At one time Mister Bakker had Mister Cope's skull in a wooden box and carried it
around on field excursions.  I saw this on a video.  I think it really happened,
but maybe it was a prank.  Apparently however, Mister Cope donated his skull (to
the Smithsonian?) to be the type specimen for homo-sapiens.  This was in an age
when skulls were measured by caliper as an indication of intelligence.  This old
"science" was called craniology I believe.  I guess Mister Cope believed he had
an outstanding personal example in himself!  There is an excellent book about
the exploits of Misters Marsh and Cope and their eventual falling out with each
other, and subsequent shenanigans in an attempt to out-do each other in whatever
they were after.  If I can come up with the title of this book I'll pass it on
to whoever is interested in this kind of thing.
 
Nora Bryan
Calgary, Alberta (land of no shells but plenty of dinosaur bones)
CANADA
 
Aaron Baldwin wrote:
 
> I was wondering if anyone would notice. Amazingly enough, Homo sapiens was
> not described by Linnaeus. Apparently, Robert Bakker (of Dinosaur fame) was
> searching for Linnaeus' original decription when he discovered no such
> description existed. He wanted the description so that he coul nominate the
> bones of Edward Drinker Cope as the human type specimen. So Bakker published
> an original description and submitted Cope's skull as the type specimen. I
> have searched for thge original citation, but can't find it as of yet. Just
> goes to show you how new species might be right under our noses...
>
> At 08:32 AM 2/24/99 -0600, you wrote:
> >All right, Aaron, I'll bite. "Homo sapiens Bakker 1993"?
> >
> >Andrew K. Rindsberg
> >Geological Survey of Alabama
> >Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA
> >Member of the North Alabama Shell Club, COA, the society formerly known as
> AMU, and one or two paleontological societies
> >
> Aaron Baldwin
> Juneau, Alaska
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