Missing Link

By Coco Masters

Someone in Hollywood should snap up the movie rights to the backstory of Falcarius utahensis, the 125 million-year-old dinosaur with 4-in. claws and spoon-shaped molars unveiled last week. Scientists say it offers the first glimpse into how dinos made the transition from small, agile meat eaters to elephant-size vegetarians. Falcarius, as it turns out, was dug up by a black-market fossil collector named Lawrence Walker, who found it on federal land in Utah while digging at night under a tarp. Convinced he was onto something big, the poacher tipped off a paleontologist he knew, James Kirkland, and led him to the site. Kirkland tried to protect his source but, asked under oath how the dinosaur was discovered, reluctantly turned Walker in. Kirkland got his 15 minutes of fame last week. Walker served five months in prison. --By Coco Masters