I am a student of the paleontology, the science of studying the fossil remains of prehistoric animals. Among them are the infamous species of dinosaurs. I hope to share with you my interests and findings that I have researched, admired and collected. I have had some experience in a museum lab and plan on furthering my education to earn a degree in paleontology and will be sharing these experiences within this website.

I live in Arizona where there are rich deposits of fossils, many of them of the Paleozoic Era (Age of Fishes) and Mesozoic Era(Age of Reptiles). The Mesozoic Era is the age of the dinosaur that we are most familiar with. This era occurred around 63 million and 240 million years BC. Within this era is the Cretaceous Period (approx: 63-138 million yrs BC), the Jurassic Period (138-205 million yrs BC) and the Triassic Period (205-240 million yrs BC).

I have fossils collected from the Paleozoic era from the eastern shores of Maryland where the sandy cliffs contain many specimen of fossilized sharks teeth, crab claws, ray mandible, fish vertabrea, bi-valve and conical shells and coral.

As I'm interested in furthering my education through a college for a degree in paleontology, and am currently a volunteer at the Desert Museum in Tucson, Arizona where I am able to work hands on with some prize specimen.

Meanwhile please enjoy my site and visit my "comments" page to let me know more of your interests.

Here are some photos of the Suchomimus specimen that is currently on exhibit at the National Geographic Society in Washington, DC.

Click for Tour

Here are some websites from around the world of institutions and their activities dealing with fossil hunting:

The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Click for full view

For a great exhibit of dinosaurs:
Click here for my personal tour
of the Academy of Natural Sciences

University of California Museum of Paleontology

The Paleontology Institute - Moscow, Russia

Sites dealing on the theory of dinosaurs:

Dinosaur/Volcano Extinction Theory

Recreating Dinosaurs/DNA & Amber

Visiting collections at museums are a favorite past time and a great resource for specimen that would otherwise be unavailable for me to view. Here is a really cool site that I think you will enjoy visiting:

Dr. Hooper's Virtual Natural History Museum

More great sites for viewing specimens at museums:

The Dinosaur Hall - Nat'l Museum of Natural History
Washington, DC

New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science

National Parks are another wonderful resource to see fossils in their natural habitat. We also need to respect the territory they occupy and take care in not destroying the parks and fossil sites so other enthusiasts and scientists can enjoy and study them. Read about "Save Sue the T-Rex" and about digging and when NOT to dig for fossils at:

Park Paleontology

Dinosaur Provincial Park

I have done some drawings of specimen and studies of artistic renditions of what the dinosaurs may have looked like. Click here to see some that I have done:
JP's Drawings

Here's another site of drawings done by other artists:
Photos & Paintings: Dinosauria On-Line

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NEWS FLASH! ~~~~~ NEWS FLASH!
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Dec. 5, 1997

U.S. Scientists Recreate Crested/Duck-Billed Dinosaur Call

By Zelie Pollon

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - U.S. scientists said Friday after two years of work they had recreated the call of the crested Parasaurolophus dinosaur and it was a long, low moan.

They said they had uncovered and simulated the extinct creature's deep, rumbling, whale-like or elephant-like groan using scans of a rare dinosaur fossil and powerful computers.

"It's kind of a sad sound and a little out of this world," Dr. Tom Williamson at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science said of the Parasaurolophus' call as the team's simulated version reverberated around the building Friday. The two-year project to recreate the Parasaurolophus' sound began after a skull fossil of the 25-foot tall, plant-eating dinosaur was discovered in northwest New Mexico in 1995.

Dr. Carl Diegert of the Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque said the team of scientists wanted to understand the function of a bony, tubular crest extending from the back of the dinosaur's head.

The crest, shaped like a trombone, contained a labyrinth of air cavities that Diegert believed made a distinctive sound. By simulating the fossil structure on computer, the scientists came up with a unique sound which they say is the real thing. It can be heard on the following Internet sites:

Parasaurolophus Info / Movie / Sound

Sound of the Parasaurolophus

Click for full view

Williamson said the sound may have been so distinctive that dinosaurs of the same species could have recognized each other. "This is not conclusive, but it seems plausible because of the unique nature of each dinosaur's crest," he said.

The team has applied for a copyright for the sound. "There are some commercial interests," a spokesman for the New Mexico museum said. "If there's a corporation out there that wants to make money off it, then we're open to that." Chris Miller, a spokesman for Sandia National Laboratory, said Microsoft Corp was among companies to have shown interest. "We're expecting the sound to influence any future movies about dinosaurs," he said.

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NEWS UPDATE!
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November 17, 1998

Scientific firsts cited in dinosaur embryos find

By Grant McCool

NEW YORK - Barely two days into an excavation of a remote valley in Argentina a year ago, researchers made the spectacular discovery of eggs with unhatched dinosaur embryos inside, a find described Tuesday as representing a number of scientific firsts.

The scientists who found the eggs said at a news conference that the fossils were the first dinosaur embryo skin impressions discovered, the first known embryos of the familiar giant plant-eating dinosaurs called sauropods and the first dinosaur embryos found in the southern hemisphere. . . . . .

Researchers said that some of the embryonic specimens had preserved, such as tiny teeth about 1/10th of an inch long. The eggs were around 5 to 6 inches in diameter and the anatomy of bones and teeth indicated that they were embryos of sauropod dinosaurs, towering creatures that had a long tail, a long neck, a small head and four elephant-type legs.

. . . Click here forFull story

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More Paleontology Articles:

Dinosaur find said to show Antarctica land bridge

Poles find 40-mln-year-old lizard in amber

Expert says extinction even messier than we thought.

Brazil unearths one of world's oldest dinosaurs

Ancient Pa. bones may shed light on big extinction

Meteorite holds clues about what killed dinosaurs

Two dinosaur eggs believed discovered in Bolivia

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More cool dinosaur/paleontology related sites:

Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs

Dinosaur Eggs

The Dinosaur Pages

Internet Public Library Exhibit Museum

Visit Fossil Collections of the World
for an extensive tour of sites historical information and theories.

Join The Dinosaur Society
for membership and newsletter!

Matt's Paleo Page & Chat Room

Ravin' Ray's Home Page: Pterosaurs-FAQ's

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Enter Contest!

Prizes have included a lifesize skull of
The Great Giganotosaurus

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