Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Luckily for the honor of the Mesozoic, Boh Bakker then saved the day (if
only temporarily) for the mosasaurs. He opined that he had seen
many
such
holes in ammonites,
obviously
produced hy mosasaurs, and that although he
respected my observations, he had an explanation that might clear things
up. Bob began his lecture from the back of the room: "The mosasaur jaw has
long been known to have had a very peculiar articulation. They could un-
hinge their jaws somewhat, in a manner analogous to most snakes, and posi-
tion their jaws around the ammonite shell. The circular holes were punched
through the ammonites shells, cookie cutter fashion, because the mosasaurs
put pressure of the shell
extremely slowly"
With this red herring now fouling
the water, order was restored by Neil Larson, a professional fossil collector
who has probably found more ammonites than any other person in the
world. Neil has found many ammonites with the circular holes within them
and thus knows whereof he speaks, at least on any subject related to am-
monites. He proposed that he, Erie, and Bob Bakker discuss the various spec-
imens they had seen and report to the audience later in the day. This pleased
the group.
As good as his word, later in the day Larson stood up to announce the
results of this conference. After consulting with his colleagues, he could say
that the mosasaur tooth marks in ammonite shells were real. However, they
could be confirmed
in only three specimens in the world,
rather than in the
hundred or more claimed earlier by Erie Kauffman. And that is where mat-
ters left off as far as Dinofest went. But the affair certainly did not end there.
Putting an interpretation to the test
Upon my return to Seattle, Tom Daniel told me of his daughter's discovery,
and I told him of the coincidental dustup at Dinofest. Tom laughed, espe-
cially when I described Bob Bakker's theory that a slow bite might produce
holes where a rapid bite would not. Pressure is pressure, he declaimed, and
there is no way a material such as mollusk shell could ever be bitten so as to
produce perfectly circular holes. The shell would crack, just as his daughter
intuitively divined upon first seeing an ammonite shell with holes in it.
