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| Robert T. Bakker | |
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| Born | March 24, 1945 Bergen County, New Jersey |
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| Nationality | American |
| Fields | Paleontology |
| Alma mater | Yale Harvard |
| Doctoral advisor | John Ostrom |
| Known for | The "Dinosaur renaissance" |
Robert T. Bakker (born March 24, 1945, in Bergen County, New Jersey) is an American paleontologist who helped reshape modern theories about dinosaurs, particularly by adding support to the theory that some dinosaurs were homeothermic (warm-blooded). 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 Scientific American, April 1975. His special field is the ecological context and behavior of dinosaurs. His book The Dinosaur Heresies first propelled him to popular attention.
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. 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 observed evidence in support of Eldredge's and Gould's theory of punctuated equilibrium in dinosaur populations. In outline, he argues:
- Almost all animals that walk upright today are 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 all the way up to its head.
- Dinosaurs such as Deinonychus led a very active life, which is much more compatible with a warm-blooded animal.
- Some dinosaurs lived in northern latitudes where it would be impossible for cold-blooded dinosaurs to keep warm, though critics point out that the northern latitudes were warmer in the days of dinosaurs than today.
Bakker attributes his reading an article in the December 7, 1953 issue of Life magazine with triggering his interest in dinosaurs. He graduated from Ridgewood High School in 1963.[1]
At Yale University, Bakker studied under John Ostrom, an early proponent of the new view of dinosaurs, and later gained a PhD at Harvard. He began by teaching anatomy at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. Most of his field work has been done in Wyoming, especially at Como Bluff, but he has ranged as far as Mongolia and South Africa in pursuit of dinosaur habitats.
His novel Raptor Red (ISBN 0-7857-9972-9) tells of a year in the life of a female Utahraptor of the lower Cretaceous. In the story, Bakker elaborates on his knowledge of the behavior of dromaeosaurids ("raptor" dinosaurs) and life at the time of their existence.
Trivia
- The bearded paleontologist "Dr. Robert Burke" in Steven Spielberg's film The Lost World: Jurassic Park is an affectionate caricature of Bakker, although eaten in the film by a Tyrannosaurus rex.
- Bakker was also featured in the Sega CD version of Jurassic Park, providing information about dinosaur species during the game.
- Bakker is also a Pentecostal minister.
- Bakker was mentioned in Randal Monroe's xkcd comic.
See also
External links
- Interview with Bakker
- Bio article with information about his then-new book on creationism, theology, Saint Augustine vs. evolution
- Photograph of Bakker at Como Bluff, Wyoming from Encyclopedia Britannica's Discovering Dinosaurs
- A biographical article by Tony Campagna
- An overview of modern paleontology which devotes a couple paragraphs and pictures to Bakker
- Bakker's beard scores an 8.2
