Date: 29 Feb 2008 19:26 From: Dr. Robert L. Carroll To: eotyrannus@gmail.com Subject: February 29, 2008 Dr. Darren Naish School of Earth & Environmental Sciences Burnaby Building, Burnaby Rd University of Portsmouth Portsmouth, UK, P01 3QL Dear Dr. Darren: I am very disturbed to learn of the accusations against Dr. Spencer Lucas and his colleagues at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. I had not heard of this situation prior to receiving your e-mail, which may be explained by the fact that my research has been concentrated almost entirely on other fossil groups for the past several years. I have had some professional contact with Dr. Lucas, and in fact he visited the Redpath Museum last year to examine our collection of Carboniferous footprints. Subsequently, he sent me a very large number of his recent publications, but none that had obvious bearing on the questions at hand. I have since read the article in Nature, and have had the opportunity to discuss this subject with Kevin Padian, who was at McGill to lecture on various aspects of growth in dinosaurs and to discuss the thesis of "Intelligent Design." He impressed me with the serious nature of this problem and the need to investigate it thoroughly and openly. It is certainly imperative that members of our discipline recognize that it is highly improper to use scientific information, including introduction of new scientific names or hypotheses regarding the used of anatomical structures that have been proposed by others, until after they have been published by those who have done the original research. Usurpation can be a particularly serious blow to students at the beginning of their professional training, when they have little individual power to protect their rights, and may loose confidence in the integrity of our discipline. Awkward as it may appear to the individuals involved, it is necessary for them to be thoroughly investigated and responsibility established, lest such behaviour, if demonstrated, appear to be tolerated in our discipline. Sincerely, Robert L. Carroll, Professor and Curator Emeritus Former President, Society of Vertebrate Paleontology The contents of this letter may be used as thought appropriate Robert L. Carroll Redpath Musuem McGill University 859 Sherbrooke St. West Montreal H3A 2K6 Que., Canada Please note my new email address is: robert.carroll@mcgill.ca tel.: 514-398-4086 ext. 4090 fax.: 514-398-3185