THE JANE DIARIES, ENTRY #34

The Jane manuscript. In ascending order: bounded 601 page manuscript (301 actual pages since there's two pages printed per sheet), bounded 212 page set of tables (106 actual pages to save paper), and 44 pages of photographic plates. The manuscript and tables are double spaced, which will knock down the page length of the published monograph significantly. I expect the number of photographic plates to, at least, double by the end of this phase of the project. Tyrannosaurid artwork on screen by Dale McInnes.

December 20, 2014

1:31 pm: Setting up to start the final, but crucial editorial phase of the manuscript that has several secondary objectives:

(1) Finish adding the relevant literature (e.g., Larson, 2013, and possibly Gilmore 1946 and Bakker et al. 1988, and some other works).

(2) Make sure that each section is coherent and well organized.

(3) Complete the description of the axis, the only undescribed bone, but for which I have a complete set of notes and measurements.

(4) Add photographic plates for the skull, subnarial foramen, teeth, cervical and dorsal ribs, hemal arches, and gastralia.

(5) Add the in-text citations for the tables and figures.

(6) Make sure the references cited section is complete.

(7) Collate the distribution of plesiomorphic and derived characters in Jane and write that up for the discussion section in the context of recapitulation.

(8) Assess the hypothesis of tyrannosaurid ontogeny of Carr (1999) based on the pattern seen in T. rex that Jane illuminates.

There’s a lot to do. I’m going to start this in a systematic fashion, by reading the (presently) 601-page manuscript from start to finish. I will not move ahead to a section. However, before that there’s some quantitative data that is a priority for me to collate.

1:50: Stop.

?: resumed in the evening; started on collating the plesiomorphic and derived character state in Jane and found that I have to add the states for adult T. rex. I also started going through the ms with a red pen, and reached the maxillary process of the premaxilla. I also collated and charted data on tooth count and length of the tooth row.

References cited

Bakker, R. T., M. Williams, and P. J. Currie. 1988. Nanotyrannus, a new genus of pygmy                       tyrannosaur, from the latest Cretaceous of Montana. Hunteria 1:1-30.

Carr, T. D.  1999.  Craniofacial ontogeny in Tyrannosauridae (Dinosauria, Theropoda). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 19: 497-520.

Gilmore, C. W. 1946. A new carnivorous dinosaur from the Lance Formation of Montana. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 106:1-19.

Larson, P. 2013. The case for Nanotyrannus; pp. 14-53 in J. Michael Parrish, Ralph E. Molnar, Philip J. Currie, and Eva B. Koppelhus (Eds.) Tyrannosaurid Paleobiology. Indiana University Press, Bloomington.