Killing a Legend (cont'd)

The multidisciplinary project is a cooperative effort of the Museum of the Rockies and the University of California at Berkeley's Museum of Paleontology in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Thirteen senior scientists are exploring the ancient ecosystem, along with other professionals, graduate students, some undergraduates and volunteers. These varied experts are cataloging and analyzing this one piece of prehistory from many directions and all of its most important components.

Beyond a few general numbers and the T. rex fossils, Horner isn't nearly ready to discuss what the project is discovering. Much more data must still be collected.

The ambitious program is almost entirely supported by individual donors and foundations. The main underwriter is Nathan Myhrvold, retired chief technology officer of Microsoft and one of the project's senior scientists. Other supporters include Mary and Terry Kohler, Catherine B. Reynolds and James Kimsey.

Other contributors are Universal Studios, for whom Horner consulted on the three Jurassic Park movies, and Discovery Channel, which is broadcasting Valley of the T. Rex — a documentary on Horner's work with dinosaur animation.

Myhrvold says his support grew from a longstanding fascination with dinosaurs and the ambitious goals of this field project, as well as the meager funding available for such research. "If you're doing something [providing financial support] that is just like everybody else, the net impact is smaller," he says.

"Dinosaurs get a fantastic amount of interest from the public, but the budget of just the last Jurassic Park film is probably greater than what has been spent on dinosaur research in all of history. It's kind of odd that this is the case."

Robert Locke is the executive editor of Dinosaur Magazine. This article has been reprinted with the permission of Dinosaur Magazine.