Jack Horner (paleontologist)
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Jack Horner - A 1999 picture of the paleontologist |
John "Jack" R. Horner (born
June 15,
1946) is an
American paleontologist who discovered and named the
Maiasaura, providing the first clear evidence that dinosaurs cared for their young. He is one of the most well known paleontologists in the United States. In addition to his many paleontological discoveries, Jack served as the technical advisor for all three of the
Jurassic Park films, and even served as partial inspiration for the movie's lead character, Dr. Alan Grant.
In Montana during mid-1970s, Horner and his partner Bob Makela discovered a colonial nesting site of a new dinosaur species 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 and has had two named after him:
Achelosaurus horneri and
Anasazisaurus horneri.Within the paleontological community, Jack is best known for his work on the cutting edge of dinosaur growth research. He has published numerous articles in collaboration with Berkeley evolutionary biologist Kevin Padian, and french dinosaur histologist Armand Ricqlés on the growth of dinosaurs using growth series, usually involving leg bones in graduated sizes from different individuals ranging in age from embryos to adults. He also originated the contested theory that
Tyrannosaurus rex was an obligate scavenger, rather than a predatory killer. This theory has been latched onto in the popular press, but does not, and has never been a major research focus for Dr. Horner. Other contemporary predators such as the
dromaeosaurs had flesh-tearing teeth, and very agile front limbs and claws used for trapping and tearing the flesh of their prey. On the other hand, the
T. rex had limbs too short to even clasp together, along with bone-crushing teeth. In 2000, Horner's crews discovered five specimens of
T. rex, and three more the next summer, including one even larger than the specimen nicknamed "Sue". The Museum of the Rockies, as the result of continuing fieldwork, now boasts the largest
Tyrannosaurus rex collection in the world.
Horner was born and raised in Shelby, Montana, and attended the University of Montana for seven years majoring in geology and zoology. Jack, having dyslexia, was not discovered until he went to work at Princeton University. He also spent two years in the U.S. Marine Corps, serving during the Vietnam War in the Special Forces. Although never completing a formal degree, 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.
Jack Horner is probably best known outside of the paleontological community for his role as the technical advisor for all of the Jurassic Park films. It should be noted that in spite of his advice, there were some technical inaccuracies, which can be attributed to the artistic license of those who made the film.
Jack has published more than 100 professional papers, six popular books including Under the Big Sky ([ISBN 0878424458]), a non-fiction book on dinosaurs, 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.
* Named the dinosaur
Orodromeus makelai in memory of his late friend Bob Makela.
* The novelist
Michael Crichton based the character of Alan Grant in
Jurassic Park on Horner.
*
Museum of the Rockies Paleontology homepage
