Jack Horner (paleontologist)

Jack Horner
Born June 15, 1946
Shelby, Montana, USA
Residence Bozeman, Montana
Citizenship United States of America
Fields Paleontology
Institutions Museum of the Rockies
Alma mater University of Montana
Notable awards Romer-Simpson Medal (2013)
Spouse Vanessa Shiann Weaver

John R. "Jack" Horner (born June 15 1946) is an American paleontologist who discovered and named Maiasaura, providing the first clear evidence that some dinosaurs cared for their young. He is one of the best-known paleontologists in the United States. In addition to his many paleontological discoveries, Horner served as the technical advisor for all of the Jurassic Park films, and even served as partial inspiration for one of the lead characters, Dr. Alan Grant.[1]

Biography

Horner was born and raised in Shelby, Montana. He was only eight years old when he found his very first dinosaur bone.[2] He attended the University of Montana for seven years, majoring in geology and zoology. He also spent two years in the U.S. Marine Corps, serving during the Vietnam War in the Special Forces. Horner did not complete his bachelor's degree, due to his inability to pass required foreign language courses (he is somewhat dyslexic and could not read adequately in German).[3] However, he did complete a formidable senior thesis on the fauna of the Bear Gulch Limestone in Montana, which is one of the most famous Mississippian lagerstätten (or exceptionally preserved fossil site) in the world. The University of Montana awarded him an Honorary Doctorate of Science in 1986. In 1986, he was also awarded the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship.[4]

In Montana during the mid-1970s, Horner and his research partner Bob Makela discovered a colonial nesting site of a new dinosaur genus which they named Maiasaura, or "Good Mother Lizard". It contained the first dinosaur eggs in the Western hemisphere, the first dinosaur embryos, and settled questions of whether some dinosaurs were sociable, built nests and cared for their young. The discovery established his career. Horner has named several other species of dinosaur (including Orodromeus makelai in memory of his late friend Bob Makela) and has had two named after him: Achelousaurus horneri and Anasazisaurus horneri.

Reconstructed cast by Horner of a Maiasaura emerging from its egg

Within the paleontological community, Horner is best known for his work on the cutting edge of dinosaur growth research. He has published numerous articles in collaboration with Berkeley paleontologist Kevin Padian, and French dinosaur histologist Armand de Ricqlès, on the growth of dinosaurs using growth series. This usually involves leg bones in graduated sizes from different individuals ranging in age from embryos to adults. He also revitalized the contested theory that Tyrannosaurus rex was an obligate scavenger, rather than a predatory killer. While this theory has been widely discussed by the popular press, it has never been a major research focus for Dr. Horner. Horner himself has claimed that he never published the scavenger hypothesis in the peer reviewed scientific literature, and that he used it mainly as a tool to teach a popular audience, particularly children, the dangers of making assumptions in science (such as assuming T. rex was a hunter) without using evidence.[5] In 2000, Horner's crews discovered five specimens of T. rex and three more the following summer, including one even larger than the specimen nicknamed "Sue". The specimen was 10–13 tons in weight and was 10% larger than other specimens.[1] The Museum of the Rockies, as the result of continuing fieldwork, now boasts the largest Tyrannosaurus rex collection in the world. Currently, he is working on the developmental biology of dinosaurs.[6]

Horner has published more than 100 professional papers, six popular books including Dinosaurs Under the Big Sky;[7] a children's book, Maia: A Dinosaur Grows Up;[8] a non-fiction book on dinosaurs from Montana, Dinosaur Lives;[9] and numerous published articles. He was also a part of the 2005 discovery of soft tissue inside of a T. rex fossil. Currently, he is the Curator of Paleontology at the Museum of the Rockies, the Regent's Professor of Paleontology, adjunct curator at the National Museum of Natural History, and teaches with the Honors Program at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana. Over the years he has advised those who have gone on to be the leading paleontologists of a new generation such as Greg Erickson, Scott Sampson, Kristi Curry-Rogers, and David J. Varricchio. Horner was awarded an honorary doctorate by Pennsylvania State University in 2006 in recognition of his work.

In 2003, Horner discovered a fossilized tyrannosaur leg bone from which paleontologist Mary Higby Schweitzer was able to retrieve proteins in 2007.[10]

In January 2012, Horner married nineteen-year-old Vanessa Shiann Weaver while in Las Vegas, Nevada. Weaver is an undergraduate student in the Montana State University Paleontology department and a volunteer in Horner's research lab at the Museum of the Rockies.[11]

On November 2, 2013, Horner was awarded the Romer-Simpson Prize; the highest honor a paleontologist can receive from the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology.

Build a Dinosaur Project

Horner with a bird skeleton

Horner's 2009 book, How to Build a Dinosaur: Extinction Doesn't Have to Be Forever,[12] describes his plan to recreate a dinosaur by genetically "nudging" the DNA of a chicken.[13] Horner's idea for the project came from an early script for Jurassic World.[14] Horner had been planning the book as early as June 2005;[15] it was originally planned to be released simultaneously with Jurassic World as a scientific companion volume.[16]

As of 2011 Horner is pursuing the project to develop the animal, which he describes as a "chickenosaurus", with a team of geneticists.[17][18] By November 2014, Horner and his team had conducted some of the earliest research into the embryonic development of tails. Such research may ultimately lead to new treatments for people suffering from spinal disorders. Research into the mesenchyme tissue of chicken embryos, which direct the growth of teeth, may also aid in the treatment of human sarcomas. George Lucas had funded most of the project's costs up to that point, while an additional $5 million was needed. Horner expected to have a living dinosaur within 10 years.[19]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sogard, Melissa (2007). "John R. "Jack" Horner, Paleontologist". Fact Monster Database. Pearson Education, Inc. Retrieved February 8, 2011.
  2. ↑ Gray, Veronique. "A talk with paleontologist Jack Horner". Vivamost.com. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  3. ↑ Horner, John R. (2004). "Jack Horner: An Intellectual Autobiography". The Montana Professor (Montana State University–Northern) 14 (2). Retrieved 9 April 2011.
  4. ↑ Tribune Staff. "125 Montana Newsmakers: Jack Horner". Great Falls Tribune. Retrieved August 27, 2011.
  5. ↑ Novella, S. "Interview with Jack Horner." The Skeptics Guide to the Universe. 14-OCT-2011. Accessed 24-OCT-2011, http://media.libsyn.com/media/skepticsguide/skepticast2009-10-14.mp3
  6. ↑ Hayes, Jacqui (September 20, 2006). "Large flock of parrot-like dinosaurs uncovered". Cosmos Online. Retrieved February 8, 2011.
  7. ↑ Horner, John R. (2001). Dinosaurs under the Big Sky. Missoula, Mont.: Mountain Press Pub. Co. ISBN 978-0-87842-445-0. OCLC 47238733.
  8. ↑ Horner, John R.; Gorman, James; Henderson, Doug; Blumer, Terrance L. (1998). Maia: a dinosaur grows up. Bozeman, Mont.: MMuseum of the Rockies, Montana State University. ISBN 978-0-933819-02-3. OCLC 41846988.
  9. ↑ Horner, John R.; Dobb, Edwin (1997). Dinosaur lives: unearthing an evolutionary saga. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-017486-6. OCLC 36543406.
  10. ↑ Wilfor, John Noble (April 12, 2007). "Scientists Retrieve Proteins From Dinosaur Bone". New York Times. Retrieved February 8, 2011.
  11. ↑ Ingman, Kristen (February 2, 2012). "Regents Professor Horner Marries Paleontology Student". ASMSU Exponent. Retrieved February 2, 2012.
  12. ↑ Horner, John R.; Gorman, James (2009). How to build a dinosaur: extinction doesn't have to be forever. New York: Dutton. ISBN 978-0-525-95104-9. OCLC 233549535.
  13. ↑ Press, Michelle (June 12, 2009). "Scientific American reviews: How to Build a Bird⊅⊅⊅⊅". Scientific American. Retrieved February 8, 2011.
  14. ↑ Collins, Nick (October 25, 2011). "The Jurassic Park scientist who plans to turn a chicken into T Rex". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  15. ↑ Horner, John R.; Gorman, James (2010). How to Build a Dinosaur: The New Science of Reverse Evolution (2010 Plume ed.). New York: Plume. pp. 193–194. ISBN 0525951040. OCLC 233549535. Let's use the ivory-billed woodpecker as an example. [...] it is generally thought to have gone extinct [...] although there have been many claims of sightings, including one that was published in Science on June 3, 2005. Earlier that spring [...] I was planning this book with my coauthor, Jim Gorman [...].
  16. ↑ Switek, Brian (October 25, 2011). "Why Do We Keep Going Back to Jurassic Park?". Smithsonian magazine. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  17. ↑ Zetter, Kim (March 4, 2011). "Ted 2011:Hatching Dinosaurs, One Egg at a Time". Wired.com. Retrieved March 4, 2011.
  18. ↑ Horner, Jack (June 12, 2011). "Why we're creating a 'chickenosaurus'". CNN.
  19. ↑ Landers, Jackson (November 10, 2014). "Paleontologist Jack Horner is hard at work trying to turn a chicken into a dinosaur". The Washington Times. Retrieved January 19, 2015.

External links