Robert Thomas Bakker (born March 24, 1945) is an American
paleontologist
Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...
who helped reshape modern theories about
dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...
s, particularly by adding support to the theory that some dinosaurs were
endothermic
In thermochemistry, an endothermic process () is any thermodynamic process with an increase in the enthalpy (or internal energy ) of the system.Oxtoby, D. W; Gillis, H.P., Butler, L. J. (2015).''Principle of Modern Chemistry'', Brooks Cole. ...
(warm-blooded). Along with his mentor
John Ostrom
John Harold Ostrom (February 18, 1928 – July 16, 2005) was an American paleontologist who revolutionized modern understanding of dinosaurs in the 1960s.
As first proposed by Thomas Henry Huxley in the 1860s, Ostrom showed that dinosaurs were ...
, Bakker was responsible for initiating the ongoing "
dinosaur renaissance" in paleontological studies, beginning with Bakker's article "Dinosaur Renaissance" in the April 1975 issue of ''
Scientific American
''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it ...
''. His specialty is the
ecological
Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...
context and
behavior of dinosaurs.
Bakker has been a major proponent of the theory that dinosaurs were
warm-blooded
Warm-blooded is an informal term referring to animal species which can maintain a body temperature higher than their environment. In particular, homeothermic species maintain a stable body temperature by regulating metabolic processes. The onl ...
, smart, fast, and adaptable. He published his first paper on
dinosaur endothermy in 1968. His seminal work, ''
The Dinosaur Heresies,'' was published in 1986. He revealed the first evidence of parental care at nesting sites for ''
Allosaurus
''Allosaurus'' () is a genus of large carnosaurian theropod dinosaur that lived 155 to 145 million years ago during the Late Jurassic epoch ( Kimmeridgian to late Tithonian). The name "''Allosaurus''" means "different lizard" alludin ...
''. He also observed evidence in support of
Eldredge and
Gould's theory of
punctuated equilibrium
In evolutionary biology, punctuated equilibrium (also called punctuated equilibria) is a theory that proposes that once a species appears in the fossil record, the population will become stable, showing little evolutionary change for most of i ...
in dinosaur populations. Bakker currently serves as the Curator of Paleontology for the
Houston Museum of Natural Science
The Houston Museum of Natural Science (abbreviated as HMNS) is a natural history museum located on the northern border of Hermann Park in Houston, Texas, United States. The museum was established in 1909 by the Houston Museum and Scientific Soc ...
.
Biography
Bakker was born in
Bergen County, New Jersey. He attributes his interest in dinosaurs to his reading an article in the September 7, 1953, issue of ''
Life
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...
'' magazine. He graduated from
Ridgewood High School in 1963.
At
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
Bakker studied under
John Ostrom
John Harold Ostrom (February 18, 1928 – July 16, 2005) was an American paleontologist who revolutionized modern understanding of dinosaurs in the 1960s.
As first proposed by Thomas Henry Huxley in the 1860s, Ostrom showed that dinosaurs were ...
, an early proponent of the new view of dinosaurs, and later earned his
PhD at
Harvard. He began by teaching anatomy at
Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...
in
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
,
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
and Earth and Space Sciences, where future artist
Gregory S. Paul
Gregory Scott Paul (born December 24, 1954) is an American freelance researcher, author and illustrator who works in paleontology, and more recently has examined sociology and theology. He is best known for his work and research on theropod dino ...
worked and collaborated informally under his guidance. Most of Bakker's field work has been done in
Wyoming
Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...
, especially at
Como Bluff
Como Bluff is a long ridge extending east–west, located between the towns of Rock River and Medicine Bow, Wyoming. The ridge is an anticline, formed as a result of compressional geological folding. Three geological formations, the Sundance, th ...
, but he has travelled as far as
Mongolia
Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...
and
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
in search of dinosaur
habitat
In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...
s. He also worked as an assistant at the
University of Colorado
The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University o ...
.
Theories
In his 1986 work ''
The Dinosaur Heresies'', Bakker puts forth the theory that dinosaurs were
warm-blooded
Warm-blooded is an informal term referring to animal species which can maintain a body temperature higher than their environment. In particular, homeothermic species maintain a stable body temperature by regulating metabolic processes. The onl ...
. His evidence for this includes:
* Almost all modern animals that
walk upright are warm-blooded, and dinosaurs walked upright.
* The
heart
The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide to t ...
s of warm-blooded animals can pump much more effectively than the hearts of
cold-blooded animals. Therefore, the giant ''
Brachiosaurus
''Brachiosaurus'' () is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Jurassic, about 154to 150million years ago. It was first described by American paleontologist Elmer S. Riggs in 1903 from fossils found in th ...
'' must have had the type of heart associated with warm-blooded animals in order to pump blood up to its head.
* Dinosaurs such as ''
Deinonychus
''Deinonychus'' ( ; ) is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur with one described species, ''Deinonychus antirrhopus''. This species, which could grow up to long, lived during the early Cretaceous Period, about 115–108 million y ...
'' led a very active life, behavior which is much more compatible with a warm-blooded animal.
* Some dinosaurs lived in northern
latitudes
In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north–south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north pole ...
where it would have been impossible for cold-blooded dinosaurs to maintain their body temperature.
* The rapid rate of
speciation and
evolution
Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
found in dinosaurs is typical of warm-blooded animals and atypical of cold-blooded animals.
* The hypothesized population ratios of predatory dinosaurs to their prey is a signature trait of warm-blooded predators rather than cold-blooded ones.
* Birds are warm-blooded and evolved from dinosaurs; therefore, a change to a warm-blooded metabolism must have taken place at some point. There is far more change between dinosaurs and their ancestors (basal
archosaurs) than between non-avian dinosaurs and birds.
* A warm-blooded metabolism is an evolutionary advantage for
top predators
An apex predator, also known as a top predator, is a predator at the top of a food chain, without natural predators of its own.
Apex predators are usually defined in terms of trophic dynamics, meaning that they occupy the highest trophic le ...
and large
herbivores
A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their plant diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouthpart ...
; if dinosaurs had not been warm-blooded there should be fossil evidence of warm-blooded animals evolving to fill these ecological niches. No such evidence exists; in fact, by the end of the
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...
, mammals had become much smaller than their
stem-mammal ancestors.
* Dinosaurs grew rapidly, evidence for which can be found by observing cross-sections of their bones. Warm-blooded animals grow at a similar rate.
Bakker is also a proponent of the idea that
flowering plants evolved because of their interactions with dinosaurs.
Writing
Bakker's fictional novel ''
Raptor Red
''Raptor Red'' is a 1995 American novel by paleontologist Robert T. Bakker. The book is a third-person account of dinosaurs during the Cretaceous Period, told from the point of view of Raptor Red, a female ''Utahraptor''. ''Raptor Red'' feature ...
'' tells of a year in the life of a female ''
Utahraptor
''Utahraptor'' (meaning "Utah's thief") is a genus of large dromaeosaurid dinosaur that lived in North America during the Early Cretaceous period. It was a heavy-built, ground-dwelling, bipedal carnivore. It contains a single species, ''Utah ...
'' during the lower
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...
. In the story, Bakker elaborates on his knowledge of the behavior of
dromaeosaurid
Dromaeosauridae () is a family of feathered theropod dinosaurs. They were generally small to medium-sized feathered carnivores that flourished in the Cretaceous Period. The name Dromaeosauridae means 'running lizards', from Greek ('), meaning ...
s ("raptor" dinosaurs) and life at the time of their existence.
Religious beliefs
As a
Pentecostal
Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement ,
Ecumenical Christian minister, Bakker has said there is no real conflict between
religion and science
The relationship between religion and science involves discussions that interconnect the study of the natural world, history, philosophy, and theology. Even though the ancient and medieval worlds did not have conceptions resembling the modern u ...
, and that evolution of species and geologic history is compatible with religious belief. Bakker views the Bible as an ethical and moral guide, rather than a literal timetable of events in the history of life. He has advised
non-believers and
creationists
Creationism is the religious belief that nature, and aspects such as the universe, Earth, life, and humans, originated with supernatural acts of Creation myth, divine creation.#Gunn 2004, Gunn 2004, p. 9, "The ''Concise Oxford Dictionary'' say ...
to read the views put forward by
Saint Augustine
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afr ...
, who argued against a literal understanding of the
Book of Genesis
The Book of Genesis (from Greek ; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית ''Bəreʾšīt'', "In hebeginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, ( "In the beginning" ...
.
Influence on popular media
Bakker's earliest known appearance was in the 1976
BCNova episode ''
The Hot-Blooded Dinosaurs'' aired on WGBH Boston.
Bakker appears in the 1989
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, in the third episode ''Dinosaur'' discussing his theory regarding ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' and other theropods being warm-blooded animals. Bakker later renamed
''. He had many appearences in the TLC television series
'', with some of the early concept art being informed by Bakker's works.
.
Dr. Bakker was a guest in episode 27 ("Surprise") of the
He was profiled on location at his Wyoming dinosaur excavation site in an episode of the
in 1992.
Bakker and his 1986 book are mentioned in the original ''Jurassic Park''.
of Bakker. In real life, Bakker has argued for a predatory ''T. rex'', while Bakker's rival paleontologist
. According to Horner, Spielberg wrote the character of Burke and had him killed by the ''T. rex'' as a favor for Horner. After the film came out, Bakker recognized himself in Burke, loved the caricature, and actually sent Horner a message saying, "See, I told you ''T. rex'' was a hunter!"
* .
*.
*
* .
vs.
''
* .