Dino Debates?

May 7, 2013 8:26 AM

What do Paleontologists fight about these days? What are the current controversies in the field? I'm interested in the Mesozoic but maybe the grant money and groupies these days is focused on a different time period?

Question inspired by recent viewing of the Jurassic Park re-release. The movie gives shout-outs to a lot of the debates in paleontology that I remember from being a dino-obsessed kid in the early 90s. It seems like most of those have been settled. (Dinosaurs walked upright, not with splayed legs; the Chicxulub impact was probably the major trigger for their extinction; birds evolved from therapod dinosaurs; some dinosaurs did take care of their young.)

So what's happening in dinosaur paleontology today? Feathers? Did we ever figure out if dinosaurs were warm blooded?

posted by Wretch729 to Science & Nature (5 answers total)

Not my field, but I'd check out the abstracts listed here
posted by cnanderson at 8:37 AM on May 7, 2013

Err...that search is a bit broad. You may want to try different search terms to get at your interest in dinosaurs. This will tell you what is currently getting funding from the NSF.
posted by cnanderson at 8:40 AM on May 7, 2013

Perhaps not quite what you're looking for, but I thought this TEDtalk was really interesting.
posted by pitrified at 8:43 AM on May 7, 2013

Not my field, but Tetrapod Zoology is a great blog that often touches on areas of dinosaur research controversies. I think his main research focus is the Cretaceous, but here's a recent post on his research into "sexual selection" in Mesozoic archosaurs. The comments usually have links to other debates and viewpoints.
posted by jetlagaddict at 8:52 AM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I love the Integrative Paleontologists blog over at PLoS, though they cover more than just dinos. I went to grad school with some of the authors. They are wicked smart and happily find new controversies to chew on.
posted by rockindata at 9:14 AM on May 7, 2013 [4 favorites]