Imagine hunting a giant, long-nosed dinosaur. Nicknamed “Pinocchio Rex” because it’s related to the Tyrannosaurus Rex, this was one of the most incredible discoveries ever made by American paleontologist Steve Brusatte.
In 2014, he worked with the late Lu Junchang to find a 66-million-year-old fossil of a “Pinocchio rex.” Brusatte described Lu as “one of China’s greatest dinosaur hunters.”
Brusatte is a 39-year-old professor of paleontology and evolution at the University of Edinburgh in the UK.
He has been to China many times because there are many ancient animals to discover there. Thirty years ago, a farmer in northeast China found a dinosaur skeleton “with a coat of fluffy stuff.”
“Before these fossils were found, dinosaurs were portrayed in art and movies as… reptiles,” Brusatte said. Reptiles’ bodies are covered in scales. But the discovery of this fluffy dinosaur skeleton changed everything.
“These fossils have proven once and for all that today’s birds evolved from dinosaurs,” he said.
“Today we know that many of them had feathers and looked and behaved more like birds.”
Steve Brusatte searched for dinosaurs in Bulgaria. Photo: X/SteveBrusatte
Humble beginnings
Before Brusatte began traveling the world in search of fossils, he grew up in the USA and learned about dinosaurs from his brother Chris.
“Chris turned his bedroom into a dinosaur museum,” recalls Brusatte. “He had all the Jurassic Park Toys, and we saw Jurassic Park all the time. Over time, his interest became mine.”
Although his job today mainly involves teaching and research, he also spends time digging up dinosaur bones.
“If you had caught me a few days ago, I would have been teaching. If you had caught me in a few months, I might be in the desert,” he said.
Educating the public
As a paleontologist, Brusatte also enjoys teaching people about dinosaurs.
In 2020, he gave advice for Jurassic World DominationHe asked the director to bring feathered dinosaurs into a Jurassic Park Film.
“It was one of the best experiences of my career,” he said.
Brusatte has also written books about dinosaurs and mammals. Now he writes about birds.
“When I write these books, I think of myself as a 15-year-old,” he said. “I tried to tell stories about science, fossils and the people who study them without getting too technical.”
The paleontologist hopes that people can see how fossils are related to problems we face today, such as climate change.
“Dinosaurs and other fossils are real animals that experienced real moments of climate and environmental change, and we can learn a lot from them,” he said.
To test your understanding of this story, Download our printable worksheet or answer the questions in the quiz below.
paleontologist 古生物學
someone who studies fossils
Fossil 化石
the parts of a dead animal or plant that harden after thousands of years
evolution 進化
the process of change of animals, plants and other organisms over millions of years
technically 業
requires specialized knowledge on a topic that might be difficult for most people to understand
