2013 91 Dinosaur Train

2013 BOOK REVIEWS 91 Dinosaur Train Produced by The Jim Henson Company and others. 2009-present. PBS Kids. It may seem odd to review a children’s television and others, and broadcast on the PBS TV station. It has series for a natural history journal. Television, after all, completed two seasons since its inception in 2009, is often considered “the enemy” of getting kids outside consisting of 66 episodes at the time of writing. My to enjoy nature. It is even odder to review the biological review is based on Season One, which I watched with accuracy of a series in which talking dinosaurs travel my three year old son over the span of several months. through time on a train. However, given the popularity Each 30 minute episode consists of two 11-minute of the series Dinosaur Train and its influence on chil- stories involving a family of Pteranodon (large flying dren’s understanding of palaeontology and appreciation reptiles), with brief live action segments hosted by for nature in general, it is appropriate to critically eval- paleontologist “Dr. Scott” Sampson in which he dis- uate the series here. cusses the biology of dinosaurs featured in the episode. About the show The Pteranodon family consists of two parents, three Dinosaur Train is an animated children’s series pro- children with distinct personalities, and adopted son duced by The Jim Henson Company (of Muppets fame) Buddy the Tyrannosaurus rex (who, before hatching, 92 THE CANADIAN FIELD -N ATURALIST Vol. 127 somehow ended up in the Pteranodon nest). Stories tle version of Spinosaurus , and considering the sleep I generally follow a pattern of Buddy and other mem - was saving from him having fewer nightmares, I am bers of the family being curious about the biology of now satisfied the accuracy sacrificed by having gen - other dinosaur, or non-dinosaur, species. They then tle dinosaurs is worthwhile. Dinosaur Train does dis - travel on the Dinosaur Train, through a time tunnel, to cuss what each species ate; it just does not show car - the region and time period in which the species in ques - nivores hunting prey. tion lived. They then play and sing with the species I did find two minor inaccuracies, neither concern - while finding out about its biology. For example, they ing dinosaurs. In one episode a grasshopper is shown play music with young Hadrosauridae who produce stridulating its wings to produce sounds (grasshoppers loud calls through their head crests, which is the lead - actually produce sounds from leg stridulations – crick - ing explanation of the function of these dinosaurs’ ets rub their wings), and a dragonfly is shown eating crests. The dinosaurs then go home and discuss what leaves (dragonflies are carnivorous). These inaccuracies they have learned. Finally, Dr. Scott tells the viewer are surprising for how basic they are, and how accurate what paleontologists know about the episode’s species, the show generally is, but they are very minor. and how they compare to species alive today. The show’s message Biological accuracy First, considering the non-biology messaging of the Aside from the obvious (we have not yet found show, Dinosaur Train models appropriate behaviour for evidence that dinosaurs built trains or time tunnels), the children. The characters are polite, curious, enthusias - show is very accurate biologically. Not just accurate, tic, and generally cooperate with each other. Children’s in fact, but cutting-edge. Dr. Scott, the host and pri - shows often show characters engaging in bad behav - mary scientific consultant for Dinosaur Train, is not iour (e.g., characters being unkind) before learning not only a real paleontologist but in fact he is a big-shot to do those behaviours. Young children, however, have young paleontologist. He is Vice President of Research difficulty connecting characters’ early behaviours to and Collections at the Denver Museum of Nature and consequences and resolutions later in the show, and Science, has published paleontological research in lead - often engage in the types of bad behaviours they watch ing journals (e.g., Nature and Science), and recently on television (Ostrov et al. 2013). Dinosaur Train pro - authored a book on dinosaur ecosystems (Sampson vides a welcome relief to parents keen to avoid shows 2009). He also happens to be Canadian. with bratty characters. Adults, even those passionate about biology such as When it comes to biology-related messages, I know readers of The Canadian Field-Naturalist, will learn a of no other kids’ show that comes close to Dinosaur great deal about dinosaurs from this cartoon. Dinosaurs Train for promoting curiosity and exploration of our you did not learn of as a child since they were undis - natural world. Many episodes involve the show’s char - covered or poorly known scientifically, such as the ter - acters finding something unusual, developing hypothe - rifying giant carnivore Spinosaurus , are given promi - ses (yes, they even call them hypotheses!) about the nence. Dinosaurs you did learn of as a child are shown finding, then exploring to find out more about it. Along with current nomenclature (e.g., Brontosaurus is now the way, other biology-related themes are explored both Apatosaurus ) and behaviour reflecting modern inter - subtly and explicitly. For example, an introvert char - pretations of fossil evidence (e.g., dinosaurs were acter on the show (Don) keeps a collection of interest - likely more lively than the lethargic tail-draggers we ing objects such as feathers and bones. In one of Dr. learned about years ago). Watching the show alongside Scott’s segments he makes the link between Don’s col - your children will allow you to keep up with your chil - lection and the importance of museum collections to dren’s knowledge of dinosaur biology. research. In sum, Dinosaur Train promotes naturalist- In the interest of simplifying stories, Dinosaur Train friendly messages at the small scale of individual dis - sometimes takes liberties with accuracy. For example, coveries, and at the broad scale of the joy of explo - one episode portrays Lesothosaurus as camouflaged, ration that permeates the show. inspiring discussion of the reasons for animal camou - flage. While modern techniques allow insights into the Does the show’s message trump its medium? colour of some dinosaur feathers (Li et al. 2012), we The very medium of TV poses a conundrum – is it cannot determine whether species were camouflaged possible for a children’s TV show, even one with great because we do not know their microhabitats. These lib - naturalist messaging, to benefit children’s naturalist erties are understandable from a story-telling perspec - tendencies more than it harms them? Some naturalists tive, and Dr. Scott often tells the viewer when the show consider TV to be the enemy, responsible for keeping takes these liberties. kids indoors instead of outside exploring nature (Per - In the interest of not scaring children, ferocious gams and Zaradic 2006). In my opinion, the merits of dinosaurs are also portrayed in a more friendly light. Dinosaur Train should not be compared against the Giant carnivores dance and play with smaller herbi - merits of playing outside; this is a false dichotomy. vores, rather than ripping them to bloody shreds. At first Most parents are going to let their kids watch TV. I was disappointed with this puppyfication of dinosaurs, Given this reality, I think it is appropriate for Dinosaur but after seeing how scared my son was of even a gen - Train to be compared to other children’s TV shows. In 2013 BOOK REVIEWS 93 such a comparison, Dinosaur Train comes out trium - shells he’s found, inspired by Don’s collection. Second, phant, being far superior in its biology-related and non- I have read Dr. Scott’s Dinosaur Odyssey and various biology-related messaging than most other children’s dinosaur blogs, inspired in part by the paleontology I shows in my experience. The Dinosaur Train parents’ learned about from Dinosaur Train. Any children’s website (www.pbs.org/parents/dinosaurtrain/) also pro- show that encourages kids and even adults to discover vides ideas for parents and teachers on how to link more about nature is a good thing in my opinion. episodes’ main messages to children’s activities (e.g., JAY M. FITZSIMMONS making a bedsheet cloak for the camouflage episode). Further, the Dinosaur Train Nature Trackers Club (www Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment Canada, 351 St. .pbs.org/parents/dinosaurtrain/more-dinosaur-train-fun Joseph Blvd., 14th floor, Gatineau, QC, K1A 0H3 /nature-trackers-club/) encourages kids to complete na - Literature Cited ture challenges outdoors (e.g., track animal footprints, Li, Q., K.-Q. Gao, Q. Meng, J. A. Clarke, M. D. Shawkey, L. D’Alba, R. Pei, M. Ellison, M. A. Norell, and J. Vinther. 2012. organize a neighbourhood cleanup). Dinosaur Train Reconstruction of Microraptor and the evolution of iridescent thus attempts, successfully in my opinion, to be a TV plumage. Science 335: 1215-1219. show that encourages kids to turn off the TV. Ostrov, J. M., D. A. Gentile, and A. D. Mullins. 2013. Evaluating the In sum, Dinosaur Train is biologically accurate, con- effect of educational media exposure on aggression in early child- hood. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 34: 38-44. tains positive role models, and encourages kids to “get Pergams, O. R. W. and P. A. Zaradic. 2006. Is love of nature in the US outside, get into nature, and make your own discover- becoming love of electronic media? 16-year downtrend in national ies,” as Dr. Scott says as his signature sign-off at the park visits explained by watching movies, playing video games, end of every episode. I recommend it over any other internet use, and oil prices.

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