REDLANDS: Learn how some dinosaurs got so big

The Press Enterprise (San Bernardino, CA): REDLANDS: Learn how some dinosaurs got so big
Ever wonder why dinosaurs were so big?

Guest speaker Matt Wedel, a paleontologist who has studied giant dinosaurs for the last 15 years, will answer that question and more in his lecture, "All-time Giants: How the Largest Dinosaurs Got So Big" at 7:30 p.m. March 23.

The lecture at the San Bernardino County Museum is free.

The immense size of some dinosaurs has been a source of popular fascination -- and a scientific puzzle -- since the earliest discoveries were made. In recent years, paleontologists have unearthed more fossils of record-breaking animals, and discovered some answers to the questions of how and why they got so big.

Wedel, an assistant professor in the Department of Anatomy at Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, will explain why some dinosaurs stopped chewing their food, got pregnant as teenagers and abandoned their babies so they could go big.

Air-filled bones, buried eggs, elephant poop and sheep that eat seaweed all are part of the scientific quest to understand the world's largest land animals.


Joan Marcus / Special to The Press-Enterprise
Fascination of large dinosaurs has inspired shows like "Walking With Dinosaurs."
In addition to teaching, Wedel frequently appears in documentaries on the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and the History Channel.

The program is part of a series of free guest lectures at the museum. Upcoming speakers are David Earle on "Mission Baskets," April 27, Mark Springer on "Tooth Loss and Molecular Cavities in Placental Mammals," May 25, and Anthony Metcalk on "Processes That Affect Genetic Diversity," June 22.