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Dr. Robert Bakker is one of the most noteworthy dinosaur paleontologists in the United States—and even inspired the paleontologist depicted in the movie The Lost World: Jurassic Park. Bakker has reshaped modern theories about dinosaurs, in particular by adding support to the theory that dinosaurs were endothermic (warm-blooded), smart, fast, and adaptable. Dr. Bakker has worked with the museum as an expert curator and paleontologist and has helped acquire rare dinosaur fossils on The Children’s Museum dinosaur advisory board.
Leonardo is exquisite.
When I saw Leonardo for the first time, the fossil skin was bathed in light washing over the beast from the side. The body seemed to glow. The rib cage was so beautifully preserved you might imagine the animal breathing, the chest rising and falling...
And you see inside! There were windows into the great machinery of digestion, views never before available for any creature of the fabulous duckbill clan.
Leonardo seemed to be alive once more—almost. You could almost see the jaws grinding and chopping conifer branches. You could almost hear the gentle rhythm of fodder being swallowed, being carried through the stomach and then into the marvelously complex intestinal tract.
Feeding and digesting are the twin mysteries of dinosaur success. And duckbills are at the heart of Cretaceous ecology. They dominated the plant-eater guild. Their family tree was so bushy that new species sprouted in every direction. To understand the Cretaceous world, we must decipher the keys to herbivore design. Leonardo has handed us those keys.
Leonardo invites us to a safari into his inner secrets. Scholars and amateur dino fans alike can test century-old theories. Were duckbills merely dinosaurian moose, munching on soft water plants? So read the textbooks from 1860 up through the '1960's. No! The guts say that theory is bunk. Duckbill jaws were armed with the finest cranial Cuisinart ever evolved within the entire Dinosauria. Look closely at Leonardo's muzzle and jaws. There is a never-ending supply of tooth crowns, closely packed to make a rotary food processor.
We knew those basic dental facts since the first duckbill was dug in New Jersey in the 1850s. And yet the moose-diet theory would not die. Leonardo at last provides experimental proof. You can examine what plants were chewed and how thoroughly they were masticated.
Water plants? Nope. Tough, hard-leaved conifers. Nutritious. Full of protein and energy. Leonardo testifies to the true preferred diet—terrestrial vegetation, the shrubs and trees that covered the landscape.
The Children's Museum of Indianapolis is the perfect place for Leonardo. Indy has duckbill smarts. The museum crew has excavated one of the greatest duckbill bone-beds in the world. The Paleo Lab presents the visitor to touch duckbill legs, run their fingers over duckbill teeth.
And now.....Leonardo adds that unique window back into the Cretaceous, the window into his deepest secrets.
