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.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raptor_Red>
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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>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
transmontane (adj):
Of or relating to the other side of the mountains
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/transmontane>
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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>
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