Robert T. Bakker

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Robert T. Bakker

Dr. Robert Thomas "Dinosaur Bob" Bakker (born March 24, 1945, in Bergen County, New Jersey) is an American paleontologist who helped reshape modern theories about dinosaurs, particularly by adding support to the theory that some dinosaurs were homeothermic (warm-blooded). Along with his mentor John Ostrom, Bakker was responsible for initiating the ongoing "dinosaur renaissance" in paleontological studies, beginning with Bakker's article "Dinosaur Renaissance" in Scientific American, April 1975. His special field is the ecological context and behavior of dinosaurs. His book The Dinosaur Heresies first propelled him to popular attention.

Sporting a cowboy hat and large beard, Bakker dresses in cowboy/biker style, quite unlike the common perception of scientists. His energetic personality effectively communicates his skeptical enthusiasm for his subject, and Bakker is in demand as a talking head for dinosaur documentaries.

Bakker has been a major proponent of the theory that dinosaurs were "warm-blooded," smart, fast, and adaptable. He published his first paper on dinosaur endothermy in 1968. He revealed the first evidence of parental care at nesting sites for Allosaurus. Bakker was among the advisors for the film Jurassic Park and for the 1992 PBS series, "The Dinosaurs." Bakker also observed evidence in support of Eldredge's and Gould's theory of punctuated equilibrium in dinosaur populations.

At Yale University, Bakker studied under John Ostrom, an early proponent of the new view of dinosaurs, and later gained a PhD at Harvard. He began by teaching anatomy at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. Most of his field work has been done in Wyoming, especially at Como Bluff, but he has ranged as far as Mongolia and South Africa in pursuit of dinosaur habitats.

His novel Raptor Red (ISBN 0-7857-9972-9) tells of a year in the life of a female Utahraptor of the lower Cretaceous. In the story, Bakker elaborates on his theories of the behavior of dromaeosaurids ("raptor" dinosaurs) and life at the time of their existence.