In our 157th episode, we obtained to speak with Dr. Michael Habib, Assistant Professor within the Keck Faculty of Medication of USC and a Analysis Affiliate within the Dinosaur Institute on the Los Angeles County Museum of Pure Historical past. He’s a paleontologist and biomechanist, who research prehistoric animals and the way they moved. He’s identified for his work on pterosaurs, feathered dinosaurs, and the origin of flight in birds. Comply with him on Twitter @aeroevo.
Episode 157 can be about Amargasaurus, a sauropod with spines on its neck and again.
Huge thanks to all our patrons! For the dinosaur fanatics on the market, take a look at our Patreon web page at https://www.patreon.com/iknowdino
You may take heed to our free podcast, with all our episodes, on iTunes at:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/i-know-dino/id960976813?mt=2
On this episode, we focus on:
Information:
- Mierasaurus was small for a sauropod, however was a remarkably full discover
- Hike Mt. Pelmo to see the dinosaur tracks within the Italian Alps, or simply take a look at the images right here and right here
- T. rex claws have been seemingly formidable slashing weapons
- Two new papers refine particulars from the Chicxulub impression that worn out the dinosaurs
- One discovered that ash might have had a big impression on the cooling impact
- The opposite refined estimates on the dimensions, velocity, and angle of the asteroid impression
- The hospital in Choteau, Montana lately did a CT-scan of dinosaur eggs
- A Russian dinosaur egg was studied and estimated to be 100 million years previous
- A brand new, but unnamed, dinosaur was discovered on the Isle of Skye in Scotland
- A workforce from the College of Rhode Island is researching what led to animals going extinct within the Late Triassic
- Sheridan Faculty in Wyoming has discovered greater than 2,000 kilos of fossils from the Morrison Formation
- Extinct Monsters wrote in regards to the Area Museum in Chicago cleansing the skeleton of Sue the T. rex
- From now till January 7, the Burke Museum in Seattle, Washington has an exhibit displaying behind-the-scenes work
- The Shoganji temple in Katsushika Ward in Tokyo, Japan now has a Styracosaurus statue guarding it
- Atlas Obscura wrote a bit in regards to the dinosaur themed Prehistoric Forest Amusement Park in Michigan
- On December 15-17 you may see Jurassic Quest on the Austin Conference Middle in Texas
- On December 30 and 31, Brooklands Park in New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand, might be having it’s second DinoFest
- Area Station: Dinosaurs is coming to Derby, Kansas
- The primary trailer for the Mary Anning movie (the Poldark of the Dorset) has been launched
- You may play Chrome’s T. rex working recreation by coming into chrome://network-error/-106 within the tackle bar
The dinosaur of the day: Amargasaurus
- Sauropod that lived within the Early Cretaceous in what’s now Argentina (La Amarga Formation)
- Identify means “La Amarga lizard”, or “bitter lizard”
- In Spanish, the phrase amarga means “bitter”
- La Amarga is the identify of a close-by city and the formation the place it was discovered
- Guillermo Rougier discovered Amargasaurus in 1984, throughout an expedition led by José Bonaparte (it was the eighth expedition of the “Jurassic and Cretaceous Terrestrial Vertebrates of South America” venture)
- Just one skeleton was discovered, and it’s largely full (features a fragmentary cranium)
- Described in 1991 by Leonardo Salgado and José Bonaparte
- Solely species is Amargasaurus cazaui
- Species identify is in honor of Luis Cazau, a geologist on the YPF oil firm, which was state-owned on the time (Cazau advised Bonaparte and his workforce in regards to the formation in 1983, which led to the invention)
- First unofficially talked about in 1984 within the Italian ebook Sulle Orme dei Dinosauria, by Bonaparte (referred to as Amargasaurus groeberi, although the species identify modified)
- Small for a sauropod (30-33 ft, or 9-10m lengthy)
- Weighed about 3 quick tons
- Had a brief neck, in comparison with different sauropods
- A part of the household Dicraeosauridae, which incorporates Dicraeosaurus, Brachytrachelopan, Suuwassea (had shorter necks and have been smaller than different sauropods); Dicraeosauridae is a part of Diplodocoidea
- Had two rows of tall spines on its neck and again
- Spines from the second to final dorsal vertebra to the primary tail vertebrae have been actually lengthy, however have been in a single row and paddle-shaped
- Salgado and Bonaparte first steered that the spines have been used for protection; in 1999 Salgado mentioned the spines might have supported a keratinous sheath; Gregory Paul mentioned in 2000 that if the spines had a keratinous sheath, they may have been used to combat in opposition to predators and different Amargasaurus, and it might have been in a position to level its spines ahead by bending its neck, and Amargasaurus might shake its neck to make sounds with the spines; Mark Hallett and Mathew Wedel mentioned in 2016 that the spines that have been backward-directed might have been in a position to skewer predators, when the neck is abruptly pulled again in an assault (just like what an enormous sable antelope and Arabian oryx can do to defend themselves in opposition to lions)
- Jack Bailey mentioned in 1997 that Amargasaurus might have had a sail, because the spines have been just like Dimetrodon, which had a sail. Since there have been two rows of spines, it doesn’t appear seemingly it had two parallel sails. Bailey mentioned the backbone might have been like a scaffold that was lined in pores and skin
- Not everybody agrees, and Gregory Paul mentioned the sails might scale back neck flexibility, and that the spines have been round in cross-section and never flattened, like in different animals with sails
- In 2007, Daniela Schwarz and others mentioned that the spines on diplodocids and dicraeosaurids enclosed an air sac, which might be related to the lungs and a part of the respiratory system. However in Amargasaurus, the higher two-thirds of the spines would have been lined by keratin, which might imply the air sac might solely be within the decrease one-third of the spines
- Bailey mentioned the paddle-shaped spines on the tail finish have been like fashionable humped ungulates like bison, which can imply Amargasaurus had a fleshy hump above its hips (Bailey has additionally mentioned different dinosaurs might have had humps, like Spinosaurus and Ouranosaurus)
- Spines might also have been used for show, or to indicate dominance
- Spines meant Amargasaurus couldn’t elevate its neck vertically
- Salgado mentioned in 1999 that Amargasaurus might have had its head in a virtually vertical orientation
- Could not have had an ideal sense of listening to (primarily based on a 2014 research by Carbajal and others who CT-scanned the cranium)
- Carbajal and others mentioned that, primarily based on their 3D mannequin of the interior ear (the orientation of the semicircuar canal which helps with steadiness), Amargasaurus snout confronted downward, and the neck was gently sloping downwards, and it might not have been in a position to elevate its neck greater than 9 ft (3m)
- In all probability had a broad snout and pencil-like tooth
- Quadrupedal, however most likely couldn’t rear up on its hind legs
- Amargasaurus most likely ate meals at mid-level top
- Different sauropods that lived across the identical time and place included Zapalasaurus, Amargatitanis, and unnamed basal titanosauriforms
- Amargasaurus most likely ate meals at 9 ft excessive, whereas Zapalasaurus, a rebbachisaurid, ate at floor degree, and Amargatitanis, a titanosaur, ate at increased ranges
- Different dinosaurs, along with sauropods, included the stegosaur Amargasetgos, the ceratosaur Ligabueino, and a few type of massive tetanuran
- Different animals included the mammal Vincelestes and the crocodylomorph Amargasuchus
- Forelimbs have been shorter than hindlimbs
- Had a large pelvic area
- Had 5 digits on its arms and ft
- Salgado and Bonaparte mentioned in 1991 that Amargasaurus was a sluggish walker, as a result of it had proportionally quick forearms and hindlegs, however in 1999 Gerardo Mazzetta and Richard Fariña mentioned that Amargasaurus might do speedy locomotion (legs have been extra sturdy than a rhinoceros, which might gallop)
- Skeleton is saved within the Bernardino Rivadavia Pure Sciences Museum in Buenos Aires
- Amargasaurus was thought-about for Disney’s Dinosaur film in 2000 (Ricardo Delgado made an idea design with giraffe-like spots), however it was lower
- Can see an Amargasaurus reproduction, named Margie, on the Melbourne Museum
- Can even see an Amargasaurus reproduction on the Thoughts Museum within the Philippines as a part of “Dinosaurs Across the World – Passport to Pangea,” which runs till March 2 of subsequent yr
Enjoyable Reality:
Volcanoes may cause massive expulsions of sulfur just like the Chicxulub impression. Krakatoa launched about 20 Megatons of sulfur and dropped world temperatures by about 1.2 °C (2.2 °F) for five years.
Sponsor:
This episode is dropped at you partially by TRX Dinosaurs, which makes stunning and real looking dinosaur sculptures, puppets, and reveals. You may see some wonderful examples and works in progress on Instagram @trxdinosaurs