Episode 31 is all about Corythosaurus, a “duck-billed” hadrosaur.
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On this episode, we talk about:
- The dinosaur of the day: Corythosaurus, a hadrosaur (“duck-billed”) dinosaur that lived within the Cretaceous, in North America
- Fossils present in Canada (southern Alberta)
- But it surely appears no bones discovered outdoors southern Alberta, so could have solely lived in a single small space
- Identify means “helmet lizard”
- Sort species is Corythosaurus casuarius
- Identify casuarius comes from cassowary
- Corythosaurus has an estimated size of 9 metres (30 ft), and has a cranium, together with the crest, that’s 70.8 centimetres (27.9 in) tall
- Could have weighed as much as 5 tons
- Barnum Brown described Corythosaurus in 1914
- Brown discovered the holotype specimen in 1911 (although there are numerous full specimens); holotype is lacking final a part of tail and a part of forelimbs, however has impressions of scales
- 30 toes (9 m) lengthy, with a cranium (together with crest) that’s about 28 in (71 cm) tall
- Corythosaurus crests appear like crests of a cassowary
- Crest in all probability used for vocalization (amplifies sound)
- Holotype specimen is now within the American Museum of Pure Historical past, together with a second specimen Brown and Peter Kaisen present in 1914. They’re “of their authentic dying poses”
- Brown described the second specimen in 1916 (extra detailed description of Corythosaurus)
- Charles H. Sternberg discovered 2 properly preserved specimens in 1912, however they had been misplaced in 1916 as they had been being shipped to paleontologist Arthur Smith Woodward the UK, throughout WWI (ship was sunk by German service provider raider)
- Holotype specimen sides and tail had scales
- Use to be 7 completely different Corythosaurus species (C. casuarius, C. bicristatus, C. brevicristatus, C. excavatus, C. frontalis, C. intermedius
- Greater than 20 Corythossaurus skulls have been discovered
- In 1975 Peter Dodson studied the species and located that the completely different shapes and sizes could have been as a result of gender and age, so now just one species is acknowledged. Nevertheless, some research say C. intermedius is its personal species as a result of it lived barely later than C. casuarius, and it barely completely different
- Brown initially categorized Corythosaurus as a part of the household Trachodontidae (now Hadrosauridae), however then he discovered it was possbily an ancestor to Hypacrosaurus (very related aside from growth of vertebrae and limb proportions),. Now Corythosaurus is a part of the household Lambeosaurinae (most of which have related skulls and crests)
- Holotype specimen was a carcass that floated up on a seaside (shells, water-worn bones and baenid turtle preserved close to it
- Scientists used to suppose Corythosaurus lived in water (appeared to have webbed fingers and toes), however the webs had been really deflated padding, seen on fashionable mammals; idea was that they may swim in deep water and use the crest to retailer air
- Corythosaurus in all probability lived in woodland forest, could have visited swampy areas
- In all probability bipedal, with brief arms and lengthy tail (might stroll on all fours, presumably to eat low-lying crops
- In all probability choosy about what it ate (juicy fruits and younger leaves)
- Slender, toothless beak with a whole bunch of cheek enamel
- Used its beak to eat delicate vegetation
- One Corythosaurus has been preserved with its final meal in its chest cavity. Discovered stays of conifer needles, seeds, twigs, and fruits (debate over what it really ate)
- In all probability was cathemeral, nice sense of listening to
- Cathemeral based mostly on sclerotic rings (bony circles), that are in lots of reptiles, birds and dinosaurs (in all probability assist with pupil)
- Being cathemeral, could have eaten small quantities of meals at a time to digest shortly, additionally simpler to stay alongside different herbivores that had been diurnal or nocturnal
- Herding animal, could have gone to increased floor to breed
- Predators could have been Albertosaurus or Tyrannosaurus, or Troodon (particularly to juveniles)
- Crest has prolonged tubes (complicated nasal passages)
- Head crest is hole, so it’s a lambeosaurine (subfamily)
- Hollowness could have diminished weight of crest (if crest was used as show)
- Different lambeosaurines embrace Parasaurolophus
- Could have referred to as out warnings or to draw mates or to let others learn about meals
- Males had bigger crests than females
- Measurement and form of crest assorted based mostly on gender and age
- Scientists suppose it made loud, low pitch sounds “like a wind or brass instrument” (trombone)
- Began rising its crests when it reached half the dimensions of adults
- Ohio College did a CT scan in 2008 that discovered Corythosaurus had a “delicate interior ear” and will “hear low-frequency” sounds
- No actual protection mechanisms
- Scott Individuals from the College of Alberta discovered that Corythosaurus had smaller strides than tyrannosaurids, however they’d extra endurance so for lengthy pursuits they lasted longer
- Matt Davis from Yale College urged there are such a lot of fossilized impressions/pores and skin samples of hadrosaurs as a result of they’d more durable textures in comparison with different dinosaurs
- He reviewed reviews about dinosaur pores and skin from 1841 and located that in 180 reviews, 46 % of the fossils with pores and skin had been hadrosaurs
- Additionally checked out information from 343 dinosaurs from the Hell Creek Formation, 20 of the 22 dinosaurs with pores and skin fossils had been hadrosaurs (91 %)
- Hadrosauridae (duck billed dinosaurs) is a household of frequent herbivores from the Cretaceous whose fossils have been present in Asia, Europe, and North America
- Descendants of iguanodontian dinosaurs and had the same physique format
- Hadrosauids had been the primary dinosaur household recognized in North America (1855-56 discovered fossil enamel); Joseph Leidy studied the enamel and named the genera Trachodon and Thespesius, although Trachodon had ceratopsids too and is now not thought-about a legitimate genus
- In 1858, related these enamel with Hadrosaurus foulkii (named after William Parker Foulke)
- Edward Drinker Cope used the identify Hadrosauridae in 1869
- One almost full specimen present in 1999 within the Hell Creek Formation (nicknamed “Dakota”), scientists had been capable of calculate its muscle mass. Had fossilized pores and skin, ligaments, tendons and a few inside organs
- Two subfamilies: lambeosaurins (hole crests) and saurolophines with stable crests (pre-2010 most hardosaurines categorized as saurolophines)
- Had numerous enamel at the back of the mouth to chew up meals (made this group very profitable, in comparison with sauropods within the Cretaceous)
- Mark Purnell present in 2009 that hadrosaurs had a hinge between its higher haws and cranium, and the higher jaw pushed outwards and sideways when chewing whereas the decrease jaw slid in opposition to the higher enamel
- Vincent Williams, Paul Barrett and Mark Purnell present in 2009 that hadrosaurids in all probability ate horsetails and low mendacity vegetation (based mostly on the way it chews), as a substitute of twigs or stems
- However this contradicts the discovering of the hadrosaur with abdomen contents, so it’s up for debate
- Coprolites discovered some hadrosaurs ate rotting wooden (had fungi and detritus-eating invertebrates)
- Enjoyable reality: Dinosaurs could have been brightly coloured (even pink or pink)