November 13, 2015 "WFI On The Fly" “WFI ON THE FLY” November 13, 2015 INSIDE THIS ISSUE: The Week Before Thanksgiving at Whiting Farms! Chickens Related to Dino- Pages ‘'Twas the week before Thanksgiv- Then followed Phil Trimm with saurs? by Dennis Wilson 2-3 ing and all through the farm, all Guinea flies too. Guinea’s so versa- Intro by Dr. Tom roosters were crowing, all hens tile, see what you can do. Dealer Feature: Dette Trout 4 were warm. Some feathers were And then in a twinkling, our chal- Flies waiting, Dennis Wilson had his lenge winner said “poof” Here’s a Colette’s Coop 5 share, for he is a master at feather- winning fly, now give me my loot! Pro Team sCOOP”: Tee Time? 6 ing dinosaurs with care. Dette Time to stuff the turkey with cou- by Adam Kroneberger Trout Flies is nestled snug in New pons galore, no better time to buy it York State, read on and find this and then they’ll want more! Tom Humor: (Fish ‘n Chicks) 6 family business is simply great! sprang up from his chair, to his crew Pro Team and Ambassador 7 When in the office there arose such gave a whistle, and to check on the a clatter, Colette had flown the co- birds they ran fast like a missile, but Pro Tier: Martin Westbeek 8 op, leaving it in tatters. Away to I heard him exclaim as he ran out the window I flew like a flash, tore into the night — Featured Product: 9 open the shutters and threw open Guinea Fowl the sash--when what to my won- "Happy Thanksgiving to Tying Challenge 9 dering eyes did I see but Adam and all and may your lines be a businessman going fly fishing. Hi-Vis Challenge Winner 10 tight!" Faster than migrating salmon his WFI Contact Info 11 Pro Team they came, his Ambassa- The Whiting Farms Team, dors too, and he called them by including Dr. Tom Whiting name! As leaves that before a wild hurricane fly, Martin Westbeek saw no obstacle when he rose to tie. "WFI On The Fly" Page 2 CHICKENS ARE RELATED TO DINOSAURS? BY DENNIS WILSON— INTRO BY DR. TOM WHITING One of the especially interesting ship of the Whiting Farms newsletter olecranus. As I uncovered the things about building and running might also appreciate this glimpse bones, aware that I was the first a business are the folks you en- into a truly unique application of person to ever see this creature, I counter in the whole process. feathers, and the equally unique fel- saw my opportunity to make this Some are utterly unexpected, and low that makes it happen. skeleton into a fleshed-out ani- these can be the most special. mal. I spent many hours working Sincerely, with a paleo-ornithologist Luis I remember getting a call from a Tom Whiting Chiappe and paleontologist Mark fellow sometime in the late 1990s Norell on the specifics of the who said he needed some feathers Dennis Wilson, Pangaea Designs bones. Since this animal had nev- to cover dinosaurs. This was when er been sculpted before, it was up the notion of feathered dinosaurs I am a paleo-artist who has found a to me to complete the missing was just getting some traction in way to fuse two passions—art and parts and transform them into a the PBS science programs I reli- nature—and been fortunate enough believable, fleshed-out dinosaur. giously watch. So I kind of knew to build a business around them. Comparing isolated sections of what he was after. The fellow was People assume I’ve always loved di- the skeleton to extant animals, I Dennis Wilson, and he had a com- nosaurs, but when I was young I nev- used a combination of parts from pany called “Pangaea Designs”. I er thought I’d be doing anything like reptiles, birds, moles, and anteat- think we sent him an assortment this for a living. I’ve always been in- ers for my reconstruction. It was of pelts to see if they would work terested in art and fulfilled one of my theorized from a fossilized halo for him. Apparently, these were dreams by receiving a Bachelors of of keratinous fibers that not exactly what he was after, so I Fine Art from Rhode Island School of Mononykus was covered with invited Dennis to visit to rummage Design in 1988. I then moved to Seat- primitive, insulating feathers, through all our feathers so he tle where I started my career as a stu- which I duly included, using a could look for himself for what he dio assistant for artists Dale Chihuly process I developed with time needed. I remember we had a and Buster Simpson. During this and practice. batch of American rooster capes, time, I started collecting roadkill to which had been miss dyed a sickly use in a “found object” piece. The Now, after 23 years of doing olive color. Dennis loved it and piece was accepted into a couple of paleo-art, I am known as one of bought them all if I remember cor- juried art shows and I was on my the foremost paleontological re- rectly. In this first “shopping trip” I path to becoming a professional art- construction artists in the world. recognized a truly unique person, ist. After a few years, I left and head- In order to make these dinosaurs who also found feathers and the ed to New York, without a job or even look as life-like as possible, I dis- natural world fascinating, and I the prospect of work. Fortunately, I covered the necessity of using thoroughly enjoyed the whole idea spotted an advertisement for a posi- real feathers. My search for the of Dennis’ endeavor. He even gave tion at the American Museum of Nat- highest quality feathers led me to me a company key chain that ural History. I applied and was hired build a lasting relationship with cracked me up. It read “Pangaea as a museum preparator, cultivating Dr. Tom Whiting, who produces Designs: 60 million years in the my interest in paleontology. the best feathers in the business. making”. During my I’ve found Tom to be a well- informed scientist, knowledgea- Dennis has gone on to become a tenure at ble on the subjects of organismal leader in creating museum quality the AMNH I and feather evolution. Tom’s ex- representations of feathered dino- was fortu- perience and wisdom have im- saurs. And has even traveled to nate to pacted me greatly. He has Mongolia and China to participate work on a shown me selectively bred roost- in the fossil excavations and share recently Dennis in Mongolian Yurt ers that never develop feathers. how he creates these representa- discovered This struck a cord with me; the tions. We thought that the reader- specimen from Mongolia, Mononykus "WFI On The Fly" Page 3 natural reaction to seeing a bird without feathers is to think, “that’s not right.” I hope the day will come when people look at outdated dino- saur reconstructions and think the same thing. My process of dinosaur re- construction starts with studying the skeleton and the most recent scientific data. I factor in what’s known about the paleo- Mononykus olecranus Archaeopteryx— Front view Archaeopteryx— Back view ecology and speculate how this animal lived and what niche it filled. Then I build a forensic reconstruction over the bones, taking into ac- count what the fossil can tell me about the shape of the living animal. Next, I design a feather pattern and cover the dinosaur, beginning with Oviraptor on Nest the tail and finishing at the Confuciusornis head, selecting and laying each feather one at a time like roof shingles. The finish- ing touches involve painting any exposed skin areas and claws, and adding life-like glass eyes. This process can take up to 6 months for a rel- atively small dinosaur. My first feathered reconstruc- tion was made in 1995. Since then I have recon- structed many feathered di- nosaurs, especially in the Microraptor e Pseudo past 7 years, including Ar- chaeopteryx, Velociraptor, Sinosauropteryx, and Confu- ciusornis. It seems that the public is finally coming around to the idea that dino- saurs were feathered. Caudipteryx Sinosauropteryx Page 4 "WFI On The Fly" FEATURED DEALER DETTE TROUT FLIES Nestled in the Southwestern part of Catskill Mountain Park, is Roscoe, NY, a town steeped in fly fishing heritage. Situated near the waters of the Beaverkill River, Willowemoc Creek, and Up- per Delaware, Roscoe is the home of Dette Trout Flies, a family run business since 1928 that specializes in fine fishing flies, most noted for our Catskill style dry flies. Founded by Walt and Winnie Dette, the business began to take form during the golden age of American dry fly fishing. Before commercial hackle was available for purchase, Walt raised his own hackle to keep up with orders. The quality of feathers has always been a priority for the Dette’s and it shows in our flies. For over 80 years, the Inside Dette Trout Flies goal of the shop remains the same: to provide anglers with fish- ing knowledge and Catskill style flies for local rivers. This endeavor has been successful as Mary Dette Clark and her grandson Joe Fox have worked to maintain the integrity, quality and hospitality that has become synony- mous with the Dette name. Today, the shop continues the standard that my Great-Grandparents built their cus- tomer base on: friendly and precise advice.