Episode 256: A brand new titanosaur from Kenya, footprints on Tyrants Aisle, and educating evolution by way of paleoart


Episode 256 is all about Coloradisaurus, a Triassic sauropodomorph identified from an almost full cranium that was present in Argentina.

We additionally interview Taissa Rodrigues, from the Universidade Federal do Espirito Santo in Brazil. She offered a poster at SVP about educating evolution utilizing paleoart. She additionally led a session on ladies in paleontology and had a scholar current a poster on a pterosaur. Comply with her on twitter @paleotaissa

Huge because of all our patrons! Your help means a lot to us and retains us going! When you’re a dinosaur fanatic, be part of our rising group on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/iknowdino.

You’ll be able to hearken to our free podcast, with all our episodes, on Apple Podcasts at:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/i-know-dino/id960976813?mt=2

On this episode, we talk about:

Information:

  • Displays from the primary day of SVP all the abstracts may be learn right here: supply
    • New courting exhibits Lythronax argestes is older than beforehand thought, not coinciding with a worldwide sea-level drop
    • There are tons of latest sauropod fossil fields in southwest Queensland, Australia, close to Eromanga
    • Possible ornithopod, ceratopsid, deinonychosaur, and tyrannosaur tracks had been discovered on a 200ft cliff in Alaska
    • In Alberta, Tyrants Aisle has over 120 tracks seemingly belonging to Edmontosaurus, a troodontid, Tyrannosaurus, and one other theropod
    • CT scans of observe slabs exhibits how dinosaur ft moved by way of delicate sediments
    • Laser-stimulated fluorescence (LSF) is getting used to collect proof of the primary aerodynamically important wings
    • A brand new observe website exhibits a pair sauropods strolling collectively when a bigger sauropod skids to keep away from squashing a smaller particular person
    • New sauropod finds in Hateg island Transylvania, Romania could also be a fourth genus, however isn’t full sufficient to get a brand new identify
    • Dinosaurs and crocodiles have exhausting eggshells that advanced independently
    • A brand new titanosaur was present in NW Kenya
    • Low melanosome (shade pigment producer) variety could also be linked to low metabolism
    • Compacted coarse cancellous bone (CCCB) that’s frequent in burrowing animals was discovered within the hind limbs of a brand new Oryctodromeus relative
    • Distinctive fossils don’t essentially translate to good mobile and molecular preservation
    • New opalized femur fragments from an ornithopod in lightening ridge present that younger had been born within the space
    • Melanosomes aren’t sufficient to find out shade. Construction, chemistry, and eating regimen even have a big effect
    • Calcium isotopes from Morocco and Niger help Spinosaurus as a fish-eater
    • Extra neornithischian finds from south of Melbourne could finish with one or two synonymized taxa within the close to future
    • New analysis exhibits ovarian follicles in an enantiornithine
    • A sauropod footprint was present in a brand new sauropod bone, including to the thought of trampling sauropods
    • A dinosaur stampede like trackway was discovered close to Quilpie, QLD, Australia
    • Coprolites can protect some delicate tissue options and different details about temperatures and habitats
    • The identify Kamuysaurus is supposed to imply that it’s the god of Japanese dinosaurs based mostly on its extremely full skeleton
    • Deep studying can course of CT scans and save time on analyzing photographs
    • Equisetum, or horse tails, had been most likely probably the most nutritious meals for younger and grownup sauropods
    • Birds use their necks in a wide range of methods, however they have an inclination to have a number of traits in frequent

The dinosaur of the day: Coloradisaurus

  • Massospondylid sauropodomorph that lived within the Late Triassic in what’s now La Rioja Province, Argentina (Los Colorados Formation)
  • Basal sauropodomorph
  • Thought-about to be medium-sized
  • Gracile
  • Sort species is Coloradisaurus brevis
  • Genus identify means “Colorado’s lizard”, and it was named after the Los Colorados Formation, the place it was discovered
  • Initially Jose Bonaparte named it Coloradia in 1978, but it surely was already assigned to a moth
  • Named in 1983 by David Lambert
  • Holotype features a almost full cranium
  • A second specimen was described in 2012 by Cecilia Apaldetti and others (postcranial materials, together with components of the vertebral column, pectoral girdle, incomplete forelimb, pelvis, hindlimb)
  • The second specimen was bigger than the holotype, and was most likely a juvenile
  • Cranium has some similarities to plateosaurid skulls, so Coloradisaurus is taken into account to be a massospondylid that by way of convergent evolution has some plateosaurid traits
  • Additionally has some comparable traits to Lufengosaurus, a massospondylid from China (Early Jurassic); we cowl Lufengosaurus is episode 159
  • Different dinosaurs that lived in the identical time and place embrace Riojasaurus, Lessemsaurus, and Zupaysaurus

Enjoyable Truth:
Wintonotitan, a sauropod from the Winton Formation in Australia, shouldn’t be a titanosaur.

Sponsors:

This episode is delivered to you partly by Columbia College Press. Get 30% off The Story of Dinosaurs in 25 Discoveries: Superb Fossils and the Folks Who Discovered Them by Donald Prothero through the use of promo code DINO30 at cup.columbia.edu



Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *