United States District Judge Notes that Tarbosaurus bataar is a “Frankenstein Model”

In a surprise twist to the long running saga concerning the right to auction a mounted, twenty-four-foot- long Tarbosaurus bataar dinosaur fossil specimen which was seized by federal authorities,  it seems that the disputed Tarbosaurus fossil exhibit may contain the bones from more than one individual animal.

Disputed Tarbosaurus Fossil

The claim, which has been challenged by United States prosecutors and refuted by palaeontologists may complicate the U.S. and Mongolian Government’s attempt to return the fossils back to Mongolia.

To read about the auction of this dinosaur exhibit: Tyrannosaurid Specimen Sold at Auction despite Controversy.

The fossils were originally sold in May at Heritage Auctions in New York, the buyer, believed to be a private individual paid over £1 million USD for the mounted skeleton.  The lot had been described as the bones from a single animal in the auction sale literature.  In June, U.S. Government officials seized the exhibit after the Mongolian Government demanded its return on the suspicion that the fossils had originally been smuggled out of Mongolia illegally.

Michael McCullough, an attorney representing Florida commercial palaeontologist Eric Prokopi, who had offered the specimen for sale stated that about half the reconstruction – fossilised bones welded onto a metal frame,came from one creature and the other half from “at least two, most likely many” dinosaurs.

At Everything Dinosaur we call such specimens composites, almost all of the exhibits in museums are made up of the fossilised bones of several individuals.  Often the remainder of the specimen is completed using plastic re-constructions of the bones that were not found at the original dig site.  It is extremely rare for the fossils of a large dinosaur such as a Tarbosaurus to be found in an articulated state with most of the bone material in situ.

“Frankenstein Model”

The district judge hearing the case described the dinosaur as a “kind of Frankenstein model of a dinosaur”.  Earlier in the case Mongolian scientists and North American Theropod experts examined the remains and deemed the reconstruction to have been created from a single specimen.

Judge Castel enquired:

“They did not pick up that this was from several sources?”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Martin Bell replied on behalf of the prosecution team stating:

“Their opinion is that it is largely from one dinosaur.  It was marketed as one dinosaur. A seventy-five percent complete, but one dinosaur.”

The Mongolian Government’s claim to the fossil is based on the specimen (or specimens) being smuggled out of their country, where it has been illegal to send such items abroad for more than fifty years.  This case is also complicated by the fact that Mr. Prokopi is alleged to have provided mis-leading customs documents to allow the fossils to be imported in the United States.  On the customs documents the remains are valued at $19,000 USD, but the specimen went on to fetch more than fifty times that amount after it had been prepared, mounted and put up for auction in New York.

Attorney McCullough said that the $19,000 shipment only constituted part of the reconstruction, and that Prokopi had collected other parts of the skeleton from multiple sources in at least three separate shipments imported to America between the years 2007 and 2009.

Mr. Prokopi has not said where or from whom he acquired the skeleton.  He said that he constructed the specimen from a collection of loose, mostly broken bones and rocks with embedded bones.  Although it has been reported that this specimen or at least part of it was supplied by a fossil dealer based in Dorset (England).

Mr. Prokopi has filed a case to allow him to have the specimen back.  He has said he and his wife spent thousands of hours preparing and mounting the skeleton, which increased its value, over the original customs valuation before it was auctioned.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Government stated that the authorities remain confident based on expert testimony, that the fossils all originated from within Mongolia’s Gobi desert. Prosecutors have previously said those experts believe the fossils were removed from the region between 1995 and 2005.

The case will  continue when it is reconvened in December.

In the meantime, for legitimate Tarbosaurus models and prehistoric animal replicas: Age of Dinosaurs Popular Models (CollectA).

Update

Judge Castel has given the U.S. Government until September 21st to provide further evidence in support of the application to retain the Tarbosaurus bataar skeleton with a view to returning the specimen to Mongolia.  This ruling has occurred as we understand the current situation, as it was revealed that the disputed exhibit may actually contain the fossilised bones of more than one individual dinosaur.

Sinocalliopteryx – Stealthy Hunter or Fortunate Scavenger

Research by a joint Canadian/Chinese team of scientists has shed light on the dietary habits of a small theropod dinosaur that roamed the forests of what was to become the Liaoning Province of China back in the Early Cretaceous.  Analysis of the stomach-acid etched bones found in the abdominal cavity of two specimens of the large compsognathid predator Sinocalliopteryx gigas shows that these ground-dwelling predators ate a variety of prey including primitive birds.

Small Theropod Dinosaur

The fossilised remains of two Early Cretaceous birds has led some scientists to speculate that this cursorial, big-eyed hunter used stealth and guile to enable it to stalk and catch flying creatures.  Other palaeontologists don’t quite go so far, stating that the stomach contents show that these 2.5-metre-long dinosaurs did indeed eat birds but how they caught them cannot be determined from the fossil evidence.

Two Fossils of Sinocalliopteryx

The two fossils of Sinocalliopteryx were both excavated from the  Jianshangou Beds of the lower Yixian Formation, Liaoning, China.   The fossils are approximately 135 million years old and date from a time when lush, tropical forest covered the area.  There were active volcanoes nearby and several large lakes.  The holotype fossil material of S. gigas preserves a partial dromaeosaurid leg in the abdominal cavity.  This indicates that dinosaurs were also on the menu for these hunters.  The unfortunate victim may have been a Sinornithosaurus, a feathered dinosaur that may have reached lengths in excess of a metre.  It looks like one predatory dinosaur was eaten by a bigger predator.

Sinocalliopteryx gigas

A second, newly-discovered specimen preserves the remains of at least two individuals of the primitive avian, Confuciusornis sanctus, in addition to acid-etched bones including a scapula (shoulder blade) from a possible Ornithischian dinosaur which has yet to be described.  The presence of two bird skeletons inside the stomach has led some scientists to propose that Sinocalliopteryx was an active hunter, able to catch birds, perhaps by leaping up and plucking them out of the air.

For figures and replicas of theropods and other dinosaurs: Dinosaur Models and Figures (CollectA Figures).

A dinosaur preying on birds is not a new concept.  The great Charles R. Knight, in an illustration of the small theropod Ornitholestes (Late Jurassic of the Western United States) depicted a dinosaur attempting to catch birds.  However, since no avian fossil material has been found in the same strata as Ornitholestes fossil material, this predator/prey relationship could only be speculated, now thanks to these Chinese fossils there is certainly evidence to suggest that dinosaurs did eat birds.

To read more about the Charles Knight illustration of Ornitholestes: Ornitholestes – Bird Stealer.

Although it cannot be stated whether such prey items were scavenged or actively hunted, the presence of the remains of two Confuciusornis  in a similar state of digestion suggests they were consumed in rapid succession.  This makes the idea of scavenging two carcases of the same species in quick succession less likely, although  a group of birds dying together is not unheard of.  Perhaps a methane gas escape from a nearby lake suffocated a lot of small animals and birds as they roosted.

The dead creatures would have fallen out of the trees and provided the ground dwelling Sinocalliopteryx with a feast.  Given the lack of clear arboreal adaptations in Sinocalliopteryx, indeed, given the adaptations this small dinosaur had for a cursorial life-style, some of the scientists who have written the research paper have suggested that this dinosaur may have hunted birds in a similar way to a modern domestic cat.  It does not seem well suited to climbing trees, but may have been one of the top ground-dwelling predators in the lush forests of Liaoning Province.

An Illustration of the Agile Hunter – Sinocalliopteryx gigas

A fast and speedy hunter.

Picture credit: Cheung Chungtat