Episode 440: Fossilized ankylosaur larynx, sinus infections, and facial chunk marks. Plus Trinity the T. rex was auctioned, a short historical past of dinosaur jewellery, and dinosaur of the day Saurolophus
Information:
- A fossilized larynx of an ankylosaur, Pinacosaurus, exhibits that they didn’t use their larynx to vocalize supply
- Researchers discovered a shocking large bony development close to the trachea of a Tarchia that was possible brought on by an an infection supply
- Trinity the T. rex was auctioned for $6.1 million (USD) supply
- Fukui Prefectural College in Japan will likely be providing dinosaur research supply
- There’s a household pleasant dinosaur film, The Adventures of Jurassic Pet 2: The Misplaced Secret supply
Sponsors:
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The dinosaur of the day: Saurolophus
- Hadrosaurid that lived within the Late Cretaceous in what’s now Alberta, Canada and Mongolia (Horseshoe Canyon Formation and Nemegt Formation)
- One of many few dinosaurs identified from a couple of continent
- Appears to be like just like Parasaurolophus, with the cumbersome physique, may stroll on all fours, had a protracted, horse-shaped head, and lengthy tail, however the crest was completely different
- Crest was smaller, spike-like, and curved upwards on the again
- Crest goes up and again at a few 45 diploma angle, and stands out behind the cranium
- Crest is generally stable, however had a hole base (the place it connected to the cranium)
- Crest is product of its nasal bones
- Longest cranium bones are the nasal bones
- Crest grew because it aged
- Primarily based on its scleral rings, Saurolophus might have been cathemeral (lively all through the day for brief durations of time)
- Herbivorous, and will stroll on all fours or on two legs
- Had a horseshoe-shaped decrease jaw that wrapped across the toothless elements of the jaw to type a beak
- Cropped crops with its beak
- Had dental batteries with tons of of enamel, which it consistently changed
- Might grind its meals, nearly like chewing
- Might eat meals that was as much as 13 ft (4 m) above the bottom
- Sort species is Saurolophus osborni
- Genus title means “lizard crest”
- Named by Barnum Brown in 1912
- Second species is Saurolophus angustirostris
- Described by Anatoly Rozhdestvensky in 1952
- Brown discovered the Saurolophus osborni fossils in 1911
- First practically full dinosaur skeleton present in Canada
- Three Saurolophus osborni specimens have been discovered, together with a nearly full cranium and skeleton
- Holotype of Saurolophus osborni was mounted on a panel behind glass, and exhibits the best aspect of the animal, on the AMNH
- The Russian Palaeontological Expedition to the Gobi Desert in 1947, led by I. A. Efremov, discovered a hadrosaur bonebed (later discovered to be Saurolophus angustirostris)
- Bonebed is named “Dragon’s Tomb”
- So many well-preserved and articulated skeletons in Dragon’s Tomb, which has made it a favourite spot for poachers
- Saurolophus is about 20% of the fossils discovered within the Nemegt Formation
- No less than 15 specimens identified for Saurolophus angustirostris
- In 1930 Riabinin named Saurolophus kryschtofovici, nevertheless it’s not thought of to be legitimate (primarily based on a part of a hip discovered from Heilongjiang Province, China nevertheless it’s too fragmentary, and it had been in comparison with an remoted however full ischium that was later discovered to be Hypacrosaurus)
- In 2013, Albert Prieto-Márquez and Jonathan R. Wagner named Saurolophus morrisi, however that’s now thought of to be Augustynolophus, the state dinosaur of California
- Brown thought Saurolophus and Trachodon have been related and associated. Additionally in contrast the crest to that of a chameleon’s (thought it could be a spot the place muscle tissue connected after which linked to a frill behind the top like a basilisk lizard)
- Brown mentioned the crest is “essentially the most attribute and putting characteristic of the cranium”
- Peter Dodson thought the crest was used for figuring out if the animal was male or feminine
- In 1981, Maryanska and Osmólska advised the crest was used for thermoregulation
- James Hopson thought the crest was for show and advised there have been inflatable pores and skin flaps over the nostrils as effectively
- Now there are simply the 2 legitimate species: osborni and angustirostris
- Each species have the identical head crests, and many different similarities, so up to now scientists questioned if each species have been legitimate
- In 2011, Phil Bell redescribed each Saurolophus angustirostris and Saurolophus osborni (in two completely different papers)
- Discovered the 2 species to be distinct and legitimate, and every had distinctive characters (not simply attributable to particular person variation)
- Saurolophus osborni was estimated to be about 27 to twenty-eight ft (8.2 to eight.5 m) lengthy and weigh about 3 tonnes, with a cranium about 3.3 ft (1 m) lengthy
- Saurolophus angustirostris is estimated to be as much as 43 ft (13 m) lengthy, and presumably even greater, and weigh as much as 11 tonnes
- Saurolophus angustirostris had a 20% longer cranium, and the entrance of its snout went extra upward than Saurolophus osborni
- Largest identified Saurolophus angustirostris cranium is about 4 ft (1.22 m) lengthy
- Discovered variations within the particulars of the cranium too
- Unclear which species got here first
- In 2012 Phil Bell studied the pores and skin impressions of each species, which have been discovered on a number of people
- Pores and skin from the face of Saurolophus osborni identified from a single fragment from a proper dentary
- No pores and skin discovered on S. osborni forelimb, however “total forelimb of S. angustirostris lined in a uniform association of 1–2 mm vast pebbles even in comparatively giant people”
- Pores and skin present in pelvic area of S. angustirostris (small patch on a subadult)
- Pores and skin discovered on a part of the foot of S. osborni
- Pores and skin on hindlimb of S. angustirostris additionally present in adults and subadults
- No less than two patches of faintly preserved pores and skin discovered on a juvenile Saurolophus angustirostris
- Patches of miscellaneous pores and skin additionally discovered (unclear the place on the physique they got here from)
- Discovered a number of scales, together with: polygonal (vary from 4 to six-sided), pebbly scales which are small and rounded, shell scales which are asymmetrical and considerably trapezoidal in form, and irregular scales (no apparent geometrical sides), defend scales which are round and are usually flat or domed
- Discovered variations within the patterns and shapes of the scales, sufficient to distinguish the 2 species
- Pores and skin discovered on the tails of each species
- Numerous variations within the tail scales
- On Saurolophus osborni, the tail scales have been extra clustered and it could have had extra of a noticed coloration
- Saurolophus angustirostris had scales on its tail that made vertical patterns, which can imply it had striped colours on its tail
- In 2018, Phil Bell and others studied the sedimentology and taphonomy of Dragon’s Tomb
- Ivan A. Efremov’s workforce discovered seven hadrosaurid skeletons mendacity shut collectively (found in 1948 by V. Pronin)
- Collected at the very least 4 skeletons, or elements of 4 skeletons, and needed to transport them by camel (couldn’t get autos to the location)
- Numerous expeditions have additionally visited the location
- Dragon’s Tomb has a bonebed of principally Saurolophus angustirostris, with juveniles, subadults, and adults
- One tyrannosaur skeleton discovered, most likely Tarbosaurus
- Discovered the bonebed was at the very least about 21,500 sq ft or 2000 sq m, and there could also be over 100 Saurolophus skeletons within the bonebed
- Estimated the minimal variety of Saurolophus people within the bonebed is 21
- Exhibits gregarious, or social, conduct of Saurolophus angustirostris
- Proof of a catastrophic mass dying (they have been killed and buried quickly)
- Primarily based on the skeletons being effectively preserved and full, possible bonebed occurred due to a flood, or a number of floods that occurred shortly (days to weeks in a single 12 months)
- One left arm of an almost full Saurolophus angustirostris had heavy injury from chunk marks. The remainder of the skeleton was superb, so it’s possible a tyrannosaurid scavenged the arm, most likely Tarbosaurus
- “Sadly, the reliability of this locality for yielding lovely and full specimens of Saurolophus angustirostris has made it a goal of unlawful fossil poachers, and in recent times untold numbers of specimens have been illegally plundered and/or destroyed”
- Poaching began someday after 2001
- In 2015 Leonard Dewaele and others described a small, partial nest of Saurolophus angustirostris, that most likely got here from the Dragon’s Tomb within the Nemegt Formation
- Unclear the place precisely the fossils got here from. Fossils have been poached then ended up in Japan by means of a collector from Europe, then donated to the Royal Belgian Institute of Pure Sciences, which repatriated the fossils to Mongolia. They’re now on the Institute of Paleontology and Geology of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences
- Mentioned there have been three, possibly 4, infants and two fragmentary eggshells within the block they ready
- Infants have been thought of to be perinates (simply born) as a result of the size of their skulls have been lower than 5% the size of the grownup skulls
- Cranium size estimated to be about 2.3 in (6 cm) lengthy
- No nasal crest, might have damaged off or doable child Saurolophus didn’t have a crest (but)
- However, grownup crests are so sturdy it’s unlikely the crest broke off
- Different cranium bones have been just like these in grownup Saurolophus (how they knew the infants have been Saurolophus)
- Had upwardly directed snouts like grownup Saurolophus
- Eggshell fragments discovered look just like different eggs related to extra basal hadrosauroids
- Arm bones discovered from three, possibly 4, people
- Infants have been most likely shut to one another and nest-bound once they died
- Unclear if the infants had simply hatched or have been nonetheless within the eggs once they died, however they have been useless and partly decomposed once they have been buried by river sediment
- {A partially} articulated skeleton (contains the cranium, neck vertebrae, a part of the tail, the best leg, and extra) and the remainder of the bones being disarticulated suggests a few of the perinates have been extra decomposed than others
- Studied the sediments surrounding the fossils
- They have been buried by river sediment most likely throughout the moist summer time season
- In all probability died inside a comparatively quick time interval
- Fragile bones are effectively preserved and {a partially} articulated cranium present the bones weren’t moved far earlier than being buried
- Infants didn’t have the spike-like crest, which most likely means the crest grew as Saurolophus grew up
- Additionally because it grew, its snout grew proportionally longer
- Ducky from Land Earlier than Time might be a Saurolophus, although there’s some debate round this
- Within the 1997 Land Earlier than Time Sing Alongside Songs video, Ducky is a Saurolophus
- Ducky had a head crest like Saurolophus
- However Ducky was portrayed inconsistently within the collection. Apparently the Land Earlier than Time web site, which not exists, referred to as Ducky each Trachodon and Parasaurolophus, and in merch Ducky is labeled as Parasaurolophus
- Within the Horseshoe Canyon Formation, different dinosaurs that lived across the identical time and place as Saurolophus included the ornithopods Hypacrosaurus and Parksosaurus, the ankylosaur Anodontosaurus, the pachycephalosaur Sphaerotholus, the ornithomimid Ornithomimus, the theropods Atrociraptor and Albertonykus, and the bigger theropod tyrannosaurid Albertosaurus
- Within the Nemegt Formation, there have been streams and rivers and shallow lakes. Different dinosaurs that lived across the identical time and place as Saurolophus included the hadrosaurid Barsboldia, the pachycephalosaurs Homalocephale and Prenocephale, the ankylosaur Saichania, the titanosaurs Nemegtosaurus and Opisthocoelicaudia, the alvarezsaur Mononykus, troodontids comparable to Zanabazar, oviraptorosaurs together with Rinchenia and Nemegtomaia, ornithomimosaurs Anserimimus and Gallimimus, theropods Deinocheirus and Therizinosaurus, and the bigger theropod tyrannosaurid Tarbosaurus
Enjoyable Truth:
Birds can recuperate very quick from close to extinction.
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