Raptor Red is a 1995 fiction novel by paleontologist Robert T. Bakker. The book is a third-person account of dinosaurs during the Cretaceous Period, told from the point of view of Raptor Red, a female Utahraptor. Raptor Red features many of Bakker's theories regarding dinosaurs' social habits, intelligence, and the world in which they lived. The book follows a year in Raptor Red's life as she loses her mate, finds her family, and struggles to survive in a hostile environment. Bakker drew inspiration from Ernest Thompson Seton's works that look at life through the eyes of predators, and said that he found it "fun" to write from a top predator's perspective.<ref name="usatoday-jones"/> Bakker based his portrayals of dinosaurs and other prehistoric wildlife on fossil evidence, as well as studies of modern animals. When released, Raptor Red was generally praised: Bakker's anthropomorphism was seen as a unique and positive aspect of the book, and his writing described as folksy and heartfelt. Criticisms of the novel included a perceived lack of characterization and average writing. Some scientists, such as paleontologist David B. Norman, took issue with the scientific theories portrayed in the novel, fearing that the public would accept them as fact, while Discovery Channel host Jay Ingram defended Bakker's creative decisions in an editorial.
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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
250:
Pope Fabian became one of the first people to die during Roman Emperor Decius' widespread persecution of Christians. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Fabian
1576:
León in Guanajuato, Mexico, was founded by order of Viceroy Martín Enríquez de Almanza of New Spain. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le%C3%B3n%2C_Guanajuato
1839:
Chilean troops decisively defeated the forces of the Peru-Bolivian Confederation at the Battle of Yungay in the Ancash Region of Peru, effectively ending the War of the Confederation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Yungay
1840:
William II became King of the Netherlands after his father William I abdicated the throne. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_II_of_the_Netherlands
1942:
The Holocaust: SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich and other senior Nazi German officials met at the Wannsee Conference in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee to discuss implementing of the "Final Solution to the Jewish Question". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wannsee_Conference
1990:
The Soviet Red Army violently cracked down on Azeri pro-independence demonstrations in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_January
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
transmontane (adj): Of or relating to the other side of the mountains http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/transmontane
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
There's new energy to harness, new jobs to be created, new schools to build, and threats to meet, alliances to repair. The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you, we as a people will get there. --Barack Obama http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Barack_Obama