BY JIM BRACE-THOMPSON

THE THREE FACES OF Tyrannosaurus rex?

All species of creatures contain variation.

But when does variation bleed into differentiation and separate identifiable species?

Within the science of paleontology, this question has led to “lumpers” versus “splitters.”

Lumpers say that plants and animals come in varied forms, but all those varied forms might simply represent variations within a single species. Splitters beg to differ. Rather than one encompassing species, they might split into separate species or subspecies. Such esoteric debates have now engulfed one iconic dinosaur species, Tyrannosaurus rex.

A group of paleontologists led by freelance researcher Gregory Paul has examined over three dozen specimens of T. rex residing in collections worldwide. In an article in the journal Evolutionary Biology, they say they’ve spotted what they believe to be enough variation over time to justify dividing this dino into three separate species: T. rex, T. imperator and T. regina.

Will these “splitters” prevail? Says paleontologist Steve Brusatte (University of Edinburgh, Scotland),

“Ultimately, to me, this variation is very minor and not indicative of meaningful biological separation of distinct species.”

A “Hot” New Mineral Is Named

The Bible says all things old are new again. Well, welcome to “oldsite,” a “new” uranium mineral! To become official within the list of certified minerals, any new mineral must pass muster and be verified by the International Mineralogical Association (IMA). Oldsite has recently passed this test and thus gives us one more mineral to seek to add to our collections.

Yellowish in color and shaped like little blades, oldsite crystals have been named in honor of Travis Olds, Assistant Curator of Minerals at the famed Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Dr. Olds is a specialist in uranium mineralogy.

Oldsite forms as a secondary mineral deposit where water and oxygen interact with uranium and iron-sulfide minerals. Specimens were discovered clinging to the walls of the North Mesa Mines near Temple Mountain in Utah. Because most large and clearly obvious minerals have been discovered and named long ago, oldsite—like most new minerals named by IMA--is a micromineral with crystals that average only some 0.3 millimeters long and that easily dissolve in water. Thus, this discovery is somewhat fortuitous. How many other similarly ephemeral minerals remain to be found and named?