Episode 284 is all about Astrodon, an early cretaceous sauropod named for a star form discovered after chopping open its tooth.
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On this episode, we talk about:
Information:
- An almost full Spinosaurus tail reveals It could have been a succesful swimmer supply
- The researchers additionally launched a 3D mannequin of their Spinosaurus reconstruction supply
- The North Carolina invoice to make Hypsibema the state dinosaur has been placed on maintain till 2021 supply
- A charity sweepstakes and public sale winner will get eaten by dinosaurs in Jurassic World: Dominion supply
The dinosaur of the day: Astrodon
- Sauropod that lived within the Early Cretaceous in what’s now the japanese U.S.
- Estimated to be 50 to 60 ft (15 to 18 m) lengthy
- Had shorter, wider cervical vertebrae proportionally in comparison with Brachiosaurus and Sauroposeiden, so might have had a brief neck in comparison with different titanosauriformes
- Had slender radii (a part of forearm)
- Not a lot variability in limbs between juveniles and adults, so the limbs would look related because it aged
- Fossils discovered within the Arundel Formation
- In 1858 John Latchford discovered two dinosaur enamel in his open iron ore pit in Maryland, in Prince George’s County (discovered by African American slaves). Latchford despatched the enamel to chemist Philip Thomas Tyson, who had Christopher Johnston, a dentist and professor on the Baltimore Dental School, examine them. Johnston lower one tooth in half and noticed the star-shaped cross part
- In 1859 Johnston named Astrodon, however didn’t give it a species title
- In 1865, Joseph Leidy named the kind species Astrodon johnstoni (and is usually cited because the one who named Astrodon)
- Charles Marsh named some fossils discovered close to Muirkirk, Maryland as Pleurocoelus nanus and Pleurocoelus altus in 1888. In 1903 John Bell Hatcher argued Pleurocoelus and Astrodon have been synonymous as a result of the enamel have been the identical, and Astrodon was named first so the title stayed
- Fossils present in Oklahoma within the Antlers Formation have been assigned to Astrodon, in addition to enamel present in Portugal (Decrease Cretaceous), and enamel and vertebral centra present in England (European fossils have been referred to Pleurocoelus valdensis, which was named in 1890 by Lydekker, however Michael D’Emic in 2013 discovered this species, and all however the kind species, to be nomina dubia)
- In 1921 Charles W. Gilmore stated Pleurocoeulus was a junior synonym however thought there have been separate species (nanus and altus)
- Different Astrodon species through the years embrace Astrodon valdensis, Astrodon pussilus, and in 1962 R. F. Kingham stated all Brachiosaurus species have been a subgenus of Astrodon
- Kenneth Carpenter and Virginia Tidwell in 2005 wrote a reassessment of Astrodon
- In 2005, Carpenter and Tidwell agreed with Hatcher that there was just one species of sauropod from the Arundel Formation, Astrodon johnstoni
- Mentioned it was possible that the 2 enamel (that comprise the syntype) weren’t discovered collectively
- Syntype are the 2 enamel (syntypes are specimens that put collectively are what a brand new species relies on)
- Carpenter and Tidwell concluded there was just one species of Astrodon within the Arundel Formation, Astrodon johnstoni
- Most Astrodon fossils are from juveniles
- Carpenter and Tidwell discovered that the 2 species Marsh named (nanus and altus) have been completely different progress phases of Astrodon johnstoni
- Not everybody agress with synonymizing Astrodon and Pleurocoelus. Peter Rose in 2007 stated the enamel have been laborious to tell apart, and that the kind collection for Pleurocoelus (nanus and altus) have been vertebrae and hindlimb bones, which couldn’t be in contrast effectively to the 2 enamel within the Astrodon syntype, and comparisons needed to be with the referred specimens, which have been remoted bones within the Arundel Formation, referred due to proximity and measurement of the bones (he additionally discovered the kind materials for Pleurocoelus will not be diagnostic)
- Michael D’Emic in 2013 stated he didn’t discover any diagnostic options of Astrodon, or both Pleurocoelus species and regarded all of them nomina dubia, and that the diagnostic options Carpenter and Tidwell discovered have been too much like different sauropods
- Michael D’Emic discovered “a scarcity of associations and non-diagnostic kind specimens implies that species of Astrodon and Pleurocoeulus are nomina dubia” (so solely kind species continues to be legitimate)
- In 1991, an area household in Maryland discovered a 6 ft lengthy Astrodon femur in Laurel (many fossils have been discovered at that website through the years). In 2009, 41 acres have been become Dinosaur Park, and seven.5 acres are open to the general public. On the primary and third Saturdays (after we’re not bodily distancing), folks can assist paleontologists discover fossils, that are then despatched to the Smithsonian
- Femur is now on the Maryland Science Heart in Baltimore
- Astrodon johnstoni was named the state dinosaur of Maryland in 1998
- Astrodon is likely one of the characters within the novel Raptor Purple by Bob Bakker (Utahraptor prey)
- Can see an Astrodon mannequin with a wound on its leg on the North Carolina Museum of Pure Sciences (within the Terror of the South exhibit)
- May see Astrodon mannequin on the Maryland Science Heart in Baltimore
- Habitat was flat plains with streams
- Different dinosaurs that lived in the identical time and place (in modern-day Maryland) included coelurosaurians, ankylosaurian Priconodon, nodosaurid Propanoplosaurus, and probably a basal ceratopsian and ornithopod Tenontosaurus
- Additionally theropods Dryptosaurus, Capitalsaurus, Coelurus, Acrocanthosaurus
- And different animals included sharks, lungfish, turtles, crocodilians, early mammals, pterosaurs. Vegetation included cycads and conifers
- Different dinosaurs that lived in the identical time and place (in modern-day Oklahoma) included Sauroposeidon, Deinonychus, Acrocanthosaurus, Tenontosaurus. Different animals included amphibians, reptiles, fish, crocodilians, turtles, birds, early mammals
Enjoyable Reality:
Spinosaurus wasn’t the “crocodile of its time” as a result of there have been already (big) crocodyliforms. However their competitors might have led to the huge measurement of Spinosaurus.