Page 25 - 2001 DT 4 issues

believes that, in the end, what is important
In Remembrance are all the questions these studies pose

about how communications work.
ed Rock Canyon is a place of beauty and peace that will stand long after our Dino Tracks Attract
passing. A permanent memorial to all those who have perished has been hen Sheldon Johnson began ex
Restablished jointly by Friends of Red Rock Canyon, the Red Rock Canyon cavating his 50-acre parcel in
Interpretive Association and the Bureau of Land Management. WSt. George, Utah in February,
On Saturday, September 29, a ceremony was held at the Canyon to dedicate 2000 he was stopped in his tracks dino-
the memorial. Nine three-foot square tiles of the Dedication Walkway commemorate saur tracks. Inside the hill he discovered
each of the four hijacked planes, the World Trade Center and Pentagon victims and more than 100 footprints of theropod dino-
those members of the rescue force who lost their lives in the collapse of the struc- saurs as well as grooves where the crea-
tures. tures’ tails dragged in the mud. Mr.
Among the lives lost were many citizens of other countries. Red Rock Canyon Johnson took precautions to preserve the
hosts thousands of visitors from all over the world annually. This memorial will pro- site rather than bulldoze it into an industrial
vide a place where anyone may come to pay their respects to their countrymen. park. Now, the site is causing traffic jams
in the town of 50,000.
The 5 to 18 inch tracks formed when
The research team’s presentation
Do Dogs Laugh? caught the interest of Gordon Burghardt of the animals wandered through deep mud
I n a recent meeting of the Animal Be the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, along the shore of an ancient lake. Large
salt crystals embedded in the 205 million
havior Society in Corvallis, Ore, Patricia
who theorizes about the evolution of play.
year old sediments indicate that the lake
Simonet of Sierra Nevada College in
Lake Tahoe presented a research study in- He notes that other scientists have proposed went through cycles of significant evapo-
volving vocalizations among dogs. Dogs at that non-human primates and ration, a sign that the climate was gener-
ally arid. Though no prints of plant-eating
play make a distinctive, even rodents laugh, dinosaurs were found, the sediments
breathy exhalation that however he cautions showed abundant fish fossils about three
can trigger playfulness in that Simonet’s feet long. The animals possibly waded in
other dogs. These “hhuh, proposal needs to snag a meal.
hhuh,” sounds burst into a broader more testing. Theropod dinosaurs were bipedal
range of frequencies than those dis- The dog-ex- meat-eaters and are suspected to have
played by dog panting. The bursts were halation study reopens been warm-blooded, at least in part. They
observed during play but not in aggres- many questions about ranged from the chicken-sized
Compsognathus to giant-sized
sive clashes. Might these be dog laughs? whether animals laugh, says Brian Albertosaurus and Tyrannosaurus Rex.
According to Science News, the Knutson of the National Institutes of Health
team used a parabolic microphone to in Bethesda, Md. He has recorded rats
record dog sounds in parks from a distance. chirping when they wrestle with each other In Memoriam
In the laboratory, Simonet tested 15 mostly and before receiving morphine or having sex, Friends member Jacquie Favre,
young dogs by playing the recorded “laughs indicating perhaps that the rats “expect daugher of Lucie Haussamann, passed
and growls” and observing the response. something rewarding.” Another researcher away suddenly on Wednesday,
When the laugh was broadcast, a puppy has recorded the animal’s ultrasonic squeaks Sepember 19, 2001. The family has
often picked up a toy and approached a when tickled. requested that anyone wanting to
make a donation in her name do so
presumed playmate. Simonet’s own best Yet another student of play, Marc either to Nathan Adelson Hospice or
attempt at duplicating the sound likewise Bekoff of the University of Colorado in Friends of red Rock Canyon.
elicited a play response. Growls had no Boulder, says that when he gets down on Our symphathies are with the
such effect. all fours and makes the sounds Simonet is family and friends.
talking about, dogs get very solicitous. He

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