2012 | Everything Dinosaur Blog

7 04, 2012

Rare Alvarezsaurid Dinosaur Eggs Uncovered in Patagonia

By Mike|2024-04-22T14:12:56+01:00April 7th, 2012|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Dinosaur Fans, Geology|1 Comment

Joint Swedish/Argentinian Research Team Report on Dinosaur Egg Discovery

A team of Swedish and Argentinian scientists have reported discovering the fossilised remains of a type of bird-like dinosaur in southern Argentina (Patagonia). In a first for South America, the fossilised hindlimb has been found in association with the pair of eggs, indicating that these eggs had not yet been laid when the female dinosaur which carried them met her end.

The eggs, with their pimple-like texture have been associated with the fossilised hindlimb and identified as being the eggs of a new type of bird-like dinosaur known as Bonapartenykus ultimus – classified as a type of alvarezsaurid.

Bonapartenykus ultimus

A Picture of the Fossilised Egg

Dinosaur eggs laid in pairs – apt for Easter a story about eggs.

Picture credit: Fernando Novas

The alvarezsaurids are one of the most bizarre groups of dinosaurs known to science. These fleet-footed, bipedal dinosaurs had compact bodies, long legs, long slender tails and narrow skulls. The arms and claws of these relatively small dinosaurs are unique amongst the Order Dinosauria. The humerus is relatively short but the ulna (one of the bones in humans between the elbow and wrist) is massive. The claw bone of the single digit is almost as big as the ulna. The fact that in most alvarezsaurids the enormous ulna projects well back from the elbow joint suggests very powerful leverage.

Scientists remain unsure as to what these strong, single-clawed arms were used for but it has been suggested that these dinosaurs could have broken into the nests of termites and other social insects just as the ant-eaters in South America do today.

Of all the known types of dinosaur, the alvarezsaurids have the most bird-like skeletons of all. The bird-like anatomical features include the specialised forelimbs, fused ankle bones, a prominent furcula (breast bone) and narrow skulls.

Fossils of these strange, cursorial dinosaurs are known from Argentina and from eastern Asia, indicating that this particular group of prehistoric animals had a wide geographic distribution. The earliest alvarezsaurid fossils date from the Late Cretaceous (90 million years ago), as these early alvarezsaurid fossils have been found in South America, it suggest that this group evolved in the Southern Hemisphere before radiating out northwards.

Bonapartenykus ultimus has been named and described based on the post-cranial fossil remains found at the dig site. The fossils come from the Allen Formation of the Río Negro in north-western Patagonia (Argentina). The fossils include dorsal vertebrae (back bones), pelvic bones and the hind limbs.

B. ultimus has been further classified into a new clade of alvarezsaurid termed the Patagonykinae – a family of South American alvarezsaurids that show anatomical characteristics mid-way between more primitive forms known from South America and advanced alvarezsaurids such as Mononykus olecranus known from Upper Cretaceous strata of Mongolia.

An Artist’s Illustration of Bonapartenykus ultimus

Dinosaur nest found in Patagonia.

Picture credit: Gabriel Lio

Dinosaur Eggs

Commenting on this discovery, regarded as unique, Dr Martin Kundrát of Uppsala University (Sweden) stated:

“What makes the discovery unique are the two eggs preserved near articulated bones of the hindlimb. This is the first time the eggs are found in a close proximity to the skeletal remains of an alvarezsaurid dinosaur.”

The eggs were discovered in a joint Swedish/Argentinian expedition to the region in search of dinosaur fossils back in December 2010. The field team consisted of scientists from Sweden’s Uppsala University and the Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales.

At an estimated 2.6 metres long, B. ultimus is one of the largest dinosaurs of this type found to date. The fossilised remains also indicate that basal forms of the alvarezsaurid clade survived in Argentina to at least seventy million years ago, towards the end of the Cretaceous geological period.

Bonapartenykus ultimus represents the latest survivor of its kind known from landmass called Gondwanaland, the southern landmass in the Mesozoic Era, the researchers state. Despite the absence of skull material to help give the scientists a more accurate impression of what this dinosaur looked like, reconstructions have been made based on those fossils found and by comparing the remains to Patagonykus puertai – a closely related Alvarezsaurid from the Nequen Province of Argentina.

In a paper published in the scientific journal “Cretaceous Research” the scientists propose that the two eggs may have been inside the oviducts of the female when this animal died. Other finds of eggshells in the vicinity indicate that some eggs were incubated and contained embryos at a later stage of development. This find adds weight to the theory that unlike birds, which have just one oviduct, dinosaurs had two oviducts.

However, just like many birds, dinosaurs would have probably laid a clutch of eggs over several days. The eggs seem to be larger than hens eggs, with an estimated circumference of around twenty centimetres.

The eggs had a relatively rough, outer texture, a sort of pimple-like outer surface. A microscopic analysis of the fossilised eggs found in association with the hindlimb indicate that the eggs had been contaminated by fungi. This is the first instance recorded in the fossil record of fungal contamination of dinosaur eggs. It is likely that this contamination occurred after the female had died and the corpse had begun to rot out on the Cretaceous plain where this mother-to-be met her death.

For articulated models of dinosaurs including small theropods: Beasts of the Mesozoic Articulated Dinosaur Models.

6 04, 2012

Woolly Mammoth Colour Variations Exploring the Science

By Mike|2024-04-23T07:26:19+01:00April 6th, 2012|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Everything Dinosaur News and Updates, Everything Dinosaur Products|1 Comment

Research into Woolly Mammoth Genome Provides Understanding of Hair Colour

For many years, scientists believed that Woolly Mammoths were brown in colour but recent studies using frozen Woolly Mammoth remains discovered in Siberia has provided a better understanding of the colour variations of these Ice Age creatures. Thanks to the discovery of some beautifully preserved specimens many of them babies or juveniles (Dima, Lyuba and Yuka for example), palaeontologists have a much better idea of the genome of these prehistoric mammals.

Woolly Mammoth Colour Variations

It is from this better understanding of the DNA of Woolly Mammoths (M. primigenius), that scientists have begun to piece together evidence to suggest that Mammoths could have almost the same hair colouration variances as modern humans, with ginger, brunettes and even a potential blonde Mammoth.

The coat of Woolly Mammoths was adapted to the harsh climate of the northern Steppe. It consisted of two distinct layers. The first layer was composed of long, coarse guard hairs, six times thicker than human hair. This coat grew to almost a metre long in adult animals. This coat served to trap air helping to keep the animal warm and also effectively to waterproof and snowproof the animal in a similar way to the long, shaggy coat of an extant Musk Ox.

The second, inner layer which made up the undercoat had hairs that were much thinner, shorter and softer. This coat would have trapped air too, helping to insulate the animal from the cold. Columbian Mammoths (Mammuthus columbi), which lived in North America; were less hairy than their Siberian cousins. It is possible that Mammoths moulted in the spring, producing a lighter summer coat.

The Coat of a Woolly Mammoth

The colour of the hairy coat of a Woolly Mammoth, according the genome research could vary. There were indeed brown Woolly Mammoths, but also those which were a reddish/orange in colour. Some Mammoths were also a strawberry blonde hue. It seems that if you were to travel back in time to Siberia 25,000 years ago and observed several family groups of Woolly Mammoths you would probably have seen a surprising amount of coat colour variation.

Ironically, a number of cave paintings show Woolly Mammoths. These creatures were obviously very important to our ancestors as sources of meat, hide and ivory for tools. These large herbivores would have been a formidable opponent for human hunters armed with nothing more than sharpened stakes and stone tipped spears. The cave paintings depict Mammoths in a variety of colours, more than 350 caves with paintings have been discovered in Europe alone. Some of these cave have paintings of Mammoths on their walls. It was thought that the cave artists using natural pigments such as ochre, haematite and charcoal, showed the Mammoths in a variety of colours for perhaps symbolic affect or to portray deeper meaning. However, a 21st Century understanding of the Mammoth genome demonstrates that Woolly Mammoths did come in a variety a colours.

A Reddish/Brown Woolly Mammoth Model

Woolly Mammoth model without the usual brown coat.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

For model makers, there is a tendency to produce Woolly Mammoth models and other Ice Age toys that are brown in colour. The Natural History Museum produced a reddish/brown Mammoth some years ago, (see picture above), around the same time that Everything Dinosaur team members were working on a Woolly Rhino model (Coelodonta). However, with this increased knowledge regarding the coats of these Ice Age creatures perhaps it is merely a question of time as to when a manufacturer will break rank and produce a “strawberry blonde” Woolly Mammoth like “Yuka”.

To view Prehistoric Mammal models including Woolly Mammoths: Papo Prehistoric Mammal Models and Dinosaurs.

Strawberry Blonde Woolly Mammoths – Papo’s Next Innovation?

Strawberry Blonde Mammoth from Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The recently introduced, Papo Woolly Mammoth juvenile has been given a lighter coloured coat similar to the coat found on the carcase of the recently discovered Siberian Mammoth juvenile known as “Yuka”.

6 04, 2012

Baby Mammoth Killed by Lions and then Butchered by Humans

By Mike|2023-01-29T09:49:39+00:00April 6th, 2012|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Educational Activities|0 Comments

Yuka – The Siberian Baby Mammoth Killed by Steppe Lion and then Butchered by Humans

A number of television documentaries have aired recently concerning the discovery and the initial research on a baby Woolly Mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) whose frozen carcase was recovered from Siberia. Each spring, as the winter snows thaw, a number of Pleistocene animal remains are discovered as they are eroded out of the thawing ground by the action of rivers in spate. These fossils, some of them beautifully preserved with internal organs and fur intact reveal that this part of the world during the Pleistocene Epoch was inhabited by some spectacular prehistoric mammals.

The habitat known as the Russian Mammoth steppe was a huge expanse of grassland that existed between the northern ice sheets and more wooded, mainly conifer forest that was to be found further south. A number of large herbivores grazed on the plains. As well as Mammoths, there were Woolly Rhinos (Coelodonta spp.), giant deer, several other types of now extinct antelope and horses. Living alongside these herbivores there were several types of predator, a number of species of bear, plus Sabre-toothed cats and other members of the Felidae (cat family) such as Cave Lions and the slightly smaller Steppe Lion.

Baby Woolly Mammoth

Recently, the body of a baby Mammoth was discovered and scientists from the International Mammuthus organisation have been studying this carcase in a bid to find out more about Mammoths in general and to identify how this particular young animal met its end. The baby Mammoth has been given the name Yuka, and as well as being remarkably well-preserved, this corpse reveals evidence with other inhabitants of the Mammoth steppe, including the possibility of human hunters.

The skull and pelvis have been removed from the corpse, they were found close to the body but most of the ribs and much of the spine is missing. There is a long, straight cut along the top of the animal’s back, this was made by people, but whether it is evidence of the body being butchered as the remains rested on the steppe thousands of years ago or more recent human activity is difficult to determine.

The scientists are fairly certain that this young Mammoth was not actually killed by people. Yuka shows signs of being attacked by an apex predator possibly a Cave Lion or a Steppe Lion, certainly a member of the Felidae (cat family). It is very likely that this predator killed the Mammoth calf, human hunters may have discovered the carcase and removed some of the bones and meat, or perhaps they chased the lion(s) off the kill and took over the body, robbing the big cats of their meal.

Poor Yuka

Poor Yuka, seems to have had a very unfortunate and brief life. Healed scratches on the preserved skin shows that this Mammoth survived another attack by a cat – possibly an Eurasian Cave Lion, but much deeper wounds and a broken leg which had not healed imply that a second attack was either fatal or severely weakened the young animal.

The carcase provides evidence of potential ancient human interaction. Radio carbon dating indicates that this Mammoth lived right at the end of the Pleistocene epoch, perhaps it was one of the last Mammoths to live in this part of Siberia. The corpse is estimated to be around 10,000 years old. The long, straight cut along the back, in conjunction with other cut marks that show a distinctive pattern as if they were created by a saw-bladed cutting tool of some kind, provide evidence that humans have interfered with the body.

If the liver had been removed, then this could be further evidence that the carcase had been butchered for its meat. The liver is regarded as one of the most nutritious parts of any mammal carcase. Nomadic hunters today, when killing and butchering large mammals such as antelope often remove the liver first. If the liver is missing and the body cavity shows signs of intrusion then this could confirm the hypothesis that some human hunters 10,000 years ago grabbed an opportunity to get some food from the young Mammoth’s remains.

International Mammuthus Organisation

The researchers from the International Mammuthus Organisation suggest that Yuka was about 30 months old at the time of death. In Africa, lions are known to attack young elephants (African elephants – genus Loxodonta), but this is the first time that evidence has been found of a Woolly Mammoth being attacked by members of the Felidae.

Tackling an elephant is a substantial task, even for a pride of lions. Often the elephants are aware of the big cats, but during daylight they can fend off any attacks. The lions tend to wait until dark, their better night vision gives them an advantage over their much heavier intended victims. It can only be speculated, but perhaps a Steppe Lion attacked a weakened Yuka at night, finally bring the young animal down.

Much of the soft tissue is still connected to the bones, and there is a substantial amount of Mammoth fur on the remains. Fur is still on the flanks, on the rump and the feet, it is as strawberry blond colour, bearing out predictions made a few years ago on the potential colour of Mammoth fur after a detailed genetic analysis on another frozen baby Mammoth known as Lyuba.

Finding such beautifully, well-preserved remains of these ancient herbivores will help scientists to better understand Mammoth DNA and traits such as eye and hair colour. Although, many Mammoths were a reddish-brown colour, the gene that contains fur/hair colour is very similar to the gene that controls the colour of human hair. This means that Woolly Mammoths could be as varied in colour as human hair – Mammoths could be blond, ginger or even brunettes.

To view Woolly Mammoth soft toys and other prehistoric animal soft toys: Prehistoric Plush – Prehistoric Animal Soft Toys.

5 04, 2012

Europe’s Biggest Dinosaur Skull Goes on Display at Special Exhibition

By Mike|2024-04-23T07:26:58+01:00April 5th, 2012|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories|1 Comment

Skull of Huge Dinosaur on Show at Dinosaur Exhibition

The prepared skull of a huge, herbivorous dinosaur that once roamed the land that was to eventually become Spain has gone on display at the Dinopolis Foundation in the town of Teruel, in the province of Aragon (eastern Spain). During the Late Jurassic, this part of Europe was a lush tropical paradise, criss-crossed with rivers and this habitat supported an extensive and diverse range of dinosaurs including large sauropods, one of which is the largest European dinosaur known to science. A dinosaur skull goes on display.

Turiasaurus riodevensis

The dinosaur is Turiasaurus riodevensis (the name means “Teruel lizard”, as Turia is the Latin word for Teruel) and although far from complete, the fossils ascribed to this specimen including the skull which has now been carefully prepared and pieced together suggest that this dinosaur could have reached lengths in excess of thirty metres and perhaps weighed as much as forty tonnes.

Formally named and described in 2006, the thirty-five separate bones that make up the skull, plus seven peg-like teeth were presented this week at the Dinopolis Foundation, the name of the town’s dinosaur exhibit. These bones helped scientists to recognise T. riodevensis as a separate species when the bones were discovered in 2005 during excavations at the Barrihonda-El Humero, fossiliferous strata, which dates from the Upper Jurassic/Lower Cretaceous boundary.

From measurements taken from a 1.79-metre-long humerus (upper arm bone), the scientists have concluded that this dinosaur was one of the biggest animals on Earth approximately 145 million years ago, bigger than the better known sauropods of the United States whose fossil also date from the end of the Jurassic, dinosaurs such as Apatosaurus and Camarasaurus.

Dinosaur Skull

The skull will go onto form a centre piece for the site’s, dinosaurs of the Iberian Peninsula exhibition. Ironically, the skulls of sauropods are extremely rare in the fossil record. The heads of these huge herbivores do not seem to get fossilised very often. Compared to the rest of the animal the heads are relatively small. For example, the head of another sauropod, Diplodocus is only about the same size as that of a horse, but the Diplodocus weighed as much as fifteen tonnes and would have measured in excess of thirty metres in length.

The heads seem to have fallen away from the caudal vertebrae as the carcase deteriorated, once detached they are rarely preserved as fossils to be found by palaeontologists millions of years later. Most of the sauropod dinosaurs seen in Natural History Museums do not have the correct head on their bodies, rather than display a head-less skeleton, curators model a composite skull or provide a replica skull from a close dinosaur relative.

To read more about Europes’ Largest Dinosaur: Which is the Biggest Dinosaur Known from Europe?

Only a handful of sauropods have skull material assigned to their genera, these animals include Giraffatitan from Africa, Mamenchisaurus from China, Turiasaurus from Spain and Apatosaurus from the United States.

For figures and models of sauropod dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures: Safari Ltd. Dinosaur Models.

4 04, 2012

One Tonne Basal Tyrannosauroid Described in New Scientific Paper

By Mike|2024-04-23T07:28:16+01:00April 4th, 2012|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories|6 Comments

Meet your Tyrannosaur Feathered Friend – Yutyrannus

Palaeontologists from the Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology (Beijing, China) have published a scientific paper on a newly described feathered dinosaur. Over recent years, there have been many discoveries of new types of feathered dinosaur fossils in the Liaoning Province of northern China. However, this new dinosaur find, named Yutyrannus huali stands out for a number of reasons. Firstly, the specimens are very well-preserved and nearly complete, secondly, different sized individuals have been found, an adult and two juveniles, helping scientists to determine how these animals grew and developed and thirdly – Y. huali was huge. At something like nine metres in length and weighing over a tonne (estimated 1,400 kilogrammes), this dinosaur is one of the largest feathered creatures known to science. As if this wasn’t enough to get dinosaur fans swishing their tails and roaring with excitement it seems that this new feathered giant may have been a primitive member of the Tyrannosauroidea, that famous clade of theropods that include Albertosaurus, Daspletosaurus and of course T. rex.

Yutyrannus huali

A number of websites have reported on this discovery, some have claimed that this new species is the largest feathered creature known to science. True, when compared to the likes of the therizinosaur Beipiaosaurus (Beipiaosaurus inexpectus), a feathered dinosaur also from the Liaoning Province, it is very big. Beipiaosaurus is estimated to have measured around 2.5 metres in length and weighed as much as eighty kilogrammes, but commentators are forgetting the enormous, oviraptorid – Gigantorapotor erlianensis, discovered in 2005 by an expedition to Mongolia by scientists from the Beijing based institute. Indeed, some of the team that studied the eight-metre-long Gigantoraptor have also been working on this new giant feathered dinosaur. Gigantoraptor is estimated to have been taller than a giraffe.

To read more about the discovery of the oviraptorid Gigantoraptor: New Chinese Dinosaur Discovery – Gigantoraptor.

Analysis of the skull material suggests that Yutyrannnus was a member of the tyrannosaur family, a tyrannosauroid, although it is not a direct ancestor of the famous Tyrannosaurus rex, it was carnivorous and most probably an apex predator in its environment. The name Yutyrannus huali means “beautiful feathered tyrant”, in recognition of the evidence of long, filamentous feathers that have been found in association with the fossil remains and the classification of this new dinosaur species as a tyrannosaur.

An Artist’s Impression of a Flock of Yutyrannus on the Prowl

Giant theropod withfFeathers from Liaoning Province.

Picture credit: Brian Choo

Yutyrannus huali roamed what was to become northern China approximately 125 million years ago (Barremian faunal stage of the Early Cretaceous). The tyrannosaur family and its direct ancestors can be traced back into the Late Jurassic, Xu Xing one of the Chinese palaeontologists involved in the study of Yutyrannus was responsible for naming and describing Guanlong (Guanlong wucaii), a basal member of the tyrannosaurs that lived something like thirty million years earlier.

The adult skeleton measures about nine metres in length and indicates that this new dinosaur would have rivalled Gigantoraptor for the title of the biggest feathered creature known to science. The other two individuals are believed to represent immature individuals and not a second species. This has been determined by the Chinese researchers who noticed that a number of vertebrae (back bones) had not fully fused indicating that these fossils represent creatures that had not reached adulthood. Even so, these youngsters were already hefty. Each one would have weighed almost as much as a fully grown dairy cow.

Three Fossil Specimens

All three fossil specimens show evidence that these dinosaurs had feather-like filaments adorning their bodies. Some of the feathers were at least fifteen centimetres in length. In the adult, traces of feathers have been found along the tail, with the immature animals, the feathers appeared to have been along the neck and down the humerus (upper arm) in one specimen and near the pelvis and foot in the other. Taken together it can be speculated that a single Yutyrannus may have been entirely feathered. Certainly, younger animals may have been completely feathered, the feathers helping to insulate this warm-blooded dinosaur. Older animals, with larger bodies, which can retain heat better (surface area to volume assessments), may not have been completely feathered. It is possible that as the animals grew the feathers become important not for insulation against the chilly conditions in northern China but for display or to show status in the “flock”.

This new discovery, reported in the academic journal “Nature”, suggests what a number of palaeontologists have thought for sometime, that even the biggest theropods could have been feathered. Certainly, due to the size of these individuals these dinosaurs could not fly, but the feathers served another purpose – signalling amongst other members of the species or perhaps to insulate the animal against the cold.

One of the Skulls of this new Tyrannosaur (Yutyrannus huali)

Basal tyrannosaur – Yutyrannus.

Picture credit: Zang Hailong

The picture shows a close up the skull of Yutyrannus, the teeth can be clearly seen. This dinosaur may have had a thin crest running from the tip of the snout to the back of the skull. What purpose this crest may have served is unknown.

Commenting on the Chinese research, Richard Prum, an evolutionary ornithologist at Yale University (USA) stated:

“The new finding shows for the first time that even giant theropods could be plumaged, and likely fully plumaged.”

The Chinese team are using microscopy and other techniques to try to determine the colours of the feathers, this may give the scientists more data on just what purpose the feathers served. Their discovery has re-ignited the debate whether other Cretaceous tyrannosaurs such as T. rex were feathered too.

Although, extensive coal deposits found in the Northern Hemisphere (Canada and Siberia), which date from the Early Cretaceous suggest that the climate was warmer than today, the high latitude with which these fossils are associated with indicates that the environment in which these giant theropods roamed could be decidedly chilly. Analysis of oxygen isotope ratios recovered from the teeth of Yutyrannus suggests that the climate in this part of China was remarkably similar to northern China today. It has been estimated that the average annual temperature was around ten degrees Celsius – much colder than in other parts of the world where dinosaur remains have been discovered. This finding adds weight to the speculation that the feathers helped to keep these creatures warm, insulating their bodies against the cold.

Irrespective of the feather’s function, the research team have concluded that Yutyrannus shows that a drastic reduction in plumage was not an inevitable consequence of having a large body size.

Thomas Holtz Junior, a vertebrate palaeontologist specialising in the Dinosauria, based at the University of Maryland (USA), commented on the new discovery. He stated that this new fossil find was:

“Another good example of evolution being a predictive science.”

The Liaoning Province had provided a lot of evidence of small, feathered dinosaurs, so many scientists had suggested that it was only a matter of time before evidence of a big dinosaur with feathers would be found.

Yutyrannus huali provides direct evidence that large, feathered dinosaurs did exist. It offers new insights into the origins and evolution of feathers, which are in themselves highly modified reptilian scales. The fact that two juveniles have been discovered permits scientists to examine how these animals changed as they grew (helping with ontogenic studies). Described as a basal tyrannosauroid, Yutyrannus is similar to other primitive tyrannosaurs found in northern China, although unlike the later T. rex it had three fingers on its hands, and the arms were proportionately much bigger than the arms of later tyrannosaurs.

This discovery represents one of the most significant finds from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Liaoning Province.

For models and replicas of Yutyranus huali and other theropod dinosaurs: PNSO Dinosaur Replicas.

3 04, 2012

Aquatic Dinosaur Theory Rises to the Surface Once Again

By Mike|2023-03-08T22:17:19+00:00April 3rd, 2012|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Dinosaur Fans, Palaeontological articles|8 Comments

Cell Biologist Challenges Theory of Largely Terrestrial Dinosaurs

In a paper published in the scientific journal “Laboratory News” Professor Brian J. Ford has put forward a theory to help explain how these very heavy animals were able to move around – they lived in water. Using an assessment of the potential loadings on limbs in comparison with the largest land animals alive today; in combination with studies of dinosaur track-ways that show that their heavy tails were in most cases held off the ground, Professor Ford has concluded that as terrestrial animals – “Dinosaurs don’t work.”

Had this paper been published on Sunday April 1st – then Professor Ford’s hypothesis would have been in danger of being consigned to that taxonomic waste-basket where all April Fool’s get sent, but this is a legitimate and thought provoking piece that has even been discussed on the Radio 4 programme “Today”.

Professor Ford, a cell biologist writes:

“The immense size of the largest genera places impossible loadings on their extremities. A single limb would have to support many tonnes – this would not be compatible with the agility we associate with dinosaurs. We accept the remains of their footprints with demur, although for such gigantic creatures, the imprints that we observe in rocky strata make no sense. The prints are roughly as deep in the layers of Liassic mud as ours might have been, although the high mass of an adult dinosaur would cause it to sink up to its knees. The footprints seem to be those of an altogether lighter organism.”

Unless of course, these are the footprints made as huge creatures, waded across shallow lakes. If this were the case, Professor Ford argues, then this would explain why the heavy tails do not drag on the ground, they would have been supported by water and held out behind the animal.

Dinosaurs

For Everything Dinosaur team members this is a case of “deja vu”, many of our team members can remember the theories that were still postulated by some scientists forty years ago, that the largest of the dinosaurs, the long-necked sauropods lived an aquatic lifestyle, with their great weight supported by the water column.

Many scientists in the 19th century and indeed into the later part of the 20th century believed that the very largest dinosaurs, the herbivorous, sauropods were aquatic. Opening a child’s dinosaur book from the 1950s and 1960s would often reveal a scene of these huge leviathans happily munching water weeds in a shallow lake or swamp.

Over the last fifty years or so, new scientific methodologies and fossil discoveries has led to the idea that the largest dinosaurs such as the sauropods were suited to a life in water, being disregarded by most palaeontologists. Anatomical studies, assessments of limb strength and other research has led to the conclusion that the vast majority of large dinosaur genera were very probably terrestrial.

Scientists set about examining other aspects of Dinosauria anatomy, for example how did the sauropods, dinosaurs like Brachiosaurus and Apatosaurus support their long-necks.

Sauropod Dinosaurs

To read more about the debate over the posture of sauropods: Swan-neck Posture of Sauropods.

Professor Ford, goes further than the early 20th century scientists who confined their water-based dinosaur theories to the super-heavy-weights of the Sauropodomorpha. In the article published in Laboratory News, the professor discusses the suitability of Tyrannosaurus rex to a watery habitat.

When discussing the fore-shortened front limbs found in many Late Cretaceous theropods, professor Ford suggests:

“The diminished forelimbs are equally well accounted for… In land animals, like the elephant, hippo and rhinoceros, each of the four limbs is load-bearing and evolutionary pressure has been against the reduction in size that we observe in flesh-eating dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus.”

Tyrannosaurus rex – A Predator of Lakes and Rivers?

Splashing towards its next meal.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

So if you are bipedal and a predator, perhaps you might have been at home in a shallow lake where the weight of the water could help support your body mass and make it more energy efficient for you to move around.

Concerning T. rex professor Ford states:

“If the large dinosaurs are conceived as primarily aquatic, however, then the specialisation of the forelimbs would be towards manipulative dexterity. The fact that the limbs became foreshortened is entirely reasonable. Animals like to inspect their food as they eat, and holding it closer to the face is normal behaviour. Conventionally, conceived the small forelimbs of T. rex make no sense – however, if we envision the animal as an aquatic, carnivorous species, this adaptation becomes entirely reasonable.”

This is certainly an interesting point of view. Ironically, many of the facultative bipeds that shared the Late Cretaceous with the tyrannosaurs – the hadrosaurs (duck-billed dinosaurs), for example, were thought by some scientists in the 19th and 20th centuries to be aquatic. The bizarre looking hollow crests on some of these dinosaurs were thought to act as air reservoirs or snorkels, enabling these plant-eaters to run into deep water to escape the attentions of a predator such as Tyrannosaurus rex.

Old illustrations show two duck-billed dinosaurs (Corythosaurus and Parasaurolophus) swimming underwater to escape a predator. This picture is taken from a beautiful book about dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals first published in 1966, when the theory of some dinosaurs being aquatic was still propounded by a number of scientists and academics.

For models and replicas of sauropods, theropods and other dinosaurs: Dinosaur Models for Sale.

Interestingly, professor Ford does draw inspiration for this theory from recent studies of another theropod (meat-eating dinosaur) – Spinosaurus. Chemical analysis of spinosaurid teeth by Romain Amiot and colleagues at the University of Lyon revealed that spinosaurs may have spent a large part of their lives near or in water. Isotope analysis revealed a similar pattern as found in extant reptiles today that are aquatic – crocodiles and turtles.

To read an article suggesting a more aquatic life-style for Spinosaurids: Swimming Spinosaurs.

When asked to comment on the paper, a spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur stated:

“What goes around comes around, sometimes new evidence emerges that leads palaeontologists to question accepted scientific thinking. However, there is a significant amount of research that suggests that the Dinosauria, even the largest genera, were very well adapted to a life on land”.

Time will tell, perhaps new fossil finds and further developments in research techniques will reveal more conclusive evidence, in the meantime, we at Everything Dinosaur, whilst acknowledging the contribution of Professor Ford to this debate, still believe that dinosaurs were largely terrestrial animals.

You could say, that, for the moment at least, the aquatic dinosaurs theory does not hold water.

2 04, 2012

World Autism Awareness Day – Recognising a Significant Day

By Mike|2024-04-23T06:59:40+01:00April 2nd, 2012|Educational Activities, Press Releases|0 Comments

World Autism Awareness Day 2012

Today, April 2nd is the fifth annual World Autism Awareness Day. Every year, for the past five years, organisations with an involvement in autism or in related fields such as Asperger Syndrome on this day celebrate the uniqueness of these conditions. Market research undertaken by the National Autistic Society in the UK a couple of years ago postulated that there were perhaps 500,000 people in the country with some form of autism.

World Autism Awareness Day

Autism is very debilitating affecting the way that people with this condition interact and communicate with the rest of the world. They can find it difficult to make sense of the world around them and can be over-sensitive to sensory stimuli. A lot of research has been undertaken over recent years to try to understand these complex conditions. One thing that now seems certain, neither Autism or other related conditions such as Asperger’s are related to low intelligence.

Children on the autistic spectrum, may have a tendency to obsess on certain objects or subjects. Very young children, in our experience can become fixated with cartoon shows or television programmes, or indeed characters seen in these programmes. Some older children obsess about dinosaurs and prehistoric animals, much to the vexation of their parents and guardians who struggle to keep up. We at Everything Dinosaur try to assist where we can. After all, we do supply a lot of dinosaur toys and games for autistic children. For example, one of the attractions of dinosaurs to children on the Autism Spectrum are the long names and all the complicated facts associated with these prehistoric monsters

Some children on the spectrum, seem able to retain vast amounts of information related to their favourite dinosaurs and can recite an astonishing amount of factual information about these prehistoric creatures. Team members send out fact sheets and pronunciation guides to parents/guardians who in turn pass these on to their charges. We handle enquiries, answer specific questions, provide advice, email over drawing materials, send out fact cards – all sorts of things as with some of our team members coming from a teaching background we recognise the importance of offering such support.

The Uniqueness of the Individual

Today, on this special day our thoughts are even more with those sufferers and with their families, we celebrate the uniqueness of the individual.

The National Autistic Society (UK): National Autistic Society.

Celebrate World Autism Awareness Day on Facebook: World Autism Awareness Day on Facebook.

True to our word, whilst teaching at a school in London one of the TAs (Teaching Assistants) approached us requesting some assistance for her daughter who taught at a special school in the capital that catered for the needs of children on the autistic spectrum. Within 24-hours of our visit, we had emailed a teaching contact with a dinosaur themed alphabet and our own set of prehistoric fact cards that could then be forwarded on to the teacher concerned.

To contact Everything Dinosaur team members for advice about prehistoric animal toys and dinosaur figures suitable for those on the austism spectrum: Send Everything Dinosaur an Email.

1 04, 2012

Exploding Prehistoric Animal Carcasses as they Rot – New Evidence

By Mike|2023-01-29T08:37:07+00:00April 1st, 2012|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Educational Activities, Palaeontological articles|0 Comments

Gas Build Up in Rotting Prehistoric Animal Remains did not Cause them to Explode

A new study by scientists from the University of Zurich (Switzerland) has dispelled the theory that putrefaction gases produced by decomposition caused some dinosaur and other prehistoric animal carcasses to explode before they were fossilised.

Prehistoric Animal Carcasses

A number of animals preserved in the fossil record, their subsequent body fossils had puzzled scientists as to how the bones had come to be positioned in relation to other parts of the preserved skeleton or skeletons. In particular, the fossilised remains of a pregnant ichthyosaur (marine reptile) found in the Lower Jurassic deposits of Holzmaden (southern Germany), has intrigued researchers. The skeleton of the adult, is preserved with the majority of the bones in articulation, in the same relative positions as when the animal was swimming around in the Jurassic sea.

Ichthyosaur Embryos

The bones of the ichthyosaur embryos, preserved with this specimen however, are very different. For the most part, they lie scattered outside the body of the mother. Such peculiar bone arrangements are repeatedly found in ichthyosaur skeletons excavated from the finely, grained Holzmaden deposits.

Ichthyosaurs are believed to have evolved the ability to give birth to live young – viviparity. These reptiles did not lay eggs like crocodiles and turtles, but they kept their embryos inside them, until they had reached a certain size before giving birth to independent young.

To read an article on a controversial fossil discovery that suggests that other marine reptiles such as plesiosaurs were also viviparous: Does Plesiosaur Fossil show Evidence of Viviparity?

Holzmaden “Exploded” Ichthyosaur Skeleton

Puzzling ichthyosaur fossil.

Picture credit: University of Zurich

The picture above shows a photograph of the ichthyosaur fossil and an interpretative line drawing of the fossil showing underneath it. The beautifully preserved adult skeleton is articulated but the fossils of the embryos are scattered over a large area. The scale bar in the photograph represents twenty centimetres.

Embryo Fossils

Most scientists thought that the position of the embryo fossils and their disarticulation was due to the carcase having exploded as gases caused through the process of putrefaction built up in the body cavity. These gases, created as a body decomposes would cause the carcass to swell up and become bloated before finally bursting. It had been thought that through such explosions, even the bones of embryos would have been ejected out of the body. The Zurich based researchers have challenged this hypothesis by carrying out a series of elaborate measurements and an analysis of the physical-biological parameters. The scientific team, which included sedimentologists, palaeontologists and forensic scientists has put forward new evidence that may dispel the myth of exploding prehistoric animal remains.

In order to gauge the pressure of the particular gases that can actually develop inside a putrefying remains of an Ichthyosaurus, the researchers sought comparative models and found one in a surprising area of science – the forensic study of human corpses. Humans and many ichthyosaur are similar in size and as vertebrates we do have roughly the same body plan and digestive tract. As a result, the formation of similar amounts of putrefaction gas can be expected during decomposition of the dead body. At the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Frankfurt, Germany, a manometer (device used to measure pressure) was inserted into the abdominal cavity through the umbilicus in one hundred corpses.

A Beautiful Ichthyosaur Fossil

The Nottingham ichthyosaur (P. applebyi).

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

The putrefaction gas pressures measured were only 0.035 bar. In the case of the ichthyosaur remains that came to rest in depths between fifty and one hundred and fifty metres of water, however, putrefaction gas pressures of over five to fifteen bar would have been necessary to cause a body to explode.

Zurich based palaeontologist Christian King, one of the researchers involved in this macabre study believes that gas pressures strong enough to cause a carcase to explode in this depth of water are impossible to achieve.

He stated:

“Large vertebrates that decompose cannot act as natural explosive charges. Our results can be extended to lung-breathing vertebrates in general.”

So what did cause the anomaly of the adult body remaining virtually intact whilst the remains of any embryos associated with the fossil specimen to be scattered?

According to the researchers, the fate of ichthyosaur bodies can be reconstructed, they have theorised as follows:

Normally, the bodies sank to the seabed immediately post mortem. In very deep, hospitable waters, they were broken down completely through putrefaction, scavengers, bone-destroying organisms and dissolving processes, in exactly the same way that marine mammal carcases are broken up today. In shallower water (up to fifty metres in depth) and a temperature of over four degrees Celsius, however, the corpses often rose back to the surface on account of the putrefaction gases accumulating inside the body. As the gases built up, they made the corpse buoyant forcing the body to rise to the water surface, just like a cork when placed in a bucket of water floats to the top. At the surface, exposed to the waves and scavengers, such as fish, pterosaurs and other marine reptiles, the bodies decomposed within anything from a few days to weeks and the bones which were not eaten whole by the likes of a pliosaur were scattered over a wide area on the seabed as they sank.

However, the scientists believe that under very special conditions, ichthyosaur bodies would remain preserved more or less in their anatomical position. A lack of oxygen, medium water depths and insignificant bottom water currents could lead to the fossils that we see today. Because only under these conditions were the putrefaction gases compressed strongly enough through the high water pressure and dissolved in the bodily fluids, and the carcasses not completely broken down due to a lack of scavengers on the seabed. The carcass of the ichthyosaur female from Holzmaden, dated to around 182 million years ago, probably sank to the bottom of the sea, which was up to 150 metres deep, where it decomposed. It was the action of minor underwater currents on the sea floor that carried the decomposing bodies of the embryos out of the mother and scattered their remains around the larger body. The bigger bones of the adult ichthyosaur were less affected by the sea currents and therefore remained in situ.

The Hozmaden deposits have yielded some of the world’s best fossils of marine reptiles, especially plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs. This new study provides further information on how to interpret fossil vertebrate remains and can help shed light on the potential water depths at which these fossils came to rest.

To read about the discovery of a new species of European ichthyosaur earlier this year: New Ichthyosaur Species Swims into View.

Everything Dinosaur acknowledges the assistance of a press release from the University of Zurich in the compilation of this article.

For models and replicas of marine reptiles including ichthyosaurs: Sea Monsters and Prehistoric Animal Models.

31 03, 2012

The Young Palaeontologists at Kensington Primary School

By Mike|2023-01-29T07:53:26+00:00March 31st, 2012|Dinosaur Fans, Educational Activities, Everything Dinosaur News and Updates, Teaching|0 Comments

Year 4 Pupils at School Demonstrate their Knowledge of Dinosaurs

Yesterday, one of Everything Dinosaur’s team members visited Year 4 pupils at Kensington Primary school as part of the school’s teaching topic which has focused on dinosaurs. The budding young palaeontologists were keen to show off their special dinosaur hats that they had made under the supervision of their teacher’s Miss Rafique and Miss Vavrykovych. The visit from Everything Dinosaur helped reinforce learning outcomes that had been covered during an earlier trip to the Natural History Museum, the classroom walls displayed the various stories and pictures that the children had created. There were even some dinosaur scenes on display that the children had made, surrounded by all these dinosaurs, we were certainly made to feel at home.

Young Palaeontologists

Three brave pupils in Miss Rafique’s class got the chance to cast a museum quality replica of a tyrannosaur manual ungual (finger claw most likely from a large, Late Cretaceous meat-eater known as Albertosaurus sarcophagus). This would make an interesting addition to the classroom’s colourful dinosaur display, after all, not many school children get to see and handle dinosaur claws.

Some of the Colourful Artwork on Display Outside the Classrooms

Are dinosaurs really extinct?

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur/Kensington Primary School

As part of Everything Dinosaur’s commitment to the Earth Sciences we wanted to give the children an insight into some real palaeontology puzzles and problems. For example, one class looked briefly at the horned dinosaur Triceratops and why very few fossilised forelimbs seem to have been preserved in the fossil record, whilst the second class looked at Spinosaurus and what the fossils tell us about huge meat-eating dinosaurs.

Building on this theme, with the assistance of Miss Rafique and the teaching assistant, Mrs Pate,l we explored how the sauropod (long-necked dinosaur), Brontomerus got its name. Having examined some of the evidence, the pupils were given the chance to name their very own sauropod.

Naming a Dinosaur – Different Sauropod Types

Thinking of a name for a long-necked dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Based on the fossil evidence provided, the school children came up with a variety of amazing names for a herbivorous dinosaur whose long neck enabled it to reach high into trees to feed.

Dinosaur Names

Some of the names the children thought of:

Branchosaurus, Altisaurus, Reachosaurus, Antelopeohsaurus and Dinnerosaurus.

When classifying newly discovered dinosaurs, if you are given the job of describing the animal then you get to name it, so perhaps these young palaeontologists may inspire some amazing dinosaur names.

Close up of the Pterosaur (Flying Reptile) in the Artwork

Interesting use of drawing pins.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur/Kensington Primary School

On the very colourful dinosaur artwork that was on show outside Year 4’s classroom, we noticed a novel use of drawing pins. The pictures had been pinned to the backdrop, but also a drawing pin had been used to make the eye of the pterosaur (flying reptile). Drawing pins had also been used to make a dramatic, gold necklace-like marking on the neck of the creature. We thought this was a lovely and very creative touch. Perhaps if scientists were to discover a flying reptile fossil with distinctive markings on the cervical vertebrae (neck bones) they could call in “Machorhynchus” as the drawing pins reminded us of a chest medallion.

It was a pleasure to visit the school and to meet all the enthusiastic pupils, perhaps some of the children will go on to have a career in the Earth sciences.

Visit Everything Dinosaur’s website: Everything Dinosaur.

30 03, 2012

New York City Department of Education Discourages the Word “Dinosaur”

By Mike|2023-03-08T22:19:23+00:00March 30th, 2012|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories|0 Comments

“Dinosaur” One of a Number of Words Restricted by New York City Dept. of Education

Companies preparing to submit assessment tests used in New York city’s public schools have been issued with guidelines from the Department of Education suggesting that they stay clear of dinosaurs when compiling their papers. The word dinosaur is just one of a number of words and topics that the department have advised organisations preparing the assessment papers to avoid – other terms and subject areas that the compilers have been asked to steer away from include birthdays, aliens, vermin, terrorism and junk food.

Dinosaurs

“Dinosaurs” out of New York’s Assessment Papers

Examining dinosaur hands (Key Stage 2/3) but the word “dinosaur” is frowned upon by New York City Dept. of Education.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

New Guidelines

Under these new guidelines, writing the assessment papers may prove to be as tricky at actually taking them. These tests are used to assess the progress students are making in a number of subject areas including science, but in a move that seems to take political correctness to the extreme, a number of topic areas have been deemed off limits.

Whilst creating the test questions, companies are being advised to steer clear from certain subject areas, words and topics as they “could evoke unpleasant emotions in students that might hamper their ability to take the remainder of the test in the optimal frame of mind.”

Other reasons stated by the Department of Education for wanting to avoid such words as “dinosaur” include a desire to prevent bias against or towards certain parts of the population, or because “the topic has been done to death” – in textbooks and previous tests thus becoming over familiar and even boring to the students.

The word Halloween is not recommended because it could be linked with pagan rites, dinosaurs are on the extinction list for terms with the department, presumably as any reference to these prehistoric animals could upset those parts of the population who don’t believe or except the principles of evolution. Firms have until the third week of April to submit their assessment plans and proposals.

A spokesperson for the Department of Education commented that the list suggests topics that ought to be avoided and this was not an outright ban and such language and guidance had been included in proposal requests for some time.

Spokeswoman Deidrea Miller said in a statement:

“This is standard language that has been used by test publishers for many years and is meant to ensure that tests contain no possible bias or distractions for students.”

With the American Museum of Natural History in the city and with its amazing display of dinosaurs and other prehistoric animal fossils, we at Everything Dinosaur would have thought that this museum would have provided tremendous support for the city’s students, teachers and educationalists.

A spokesperson for Everything Dinosaur commented:

“It is important that this news story is put into the proper context. Whilst we can accept the difficult path that the Department has to follow at times, advising the removal of dinosaurs from the assessment papers does sound a little excessive.”

He went onto add:

“With such a fantastic and wonderful educational resource [the American Museum of Natural History] in New York, it seems such a shame that educational companies are being recommended not to use dinosaur related test questions. After all, if you want to inspire the next generation of scientists, motivate children to learn more about the world around them or to give young people an insight into how the world is changing, dinosaurs would be a tremendously helpful subject area to explore.”

Commentating on the use of a restricted list in the city, New York University education professor Diane Ravitch said that such policies are not confined to America’s largest city.

She stated:

“This is something that testing companies have been doing for a long time”.

Professor Ravitch said the list of subjects to avoid comes from topics someone somewhere around the country, not necessarily in New York, may have objected to.

She added:

“Nobody in New York City is likely to object to any of these things.”

The guidelines issued by the Department of Education also covers other areas related to the testing of students such as how long test passages should be and what tenses should be used. The guidelines also suggest that the subject material should be “familiar and common to the lives of New York city students.”

For dinosaurs and other educational, prehistoric animal themed toys and games: Dinosaur Games, Models and Toys.