John R. Horner

Jack Horner
Born	June 15, 1946 (1946-06-15) (age 65) Shelby, Montana, USA
Residence	Bozeman, Montana
Citizenship	United States
Fields	Paleontology
Institutions	Museum of the Rockies
Alma mater	University of Montana

John "Jack" R. 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.

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.

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 Ricqlés, 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. This theory has been adopted by the popular press but has never been a major research focus for Dr. Horner. In 2000, Horner's crews discovered five specimens of T. rex and three more the following summer, including one even larger than the other 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.^[2]

History

Horner was born and raised in Shelby, Montana, and 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]

Horner has published more than 100 professional papers, six popular books including Dinosaurs Under the Big Sky;^[5] a children's book, Maia: A Dinosaur Grows Up;^[6] a non-fiction book on dinosaurs from Montana, Dinosaur Lives;^[7] 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.^[8]

Build a Dinosaur Project

Horner's 2009 book, How to Build a Dinosaur: Extinction Doesn't Have to Be Forever,^[9] describes his plan to recreate a dinosaur by genetically 'nudging' the DNA of a chicken.^[10] As of 2011 Horner is pursuing the project to develop the animal, which he describes as a "chickenosaurus", with a team of geneticists.^[11][12]

References

1. ^ Sogard, Melissa (2007). "John R. "Jack" Horner, Paleontologist". Fact Monster Database. Pearson Education, Inc. http://www.factmonster.com/spot/horner1.html. Retrieved February 8, 2011. 
2. ^ Hayes, Jacqui (September 20, 2006). "Large flock of parrot-like dinosaurs uncovered". Cosmos Online. http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/668. Retrieved February 8, 2011. 
3. ^ Horner, John R. (2004). "Jack Horner: An Intellectual Autobiography". The Montana Professor (Montana State University–Northern) 14 (2). http://mtprof.msun.edu/Spr2004/horner.html. Retrieved 9 April 2011. 
4. ^ Tribune Staff. "125 Montana Newsmakers: Jack Horner". Great Falls Tribune. http://www.greatfallstribune.com/multimedia/125newsmakers5/horner.html. Retrieved August 27, 2011. 
5. ^ Horner, John R. (2001). Dinosaurs under the Big Sky. Missoula, Mont.: Mountain Press Pub. Co.. ISBN 9780878424450. OCLC 47238733. 
6. ^ 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 9780933819023. OCLC 41846988. 
7. ^ Horner, John R.; Dobb, Edwin (1997). Dinosaur lives: unearthing an evolutionary saga. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 9780060174866. OCLC 36543406. 
8. ^ Wilfor, John Noble (April 12, 2007). "Scientists Retrieve Proteins From Dinosaur Bone". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/12/science/12cnd-dino.html. Retrieved February 8, 2011. 
9. ^ Horner, John R.; Gorman, James (2009). How to build a dinosaur: extinction doesn't have to be forever. New York: Dutton. ISBN 9780525951049. OCLC 233549535. 
10. ^ Press, Michelle (June 12, 2009). "Scientific American reviews: How to Build a Dinosaur". Scientific American. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=reviews-jun09. Retrieved February 8, 2011. 
11. ^ Zetter, Kim (March 4, 2011). "Ted 2011:Hatching Dinosaurs, One Egg at a Time". Wired.com. http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/03/hatching-a-dinosaur/. Retrieved March 4, 2011. 
12. ^ Horner, Jack (June 12, 2011). "Why we're creating a 'chickenosaurus'". CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/06/12/horner.dinosaur.chicken/index.html?&hpt=hp_c2. 

External links

• John R. Horner at the Internet Movie Database
• Museum of the Rockies
• TEDx talk by Jack Horner on shape-shifting dinosaur skulls and dinosaur misclassification.

Persondata
Name	Horner, Jack
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	June 15, 1946
Place of birth	Shelby, Montana, USA
Date of death
Place of death