John Harold Ostrom (February 18, 1928 – July 16, 2005) was an American paleontologist who revolutionized the modern understanding of dinosaurs . Ostrom's work inspired what his pupil Robert T. Bakker has termed a " dinosaur renaissance ".
96-453: Beginning with the discovery of Deinonychus in 1964, Ostrom challenged the widespread belief that dinosaurs were slow-moving lizards (or "saurians"). He argued that Deinonychus , a small two-legged carnivore, would have been fast-moving and warm-blooded. Further, Ostrom's work made zoologists question whether birds should be considered an order of Reptilia instead of their own class, Aves . The idea that dinosaurs were similar to birds
192-529: A different locality than the Yale specimens. Even these two skeletal mounts are lacking elements, including the sterna, sternal ribs, furcula, and gastralia. Even after all Ostrom's work, several small blocks of lime-encased material remained unprepared in storage at the American Museum. These consisted mostly of isolated bones and bone fragments, including the original matrix, or surrounding rock in which
288-491: A direct indicator of feathers of modern aspect. Deinonychus antirrhopus is one of the best known dromaeosaurid species, and also a close relative of the smaller Velociraptor , which is found in younger, Late Cretaceous-age rock formations in Central Asia. The clade they form is called Velociraptorinae . The subfamily name Velociraptorinae was first coined by Rinchen Barsbold in 1983 and originally contained
384-796: A field assistant in the San Juan Basin of New Mexico. Ostrom also worked as a research assistant with Colbert, who was the Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), Ostrom earned his doctorate in geology (vertebrate paleontology) in 1960 with a thesis on North American hadrosaurs that was based on the skull collection housed at the AMNH. In 1952 Ostrom married Nancy Grace Hartman (d. 2003). They had two daughters, Karen and Alicia. Ostrom taught for one year at Brooklyn College in 1955 before joining
480-468: A great deal over the decades. Ostrom reconstructed the partial, imperfectly preserved skulls that he had as triangular, broad, and fairly similar to Allosaurus . Additional Deinonychus skull material and closely related species found with good three-dimensional preservation show that the palate was more vaulted than Ostrom thought, making the snout far narrower, while the jugals flared broadly, giving greater stereoscopic vision. The skull of Deinonychus
576-450: A horny sheath over this bone, which extends the length. Ostrom looked at crocodile and bird claws and reconstructed the claw for YPM 5205 as over 120 millimetres (4.7 in) long. The species name antirrhopus means "counter balance", which refers to Ostrom's idea about the function of the tail. As in other dromaeosaurids, the tail vertebrae have a series of ossified tendons and super-elongated bone processes . These features seemed to make
672-434: A mechanism for egg incubation, and indicates an endothermy similar to modern birds. Further study by Gregory Erickson and colleagues finds that this individual was 13 or 14 years old at death and its growth had plateaued. Unlike other theropods in their study of specimens found associated with eggs or nests, it had finished growing at the time of its death. Ostrom's description of Deinonychus in 1969 has been described as
768-537: A person or event, though unlike a National Historical Site, may or may not be placed at a specific historical location. Several national memorials are on the National Mall , such as the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial . National seashores and national lakeshores offer preservation of the national coast line, while supporting water–based recreation. Cape Hatteras National Seashore
864-411: A physician like his father. However, an elective course in geology and George Gaylord Simpson 's book The Meaning of Evolution inspired him to change his career plans. He earned his bachelor's degree in biology and geology from Union College in 1951. Ostrom enrolled at Columbia University as a graduate student with Ned Colbert as his advisor. In 1951 Simpson invited Ostrom to spend the summer as
960-655: A shopping mall was built on the site of the Charles O. Wolcott Quarry in 2000. Ostrom officially retired from Yale in 1992, but continued to write and research as a professor emeritus until his health failed. Ostrom died from complications of Alzheimer's disease in July 2005 at the age of 77 in Litchfield, Connecticut . In the field of paleontology, Ostrom is responsible for the following key discoveries: Ostrom's work first achieved international attention with his studies of
1056-406: A skull length of 410 millimeters (16 in), a hip height of 0.87 meters (2.9 ft) and a body mass of 60–73 kg (132–161 lb). Campione and his colleagues proposed a higher mass estimate of 100 kg (220 lb) based on femur and humerus circumference. The skull was equipped with powerful jaws lined with around seventy curved, blade-like teeth. Studies of the skull have progressed
SECTION 10
#17327936601911152-537: A special resource study of a site to determine its national significance and suitability to be part of the National Park System. The NPS uses over 20 different titles for the park units it manages, including national park and national monument . National parks preserve nationally and globally significant scenic areas and nature reserves. National monuments preserve a single unique cultural or natural feature. Devils Tower National Monument
1248-400: A subsequent paper that hadrosaurs had need for such an acute sense of smell as a defense against larger carnivorous dinosaurs, of which the hadrosaur body plan had little in the way of armor and speed. This hypothesis led Ostrom to further conclude that ecology of hadrosaurs was more likely to be that of dry ground such as conifer forests, rather than swampy, aquatic environments, thought to be
1344-408: A tiny fragment of a coracoid. Ostrom's skeletal reconstruction of Deinonychus included a very unusual pelvic bone—a pubis that was trapezoidal and flat, unlike that of other theropods, but which was the same length as the ischium and which was found right next to it. In 1974, Ostrom published another monograph on the shoulder of Deinonychus in which he realized that the pubis that he had described
1440-676: Is New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve at 1,164,025 acres (4711 km ). The smallest is Benjamin Franklin National Memorial at less than 0.01 acres (40 m ). While there are laws generally covering all units of the National Park System, they are subject to management policies of individual pieces of authorizing legislation or, in the case of national monuments created under the Antiquities Act , Executive Order . For example, because of provisions within their enabling legislation, Congaree National Park
1536-521: Is Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve , Alaska. At 13,200,000 acres (53,000 km ), it is over 16 percent of the entire system. The smallest unit in the system is Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial , Pennsylvania , at 0.02 acres (80 m ). In addition to administering its units and other properties, the NPS also provides technical and financial assistance to several affiliated areas authorized by Congress. The largest affiliated area
1632-426: Is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur with one described species, Deinonychus antirrhopus . This species, which could grow up to 3.4 meters (11 ft) long, lived during the early Cretaceous Period , about 115–108 million years ago (from the mid- Aptian to early Albian stages ). Fossils have been recovered from the U.S. states of Montana , Utah , Wyoming , and Oklahoma , in rocks of
1728-491: Is almost entirely a wilderness area devoid of development, yet Yosemite allows unique developments such as the Badger Pass Ski Area and the O'Shaughnessy Dam within its boundaries. Such irregularities would not be found in other parks unless specifically provided for with exceptions by the legislation that created them. Most NPS units have been established by an act of Congress, with the president confirming
1824-668: Is an agency of the United States federal government , within the US Department of the Interior . The service manages all national parks ; most national monuments ; and other natural, historical, and recreational properties, with various title designations. The United States Congress created the agency on August 25, 1916, through the National Park Service Organic Act . Its headquarters
1920-432: Is essential to a National Park Service that is science-informed at all organizational levels and able to respond with contemporary strategies for resource management and ultimately park stewardship." The "Revisiting Leopold" report mentioned climate change three times and "climate refugia" once, but it did not prescribe or offer any management tactics that could help parks managers with the problems of climate change. Hence,
2016-586: Is in Washington, D.C. , within the main headquarters of the Department of the Interior. The NPS employs about 20,000 people in 431 units covering over 85 million acres (0.34 million km ) in all 50 states , the District of Columbia, and US territories . In 2019, the service had more than 279,000 volunteers. The agency is charged with preserving the ecological and historical integrity of
SECTION 20
#17327936601912112-404: Is increasingly untenable, presenting practical and philosophical challenges for managers. As formerly familiar ecological conditions continue to change, bringing novelty, surprise, and uncertainty, natural resource managers require a new, shared approach to make conservation decisions.... The RAD (Resist-Accept-Direct) decision framework has emerged over the past decade as a simple tool that captures
2208-489: Is not a complicated site. National historical parks are larger areas with more complex subjects. Historic sites may also be protected in other unit types. National military parks , battlefield parks , battlefield sites , and battlefields preserve areas associated with military history. The different designations reflect the complexity of the event and the site. Many of the sites preserve important Revolutionary War battles and Civil War battlefields. Military parks are
2304-459: Is yet known for Deinonychus itself. When conducting studies of such areas as the range of motion in the forelimbs, paleontologists like Phil Senter have taken the likely presence of wing feathers (as present in all known dromaeosaurs with skin impressions) into consideration. Based on the few fully mature specimens, Paul estimated that Deinonychus could reach 3.3–3.4 meters (10 ft 10 in – 11 ft 2 in) in length, with
2400-832: The Cloverly Formation Site in Montana and Wyoming from 1962 to 1966. By 1964 he had made 10 expeditions to the Big Horn Basin , in Wyoming, east of Yellowstone National Park . Late in 1964, he discovered Deinonychus fossils near the town of Bridger, Montana . He also discovered and named Tenontosaurus fossils from the Cloverly Formation. In 1966 John H. Ostrom helped to establish Dinosaur State Park in Rocky Hill, Connecticut ("because
2496-539: The Cloverly Formation and Antlers Formation , though teeth that may belong to Deinonychus have been found much farther east in Maryland . Paleontologist John Ostrom 's study of Deinonychus in the late 1960s revolutionized the way scientists thought about dinosaurs, leading to the " dinosaur renaissance " and igniting the debate on whether dinosaurs were warm-blooded or cold-blooded . Before this,
2592-716: The National Wilderness Preservation System , which consists of federally managed lands that are of a pristine condition, established by the Wilderness Act (Public Law 88-577) in 1964. The National Wilderness Preservation System originally created hundreds of wilderness zones within already protected federally administered property, consisting of over 9 million acres (36,000 km ). Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) began with Executive Order 13158 in May 2000, when official MPAs were established for
2688-630: The osteology and phylogeny of the primitive bird Archaeopteryx appeared in 1976. Ostrom lived to see the eventual discovery of feathered dinosaurs in northeastern China , confirming his theories about dinosaurs being progenitors of birds, and the existence of dinosaurs with feathered plumage. Ostrom was born in New York on February 18, 1928 and grew up in Schenectady . As a pre-medical undergraduate student at Union College , he originally aimed to prepare for medical school in order to become
2784-475: The " dinosaur renaissance ", a term coined in a 1975 issue of Scientific American by Bakker to describe increased interest in paleontology. The "dinosaur renaissance" continues, with scientists describing new species of dinosaurs every year and expanding the understanding of dinosaur biology. Due in large part to his earlier research on hadrosaurs—and his conclusion that they were likely upright, terrestrial animals rather than sluggish, swamp-bound lizards—Ostrom
2880-861: The 2021 report specific to the need for climate adaptation : "Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD): A Framework for the 21st-century Natural Resource Manager." This "Natural Resource Report" has ten authors. Among them are four associated with the National Park Service, three with the US Fish and Wildlife Service , and two with the US Geological Survey — all of which are government agencies within the US Department of Interior. The report's Executive Summary, points to "intensifying global change." "... The convention of using baseline conditions to define goals for today's resource management
2976-574: The Canadian paleontologist Dale Russell . Ostrom's reappraisal of dinosaurs as endothermic was considered radical at the time, but its ability to resolve outstanding contradictions in dinosaur physiology immediately drew many followers, and would be supported by many future discoveries. Ostrom's interest in the dinosaur-bird connection started with his study of what became known as the Haarlem Archaeopteryx . Discovered in 1855, it
John Ostrom - Misplaced Pages Continue
3072-588: The Charles O. Wolcott Quarry near Manchester, Connecticut have since been destroyed. As early as October 20, 1884, stones from the Wolcott Quarry, reportedly containing fossils, were used to build a local bridge. In 1969, Ostrom surveyed over 60 bridges to find the missing blocks. They were part of a bridge over Hop Creek at Bridge Street which was scheduled for replacement. The highway department allowed Ostrom and his team to examine 400 sandstone blocks to find dinosaur fossils. Despite lobbying to preserve it,
3168-583: The Interior Stewart Udall . This report came to be referred to in later years by its chairman and principal author, A. Starker Leopold . The Leopold Report was just fourteen pages in length, but it set forth ecosystem management recommendations that would guide parks policy until it was revisited in 2012. The Leopold Report was the first concrete plan for managing park visitors and ecosystems under unified principles. Park management issues and controversies addressed in this report included
3264-494: The Interior bureau or program. The NPS budget is divided into two primary areas, discretionary and mandatory spending. Within each of these areas, there are numerous specific purposes to which Congress directs the services activities. The NPS budget includes discretionary spending which is broken out into two portions: the direct operations of the National Parks and the special initiatives. Listed separately are
3360-535: The NPS could not meet. In 1951, Conrad Wirth became director of the NPS and began to bring park facilities up to the standards that the public was expecting. In 1952, with the support of President Dwight D. Eisenhower , Wirth began Mission 66 , a ten-year effort to upgrade and expand park facilities for the 50th anniversary of the Park Service. New parks were added to preserve unique resources and existing park facilities were upgraded and expanded. In 1966, as
3456-535: The National Park Service, which have a wide variety of titles or designations. The system as a whole is considered to be a national treasure of the United States, and some of the more famous national parks and monuments are sometimes referred to as " crown jewels ". The system encompasses approximately 85.1 million acres (0.344 million km ), of which 2.6 million acres (0.011 million km ) remain in private ownership. The largest unit
3552-552: The Park Service turned 50 years old, emphasis began to turn from just saving great and wonderful scenery and unique natural features to making parks accessible to the public. Director George Hartzog began the process with the creation of the National Lakeshores and then National Recreation Areas . A 1963 report titled "Wildlife Management in the National Parks" was prepared by a five-member advisory board on Wildlife Management, appointed by United States Secretary of
3648-545: The ability for powered flight as a result of cursorial, or ground-upward movement such as leaping up to capture prey. This position was opposed to the arboreal hypothesis in which activities such as gliding down from trees were suggested to have been a precursor to flight. Deinonychus Deinonychus ( / d aɪ ˈ n ɒ n ɪ k ə s / dy- NON -ih-kəs ; from Ancient Greek δεινός ( deinós ) 'terrible' and ὄνυξ ( ónux ) , genitive ὄνυχος ( ónukhos ) 'claw')
3744-401: The action by signing the act into law. The exception, under the Antiquities Act , allows the president to designate and protect areas as national monuments by executive order. Regardless of the method used, all parks are to be of national importance. A potential park should meet all four of the following standards: Before creation of a new unit, Congress typically directs the NPS to conduct
3840-586: The case at the time. This idea was further justified by a 1922 paper that Ostrom rediscovered in 1964, which described the stomach contents of a mummified specimen of the hadrosaur Anatosaurus , which included conifer needles, twigs, fruit and seeds, plant matter that would be consumed in a terrestrial environment. In the 1970s, Ostrom examined trackways at the Dinosaur Footprints Reservation in Holyoke, Massachusetts . He mapped
3936-426: The century. The implications of Deinonychus changed depictions of dinosaurs both by professional illustrators and as perceived by the public eye. Museums worldwide changed their dinosaur bone displays. The altered view of dinosaurs inspired a new generation of dinosaur movies such as Jurassic Park , which based its murderous "Velociraptors" on Deinonychus . Ostrom's work on Deinonychus is credited with triggering
John Ostrom - Misplaced Pages Continue
4032-538: The concession-run campgrounds (1.42 million). In 2019, the NPS had an annual budget of $ 4.085 billion and an estimated $ 12 billion maintenance backlog. On August 4, 2020, the Great American Outdoors Act was signed into law reducing the $ 12 billion maintenance backlog by $ 9.5 billion over a 5-year period beginning in FY 2021. As of 2022, the NPS had the largest budget allocation of any Department of
4128-514: The correlation of erect posture and locomotion with high metabolism and body temperature in modern mammals and birds, stating that this relationship cannot be accidental. The observation that dinosaurs, thought to be uniformly cold-blooded at the time, could not be used as indicators of paleoclimate was further validated in 1973 with the discovery of hadrosaur fossils above the Cretaceous Canadian Arctic Circle by
4224-415: The creation of the NPS. On August 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the National Park Service Organic Act that mandated the agency "to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and wildlife therein, and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations". Mather became the first director of
4320-611: The difficulties of managing elk populations in Yellowstone National Park and how "overprotection from natural ground fires" in California's Sequoia National Park , Kings Canyon National Park , and Yosemite National Park had begun to threaten groves of Giant Sequoia with catastrophic wildfires. The report also established a historical baseline that read, "The goal of managing the national parks and monuments should be to preserve, or where necessary to recreate,
4416-910: The dromaeosaurid Kansaignathus recovered Deinonychus as a velociraptorine rather than a dromaeosaurine, with Kansaignathus being an intermediate basal form more advanced than Deinonychus but more primitive than Velociraptor . The cladogram below showcases these newly described relationships: Mahakala [REDACTED] Halszkaraptor [REDACTED] Hulsanpes [REDACTED] Microraptorinae [REDACTED] Unenlagiinae [REDACTED] Bambiraptor [REDACTED] Dakotaraptor [REDACTED] Saurornitholestinae [REDACTED] Dromaeosaurinae [REDACTED] Deinonychus [REDACTED] Kansaignathus Acheroraptor [REDACTED] Adasaurus [REDACTED] Velociraptor [REDACTED] Velociraptor osmolskae Dineobellator National Park Service The National Park Service ( NPS )
4512-1012: The dromaeosaurids represent one of the non-avialan dinosaur groups most closely related to birds. The cladogram below follows a 2015 analysis by paleontologists Robert DePalma, David Burnham, Larry Martin, Peter Larson, and Robert Bakker, using updated data from the Theropod Working Group. This study currently classifies Deinonychus as a member of the Dromaeosaurinae . Unenlagiinae [REDACTED] Microraptoria [REDACTED] Bambiraptor [REDACTED] Tianyuraptor Adasaurus [REDACTED] Tsaagan [REDACTED] Saurornitholestes [REDACTED] Velociraptor [REDACTED] Deinonychus [REDACTED] Atrociraptor [REDACTED] Achillobator [REDACTED] Utahraptor [REDACTED] Dakotaraptor [REDACTED] Dromaeosaurus [REDACTED] A 2021 study of
4608-413: The ecologic scene as viewed by the first European visitors." This baseline would guide ecological restoration in national parks until a climate change adaptation policy, "Resist-Adapt-Direct", was established in 2021. National Parks director Jonathan Jarvis charged the twelve-member NPS Advisory Board Science Committee to take a fresh look at the ecological issues and make recommendations for updating
4704-655: The entire decision space for responding to ecosystems facing the potential for rapid, irreversible ecological change." Here, the iconic species of Joshua Tree National Park is a leading example. The three RAD options are: The "Resist-Accept-Direct" Framework is first described in a July 2020 paper published in Fisheries Eighteen researchers from federal and state agencies and universities collaborated in this effort, which included short case studies of where and how this framework has already been applied. The National Park System includes all properties managed by
4800-515: The faculty at Beloit College the following year. In 1961 he accepted a professorship at Yale University , where he remained throughout his career. As a new professor at Yale, Ostrom was named the assistant curator for vertebrate paleontology at the Peabody Museum of Natural History . He became full professor and curator in 1971. Throughout his career, Ostrom led and organized fossil-hunting expeditions to Wyoming and Montana. He worked in
4896-404: The first time. The initial listing of U.S. areas was presented in 2010, consisting of areas already set aside under other legislation. The NPS has 19 park units designated as MPAs. The National Park System received over 325 million recreation visits in 2023. Park visitation grew 64 percent between 1979 and 2015. The 10 most-visited units of the National Park System handle around 30 percent of
SECTION 50
#17327936601914992-403: The following two summers uncovered more than 1,000 bones, among which were at least three individuals. Since the association between the various recovered bones was weak, making the exact number of individual animals represented impossible to determine properly, the type specimen (YPM 5205) of Deinonychus was restricted to the complete left foot and partial right foot that definitely belonged to
5088-548: The forefeet of Deinonychus and that of birds, an observation which led him to revive the hypothesis that birds are descended from dinosaurs. Forty years later, this idea is almost universally accepted. Because of its extremely bird-like anatomy and close relationship to other dromaeosaurids, paleontologists hypothesize that Deinonychus was probably covered in feathers. Clear fossil evidence of modern avian-style feathers exists for several related dromaeosaurids, including Velociraptor and Microraptor , though no direct evidence
5184-667: The governor was besieged by letters from schoolchildren swayed into dino-mania by Ostrom".). Ostrom edited the American Journal of Science , published over a dozen books for both scientific and lay audiences. He was the recipient of numerous awards and honors. In the 1960s, Ostrom wrote a paleontology themed guide for the National Park Service 's National Natural Landmarks (NNLs) Program. He recommended 20 sites for designation and protection as NNLs, of which 13 became designated landmarks. Others sites such as
5280-623: The late Aptian through early Albian stages of the early Cretaceous , about 115 to 108 Ma. Additionally, teeth found in the Arundel Clay Facies (mid-Aptian), of the Potomac Formation on the Atlantic Coastal Plain of Maryland may be assigned to the genus. The first remains were uncovered in 1931 in southern Montana near the town of Billings . The team leader, paleontologist Barnum Brown ,
5376-403: The meaning of the animal's genus name. Ostrom also suggested that it had hunted in packs. John Ostrom's work on the functional morphology of dinosaurs found that the claws and tendon scars in the tail would indicate a running position. Evidence of a truly active lifestyle included long strings of muscle running along the tail, providing a stiff counterbalance for jumping and running. This changed
5472-412: The most important single discovery of dinosaur paleontology in the mid-20th century. The discovery of this clearly active, agile predator did much to change the scientific (and popular) conception of dinosaurs and opened the door to speculation that some dinosaurs may have been warm-blooded . This development has been termed the dinosaur renaissance . Several years later, Ostrom noted similarities between
5568-492: The most popular areas do charge entrance fees. Fees vary site to site and are charged either on a per-vehicle or per-person basis, with most passes valid for 7 days. The America the Beautiful Pass series waives the per-vehicle fee or per-person fee for the holder and up to 3 other adults (children age 15 and younger are admitted for free at most sites). Annual passes for single areas are also available for those who visit
5664-499: The new name of Deinonychus antirrhopus . The specific name " antirrhopus ", from Greek ἀντίρροπος, means "counterbalancing" and refers to the likely purpose of a stiffened tail. In July 1969, Ostrom published a very extensive monograph on Deinonychus . Though a myriad of bones was available by 1969, many important ones were missing or hard to interpret. There were few postorbital skull elements, no femurs, no sacrum, no furcula or sternum, missing vertebrae, and (Ostrom thought) only
5760-671: The newly formed NPS. On March 3, 1933, President Herbert Hoover signed the Reorganization Act of 1933. The act gave the president the authority to transfer national monuments from one governmental department to another. Later that summer, new president Franklin D. Roosevelt made use of this power after NPS Deputy Director Horace M. Albright suggested that the NPS, rather than the War Department , should manage historic American Civil War sites. President Roosevelt agreed and issued two executive orders to implement
5856-553: The original Leopold Report. The committee published their 23-page report in 2012, titled, "Revisiting Leopold: Resource Stewardship in the National Parks". The report recommended that parks leadership "manage for change while confronting uncertainty." "... New and emerging scientific disciplines — including conservation biology, global change science, and genomics — along with new technological tools like high-resolution remote sensing can provide significant information for constructing contemporary tactics for NPS stewardship. This knowledge
SECTION 60
#17327936601915952-468: The ornithopod Tenontosaurus . Teeth discovered associated with Tenontosaurus specimens imply they were hunted, or at least scavenged upon, by Deinonychus . Fossilized remains of Deinonychus have been recovered from the Cloverly Formation of Montana and Wyoming and in the roughly contemporary Antlers Formation of Oklahoma , in North America. The Cloverly formation has been dated to
6048-400: The overall visits. The top 10 percent of parks (43) handle over 64 percent of all visits, leaving the remaining more than 380 units to accommodate around 36 percent of visits. (Note that only 380 sites recorded visitors during 2021 due to COVID-19-related closures). Most areas of the National Park System do not charge entrance fees and are completely supported by tax dollars, although some of
6144-533: The places entrusted to its management and with making them available for public use and enjoyment. Artist George Catlin , during an 1832 trip to the Dakotas, was perhaps the first to suggest the concept of a national park. Indian civilization, wildlife, and wilderness were all in danger, wrote Catlin, unless they could be preserved "by some great protecting policy of government ... in a magnificent park ... A nation's Park, containing man and beast, in all
6240-457: The popular conception of dinosaurs had been one of plodding, reptilian giants. Ostrom noted the small body, sleek, horizontal posture, ratite -like spine, and especially the enlarged raptorial claws on the feet, which suggested an active, agile predator. "Terrible claw" refers to the unusually large, sickle-shaped talon on the second toe of each hind foot. The fossil YPM 5205 preserves a large, strongly curved ungual . In life, archosaurs have
6336-401: The posture of bipedal dinosaurs to one of agile, fast-running, fearsome predators. He concluded that at least some dinosaurs had a high metabolism and were in some cases warm-blooded . This position was further popularized by Ostrom's student Robert T. Bakker . This helped to change the impression of dinosaurs as sluggish, slow, cold-blooded lizards, which had prevailed since the turn of
6432-582: The reorganization. These two executive orders transferred to the NPS all of the War Department's historic sites as well as national monuments that the Department of Agriculture had managed and parks in and around Washington, D.C. that an independent federal office had previously operated. The popularity of the parks after the end of the World War II left them overburdened with demands that
6528-503: The rock matrix that had surrounded the original Deinonychus specimen. In a subsequent, more detailed report, on the eggshells, Grellet-Tinner and Makovicky concluded that the egg almost certainly belonged to Deinonychus , representing the first dromaeosaurid egg to be identified. Moreover, the external surface of one eggshell was found in close contact with the gastralia suggesting that Deinonychus might have brooded its eggs. This implies that Deinonychus used body heat transfer as
6624-417: The same family. Multiple fossils of Microraptor preserve pennaceous, vaned feathers like those of modern birds on the arms, legs, and tail, along with covert and contour feathers. Velociraptor is geologically younger than Deinonychus , but even more closely related. A specimen of Velociraptor has been found with quill knobs on the ulna. Quill knobs are where the follicular ligaments attached, and are
6720-472: The same individual. The remaining specimens were catalogued in fifty separate entries at Yale's Peabody Museum although they could have been from as few as three individuals. Later study by Ostrom and Grant E. Meyer analyzed their own material as well as Brown's "Daptosaurus" in detail and found them to be the same species. Ostrom first published his findings in February 1969, giving all the referred remains
6816-429: The same site often. Over 15 million visitors spent a night in one of the national park units during 2015. The largest number (3.68 million) were tent campers. The second largest group (3.38 million) stayed in one of the lodges, followed by miscellaneous stays (on boats, group sites—2.15 million). The last three groups of over-night visitors included RV campers (2.26 million), backcountry campers (2.02 million) and users of
6912-572: The single genus Velociraptor . Later, Phil Currie included most of the dromaeosaurids. Two Late Cretaceous genera, Tsaagan from Mongolia and the North American Saurornitholestes , may also be close relatives, but the latter is poorly known and hard to classify. Velociraptor and its allies are regarded as using their claws more than their skulls as killing tools, as opposed to dromaeosaurines like Dromaeosaurus , which have stockier skulls. Phylogenetically ,
7008-568: The site, identifying preserved dinosaur tracks in the sandstone beds of various sizes and species. Ostrom's reading of fossilized Hadrosaurus trackways led him to the conclusion that these duckbilled dinosaurs were gregarious and traveled in herds. Ostrom worked in the Cloverly Formation Site in Montana and Wyoming from 1962 to 1966. Late in 1964, he detected unfamiliar fossils in the Bridger Fossil Area, near
7104-425: The site. Big Cypress National Preserve and Big Thicket National Preserve were created in 1974 as the first national preserves. National reserves are similar to national preserves, but the operational authority can be placed with a state or local government. New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve was the first to be established in 1978. National historic sites protect a significant cultural resource that
7200-506: The sites of larger actions, such as Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park , Vicksburg National Military Park , Gettysburg National Military Park , and Shiloh National Military Park —the original four from 1890. Examples of battlefield parks , battlefield sites , and national battlefields include Richmond National Battlefield Park , Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield Site , and Antietam National Battlefield . National memorials are areas that officially memorialize
7296-484: The skeletal anatomy of Archaeopteryx . He suggested that dinosaurs, far from becoming extinct, had evolved into a wide variety of descendants in the form of birds. Ostrom's work led to a revolution in the classification of fossils and the understanding of dinosaur-bird lineages. As a result of subsequent research and comparison with more recently found specimens from the Tiaojushan Formation of China, it
7392-720: The skeleton, specimen AMNH 3015, put on display, but never finished this work. Brown brought back from the Cloverly Formation the skeleton of a smaller theropod with seemingly oversized teeth that he informally named "Megadontosaurus". John Ostrom , reviewing this material decades later, realized that the teeth came from Deinonychus , but the skeleton came from a completely different animal. He named this skeleton Microvenator . A little more than thirty years later, in August 1964, paleontologist John Ostrom led an expedition from Yale 's Peabody Museum of Natural History which discovered more skeletal material near Bridger . Expeditions during
7488-467: The specimens were initially buried. An examination of these unprepared blocks by Gerald Grellet-Tinner and Peter Makovicky in 2000 revealed an interesting, overlooked feature. Several long, thin bones identified on the blocks as ossified tendons (structures that helped stiffen the tail of Deinonychus ) turned out to actually represent gastralia (abdominal ribs). More significantly, a large number of previously unnoticed fossilized eggshells were discovered in
7584-471: The tail into a stiff counterbalance, but a fossil of the very closely related Velociraptor mongoliensis ( IGM 100/986) has an articulated tail skeleton that is curved laterally in a long S-shape. This suggests that, in life, the tail could bend to the sides with a high degree of flexibility. In both the Cloverly and Antlers formations, Deinonychus remains have been found closely associated with those of
7680-472: The town of Bridger, Montana. In subsequent seasons, his team unearthed four specimens of a small bipedal carnivorous theropod , and parts of a larger plant-eating dinosaur. The discovery of the Deinonychus fossils is considered one of the most important fossil finds in history. Deinonychus was an active predator that clearly killed its prey by leaping and slashing or stabbing with its "terrible claw",
7776-427: The unique hadrosaur nasal apparatus, which had not been convincingly explained by the early 1960s. By examining the olfactory apparatuses of modern reptiles and drawing comparisons via comparative morphology , Ostrom concluded that hadrosaurs likely developed an acute sense of smell by a lengthening of the nasal passages into long chambers that wound around the skull and were protected by bony crests. He speculated in
7872-503: The very long pubis, and Ostrom began to suspect that they may have even been a little retroverted like those of birds. A skeleton of Deinonychus , including bones from the original (and most complete) AMNH 3015 specimen, can be seen on display at the American Museum of Natural History, with another specimen (MCZ 4371) on display at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University . The American Museum and Harvard specimens are from
7968-451: The wild[ness] and freshness of their nature's beauty!" Yellowstone National Park was created as the first national park in the United States. In 1872, there was no state government to manage it (Wyoming was a U.S. territory at that time), so the federal government managed it directly through the army, including the famed African American Buffalo Soldier units. The movement for an independent agency to oversee these federal lands
8064-483: Was actually a coracoid—a shoulder element. In that same year, another specimen of Deinonychus , MCZ 4371, was discovered and excavated in Montana by Steven Orzack during a Harvard University expedition headed by Farish Jenkins. This discovery added several new elements: well preserved femora, pubes, a sacrum, and better ilia, as well as elements of the pes and metatarsus. Ostrom described this specimen and revised his skeletal restoration of Deinonychus . This time it showed
8160-580: Was actually the first specimen recovered but, incorrectly labeled as Pterodactylus crassipes , it languished in the Teylers Museum in the Netherlands . Ostrom's 1970 paper (and 1972 description) identified it as one of only four specimens known to exist at that time. In his 1973 paper in Nature , "The Ancestry of Birds", Ostrom argued for a coelurosaurian (Theropoda) ancestry of birds, based on
8256-420: Was created in 1937. Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore , created in 1966, were the first national lakeshores. National rivers and wild and scenic riverways protect free-flowing streams over their length. The riverways may not be altered with dams, channelization, or other changes. Recreational pursuits are encouraged along the waterways. Ozark National Scenic Riverways
8352-684: Was created in 1968 and consists of two major components: National scenic trails are long-distance trails through some of the most scenic parts of the country. They received official protection in 1968. The Appalachian Trail is the best known. National historic trails commemorate the routes of major historic events. Some of the best known are the Trail of Tears , the Mormon Trail , and the Santa Fe Trail . These trails are administered by several federal agencies. Wilderness areas are part of
8448-503: Was different from that of Velociraptor , however, in that it had a more robust skull roof, like that of Dromaeosaurus , and did not have the depressed nasals of Velociraptor . Both the skull and the lower jaw had fenestrae (skull openings) which reduced the weight of the skull. In Deinonychus , the antorbital fenestra , a skull opening between the eye and nostril, was particularly large. Deinonychus possessed large "hands" ( manus ) with three claws on each forelimb. The first digit
8544-504: Was established in 1964. National recreation areas originally were units surrounding reservoirs impounded by dams built by other federal agencies, the first being Lake Mead National Recreation Area . Some national recreation areas are in urban centers, such as Gateway National Recreation Area and Golden Gate National Recreation Area , which encompass significant cultural as well as natural resources. The National Trails System preserves long-distance routes across America. The system
8640-477: Was first proposed by Thomas Henry Huxley in the 1860s, but was dismissed by Gerhard Heilmann in his influential book The Origin of Birds (1926). Prior to Ostrom's work, the development of birds was generally believed to have split off early on from that of dinosaurs. Ostrom showed more bird-like traits common in dinosaurs and proved that birds themselves are in fact a group of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs. The first of Ostrom's broad-based reviews of
8736-618: Was one of the first paleontologists to grasp the implications of the amount of energy it would take such large animals (and their still larger predators, such as Tyrannosaurus rex ) to stand and move erect. At the first North American Paleontological Convention, held at the Chicago Field Museum in 1969, Ostrom spoke out against the accepted wisdom that Mesozoic climates were universally tropical and that such warm climates would be necessary to sustain large animals with lizard-like metabolisms . Ostrom supported this view by noting
8832-444: Was primarily concerned with excavating and preparing the remains of the ornithopod dinosaur Tenontosaurus , but in his field report from the dig site to the American Museum of Natural History , he reported the discovery of a small carnivorous dinosaur close to a Tenontosaurus skeleton, "but encased in lime difficult to prepare." He informally called the animal "Daptosaurus agilis" and made preparations for describing it and having
8928-521: Was shortest and the second was longest. Each hind foot bore a sickle-shaped claw on the second digit, which was probably used during predation. No skin impressions have ever been found in association with fossils of Deinonychus . Nonetheless, the evidence suggests that the Dromaeosauridae , including Deinonychus , had feathers. The genus Microraptor is both older geologically and more primitive phylogenetically than Deinonychus , and within
9024-401: Was spearheaded by business magnate and conservationist Stephen Mather . With the help of journalist Robert Sterling Yard , Mather ran a publicity campaign for the Department of the Interior . They wrote numerous articles that praised the scenic and historic qualities of the parks and their possibilities for educational, inspirational, and recreational benefits. This campaign resulted in
9120-460: Was suggested in 2017 that the Haarlem Archaeopteryx actually represents a separate taxon. The genus has been given the generic name Ostromia , after John Ostrom. The Haarlem fossil is now considered to be of the species Ostromia crassipes . It is the first representative of the basal avialian clade Anchiornithidae to be found outside eastern Asia. In considering the possible evolution of flight, Ostrom theorized that birds might have evolved
9216-561: Was the first in 1906. While the National Park Service holds the most national monuments, a monument may be managed or co-managed by a different entity such as the Bureau of Land Management or the Forest Service . National preserves are for the protection of certain resources and operate similar to many National Parks, but allow limited resource extraction. Activities like hunting, fishing, and some mining may be allowed depending on
#190809