just fly to some far-off part of the globe and start digging,
because the chances of finding previously undiscovered species are
quite low. In fact, paleontologists usually find new species in a previ-
ously unexplored place where rocks of the right age are exposed.
Consequently, dinosaur expeditions are preceded by a careful exam-
ination of several possible areas for exploration, with the final decision
based on the goals of an underlying research program as well as an
assessment of the accessibility and risks of the selected areas.
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