Robert T. Bakker Quotes

Robert Thomas Bakker is an American paleontologist who helped reshape modern theories about dinosaurs, particularly by adding support to the theory that some dinosaurs were endothermic . Along with his mentor John Ostrom, Bakker was responsible for initiating the ongoing "dinosaur renaissance" in paleontological studies, beginning with Bakker's article "Dinosaur Renaissance" in the April 1975 issue of Scientific American. His special field is the ecological context and behavior of dinosaurs.

Bakker has been a major proponent of the theory that dinosaurs were "warm-blooded," smart, fast and adaptable. He published his first paper on dinosaur endothermy in 1968. His seminal work, The Dinosaur Heresies, was published in 1986. He revealed the first evidence of parental care at nesting sites for Allosaurus. Bakker was among the advisors for the film Jurassic Park and for the 1992 PBS series, The Dinosaurs!. Bakker also appeared in the Sega CD version of Jurassic Park. He also observed evidence in support of Eldredge and Gould's theory of punctuated equilibrium in dinosaur populations. Bakker currently serves as the Curator of Paleontology for the Houston Museum of Natural Science.

Dr. Bakker was also a guest in episode 28 of the Williams Street original Space Ghost Coast to Coast.

✵ 24. March 1945
Robert T. Bakker photo

Works

The Dinosaur Heresies
Robert T. Bakker
Robert T. Bakker: 30   quotes 0   likes

Famous Robert T. Bakker Quotes

“Most experts have assumed that the allosaurs, about 35 feet long, were the worst threats to the herbivores of the Jurassic, some of which were gigantic and probably able to fend off even an allosaur. But epanterias would have spelled trouble for everyone.”

As quoted in Malcolm W. Browne, Scientist Raises Question: Is Tyrannosaurus Still Rex? http://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/04/us/scientist-raises-question-is-tyrannosaurus-still-rex.html, The New York Times (January 4, 1990)

Robert T. Bakker Quotes about birds

“The dinosaurs are not extinct. The colorful and successful diversity of the living birds is a continuing expression of basic dinosaur biology.”

"Dinosaur Renaissance", Scientific American 232, no. 4 (April 1975), 58—78
Dinosaur Renaissance (1975)

“I do not be­lieve birds deserve to be put in a taxo­nomic class separate from dinosaurs.”

"Dinosaur Renaissance", Scientific American 232, no. 4 (April 1975), 58—78
Dinosaur Renaissance (1975)

Robert T. Bakker Quotes about animals

“The dinosaur is for most people the epitome of extinctness, the proto­type of an animal so maladapted to a changing environment that it dies out, leaving fossils but no descendants.”

"Dinosaur Renaissance", Scientific American 232, no. 4 (April 1975), 58—78
Dinosaur Renaissance (1975)

Robert T. Bakker Quotes

“Ceratosaurus is and has been my favorite dino since 1958. This is a minority taste. I’ve met only one dino-digger who rated it #1 in desirability.”

As quoted in Dr. Robert Bakker Answers Your Questions http://science.slashdot.org/story/13/03/10/2217251/dr-robert-bakker-answers-your-questions, science.slashdot.org, (March 11, 2013)

“Our own mammalian order, the primates, prides itself on hand-eye coordination, monkeys, apes, and man are all good manipulators. But no mammal can rival the chameleon for eye-tongue coordination.”

The Dinosaur Heresies: A Revolutionary View of Dinosaurs (1986), Longman Scientific & Technical, p. 68
The Dinosaur Heresies (1986)

“Even 'Jurassic Park III' tried to jump on the avian-dino bandwagon by making a brave attempt to adorn Velociraptor with a feathery hair-piece. (The result looked like a roadrunner's toupee- don't blame the effects-artists; it's notoriously difficult to render feathers in computer graphics animation, so we'll have to wait for 'JP IV' for a more thoroughly rendered avian pelage.)”

“Dinosaurs Acting Like Birds, and Vice Versa – An Homage to the Reverend Edward Hitchcock, First Director of the Massachusetts Geological Survey” in Feathered Dragons. Currie, P.; Koppelhus, E.; Shugar, M.; Wright J. eds. 2004. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. pp. 1-11.

“Both birds and crocs have the identical plan to their specialized gizzard apparatus, and this type of internal food processor is absent in the other "reptiles"”

lizards, snakes, and turtles.
The Dinosaur Heresies: A Revolutionary View of Dinosaurs (1986), Longman Scientific & Technical, p. 127
The Dinosaur Heresies (1986)

Similar authors

Pierre Teilhard De Chardin photo
Pierre Teilhard De Chardin 64
French philosopher and Jesuit priest
Toni Morrison photo
Toni Morrison 184
American writer
Albert A. Michelson photo
Albert A. Michelson 5
American physicist
Tennessee Williams photo
Tennessee Williams 139
American playwright
Robert Fulghum photo
Robert Fulghum 82
American writer
Robert Frost photo
Robert Frost 265
American poet
Neale Donald Walsch photo
Neale Donald Walsch 69
American writer
M. Scott Peck photo
M. Scott Peck 26
American psychiatrist
Martin Lewis Perl photo
Martin Lewis Perl 9
American scientist
John Steinbeck photo
John Steinbeck 366
American writer