It’s a bit hard to believe that this will be my fourth year writing a #DinosaurDay post to kick off #JurassicJune. What a bizarre thing to actually remain consistent on . . .
In any case, it’s “that time of year” again, when I shift away from Hugo nominees and other science fiction and fantasy books, and spend some time thinking about one of my oldest passions: Dinosaurs.
Throughout the month, I’ll undoubtedly spend most of my time reviewing dinosaur fiction, but it seems I’ve made something of a habit of attempting to at least start the month by reading something factual. This year, I chose to learn about the increasingly important field of Biomolecular Archaeology in Dale E. Greenwalt’s Remnants of Ancient Life: The New Science of Old Fossils.
There is a ton of interesting information in this book but upon finishing it, I’m a bit dubious of my selection of it as a #DinosaurDay read. Only two chapters reference science directly related to dinosaurs, and they are mostly involved with the color of their eggs, and the pigment of their skin. And while these things surely have important ramifications when it comes to speculating how these animals lived, the book seems to focus more on the technology and process behind these discoveries.
The opening chapter uses an ancient blood filled mosquito — imagery we likely all recognize from the movie version of Jurassic Park — to introduce the science of studying ancient biomolecules, and a later chapter explores how Crichton was exposed to the science of recovering ancient DNA which ultimately became the idea for Jurassic Park (book).
But other than that, this book felt kinda short on dinosaurs.
However, if we broaden our focus just a bit, there is a wealth of interesting information (and creatures) to be gleaned from within this book’s pages. For instance, did you know that birds can see ultraviolet light? Or that there may have been a small colony of Mammoths still alive during the reigns of Gilgamesh and Khufu (perhaps I should have written that story instead of Narmer and the God-Beast)? Or that we have Neanderthal DNA to thank for our (in my case worsening) allergies to pollen? (might have made an interesting plot point in Extinction)
And these are only just a few tidbits of what’s packed between the covers of Remnants of Ancient Life. There’s much, much more.
Since the book takes such a long view of biology and evolution, I was exposed to quite a bit of ancient life which I likely never would have discovered had the book been as dinosaur centric as I had originally thought. One particularly interesting — and perhaps new favorite — creature was the Tully Monster. I mean just look at it . . . What is going on there?
For me, another unexpected benefit of reading RoAL has more to do with geography perhaps, than actual history. Namely, where all this science is taking place. Given how often the laboratories and fossil beds mentioned were within driving distance of the D.C. Metro Area, I’m slightly curious if the author is a local (this may have been mentioned but I can’t remember).
Chesapeake Bay, Potomac River, and Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History are all practically in my backyard. Looks like I have some field trips to make.
The last bit I will say about this title is that it is perhaps a little more technical than most books I’ve read. I felt the author did a great job of explaining the scientific processes used to recover fossils and biomolecules for lay-people (like myself), but in most cases, something is explained once and then it’s assumed you will remember it for life. But if you’re not using these types of terminology on the regular (or even reading the book at regular intervals) it can become easy as the book progresses to get lost.
I don’t think there is any way this could have been avoided given the subject matter, but for any looking to read this one, maybe carve out some time so that you can really engage with the material. I noticed that when I set aside blocks of like an hour or more for reading, I was retaining a lot more from one session to the next.
Give Remnants of Ancient Life a Read?
Yes, I would say so. While I had hoped for more information about dinosaurs specifically, I found the many applications of the techniques discussed to be interesting in their own right. It seems that even though we have had the preliminaries of Biomolecular Archaeology under our belt since (at least) the conception of Crichton’s Jurassic Park, 34 years later, things are really starting to get going!
(I forgot to mention the last chapter is about the future of this research which was also incredibly exciting)
That’s all I have for this week. Whaddya think? Are you trying to learn about biomolecules? What questions do you still have about them? Isn’t Tully Monster weird? What’s your favorite prehistoric creature?
Leave your answers in the comments! See you next time!
alligators and aneurysms! 