We are extremely pleased to announce a fascinating interview with paleontologists Dr. Karen Chin and Dr. Jordan Mallon and computer scientist Dr. Ezra Sidran about the science behind Dinosaur Island.
This interview was recorded and is currently available on YouTube here:
Ceratopsidae, a family of thick-skulled, horned dinosaurs, including the well-known Triceratops, had teeth that functioned as shears, suggesting that they consumed particularly tough plants
In an article recently published in PLOS ONE, University of Calgary researcher, and friend of Dinosaur Island, Dr. Jordan Mallon, explains how dinosaur teeth give us insight into the varied diets of dinosaurs and how they co-exited for hundreds of millions of year in a complex ecosystem (the very theme of Dinosaur Island). Link to write-up about the article here. Link to the PLOS ONE article here.
How we plant on Dinosaur Island; screen capture of the planting interface.
It’s spring on Dinosaur Island and that means it’s time to start planting! Above is a screen capture of the interface to add plants to Dinosaur Island, select the terrain / environment in which they grow (remember all the work on creating the terrain previously?), select images for the plants for their three stages of development (we have an agreement with xFrog who created these prehistoric plants, and, lastly, ‘plant’ this vegetation in the appropriate terrain / environment.
We’re looking at starting off with 20 different types of plants and trees. We will be tracking each individual plant, shrub or tree throughout its entire life cycle. We will also track its health.
The above screen capture is another glimpse ‘behind the scenes’ of Dinosaur Island. Most users probably won’t want to get this involved, but we need to have this capability to create different environments, with the appropriate flora, for the various eras of dinosaurs.
Things are progressing rapidly on Dinosaur Island. Next week: see the results of planting all these ferns, bushes and trees. And, after that, it’s time for the dinosaurs!