The secret identity of "Dakota," and a really bad plan

Remember "Dakota," the exquisitely-preserved hadrosaur that was the selling point of a book that barely featured it? (See here for more gripes) It turns out that it's an Edmontosaurus, although the species name is left off so I have no idea whether the specimen represents a new variety of Edmontosaurus or not.

There is some distressing news, though. According to the man who found the skeleton, Tyler Lyson, he's planning on taking "Dakota" on a world tour, eventually finding a home in a museum Lyson hopes to create in his hometown of Marmath, North Dakota. "Dakota" will first go on display at the North Dakota Heritage Center this summer, but I really hope that Lyson changes his mind about taking the 5 ton skeleton around the world. It's bad enough that "Lucy," the famed specimen of Australopithecus afarensis, is touring the world (although, I admit, I'll go to see the skeleton when it comes to New York City); I see no reason to take Dakota on a world tour when not one scientific publication on the fossil has even been published yet.

Overall I'm a bit troubled by the way "Dakota" has been featured in documentaries, two books, and numerous news reports, but very little information about the dinosaur has been released. It's like endlessly being teased, especially if the fossil is as significant as we're told. I'm glad that National Geographic wants to get people excited about the discovery, but I think they're really going about this process all wrong, and it seems that a major scientific discovery is being used more to bring in some money than to add to our understanding of natural history. I hope we'll see something substantial about "Dakota" soon, or at least before it starts on a trip around the world.