King of the Dino Geeks

"King of the Dino Geeks" Tom Holtz, by skull of a Tyrannosaurus rex

Not many college faculty would dub themselves "King of the Dino Geeks," but University of Maryland paleontologist Tom Holtz is happy to call himself that. A dinosaur nut since he received some plastic dino toys at age three, Holtz is now a recognized authority on the beasts that fascinate us millions of years after their disappearance from Earth. But, says Holtz, knowing about these extinct creatures is more than being able to spout off the differences between diplodocoids and certatopsids. "We can learn a lot from the dinosaurs -- the evolution of life, the effects of climate change, the relationship between the living and non-living world." Holtz has just published Dinosaurs, The Most Complete, Up-To-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages, with spectacular illustrations by artist Luis V. Rey.

In this Q&A, Holtz talks about dinosaurs, their place in the history of the world and why even little kids can pronounce tongue twisting dinosaur names with relative ease. Holtz directs and teaches in the University of Maryland College Park Scholars Earth, Life & Time Program. Holtz has been on a number of fossil digs, has written several dinosaur books for kids and consulted on "Walking With Dinosaurs." He is working with the History Channel on a new program, "Jurassic Fight Club."

Young Tom Holtz, Crown Prince of the Dino Geeks

Q: Why are kids so attracted to dinosaurs, compared to other groups of animals?

HOLTZ: It could be because dinosaurs are big and scary like dragons, but they were real creatures, not made up. And yet they can't get up and come after us, like animals that exist today. Dinosaurs seem to be something that kids can master pretty well and pretty early, and for some reason, they can wrap their minds around the long dinosaur names and the details. I have been a dino geek for as long as I can remember. My parents told me I wanted to BE a dinosaur, a Tyrannosaurus rex, to be precise.

The Maryland State Dinosaur, Astrodon, has a Utahraptor in his jaws.

Q: Why do we need to know about these long extinct creatures?

Q: How did dinosaurs compare to mammals?

HOLTZ: Dinosaurs were the top dog, and they were dominant for 135 million years, longer than the mammals have been. Mammals appear at the same time as the dinosaurs, but they were in the dinosaurs' shadow, because they couldn't be top predators. It was only with the disappearance of the dinosaurs that mammals could flourish.

"Dinosaurs," by Tom Holtz and artist Luis V.Rey

Q: Your new book has so many detailed illustrations of different dinosaurs by Luis V. Rey. How do you know what they looked like?

HOLTZ: Any picture of a dinosaur is a based on some knowledge and some speculation. We know, for example, from fossils, that some had feathers, but we don't know the pattern or color. So Luis's imagination can go wild with colors.

Q: How is your new book different from other dinosaur books?

HOLTZ: It's not an A-Z list, because an alphabet listing has no bearing on the history of life. The dinosaurs are a group of animals with a history. Our book is organized by family tree, with major groups and what made them distinctive. We also have contribution from 33 other dinosaur experts.

Q: Do you think we'll continue to find out more about dinosaurs?

HOLTZ: Oh my yes! New dinosaur species are being named at a rate of about one every two weeks. In the last few months we've seen the announcement of the largest of the bird-like beaked oviraptorosaurs (Gigantoraptor), the likely direct ancestor of Triceratops(Eotriceratops), and one of the largest dinosaurs ever discovered (Futalognkosaurus). Additionally, all sorts of new lines of evidence--especially from CT scans, preserved biomolecules, and microscopic histological sections of dinosaur bones--are revealing the inner details of their lives and growth. There are still plenty of new discoveries to be made.

Q: What is your favorite dinosaur today?

HOLTZ: It has been, and always shall be, Tyrannosaurus rex, because it's the coolest! I could add that, intellectually, studying T. rex helps us understand the upper limits of being a terrestrial carnivore and a biped, shows the culmination of a series of adaptations over the course of millions of years, and demonstrates specializations of the skull and limbs that make it an intriguing study in functional morphology. But really, it's my favorite because of its inherent coolness.