Dinosaurs of all ilks bow and pay tribute to Peter Dodson, their intrepid chronicler, in an Anatomical Record Special Issue in his honor

Amazing how even after half of a century some things do not change. Together again at the University of Pennsylvania, Peter Dodson and editorial co-author JL are energetically talking about six things at once, catching up as old friends are wont to do. Walking along the beautiful, tree-lined, quiet of Locust walk, topics bounce from new dinosaur finds, to what the children (and grandchildren!) are up to, to which of our body parts are the latest to stop working well (hey, we have known each other for some 50 years!). As has been the case since our days together at Yale, JL is lagging behind as Peter's energy, now as back in New Haven, has him moving ever faster than his old anatomy table mate. “C'mon, Jeff,” the august Penn Prof admonishes, “we finally get an audience with Professor Leidy, and let's not be late!” Yes, indeed. We have finally arranged a formal audience to see Professor Joseph Leidy, or, more specifically, his brain. For those of you who are not acquainted with Professor Leidy (shame, shame!), he was America's first dinosaur paleontologist of note, having reported and named (in 1858 and 1865; Leidy, 1858, 1865) the first American dinosaur, the “duck-billed” Hadrosaurus, unearthed in New Jersey (and you thought the state's only remains of note were those of Mob boss Jimmy Hoffa!). Subsequently, Leidy reconstructed Hadrosaurus at the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences in 1868, the first museum display of any dinosaur. He estimated it to be 25 ft long and, based on its small forelimbs and long hind limbs, gave it a “kangaroo-like” stance with a semi-upright posture. Indeed, this vertical position became the image of dinosaurs imprinted in our collective visualization that remains to this day (see Dodson, 2009 for discussion). Leidy's day job was as the Professor of Anatomy at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (the first in the United States), and he was a polymath of such renown that his biographer boldly titled his story, Joseph Leidy: The Last Man Who Knew Everything (Warren, 1999). Indeed, when the parent organization of The Anatomical Record, the American Association for Anatomy was formed in 1888 (originally named the Association of American Anatomists, today seen as an exclusionary banner, but done then to highlight specifically the emergence of American—over European—science), Professor Leidy was unanimously chosen its first President, in absentia no less. He was seen by many as the embodiment of an American scientist, the greatest of his day. There are giants and then there are GIANT giants, and our Professor Leidy falls into the latter category (Figure 1). And this brings us back to another titan of his science, and the reason for this Special Issue, JL's fast moving colleague, Peter Dodson. Like his Penn ancestor, Peter (our ties are too close for continued formalities here) is a giant among dinosaurs, not an easy feat if you think about it. His contributions to understanding the world of dinosaurs—from his paleontological findings, scholarly writings, museum exhibit creations, and birthing of superb progeny—have made him stand out in the world of dinosaur science. Indeed, Peter has given much to our own journal, being a frequent contributor (e.g., Dodson, 2003, 2009, 2020; Hedrick et al., 2020, 2022; Schachner et al., 2009, 2011; Tumanova et al., 2023), and Guest Editing two of the most popular Special Issues in our history, “Unearthing the Anatomy of Dinosaurs: New Insights into their Functional Morphology and Paleobiology” (Dodson, 2009; Laitman, 2009; Laitman & Albertine, 2009) and “The Hidden World of Dinosaurs” (Hedrick & Dodson, 2020; Laitman & Albertine, 2020; Figure 2). The 2009 Special Issue, our first on dinosaurs, was so much in demand that our Publisher, Wiley, had to print additional copies for individual sale (Dodson Dinos make money, at least for Wiley!) Beyond the quality of his science, Peter has been given a gift that he has shared with those of us fortunate to be his student, mentee, or colleague: his boundless goodness and caring. This “Dodsoness” quality has spanned his career and has touched many. Indeed, editorial co-author JL has written previously on how Peter's kindness helped him as an insecure and shy (no comments out there, please!). Yale graduate student to survive his overwhelming fears at the onset of his own path (see Laitman, 2017). More to our point here is how his own dinosaur-philic graduate students and mentees have grown and prospered in significant part due to his loving guidance. Received: 18 April 2023 Accepted: 18 April 2023