Jack Horner (paleontologist)

Horner was born and raised near Shelby, Montana. He was 8 years old when he found his first dinosaur bone.{{cite web |last=Gray |first=Veronique |title=A talk with paleontologist Jack Horner |url=http://vivamost.com/2012/04/a-talk-with-paleontologist-jack-horner/ |publisher=Vivamost.com |access-date=9 November 2012 |date=2012-04-09 |archive-date=2012-12-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121203060129/http://vivamost.com/2012/04/a-talk-with-paleontologist-jack-horner/ |url-status=dead }} He attended the University of Montana for seven years, majoring in geology and zoology. He also spent two years in the U.S. Marine Corps, serving in Vietnam during the Vietnam War in a reconnaissance unit.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}} Horner did not complete his bachelor's degree due to severe dyslexia.{{cite journal |last1=Horner |first1=John R. |year=2004 |title=Jack Horner: An Intellectual Autobiography |journal=The Montana Professor |volume=14 |issue=2 |url=http://mtprof.msun.edu/Spr2004/horner.html |access-date=9 April 2011 |archive-date=9 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110709104632/http://mtprof.msun.edu/spr2004/horner.html |url-status=live }} However, he did complete a senior thesis on the fauna of the Bear Gulch Limestone, one of the most famous Mississippian lagerstätten (exceptionally preserved fossil sites) in the world, located in Montana. The University of Montana awarded him an Honorary Doctorate of Science in 1986. Also in 1986, he was awarded the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship.{{cite web |title=125 Montana Newsmakers: Jack Horner |url=http://www.greatfallstribune.com/multimedia/125newsmakers5/horner.html |work=Great Falls Tribune |author=Tribune Staff |access-date=August 27, 2011 |archive-date=January 24, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120124222040/http://www.greatfallstribune.com/multimedia/125newsmakers5/horner.html |url-status=dead }} In 1993, he received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.{{cite web|title=Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement|website=www.achievement.org|publisher=American Academy of Achievement|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#science-exploration|access-date=2020-10-09|archive-date=2016-12-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161215023909/https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#science-exploration|url-status=live}}

File:Maiasaura embryo.jpg emerging from its egg]]

In Montana during the mid-1970s, Horner and his research partner Bob Makela discovered a colonial nesting site of a new dinosaur genus which they named Maiasaura, or "Good Mother Lizard". The dinosaur bones, originating from a juvenile, were first discovered{{cite news|title=Baby dino bones finally back in state|url=http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/baby-dino-bones-finally-back-in-state/article_b61e74ba-1cb0-50b1-aa78-9ef78dc8be2b.html|work=The Billings Gazette|language=en|access-date=2017-06-28|archive-date=2020-02-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200227204022/https://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/baby-dino-bones-finally-back-in-state/article_b61e74ba-1cb0-50b1-aa78-9ef78dc8be2b.html|url-status=live}} by Marion Brandvold. Horner then studied the bones, and at first, there was a refusal to return the bones to Brandvold.{{cite news|last1=Missoulian|first1=DARYL GADBOW of the|title=Dino hunter|url=http://missoulian.com/uncategorized/dino-hunter/article_7059011a-1db0-5810-9b7c-6fc73e504bdc.html|work=missoulian.com|language=en|access-date=2017-06-28|archive-date=2021-02-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204201304/https://missoulian.com/uncategorized/dino-hunter/article_7059011a-1db0-5810-9b7c-6fc73e504bdc.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last1=Writer|first1=SCOTT McMILLION Chronicle Staff|title=Missing bones|url=http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/missing-bones/article_ed0522b7-7f4c-5bae-b414-f77b65d7a2db.html|work=Bozeman Daily Chronicle|language=en|access-date=2017-06-28|archive-date=2020-05-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200522081937/https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/missing-bones/article_ed0522b7-7f4c-5bae-b414-f77b65d7a2db.html|url-status=live}} It contained the first dinosaur eggs in the Western hemisphere, the first dinosaur embryos, and settled questions of whether some dinosaurs were sociable, built nests and cared for their young. The discovery established Horner's career. He has named several other species of dinosaur (including Orodromeus makelai, in memory of his late friend Bob Makela) and has had three named after himself: Achelousaurus horneri, Anasazisaurus horneri, and Daspletosaurus horneri.{{cite journal |last1=Carr |first1=Thomas D.|first2=David J.|last2=Varricchio|first3=Jayc C.|last3=Sedlmayr|first4=Eric M.|last4=Roberts|first5=Jason R.|last5=Moore|year=2017|title=A new tyrannosaur with evidence for anagenesis and crocodile-like facial sensory system |journal=Scientific Reports |volume=7 |page= 44942|doi=10.1038/srep44942|pmid=28358353|pmc=5372470|bibcode=2017NatSR...744942C}}

Within the paleontological community, Horner is best known for his work on dinosaur growth research. He has published numerous articles in collaboration with Berkeley paleontologist Kevin Padian, and French dinosaur histologist Armand de Ricqlès, on the growth of dinosaurs using growth series. This usually involves leg bones in graduated sizes from different individuals ranging in age from embryos to adults. Horner also revitalized the contested theory that Tyrannosaurus rex was an obligate scavenger, rather than a predatory killer. While this theory has been widely discussed by the popular press, it has never been a major research focus for Horner. He claimed that he never published the scavenger hypothesis in the peer-reviewed scientific literature, stating that it was mainly a tool for him to teach a popular audience, particularly children, of the dangers of making assumptions in science (such as assuming T. rex was a hunter) without using evidence.{{cite podcast |url=https://media.libsyn.com/media/skepticsguide/skepticast2009-10-14.mp3 |title=Interview with Jack Horner |website=The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe |first=S. |last=Novella |date=2009-10-14 |access-date=2023-08-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230831230716/https://teletraan.libsyn.com/147216133b39671c0a8ca75c524d5b3a__29a0193428eb780d66eaea2b1452fb9199fa637a359a1cf715461f9b198d0f46__wo/p/d/f/9/df9ce51c426f0372/skepticast2009-10-14.mp3?rpid=c0b7bcb638037bad9e9396b982c57143__0cd134168afc345326f1f6fe4e2688695ced5e9b51ebfda6b2d547818bdd0d9e__p3g&c_id=1927788&cs_id=1927788&Expires=1693609636&Signature=Zl9tbCVEilG5nVOCECF63seAAaYWRJCYG8M8x-qNBgs1ueMatYE2psfReUymSMy5PBcUdz1ET42u6cFmpr5sk289MwECjg-vXWD~BTW-HQdQg4k2W2tJsnGsyby-kcEW31zPxiV8mjAhhLfNED0EE3sJ~ffklC8hu5cY44Bzx2Z~oMfhI~WLN26SAVU~OBSkXU9v9CDmDIHKKnRp3cbKmNWPf5RS8ZorYN5GpXERKZDZc~DT3-pimib1GFN1iEViHY8-K5YuRTTHjToywDc-ZZrTmE9SsPV1DJE4XIEcZ8j43yPIksMC1RVRcov3lHD8-SPYALmWLReDWXTyyhz-SQ__&Key-Pair-Id=K1YS7LZGUP96OI |archive-date=2023-08-31 |url-status=live}} In 2000, teams led by Horner discovered five specimens of T. rex and three more the following summer, including one larger than the specimen nicknamed "Sue". The new fossil was 10% larger than other specimens and estimated to weigh 10–13 tons in life.{{cite web |last=Sogard |first=Melissa |title=John R. "Jack" Horner, Paleontologist |url=http://www.factmonster.com/spot/horner1.html |work=Fact Monster Database |publisher=Pearson Education, Inc |access-date=February 8, 2011 |year=2007 |archive-date=June 5, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605164712/http://www.factmonster.com/spot/horner1.html |url-status=live }} The Museum of the Rockies, as the result of continuing fieldwork, now exhibits the largest Tyrannosaurus rex collection in the world. Currently, Horner is working on the developmental biology of dinosaurs.{{cite news |last=Hayes |first=Jacqui |title=Large flock of parrot-like dinosaurs uncovered |url=http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/668 |access-date=February 8, 2011 |newspaper=Cosmos Online |date=September 20, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110407155650/http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/668 |archive-date=April 7, 2011 }}

Horner has published over 100 professional papers, eight books including Dinosaurs Under the Big Sky;{{cite book |last=Horner |first=John R. |title=Dinosaurs under the Big Sky |year=2001 |publisher=Mountain Press Pub. Co. |location=Missoula, Mont. |isbn=978-0-87842-445-0 |oclc=47238733}} a children's book, Maia: A Dinosaur Grows Up;{{cite book |last1=Horner |first1=John R. |first2=James |last2=Gorman |first3=Doug |last3=Henderson |first4=Terrance L. |last4=Blumer |title=Maia: a dinosaur grows up |year=1998 |publisher=Museum of the Rockies, Montana State University |location=Bozeman, Mont. |isbn=978-0-933819-02-3 |oclc=41846988}} a non-fiction book on dinosaurs from Montana, Dinosaur Lives;{{cite book |last1=Horner |first1=John R. |first2=Edwin |last2=Dobb |title=Dinosaur lives: unearthing an evolutionary saga |year=1997 |publisher=HarperCollins |location=New York |isbn=978-0-06-017486-6 |oclc=36543406 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/dinosaurlivesune00horn_0 }} and numerous articles. He was also a part of a 2005 discovery of soft tissue in a T. rex fossil. Horner was the Curator of Paleontology at the Museum of the Rockies, the Regent's Professor of Paleontology, adjunct curator at the National Museum of Natural History, and taught at the Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana. Over the years he has advised people who have gone on to be leading experts in paleontology, such as Mary Higby Schweitzer, Greg Erickson, Kristi Curry-Rogers, and David J. Varricchio. Horner was awarded an honorary doctorate by Pennsylvania State University in 2006 in recognition of his work.

In 2003, Horner discovered a fossilized tyrannosaur leg bone from which paleontologist Mary Higby Schweitzer was able to retrieve proteins in 2007.{{cite news |last=Wilfor |first=John Noble |title=Scientists Retrieve Proteins From Dinosaur Bone |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/12/science/12cnd-dino.html |access-date=February 8, 2011 |newspaper=New York Times |date=April 12, 2007 |archive-date=December 6, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141206090419/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/12/science/12cnd-dino.html |url-status=live }}

In 2009, the National Geographic released a documentary entitled "Dinosaurs Decoded", which reviews Horner's research into juvenile dinosaurs. He suggests that juvenile dinosaurs looked sufficiently different from adults, and that they have sometimes been mistaken for separate species. The program examines specific changes that occurred as dinosaurs aged and speculates on why the changes were necessary. Horner's research on the topic has gone as far as eliminating several "sub-species" of Triceratops, Pachycephalosaurus, and Tyrannosaurus. Horner also believes that if his research were to continue as much as a third of known dinosaurs would be classified under an existing species.Levitt, Dan. Dinosaurs Decoded. National Geographic. 11 Oct. 2009. Television.

In Las Vegas on January 15, 2012, 65-year-old Horner married Vanessa Weaver, a 19-year-old Montana State University undergraduate paleontology student and volunteer in his lab. The couple had divorced by August 2016, but remained good friends.

On November 2, 2013, Horner was awarded the Romer–Simpson Prize, the highest honor a paleontologist can receive from the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology.{{Cite web | url=http://www.montana.edu/news/12241/horner-wins-lifetime-achievement-award-from-society-of-vertebrate-paleontology | title=Horner wins lifetime achievement award from Society of Vertebrate Paleontology | access-date=2017-06-28 | archive-date=2020-10-18 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201018181648/https://www.montana.edu/news/12241/horner-wins-lifetime-achievement-award-from-society-of-vertebrate-paleontology | url-status=live }}

On his retirement from Montana State University on July 1, 2016, the MacMillan Foundation honored Horner for his work with a $3 million endowment for the John R. Horner Curator of Paleontology Chair for the Museum of the Rockies/ Montana State University - funding the work of his Paleontology successors in perpetuity.{{cite web |title= Retiring Jack Horner celebrated at Museum of the Rockies |publisher= Bozeman Daily Chronicle |url= https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/montana_state_university/retiring-jack-horner-celebrated-at-museum-of-the-rockies/article_f63afa3d-f8fc-54e7-a8e9-ce960629b29c.html |access-date= 2020-10-09 |archive-date= 2020-09-19 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200919162706/https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/montana_state_university/retiring-jack-horner-celebrated-at-museum-of-the-rockies/article_f63afa3d-f8fc-54e7-a8e9-ce960629b29c.html |url-status= dead }}

In popular culture, Horner is the subject of the children's book, Jack Horner, Dinosaur Hunter! written by Sophia Gholz, illustrated by Dave Shephard, and {{cite book|title=Sleeping Bear Press Jack Horner, Dinosaur Hunter!|publisher=Sleeping Bear Press, Cherry Lake Publishing Group|url=https://sleepingbearpress.com/shop/show/52670|access-date=2022-10-10|archive-date=2022-10-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221010144544/https://sleepingbearpress.com/shop/show/52670|url-status=live}}{{cite news|date=April 18, 2021|title=Cover Reveal: Jack Horner, Dinosaur Hunter!|publisher=The Tiny Activist|url=https://thetinyactivist.com/cover-reveal-jack-horner-dinosaur-hunter/|access-date=October 10, 2022|archive-date=October 10, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221010144541/https://thetinyactivist.com/cover-reveal-jack-horner-dinosaur-hunter/|url-status=live}} published by Sleeping Bear Press. The book, which has been translated into French,{{cite web|title=TuttiStori Editions|publisher=TuttiStori-Editions|url=https://www.tuttistori-editions.com/|access-date=2022-10-10|archive-date=2022-10-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221010144544/https://www.tuttistori-editions.com/|url-status=live}} chronicles the life of Horner, from a child in Montana to an adult on the set of Jurassic Park, and discusses Horner's scientific contributions as well as navigating life with a reading disability.

File:Jack Horner with bird.jpg.]]

Horner's 2009 book, How to Build a Dinosaur: Extinction Doesn't Have to Be Forever,{{cite book |last1=Horner |first1=John R. |first2=James |last2=Gorman |title=How to build a dinosaur: extinction doesn't have to be forever |year=2009 |publisher=Dutton |location=New York |isbn=978-0-525-95104-9 |oclc=233549535}} describes his plan to recreate a dinosaur by genetically "nudging" the DNA of a chicken.{{cite news |last=Press |first=Michelle |title=Scientific American reviews: How to Build a Bird |url=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=reviews-jun09 |access-date=February 8, 2011 |newspaper=Scientific American |date=June 12, 2009 |archive-date=March 19, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110319031354/http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=reviews-jun09 |url-status=live }} Horner's idea for the project came from an early script for the film Jurassic World.{{cite news |first=Nick |last=Collins |title=The Jurassic Park scientist who plans to turn a chicken into T Rex |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/dinosaurs/8847499/The-Jurassic-Park-scientist-who-plans-to-turn-a-chicken-into-T-Rex.html |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=October 25, 2011 |access-date=January 19, 2015 |archive-date=January 19, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150119214640/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/dinosaurs/8847499/The-Jurassic-Park-scientist-who-plans-to-turn-a-chicken-into-T-Rex.html |url-status=live }}

He had been planning the book as early as June 2005;{{cite book |last1=Horner |first1=John R. |first2=James |last2=Gorman |title=How to Build a Dinosaur: The New Science of Reverse Evolution |edition=2010 Plume |year=2010 |publisher=Plume |location=New York |isbn=978-0525951049 |oclc=233549535 |pages=193–194 |quote=Let's use the ivory-billed woodpecker as an example. [...] it is generally thought to have gone extinct [...] although there have been many claims of sightings, including one that was published in Science on June 3, 2005. Earlier that spring [...] I was planning this book with my coauthor, Jim Gorman [...].}} it was originally planned to be released simultaneously with Jurassic World as a scientific companion volume.{{cite news |first=Brian |last=Switek |title=Why Do We Keep Going Back to Jurassic Park? |url=http://beta.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/why-do-we-keep-going-back-to-jurassic-park-117247927/?no-ist |work=Smithsonian magazine |date=October 25, 2011 |access-date=January 19, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140924043612/http://beta.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/why-do-we-keep-going-back-to-jurassic-park-117247927/?no-ist |archive-date=September 24, 2014 }}

In 2011, Horner pursued the project to develop the animal, which he describes as a "chickenosaurus", with a team of geneticists.{{cite news |last=Zetter |first=Kim |title=Ted 2011:Hatching Dinosaurs, One Egg at a Time |url=https://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/03/hatching-a-dinosaur/ |newspaper=Wired.com |access-date=March 4, 2011 |date=March 4, 2011 |archive-date=March 4, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110304191740/http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/03/hatching-a-dinosaur/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/06/12/horner.dinosaur.chicken/index.html?hpt=hp_c2 |date=June 12, 2011 |publisher=CNN |first=Jack |last=Horner |title=Why we're creating a 'chickenosaurus' |access-date=April 24, 2022 |archive-date=January 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220101222512/http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/06/12/horner.dinosaur.chicken/index.html?hpt=hp_c2 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |url=http://www.ted.com/talks/jack_horner_building_a_dinosaur_from_a_chicken |title=March 2011, Jack Horner, Building a Dinosaur from a Chicken |date=7 June 2011 |access-date=2015-06-01 |archive-date=2020-10-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019215653/http://www.ted.com/talks/jack_horner_building_a_dinosaur_from_a_chicken |url-status=live }} By November 2014, Horner and his team had conducted some of the earliest research into the embryonic development of tails. Such research may ultimately lead to new treatments for people with spinal disorders. Research into the mesenchyme tissue of chicken embryos, which direct the growth of teeth, may also aid in the treatment of human sarcomas. George Lucas had funded most of the project's costs up to that point, while an additional $5 million was needed. Horner expected to have a living dinosaur within 10 years.{{cite news |first=Jackson |last=Landers |title=Paleontologist Jack Horner is hard at work trying to turn a chicken into a dinosaur |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/paleontologist-jack-horner-is-hard-at-work-trying-to-turn-a-chicken-into-a-dinosaur/2014/11/10/cb35e46e-4e59-11e4-babe-e91da079cb8a_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Times |date=November 10, 2014 |access-date=January 19, 2015 |archive-date=January 19, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150119204622/http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/paleontologist-jack-horner-is-hard-at-work-trying-to-turn-a-chicken-into-a-dinosaur/2014/11/10/cb35e46e-4e59-11e4-babe-e91da079cb8a_story.html |url-status=live }}

In 2015, an independent group of scientists reported that they had found a way to turn the beaks of chicken embryos back into dinosaur-like snouts, by reverse genetic engineering,{{Cite journal|last1=Bhullar|first1=Bhart-Anjan S.|last2=Morris|first2=Zachary S.|last3=Sefton|first3=Elizabeth M.|last4=Tok|first4=Atalay|last5=Tokita|first5=Masayoshi|last6=Namkoong|first6=Bumjin|last7=Camacho|first7=Jasmin|last8=Burnham|first8=David A.|last9=Abzhanov|first9=Arhat|date=2015|title=A molecular mechanism for the origin of a key evolutionary innovation, the bird beak and palate, revealed by an integrative approach to major transitions in vertebrate history|journal=Evolution|language=en|volume=69|issue=7|pages=1665–1677|doi=10.1111/evo.12684|pmid=25964090|s2cid=205124061|issn=1558-5646}} and University of Chile geneticists have produced embryos with dinosaur-like leg and foot anatomy including the fibula full-length and reaching the ankle.{{cite journal|last1=Botelho|first1=João Francisco|last2=Smith-Paredes|first2=Daniel|last3=Soto-Acuña|first3=Sergio|last4=Mpodozis|first4=Jorge|last5=Palma|first5=Verónica|last6=Vargas|first6=Alexander O.|title=Skeletal plasticity in response to embryonic muscular activity underlies the development and evolution of the perching digit of birds|journal=Scientific Reports|date=14 May 2015|volume=5|pages=9840|doi=10.1038/srep09840|pmid=25974685|pmc=4431314|bibcode=2015NatSR...5E9840F}}{{cite journal|last1=Botelho|first1=João Francisco|last2=Smith-Paredes|first2=Daniel|last3=Soto-Acuña|first3=Sergio|last4=O'Connor|first4=Jingmai|last5=Palma|first5=Verónica|last6=Vargas|first6=Alexander O.|title=Molecular development of fibular reduction in birds and its evolution from dinosaurs|journal=Evolution|date=4 March 2016|volume=70|issue=3|pages=543–554|doi=10.1111/evo.12882|pmid=26888088|pmc=5069580}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{IMDb name|0395107}}
• http://www.hornersciencegroup.com
• http://www.jackhornersworldofdinosaurs.com {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128152924/http://www.jackhornersworldofdinosaurs.com/ |date=2020-01-28 }}
• [http://www.museumoftherockies.org/ Museum of the Rockies]
• {{TED speaker}}
• [http://www.ted.com/talks/jack_horner_shape_shifting_dinosaurs "Where are the baby dinosaurs?" (TEDxVancouver 2011)] (also {{YouTube|xYbMXzBwpIo}})
• [http://www.ted.com/talks/jack_horner_building_a_dinosaur_from_a_chicken "Building a dinosaur from a chicken" (TED2011)] (also {{YouTube|0QVXdEOiCw8}})

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Horner, Jack}}

Category:1946 births

Category:Living people

Category:United States Marine Corps personnel of the Vietnam War

Category:American paleontologists

Category:MacArthur Fellows

Category:People from Bozeman, Montana

Category:People from Shelby, Montana

Category:University of Montana alumni

Category:Scientists with dyslexia

Category:American scientists with disabilities

Category:United States Marines

Category:21st-century American scientists