On Sunday, November 17, the MSNH joined paleontologist James Napoli for a guided tour of the T. rex: The Ultimate Predator exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). Besides admiring all the great displays, we got to learn first hand from an in-house paleontologist about the latest T. rex research as James explained thoroughly our current understanding of T. rex biology and evolution. James also debunked some popular ideas about T. rex. For example, he pointed out that despite popular news articles, it is unlikely that T. rex was a scavenger given its large size.
To view more photos from this event, please visit our gallery. All photo credit goes to Stephanie Loria and Valentin Ehrenthal.
JAMES NAPOLI is a Ph.D. student at the Richard Gilder Graduate School of the American Museum of Natural History. He grew up in Setauket, New York, and spent his formative years in the halls of the museum where he is now a student. He holds a Bachelor of Science from Brown University in Geology and Biology, and a Master of Science from Stony Brook University in Physiology and Biophysics. His research focuses on the evolutionary biology of vertebrates, especially extinct species like dinosaurs. He is particularly interested in developing new methods to identify species of extinct animals, and in studying the evolutionary importance of individual variation among members of a species.