New Looks, Old Bones Uncovering the bones of a dinosaur may be physically demanding, but it is by no means the end of the discovery process. >> more

Video Q & A Judd Case, Saint Mary's College of California Credit: Dena Headlee, National Science Foundation What did you find? What do you believe happened to the dinosaur when it died? What have you learned about the animal from looking at the bones? Requires Real Player

Video An artist's conception of the fate of the carnivorous dinosaur recently discovered in Antarctica by Case and Martin's research team. Credit: Trent L. Schindler, National Science Foundation  View Video Requires Real Player

Having found all of the pieces that they could, including portions of the animal's legs and feet and teeth and jawbones, both Case and Martin tentatively agreed they had found the remains of a meat-eating dinosaur, although "everything was working against that conclusion," Martin noted.

The location, for example, had been covered in fairly deep water when the creature was alive. They later theorized that the animal's body floated out to sea after it died.

Also, at the apex of the food chain and representing a very small percentage of living creatures, predators in nature are less likely to leave any physical trace of their passing.

According to Martin, "the skeleton appears to have been eroded ... every bone we collected was broken."

On the island, the researchers had already moved from the collecting stage of their investigation to analysis, trying to confirm what they reluctantly believed was true.

"In some cases, we sat down early with all the bones spread out, and began to put things together that looked like they belonged together," Case said.

They also referred to figures in a book that happened to be in camp. "The photos helped us to identify some of the bones," he said.

Martin noted that even though the bones they found were fragmentary—"This wasn't Jurassic Park, where they blew the dust off that complete skeleton"—the evidence was sufficient to make a serious analysis. "We got the two best ends of the animal for identification: the head and feet. In this case, foot bones, claws and teeth."

Later, aboard ship and headed back to the United States, the scientists laid the bones out on a large piece of paper in one of the ship's labs in the positions they would have held in life. They were beginning to answer a question even larger than whether the creature was a dinosaur: Was it just new to the region or was it new to science?