Robert T. Bakker
Robert T. Bakker | |
---|---|
Born | Bergen County, New Jersey, United States | March 24, 1945
Alma mater | Yale University (B.A., 1968)[1] Harvard University (Ph.D, 1971)[1] |
Known for | The "dinosaur renaissance" |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Paleontology |
Institutions | Johns Hopkins University Houston Museum of Natural Science |
Doctoral advisor | John Ostrom |
Doctoral students | Blaire Van Valkenburgh |
Robert Thomas Bakker (born March 24, 1945) is an American
Bakker has been a major proponent of the theory that dinosaurs were
Biography
Bakker was born in Bergen County, New Jersey. He attributes his interest in dinosaurs to his reading an article in the September 7, 1953, issue of Life magazine. He graduated from Ridgewood High School in 1963.[3]
At
Theories
In his 1986 work The Dinosaur Heresies, Bakker puts forth the theory that dinosaurs were warm-blooded. His evidence for this includes:
- Almost all modern animals that walk uprightare warm-blooded, and dinosaurs walked upright.
- The hearts of warm-blooded animals can pump much more effectively than the hearts of cold-blooded animals. Therefore, the giant Brachiosaurus must have had the type of heart associated with warm-blooded animals in order to pump blood up to its head.
- Dinosaurs such as Deinonychus led a very active life, behavior which is much more compatible with a warm-blooded animal.[4]
- Some dinosaurs lived in northern latitudeswhere it would have been impossible for cold-blooded dinosaurs to maintain their body temperature.
- The rapid rate of speciation and evolution found 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 (basal archosaurs) than between non-avian dinosaurs and birds.[6]
- A warm-blooded metabolism is an evolutionary advantage for stem-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 that flowering plants evolved because 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
Bakker's fictional novel
Religious beliefs
As a
Influence on popular media
Bakker's earliest known appearance was in the 1976 [BBC] Nova episode The Hot-Blooded Dinosaurs aired on WGBH Boston.[12]
Bakker appears in the 1989 BBC series Lost Worlds, Vanished Lives presented by David Attenborough, in the third episode Dinosaur discussing his theory regarding Tyrannosaurus rex and other theropods being warm-blooded animals. Bakker later renamed Attenborosaurus, a species of plesiosaur after Sir David.[13]
Bakker was an advisor for the 1992 PBS series, The Dinosaurs!. He had many appearances in the TLC television series Paleoworld, and was also among the advisors for the film Jurassic Park, with some of the early concept art being informed by Bakker's works.[14][15] Bakker also appeared in the Sega CD version of Jurassic Park.[16]
Dr. Bakker was a guest in episode 27 ("Surprise") of the Williams Street original Space Ghost Coast to Coast.
Bakker appeared in the 1992 VHS Whatever Happened to the Dinosaurs?
He was profiled on location at his Wyoming dinosaur excavation site in an episode of the
Bakker and his 1986 book are mentioned in the original Jurassic Park.
Bibliography
- Bakker, Robert T. (1986), The Dinosaur Heresies, William Morrow.
- Bakker, Robert T. (1995), Raptor Red, Bantam Books.
See also
References
- ^ a b "Robert T. Bakker [1945]". New Netherland Institute. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
- ^ "Hot-Blooded or Cold-Blooded??". Berkeley.
- ^ "NJEA honors outstanding NJ public school grads" (PDF), NJEA Reporter, 51 (2), October 2007, archived from the original (PDF) on 10 September 2008, retrieved 9 July 2008,
A 1963 graduate of Ridgewood High School in Bergen County, Bakker credits the December 7, 1953 issue of Life magazine, which he unearthed at his grandfather's house, for his interest in dinosaurs.
- ^ Bakker 1986, p. 98.
- ^ Bakker 1986, p. 395.
- ^ Bakker 1986, p. 298.
- ^ Bakker 1986, p. 347.
- S2CID 4162574.
- ^ "WFS Profiles:Dr. Robert T. Bakker | WFS". Retrieved 3 July 2023.
- ^ "Creation Science Commentary Dr. Bob, The Creation Scientist!".
- ^ Robert Bakker (profile), Melbourne, Australia: Evolution – The Festival, 2009, archived from the original on 14 September 2009.
- ^ "The Hot-Blooded Dinosaurs". 3 January 1976.
- ^ "Attenborosaurus: a celebrity reptile".
- ^ a b "Go on a Dinosaur Dig with Robert T. Bakker". Archived from the original on 30 September 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
- ISBN 1-85283-774-8
- ^ "Jurassic Park (Sega CD)". Sega Visions. October 1993. p. 29. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
- ^ "DISCOVER MAGAZINE Series: Bob Bakker, Dinosaur Heratic.". 2 December 2014.
- ^ "Robert Bakker". CPedia. Retrieved 18 July 2010.[permanent dead link]
External links
- Robert T. Bakker at IMDb
- Robert Bakker (interview), GeoCities, archived from the original on 26 October 2009.
- Bio article with information about his then-new book on creationism, theology, Saint Augustine vs. evolution
- Photograph of Bakker at Como Bluff, Wyoming from "Discovering Dinosaurs" in the Encyclopædia Britannica
- Campagna, Antony 'Tony', Bakker (biographical article), LB: Cartage, archived from the original on 16 June 2004.
- An overview of modern paleontology which devotes a couple paragraphs and pictures to Bakker
- Curator profile