nandi's blog

Mesozoic Birds of the Jehol Biota

Monday, October 19, 2020

The Fossil Birds of the Jehol Biota have caused an international stir amongst palaeontologists. The Jehol outcrops of northeastern China has unearthed some of the most important Mesozoic bird specimens worldwide over the past two decades.

This is a tale of how that all began. Back in November 1993, Chinese palaeontologists Hou Lianhai and Hu Yoaming, of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) in Beijing received a call from an excited local fossil collector.

He claimed to have quite a remarkable specimen on his hands. The team visited Zhang He at his home in Jinzhou, or Chinchow, a coastal prefecture-level city in central-west Liaoning province.

Zhang showed them a spectacular fossil bird specimen he'd recently purchased at a local flea market. Very little was known about the specimen but it was clearly important and the team was hopeful more of this paleo goodness might turn up.

They didn't have that long to wait. A month after his visit to Zhang, Hou learned about a second specimen discovered by a local farmer, Yang Yushan. Things were looking up. Best of all, he learned that both specimens were likely from the same locality in Shangyuan, Beipiao. This was not a one-off discovery or an amazing but anonymous find. With two specimens to compare, the locality determined, the possibility of an interesting publication and career advancement would be a reality.

In 1995, the two specimens, as well as a third, were formally described as a new genus and species, Confuciusornis sanctus, by Hou and colleagues. The generic name combines the philosopher Confucius with a Greek ὄρνις, (ornis), "bird". The specific name means "holy one" in Latin and is a translation of Chinese 圣贤, shèngxián, "sage", again in reference to Confucius.

The first discovered specimen was designated the holotype and catalogued under the specimen number IVPP V10918; it comprises a partial skeleton with skull and parts of the forelimb.

Of the other two skeletons, one (paratype, IVPP V10895) comprises a complete pelvis and hind limb, and the other (paratype, IVPP V10919–10925) a fragmentary hind limb together with six feather impressions attached to both sides of the tibia or shin bone.

All was well until those reading the journal articles realized that the two paratype specimens only comprise bones that were unknown from the holotype. An oversight, likely by design, but this lack of overlap between the specimens made their referral to the species speculative. The lack of overlap also gave a wide margin for error in the naming of additional, albeit hopeful, new species names — names that would later need to be amended. Luckily, the discovery of a veritable treasure trove of well-preserved specimens shortly after confirmed that the specimens indeed represented a single species.

Together with the early mammal Zhangheotherium, which was discovered about the same time, Confuciusornis was considered the most remarkable fossil discovery of the Jehol biota.

It has also given us another fossil-rich Lagerstätte that includes a wonderful mix of advanced and ancient species. My speculation is that northeast Asia was isolated for part of the Jurassic by the Turgai Sea that separated Europe from Asia at that time. The fossils at Jehol are numerous and exceptionally well preserved. Think of the Cambrian goodies at Burgess or the Altmühltal Formation, Jurassic Konservat-Lagerstätte at Solnhofen. Quite remarkably, fully articulated skeletons, soft tissues, colour patterns, stomach contents, and twigs with leaves and flowers still attached, can be found within the Jehol biota.

In the late 1990s, Confuciusornis was considered both the oldest beaked bird as well as the most primitive bird after Archaeopteryx. It was also considered to be only slightly younger than Archaeopteryx. Yixian Formation, the rock unit where most Confuciusornis specimens have been found, was thought to be of Late Jurassic (Tithonian) age at the time.

Although two bird genera, Sinornis and Cathayornis, had already described from the Jehol biota back in 1992, these were based on fragmentary remains and stem from the younger Jiufotang Formation. At the time, the Jiufotang was thought to be Early Cretaceous. Both formations have since been dated to the Lower Cretaceous — Barremian to Aptian — 131–120 million years ago.

In 1995, local farmers began digging for fossils near the village of Sihetun, Beipiao, in what would become one of the most productive localities of the Jehol biota. The then largely unknown site is truly world-class. Large-scale professional excavations at this single locality have been carried out by the IVPP from 1997 onwards. Not one, not two, but several hundred specimens of Confuciusornis have now been unearthed from here. Many additional sites producing fossils of the Jehol biota have been recognized since, distributed over a large region including Liaoning, Hebei, and Inner Mongolia.

Due to the great abundance, preservation, and commercial value of the fossils, excavations by local farmers produced an unusually high number of fossils. Although some of these fossils have been added to the collections of Chinese research institutions, more have been smuggled out of the country.

In 1999, it was estimated that the National Geological Museum of China in Beijing housed nearly a hundred (100) specimens of Confuciusornis, and in 2010, the Shandong Tianyu Museum of Nature was reported to possess five hundred and thirty-six (536) specimens. While it is illegal to export them, the majority of specimens are still held privately and thus are not available for research.

At one time forty individuals were discovered on a surface of about 100 m2. This unusual bone bed was likely the result of an entire flock of birds being simultaneously killed by ash, heat or poisonous gas following the volcanic eruptions that caused the tuff stone in which the fossils were found to be deposited as lake sediments. An avian death bed is highly unusual. Very sad for our feathered friends but grateful for what has been revealed by this rare event.

Notes: Confuciusornis chuonzhous was named by Hou in 1997 based on specimen IVPP V10919, originally a paratype of Confuciusornis sanctus. The specific name refers to Chuanzhou, an ancient name for Beipiao. Confuciusornis chuonzhous is now generally considered synonymous with Confuciusornis sanctus.

Confuciusornis suniae, named by Hou in the same 1997 publication, was based on specimen IVPP V11308. The specific name honours Madam Sun, the wife of Shikuan Liang who donated the fossil to the IVPP. Confuciusornis suniae is now usually considered synonymous with Confuciusornis sanctus.

Reference: Zhou, Z; Hou, L. (1998). "Confuciusornis and the early evolution of birds". Vertebrata PalAsiatica. 36 (2): 136–146.

Zhou, Z. (2006). "Evolutionary radiation of the Jehol Biota: chronological and ecological perspectives". Geological Journal. 41 (3–4): 377–393. doi:10.1002/gj.1045.

Source: www.science20.com/

Cwmbran House With 15ft Dinosaur in Garden Damaged by Fire

Saturday, November 30, 2019

Becky (far left) with her sisters Tamar, Samantha and Abbi, and Alun the dinosaur

The family of a man who bought a 15ft tall dinosaur for their garden have said they are in shock to find they do not have insurance after their house was badly damaged in a fire.

Insurance payments stopped when Jerry Adams' bank account was closed shortly after he died at the end of August.

Mr Adams, from Cwmbran, made headlines earlier this year when he bought the model dinosaur for his garden.

The community is rallying round to help the family try and rebuild their home.

Mr Adams' widow Lesley, his daughter Becky and her partner John and their three children, Michael, 14, Thomas, 10, and nine-year-old Dylan, were all in the house when the fire broke out on Sunday morning.

The family was alerted to the fire by Thomas, who smelt smoke coming into his bedroom.

Becky, said: "I was having a lie-in and John ran in and was saying 'get out, get out, the house is on fire'.

"I grabbed my kids and my mum grabbed a picture of my dad. I wanted to cry.

"So we all ran outside, the fire brigade got in and they just started ripping walls down, they brought the hoses up and just started soaking everything.

"Honestly, I don't care. My kids are alive. I don't care if they've got nothing for Christmas. I've got a roof over my head and they're safe."

Up close and personal with Alun

Samantha said she believed the community had helped so much because of her father's memory.

"I'll never leave a legacy like my dad," she said.

"This just proves that people care, people from the community, people I don't even know have come forward and offered their help, offered their support.

"My dad was a good guy, he brought Alun the dinosaur here, he's been raising money for different charities.

"It just shows how much of an impact he had."

An online fundraising page has also been started to help the family.

Source: www.bbc.com/

Research Shows That Dinosaur, Which Lived 76 MYA, Got Cancer Too

Wednesday, August 5, 2020

Centrosaurus reconstruction by Fred Wierum

When scientists first unearthed fossils of a horned dinosaur called Centrosaurus in the badlands of Dinosaur Provincial Park in Canada's Alberta province in 1989, they spotted a badly malformed leg bone they figured was a healed fracture.

A fresh examination, researchers said on Monday, shows something different. The malformation was a manifestation of osteosarcoma, an aggressive bone cancer, making this Centrosaurus, which lived 76 million years ago, the first known example of a dinosaur afflicted by malignant cancer.

About 20 feet (6 meters) long, Centrosaurus was a four-legged beaked plant-eating Cretaceous Period dinosaur possessing a long horn above its nose and a bony frill above its neck with two smaller hooked horns.

The Centrosaurus fibula, a lower leg bone, contained "a massive gnarly tumor larger than an apple," said paleontologist David Evans of the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, one of the researchers in the study published in the journal Lancet Oncology."

This particular Centrosaurus was likely weak and lamed by the cancer prior to its death. This remarkable find shows that no matter how big or powerful some dinosaurs may seem, they were affected by many of the same diseases we see in humans and other animals today, including cancer. Dinosaurs seem like mythical beasts, but they were living, breathing animals that suffered through horrible injuries and diseases," he added.

Because most tumors occur in soft tissue that does not readily fossilize, there is scant evidence of cancer in the fossil record.
 
"This finding speaks to the biology of cancer. It is not something novel or new, but probably has occurred since time immemorial and is an expected complication in all animals," said study co-author Dr. Mark Crowther, a professor of medicine, pathology and molecular medicine at McMaster University in Ontario.
"Osteosarcoma generally occurs in rapidly growing bones and as such is found in children and young adults. Presumably dinosaurs were also at risk because of the fact that they grew at enormous rates," Crowther added.

 
The tumor destroys the bone and can spread to other tissues, Crowther said. In people, treatment consists of chemotherapy and surgery that sometimes involves amputation.
 
The researchers confirmed it was a tumor using high-resolution CT scans and by looking at thin sections of it under the microscope. "We were not only able to demonstrate that the bone tissue showed the hallmarks of osteosarcoma, but that the tumor spiraled through the cortex of bone, discounting its original identification of a healed fracture," Evans said.
 
Cancer, however, may not have killed the Centrosaurus. Its body was found in a vast bonebed containing the remains of hundreds of Centrosaurus individuals, suggesting they died as part of a herd caught in a flood, Evans said.
 
Its cancer may have reduced its mobility to make it an inviting target for big predators like Gorgosaurus and Daspletosaurus. But living within a large herd, Evans said, may have provided safety in numbers that enabled the Centrosaurus to avoid predation as the cancer progressed.

Source: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/

Are Dinosaur Fossils ‘Minerals’?

Friday, July 12, 2019

The remains of two "dueling dinosaurs" have sparked an ownership dispute that could set legal precedent. ©BHIGR 2013

Pristine dinosaur fossils discovered in Montana have sparked a property rights dispute that has hit paleontologists like an asteroid.

The lawsuit, now at the Montana Supreme Court, concerns who owns some of the greatest fossil finds in the last century, including two dinosaurs preserved while locked in combat and a rare complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton.

They are worth millions, and paleontologists say a federal appeals court ruling would have "fundamental and extraordinary impacts upon the conduct of science concerning the history of life on Earth."

The case hinges on a seemingly straightforward question: Are fossils considered "minerals" under Montana state law?

In Montana, rights to a property's mineral estate are often severed from its surface rights. Historically, fossils have been considered part of the surface estate.

That all seemed to change last November when the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the owners of the mineral rights of a ranch where the fossils were found.

The ruling sent shock waves through the paleontology world, threatening to upend the way fossil hunters have operated for decades.

It would make searching for fossils extremely complicated, said David Polly, a former president of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, based in Bethesda, Maryland, because paleontologists would need to navigate both surface ownership—to get to the dig location—and mineral ownership of a parcel. Often, mineral rights are hard to find and frequently change hands between large corporations.

More alarmingly, he said, it could raise questions about the ownership of fossils currently in museums.

"In principle, it could have opened those to post hoc challenges," Polly said. "If those started disappearing from collections, it would be a disaster."

Polly's group, as well as several museums across the country, got involved after that 9th Circuit ruling. They enlisted Gary Guzy, the former White House Council on Environmental Quality and Environmental Protection Agency general counsel.

Now, they've convinced the San Francisco-based 9th Circuit to pump the brakes. It has referred the case to the Montana Supreme Court, where it will be taken up later this year.

Guzy, who now works for the firm Covington & Burling LLP in Washington, D.C., said his clients quickly realized the scope of the 9th Circuit decision.

"What seemed apparent was that what had been depicted all along as a private party contractual and almost property dispute really had significant implications for the paleontological profession," he said, "and the range of institutions that are involved in promoting the knowledge of the history of life on Earth."

"Greatest paleontological find of this century"

Spanning parts of Montana, the Dakotas and Wyoming, the Hell Creek Formation is one of the world's most studied areas for clues into life some 66 million years ago.

Within the formation is a tract of land in Garfield County, Montana, that was previously owned by George Severson.

Around 1983, Mary Ann and Lige Murray leased the land from Severson and worked it as ranchers. Over the following years, Severson transferred parts of the land to the Murrays and his two sons—Jerry and Bo Severson.

In 2005, the Severson sons agreed to sell the surface rights to the Murrays while retaining much of the mineral rights.

The value of those rights quickly escalated.

Shortly after the sale, the Murrays and an amateur fossil hunter, Clayton Phipps, found on their property a mother lode of fossils—a "spike cluster," as it is known in paleontology.

In 2006, they discovered complete fossils of two dinosaurs that appear to have been fighting when they died.

The Murrays quickly named the fossils the "Dueling Dinosaurs," and the scientific importance of the fossils is hard to overstate, said paleontologist Peter Larson, president of the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research in Hill City, South Dakota.

"The Dueling Dinosaurs are probably the greatest paleontological find of this century," said Larson, who has seen the fossils and spoken with the Murrays.

Larson explained why such a find is so rare. The dinosaurs appear to have been fighting on a sandbar in the middle of a river. Something happened — probably an earthquake — that liquefied the sand underneath them, sucking them down and preserving their skeletons.

"It is a pristine record of an interaction between a prey animal and predator," he said, adding that they were the most pristine complete dinosaurs ever found in the area.

The following year, a triceratops foot was found, then, in 2011, a triceratops skull.

Then came perhaps the pièce de résistance. In 2013, a complete T. rex was discovered on the property. The "Murray T. rex" is considered one of only a dozen ever found in such condition.

A "bizarre" ruling

When the Seversons got word of the finds, they quickly sought to declare ownership of the fossils, including the T. rex, which the Murrays were trying to sell to a Dutch museum for several million dollars.

The Murrays filed a lawsuit seeking a declaration that the fossils were theirs because they owned the surface rights to the land.

A district court sided with the Murrays, leading the Seversons to appeal to the 9th Circuit.

There, in a colorful opinion, the court sided with the Seversons.

"Once upon a time, in a place now known as Montana, dinosaurs roamed the land," wrote Eduardo Robreno, a senior Pennsylvania district judge who was on the panel by designation.

"On a fateful day, some 66 million years ago, two such creatures, a 22-foot-long theropod and a 28-foot-long ceratopsian, engaged in mortal combat. While history has not recorded the circumstances surrounding this encounter, the remnants of these Cretaceous species, interlocked in combat, became entombed under a pile of sandstone. That was then ... this is now."

The 2-1 ruling sided with the Seversons, saying they "have the better of the arguments" (E&E News PM, Nov. 6, 2018).

Lawyers for the Murrays declined to comment and said their clients are not speaking to the media. The Seversons' attorneys said their clients are traveling and could not be reached.

The ruling spurred considerable hand-wringing in the paleontological community, Larson of the Black Hills Institute said, calling the 9th Circuit decision a "really bizarre ruling."

Quickly, some of the most important players in the field weighed in, including the 2,200-member Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago and the Museum of the Rockies.

They, along with a Montana property rights group, backed the Murrays in court documents when they asked the court to reconsider the case — or send it to the Montana Supreme Court.

"The panel's decision imposes extraordinary uncertainty upon scientists and the public," they wrote, and it may "destabilize title to countless important fossils in academic, museum, and private collections around the world ... potentially subjecting those fossils to ownership challenges by holders of Montana mineral deeds."

The 9th Circuit took the unusual step of granting the rehearing, vacating their earlier decision and then punting the question to the Montana Supreme Court — a good sign for the Murrays.

"Given the frequency of divided ownership of Montana surface and mineral estates, and that Montana possesses vast deposits of valuable vertebrate fossil specimens, the issue is substantial and of broad application," the court wrote.

"Therefore, after considering these factors, and in the spirit of comity and federalism, we exercise our discretion to certify this question to the Montana Supreme Court."

Other aspects of the dispute also appear to be breaking the Murrays' way.

In April, Montana enacted a law that states "fossils are not minerals and that fossils belong to the surface estate."

The law, however, does not apply to existing disputes, though the "Dueling Dinos" case is likely the only existing matter of its kind.

"One can always make assumptions, and courts can do whatever they want," Larson said. "But it seems like our side is in a good position."

Source: www.sciencemag.org/

5 Reasons the Jurassic Park Lawyer Sucks

Friday, April 28, 2017

His name is Donald Gennaro, and he is the lawyer who represents “the investors” in John Hammond’s theme park called "Jurassic Park".  From the moment we meet him, we know he is a shithead. Here are five things we figure out about Donald over the course of the iconic 1993 film, Jurassic Park.

1. Donald Has A Terrible Sense Of Style

Donald is clearly a square whose only trips to the tropics have probably consisted of all-inclusive resorts and poolside service.  We know this because he dresses like a real dork. He wears a formal, straw hat that matches his stupid suit that has shorts instead of pants. God he looks dumb. Dr. Grant is a digger. He lives for discomfort. He’ll always wear his hearty khakis and have his wide-brimmed hat. The same goes for Dr. Sattler. Dr. Malcolm is very cool and his all-black garb is his way of saying that his smooth intellect is always with him. These three characters have outfits that earn respect. But Donald, what a jerk!

2. Donald is Greedy
Donald only cares about the money. He constantly whines to Hammond about the park being safe so that “the investors” don’t lose their money. Later in the movie, when Donald sees how amazing the park is, he says, “We’re going to make a fortune with this place.” What a dumbass, he doesn’t even know how money works. He’s not going to make a fortune, “the investors” he represents are going to make a fortune. He’s just a nerd lawyer. Sure, he’ll probably get a good bonus, but that’s it.  
Ironically, his incessant nagging at Hammond about the park’s safety was warranted. Well done Don!

3. Donald Hates Poor People
Donald is also an economic elitist. He believes that the park should only cater to the “super rich” as he suggests tickets should be $10,000 per day (in 1993 dollars). When scolded by Hammond who reminds Donald that Jurassic Park is for everyone, Donald snidely remarks that, sure, there can be “coupon day.” He then laughs at his own suggestion, thinking himself to be very very clever. What a clown.

4. Donald Hates Kids
Dr. Grant claims to hate kids and he even says they smell, but when the rubber hits the road, he cares for Lex and Timmy as a compassionate father. Donald, on the other hand, scolds the kids for playing with some equipment in the Jeep because he assumes it’s expensive. Hey Donald, that stuff isn’t yours so it doesn’t harm you if they break it. As a matter of fact, their grandfather owns all of that stuff, and I doubt he would care. You just like yelling at children, don’t you Donald?

5. Donald Died Hiding In A Bathroom, But Was Probably Not Taking A Sh*t.

Afraid of the T. Rex, Donald runs out of the car and into a bathroom that was basically a flimsy tiki hut.  A little while later, the T. Rex slams into the bathroom, knocking everything over except for Donald, who is sitting on a toilet.  The T. Rex then eats him. It was always funny knowing that Donald died while taking a sh*t.  But, if you slow down the scene, you can see that Donald’s pants – I mean suit shorts – are still pulled up, meaning he either was not taking a sh*t, or he was simply shi**ing in his shorts.

Bonus: Dr. Malcolm Is Partially To Blame For Donald’s Death
In an attempt to lure the Tyrannosaur away from Lex and Timmy, Grant and Malcolm get its attention with road flares and lead it away. Malcolm runs toward the bathroom where Donald is probably not taking a sh*t.  The T. Rex plows over Malcolm and the bathroom with it, leaving Malcolm wounded and Donald ready to be eaten. Perhaps Malcolm, still angry at Donald’s earlier “lack of humility before nature”, led the T. Rex to the bathroom with intentionality. Or perhaps it was a mistake Either way, had Dr. Malcolm run in a different direction, Donald would have lived a little longer. Thank you Dr. Malcolm!
Yes, it’s sad that Donald died.  No one deserves to be eaten by a T. Rex. But still, no one should be as uptight as Donald. Let all of this be a lesson to us not to be uptight, not to hate poor people or children, and not to wear shorts with our blazers.

Source: http://generalsnobbery.com/

'Jurassic Park': Meet 'The Guy Who Died On The Toilet'

Sunday, April 9, 2017

Actor Martin Ferrero has had a long career as a character actor in Hollywood, appearing on hit shows such as Miami Vice and movies such as 1995's Get Shorty.

But even Ferrero admits he will probably always be known as the lawyer eaten in the worst way by a tyrannosaurus rex in 1993's Jurassic Park.

"When people recognize me on the street, they pause and then say, 'You were the guy who got eaten on the toilet in Jurassic Park,' " Ferrero says. "So yes, I'm the guy who died on the toilet."

This legend continued with Friday's release of Steven Spielberg's dinosaur classic Jurassic Park in 3-D.

"The eating scene is even better in 3-D," Ferrero said as he discussed playing lawyer Donald Gennaro in the box-office hit.

The fascination is constant. During a question-and-answer session after a Jurassic screening this week, Ferrero said his lawyer was actually a hero in Michael Crichton's best-selling book. But, at the time, Spielberg was upfront that he had other plans in the film version.

"Steven called me in to me and told me, 'I'm thinking about casting you as Donald Gennaro, and I do want to let you know how you're going to die,' " Ferrero recalled.

"I said, 'Wait a minute; Donald Gennaro survives. In fact he saves the children in the book,' " Ferrero said. "And (Spielberg) said, 'No, he's going to die on a toilet. A tyrannosaurus rex is going to eat you.' "

Ferrero quickly fell into line.

"Of course if it was going to be a heroic Donald Gennaro they would have gotten a big star," he said. "I told him it was a terrific plan."

The image of T-Rex destroying the theme park toilet to find a cowering Gennaro on the throne has lived in fans' minds ever since. Ferrero was mobbed by fans at the special screening.

"I'll take it," Ferrero said after signing another autograph. "It's not that bad."

Source: www.usatoday.com/

Donald Gennaro, The Unfortunate Lawyer

Thursday, October 22, 2020

A lawyer representing InGen’s investors. Donald Gennaro was dispatched to look into the affair at Jurassic Park following the accident involving the death of a worker.

His employers wanted John Hammond to get experts to sign off on the island, and Gennaro was sent to get Dr. Ian Malcolm even though he was “too trendy,” but decided to have him come along anyway. Gennaro had no idea what was being done on Isla Nublar. Upon arriving, he was stunned by the sight of a real-live Brachiosaurus. Before that, he was skeptical of Jurassic Park’s future. Upon seeing the dinosaurs he became certain they could make a fortune with it. Gennaro wanted to make it so they charge up to $2,000 or $10,000 a day for visitors. However, Hammond made him back down by saying that everyone in the world had the right to see the dinosaurs, not just the super-rich.

Gennaro went on the tour with Dr. Alan Grant, Dr. Ellie Sattler, Dr. Ian Malcolm and Hammond’s grandchildren Lex and Tim Murphy. After returning to the cars from visiting the sickened Triceratops, he suggested to Dr. Grant they remain where they were. He believed pounding on the ground to be the power’s attempt at being restored. When the Tyrannosaur escaped her paddock, Gennaro abandoned the kids in a fit of wild panic, hiding in a nearby outhouse. This did not save him for long, though. While chasing Dr. Malcolm, the Tyrannosaurus knocked over Gennaro’s hiding place. Taking one look at the lawyer, the dinosaur quickly gobbled him up off the toilet he was crouched on.

Donald Gennaro was played by Martin Ferrero.

Source: http://jurassic-pedia.com/

A Broker Explains How a Real-Life Jurassic World Would Get Insurance Coverage

Thursday, June 15, 2017

Photo: Universal Pictures

Jurassic World’s central conceit — a theme park full of dinos — sure seems like the kind of thing that, in real life, would sell a lot of tickets. But given the likelihood of those same dinosaurs running loose and eating park-goers — well, that’s a bit of an insurance issue, isn’t it?

Not really! It turns out that the folks behind an IRL Jurassic World could probably get a relatively decent coverage package, albeit a more expensive one than anything a real zoo or wildlife park would pay. That’s according to Mitchel Kalmanson, president of the Lester Kalmanson Insurance Agency, Inc., a Florida-based insurance company that specializes in “rare and unusual risks” in the animal and entertainment worlds, working on coverage for movie animals, research labs, private collections, and large zoos.

Before even getting to the dinosaurs, Kalmanson says the park would have to get coverage for some standard theme-park risks: ride liability, in case anyone gets injured by a park vehicle; “trip and fall exposures” to cover anyone who gets hurt in a fall for whatever reason; food and concession liability in case anyone gets sick; and workers’ comp and medical plans for all employees. Next up is making sure the animals are housed in a way that prevents them from getting out or tourists from getting into their enclosures. “If the animal is 20-feet tall, we may have to have a 30- or 50-foot wall,” Kalmanson says. “We’re going to make sure we have a lot of electric fencing, a lot of voltage to keep them from climbing or scaling the enclosure. We’ll put some netting over it, so nobody can get in like that guy at the Bronx Zoo who jumped from the monorail into the tiger pit. Then maybe we’ll put up some Lexan, a bulletproof glass that doesn’t obstruct views, and people can’t get over it.”

Then you’re going to need contingency plans for when an animal escapes. The first step is to have a lot of the Chris Pratt types, animal experts who know how to handle the situation with minimal risk to civilians. As Kalmanson explains, “You have to have training for your staff for sedation or euthanasia, having the chemical immobilization training, dart guns on site with the proper tranquilizer. Then you also have containment areas, escape routes and escape areas for the public to go and wait.”

As an underwriter, Kalmanson comes up with a “composite rate” based on how the facility is set up and the collection of animals, which are usually divided into classes based on threat levels. “Class 1 is your elephants, lions, tigers, bears, big primates,” he says. “Class 2 would be the smaller cats, desert cats, margays, servals, maybe cheetahs. Class 3 are all others. And then, of course, you have your venomous and nonvenomous animals, and then you have fishes and marine mammals, sharks, penguins, and all that.”

He also provides mortality insurance for animals based on species, rareness, ability to reproduce, prior medical conditions, etc. “If you’ve got a one-of-a-kind cloned dinosaur, how much money do you estimate you’re going to generate off the gate?” Kalmanson wonders. “You don’t want your animals getting killed by lightning, poison, natural causes, etc. For example, killer whales are in the $3-5 million range; Asian elephants are $1-3 million; gorillas, if you can get them, $500,000 to $1.5 million; and white tigers that can perform in acts are $15-35,000 each.”

Jurassix World’s gyrosphere ride, which you see in the image at the top of this page, is also problematic. “Nine times out of ten,” says Kalmanson, “when you’re at an amusement park you’re with a trained guide who won’t put you in harm’s way. Some parks, like Disney, they’ll take you in a Disneymobile so you’re under their auspices and not allowed to drive freely. It’s safer, it’s controlled, and they know where the animals can go and can’t go. From a Hollywood standpoint, [Jurassic World’s] spherical globes are great, but in reality, we wouldn’t have them if an animal could smash it and grab the people inside.”

Okay, but let’s say the worst happens and you’re at the park when there’s a stegosaurus stampede. What sort of payout might you be looking at? That depends on whether or not you suffered injuries. “We had an issue where a crane operator came into a zoo and damn if he didn’t just put his hand in a cage to pet a tiger — off comes his thumb,” says Kalmanson. “You’re talking hundreds of thousands of dollars for the pain of suffering and permanent injury. We had a monkey get hold of a kid once. There was a barrier fence but the mother decided to put the kid over the fence, so what’s the kid going to do? Walk up to the monkey. What’s the monkey going to do? Bite the shit out of the kid. Now the kid’s scarred for life. That could be a $300-500,000 claim.”

Injury payouts like those are calculated as a percentage of the coverage plan’s limit. “Normally, in a death, you would get the full policy limit,” Kalmanson says. “If you have $1 million in coverage and I’ve got a death in the family, I would demand $1 million.”

With the risks involved, Kalmanson says he’d recommend the Jurassic World park have excess liability insurance, which is a secondary plan that offers higher payouts than the primary coverage plan, to cover extreme situations. “If we’re dealing with dinosaurs, we’re probably looking at 25, 50, up to $100 million limit of liability to protect the public. That’s probably an $800,000 to $1.5 million annual premium. If you’re building a park where lots of animals escaped in the past and killed people, they’re paying a hell of a lot of premium with a huge deductible. It depends on the mitigating factors — could it have been prevented, was it human failure, was the fence not big enough? Historically, we would add on 25 to 75 percent surcharge to the premium. Or we might say, ‘You take the first $5 million claim, and then we’ll pick up anything over.’”

The lesson? To paraphrase the late John Hammond, if you must build a dinosaur theme park, spare no expense and cover your ass.

Source: www.vulture.com/

“Dinosaur” Lawyers Successfully Obtain Dinosaur Insurance Recovery

Friday, August 9, 2019

Mr. Beard (far right) at Billings Productions on June 28, 2019, with SWB Summer Interns and Associate Attorney, Haley Heinrich

Congratulations to Saunders, Walsh & Beard’s client, The Dinosaur Company (a division of Billings Productions), for obtaining full insurance benefits for the loss of 21 of its dinosaur replicas in North Carolina due to Hurricane Florence. The insurer for the Dinosaur Company initially filed the claim for the loss, and SWB’s own “dinosaur” lawyers, Alex Beard and Mark Johnson, stepped in to make sure Billings received all the insurance benefits it was entitled to under its insurance policy. Mr. Beard & Mr. Johnson convinced the insurance company its initial decision to pay only a portion of the loss was incorrect and, as a result, the Dinosaur Company received over a half a million dollars in additional policy benefits–all without having to file a lawsuit.

At SWB, we help our clients (large and small) get the insurance coverage they paid for when they purchased their insurance policy. Two of our partners–Alex Beard and Mark Johnson–each have decades of experience dealing with insurance companies and analyzing insurance policies. In fact, both Mr. Beard and Mr. Johnson both represented insurance companies exclusively for several years, and they now leverage that valuable experience in representing our policyholder clients and assisting them with their insurance-related issues. 

Source: https://saunderswalsh.com/

7 Questions We Have After Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous Season 1

Sunday, October 18, 2020

It’s been almost a month since Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous delivered its first season of wonder and terror on Netflix’s streaming platform. Even that far removed from the adventures of the group of young campers that found themselves encountering fresh danger and excitement on that same weekend the first Jurassic World film was set against, we’re still thinking about the events of those eight episodes and their cliffhanger ending.

But beyond the events that left a handful of children stranded on Isla Nublar lies seven questions we have in reference to what the future may hold for Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous and its chain of events. We don’t have concrete answers to any of these queries just yet, but there’s some background to why we’re asking, and some interesting theories that come from some of their origins. Let’s start with one of the most pressing questions right off the bat:

How Long Will It Take For Dave And Roxie To Return To Isla Nublar?

In the Season 1 finale of Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous, the evacuation of the island forced camp counselors Dave (Glen Powell) and Roxie (Jameela Jamil) to leave Isla Nublar behind, despite their intention of venturing back into the island against company policy. We saw them sailing away for the mainland, none too happy about their lot and demanding their respective ferry turn right back around, so clearly the adults in the Jurassic room are going to return and fulfill their personal quest to save their campers. But just how long is it going to take them to come back to the now defunct theme park? This is an especially important conversation to have when we take into account another big revelation of this season’s big finale.

Just How Hurt Is Ben After His Run In With Those Pteranodons?

While the world was lead to believe that the timid and cowardly Ben Pincus (Sean Giambrone) had suffered almost certain death at the hands of a roving band of Pteranodons that attacked the park monorail, Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous didn’t leave the world too much time to mourn him. This is because, in a mid-credits scene, we see that Ben’s beloved dino pal, Bumpy the Ankylosaurus, finds him in the jungle and licks his face, reviving him. While our young friend is alive, there’s obviously the possibility that the way he landed may have injured him pretty badly. Without adults or medical personnel on Isla Nublar, the extent of Ben’s injuries might mean the difference between life and death, especially with all of the park’s dinosaurs out in the open.

Could Sammi’s Spying Be The Link Between Camp Cretaceous And Jurassic World: Dominion?

The moment that camper/industrial spy Sammi Guitierrez (Raini Rodriguez) mentioned the backstory to her family’s money problems, which lead to her stealing data and samples from various Jurassic World dinosaurs, a bell went off in the collective Jurassic fandom. The shadowy corporation Mantah Corp and their offer to the Guitierrez family played the same sort of strategy that Lewis Dodgson pulled against Dennis Nedry in Jurassic Park, and that has us wondering if Jurassic World: Dominion might callback to this particular moment. With Dodgson returning to the series in the upcoming threequel, and Jurassic World mastermind Colin Trevorrow basically sharing all of the secrets of the latest film with the Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous team, there’s a chance that Lewis Dodgson’s old tricks are being played by the man himself, further tying these events into canon.

Might We See Some Established Jurassic World Characters Appearing In The Series?

Name drops are a particular specialty of Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous, as characters from the live-action cinematic incarnation are mentioned quite a bit early on. With Roxie trying to leave Claire Dearing a voicemail about how her nephews shouldn’t come to Camp Cretaceous and Marcus (Paul-Mikél Williams) rushing to check out Dr. Grant and Dr. Sattler’s work online, the world of Jurassic Park and Jurassic World’s legacy is felt quite well. While awesome, that does leave us wondering if the door is open for other Jurassic figures to head to the island and lend a hand; folks like, say, Julianne Moore’s long absent Sarah Harding. It’s a pretty big opportunity to tie the overall lore of Jurassic Park closer together with Jurassic World, and the animated series could be a great bridge between cinematic past and future.

Is Toro The Carnosaurus We Meet Up With In Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom?

There are a couple of dinosaurs that appear in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom that look to have either made an appearance in Season 1 or are about to become a problem in the newly confirmed second season headed our way in 2021. As it looks like the Baryonyx that Claire and Franklin encounter in the Jurassic World sequel might be a future problem, the introduction of Toro the Carnosaurus might have reacquainted us the dinosaur that threatens our human friends in their efforts to take refuge in a gyrosphere during the big volcanic event in Fallen Kingdom. That is, if it ever gets out of the tunnels that the Baryonyx is supposed to find its way into for that same film’s action.

Does Bumpy Make It Off Of Isla Nublar Alive And Well In The Jurassic Canon?

Everybody, and I mean everybody, loves Bumpy the Ankylosaurus. She’s executive producer/Jurassic World mastermind Colin Trevorrow’s favorite species of dinosaur, as well as a fan favorite with this burgeoning series. But this cute and cuddly dinosaur poses a big question for the future of Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous, as well as the Jurassic franchise in the future. With the eventual raid and capture of several dinosaurs left on the island in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, and Mount Sibo’s eruption sealing the fate of plenty a gentle giant during that process, it’s not a guarantee that Bumpy will live to see the Jurassic future. However, that’s not the only potential heartbreak we might encounter when all is said and done.

Will All Of Camp Cretaceous’ Campers Survive Their Dinosaur Adventure?

Obviously, Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous has to watch how it handles the campers running around on the island, as while they’re put in reasonable amounts of danger, the series doesn’t feel like it’ll pull any punches about feeding folks to the dinos. But can every camper in the Camp Cretaceous lineup really survive this ordeal, without at least one or two being sacrificed? Child peril is something the series has always danced around, but it almost feels like whenever the series comes to an end, the sort of close call Ben Pincus was lucky to survive in the past might not be as lucky.

Questions such as the ones asked above are only natural in the shadow of developments like the ones we see at the end of Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous' first season. Until Season 2 debuts on Netflix, we won't have the answers to these particular concerns, though it'll be a lot of fun to try and piece together those solutions for ourselves through repeated revisitations to the eight episodes we have in front of us. Should you need to watch those episodes again, or if you haven't seen the Season 1 for yourself, you can catch Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous, in all of its first season glory, on Netflix at this very moment.

Source: www.cinemablend.com/

Pages