Museum of Palaeontology Egidio Feruglio Expansion Plans

The Museum of Palaeontology Egidio Feruglio (Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio), located in the city of Trelew in the Chubut Province of Patagonia (Argentina), has announced plans to expand.  Expansion is needed as this regional museum is going to be home to the world’s largest dinosaur, a titanosaur whose fossilised remains featured in the BBC/National Geographic documentary “Attenborough and the Giant Dinosaur” which aired in January this year.

The Museum of Palaeontology Egidio Feruglio

The museum was founded in 1990 and to begin with it operated with just three employees and a relatively small collection, however, after a number of important fossil discoveries in the area, the museum’s catalogue has increased substantially.  The 2011 discovery of the fossilised remains of seven giant, herbivorous dinosaurs at a location nick-named the “graveyard of giants”, really helped to put the city of Trelew and its museum on the map and in a press release, communications and marketing director Florencia Gigena explained that the cohort of scientists would increase to sixty-five by 2020.

Filming the Fossil Dig for the Documentary Programme

Filming the documentary “Attenborough and the Giant Dinosaur”.

Picture credit: Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio

A Giant Hall for a Giant Dinosaur

The museum intends to greatly enlarge its current exhibition space and to build an adjoining university campus that will accommodate up to twenty students.  This will help with preparation work and provide a ready source of willing volunteers for field work as well as giving the students the opportunity to work in close association with a commercial museum.  In addition, a giant hall will be constructed to house the titanosaur exhibit.  The American Museum of Natural History (New York), already has an enormous replica of the largest titanosaur from the fossil quarry.  This exhibit measures thirty-seven metres in length.  It is so large that part of the head and neck of the American mount sticks out of the main gallery.

Behind the Scenes at the Museum of Palaeontology Egidio Feruglio

Behind the scenes during the Titanosaur filming.

Picture credit: Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio

The picture above shows, presenter Sir David Attenborough and the film crew preparing to film the giant 2.4 metre long thigh bone (femur) of the giant titanosaur.  With so many titanosaur fossil bones to study, (over two hundred), the Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio had to expand, the existing facilities were simply not large enough to house the fossils of a dinosaur that could have weighed as much as a dozen African elephants.

To read more about the titanosaur fossil discovery: Biggest Dinosaur of All – A New South American Contender!

To learn more about the titanosaur documentary: Attenborough and the Giant Dinosaur.

Giant Titanosaur Needs a Name

The giant titanosaur has yet to be formally described and no genus name has been erected yet.  A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur explained that a scientific paper on this remarkable fossil find was likely to be published soon and that the name of this new dinosaur would probably reflect the local area in which the fossils were found.  As part of the company’s outreach work in schools, Everything Dinosaur sets a challenge to school children to try and work out a name for this massive, plant-eating Cretaceous reptile.

For dinosaur models and figures including replicas of sauropods: CollectA Deluxe Prehistoric Life Figures.

Everything Dinosaur staff have been lucky enough to visit the Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio, it is a splendid regional museum and it houses more than giant titanosaurid fossils.  For example, the museum sets out to tell the story of life on Earth and as well as a very diverse collection of dinosaur fossils from Patagonia, the museum is also home to a range of Palaeozoic specimens including ancient insects.  The Cenozoic is well represented too, with a number of excellent examples of Pleistocene mammals on display.

Everything Dinosaur is delighted to hear of the Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio expansion and we wish this wonderful museum every success.

Doting Dinosaur Dads?

Today, Sunday 19th June, is Father’s Day in the United Kingdom, a day to celebrate dads and fatherhood.  This led team members at Everything Dinosaur to discuss whether there was any evidence to suggest that male dinosaurs made good parents.  We suspect fishing trips and long walks down by the river were not part of being a father for the Dinosauria (although one could excuse us the thought that some baryonchids, as fish-eaters, might have indulged in this), but is there any evidence in the fossil record to support the hypothesis that males helped raise their young?  Has palaeontology shed some light on whether or not male dinosaurs assisted in raising a family?

Surprisingly, a number of research papers have been published that explore the evidence to see if male dinosaurs were doting dads.

Did Dinosaurs Make Good Dads?

Did dinosaur males play an active role in looking after the nest?

Picture credit: Gabriel Lio

Modern Birds Can Provide a Clue

By looking at the parental behaviours of modern birds, scientists can perhaps get an insight into the parental behaviours of members of the Dinosauria.  For example, in extant birds (neornithes), the male parent sits on the nest and incubates the eggs in around 90% of species.

Scientists from Montana State University examined the fossilised bones of three different types of Cretaceous theropod dinosaurs, fossils of which had been found in association with nests of their own kind.  The dinosaurs in question, the troodontid Troodon formosus along with two oviraptorids Oviraptor philoceratops and Citipati osmolskae showed no evidence of medullary bone in the fossils.  In order to produce eggshells, females need a source of phosphorous and calcium.  These minerals are sourced from their own bones.  Specialised tissue is formed inside the bones during female ovulation.  This bone (called medullary bone), provides the minerals for the eggshells.

Once egg laying has finished then this tissue is reabsorbed but it leaves clearly identifiable cavities in the bone for some time.  If these cavities are detected in fossil bone, then this is a strong indication that the bones you are studying are from a girl.

Medullary Bone Identified in a Tyrannosaurus rex

Medullary bone identified in Tyrannosaurus rex femur.

Picture credit: Scientific Reports

Studying Bones of Theropod Dinosaurs

The Montana State University team looked at the theropod dinosaur bones in a bid to find the tell-tale medullary cavities, they found none and concluded that the fossil bones associated with the dinosaur nests were probably male.  It could be assumed that close association with the nest and eggs indicated some role in the brooding process, parental behaviour from a daddy dinosaur.

For models and replicas of theropods and other dinosaurs: Beasts of the Mesozoic Models.

Commenting on the conclusions drawn from this 2008 study, one of the researchers Dr David Varricchio explained:

“Paternal care in both troodontids and oviraptorids indicates that this care system evolved before the emergence of birds and represents birds’ ancestral condition”.

Difficult to Infer Behaviour from the Fossil Record

A number of scientists have challenged the conclusions drawn from this research.  It is difficult to infer behaviour from, what is a highly fragmentary fossil record.  For example, other papers have assessed the size of dinosaur egg clutches and compared them to living birds to see if further clues about parental responsibilities amongst the dinosaurs could be inferred.  How dependent hatchlings were from birth is also a factor to be considered.  A study from the University of Lincoln undertaken in 2013, suggested that most theropods exhibited precociality (hatchlings are born relatively mature and exhibit a high degree of independence from their parents).

To read more about the University of Lincoln research: Doting Dinosaur Dads Might Not be the Case.

New Research on Ancestral Snake Suggests Marine Origins

Scientists from the University of Alberta (Canada), in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Toronto Mississauga, as well as with researchers from a number of academic institutions in Australia, have published a new paper on the primordial fossil snake Tetrapodophis (Tetrapodophis amplectus).  This twenty-centimetre-long, Lower Cretaceous snake from Brazil has attracted much controversy, but when described last year, it was thought that this animal was a burrower.  However, in this new study published in the journal “Cretaceous Research”, an aquatic lifestyle is proposed.  This suggests that snakes evolved their limbless, eel-like bodies for swimming not for burrowing.

Tetrapodophis Fossil Material (left) Compared with the Marine Animal Illustration (right)

The exquisite fossil (left) and an illustration of Tetrapodophis as an aquatic animal (right).

Picture credit: University of Alberta and illustration credit to Alessandro Palci and Michael Lee (Flinders University & South Australian Museum)

A Controversial Fossil Find

The tiny snake fossil is preserved in articulation and it has small, but clearly defined limbs, indicating that Tetrapodophis was descended from lizards but was, most likely, a transitional form towards true snakes.  Dubbed the “Archaeopteryx of snakes”, after the famous Solnhofen fossils, the specimen has attracted a great deal of controversy ever since it was spotted by Dr David Martill (University of Portsmouth), whilst taking a party of year three students on a tour of the world-renowned Bürgermeister-Müller-Museum (Solnhofen), to view the Upper Jurassic fossils including Archaeopteryx specimens.

To read about the discovery of Tetrapodophis: First Fossil Snake with Four Limbs Described.

The Australian/Canadian team included Michael Lee and Alessandro Palci (Flinders University and South Australian Museum) along with Michael Caldwell (University of Alberta) and Robert Reisz (University of Toronto Mississauga), looked again at the body shape and four limbs of the primitive snake fossil, which probably originated from the Crato Formation of north-eastern Brazil.  They agreed with the earlier research, that the limbs were probably too small to be used for locomotion, but they have challenged the idea that Tetrapodophis was a worm-like burrower and that the first true snakes evolved underground.

Tetrapodophis amplectus

This new study suggests that Tetrapodophis had the wrong body shape for digging, the tail is too long and the legs too delicate.  The scientists list a series of adaptations that suggest an aquatic animal, adaptations such as wrist and ankle elements made of cartilage rather than bone and poorly developed limb joints, anatomical features that suggest living in water where buoyancy would help to support the animal.  Similar adaptations are found in extant marine animals such as seals, sea snakes and sea turtles as well as within the fossil record of the Mosasauridae (members of the Order Squamata that were aquatic).

In addition, the researchers conclude that the hands and feet were surprisingly flipper-like, with a robust and thickened first digit strengthening the leading edge of the limb, like the leading edge of an aeroplane wing or the flipper of a turtle.

Tetrapodophis Fossil Material with a Focus on the Limbs

Close up of the limb fossils with the illustration that suggests adaptations for swimming.

Picture credit: Alessandro Palci and Michael Lee (Flinders University & South Australian Museum with fossil material images supplied by Science Journal and additional annotation by Everything Dinosaur

Marine Adaptations

The picture above shows the Flinders University & South Australian Museum illustration of T. amplectus as an aquatic animal.  The fossil bones represent the pes (foot) and the manus (hand), the limbs of the illustration have been enlarged to show that this new scientific paper suggests marine adaptations including limbs that were paddle-like.

Professor Caldwell (University of Alberta) explained:

“The specimen is of a very small animal, slim, slender, certainly not a burrowing animal, that shows clear features shared with non-snake aquatic lizards from the Upper Cretaceous.  Tetrapodophis might well be a member of a group closely related to snakes amongst lizards, but it is not a snake proper.”

A Controversial Specimen

Known only from this one specimen, Tetrapodophis remains controversial.  The fossil most probably represents a juvenile, ontogenic changes as the animal grew might cloud any interpretations of the fossil material.  In addition, ownership of the fossil is unclear, it had been loaned from a private collection for display in Germany, but it has been illegal to export such fossils from Brazil for many years, and the specimen may be repatriated to the Brazilian Government.  The current status of the fossil may hamper access, so that further research is restricted.

To view models and replicas of prehistoric animals: Prehistoric Animal Models and Figures.

Everything Dinosaur acknowledges the help of the University of Alberta in the compiling of this article, the scientific paper is:

“Aquatic adaptations in the four limbs of the snake-like reptile Tetrapodophis from the Lower Cretaceous of Brazil.”

Visit Everything Dinosaur’s website: Everything Dinosaur.

Study of Antarctic Fossils Provides Evidence for Rapid Extinction

The demise of the non-avian dinosaurs, their flying reptile cousins, many marine vertebrates and a whole host of other flora and fauna some 66 million years ago has been well documented.  However, debate still rages over the cause or the causes of this mass extinction event at the Cretaceous-Palaeogene (K-Pg) boundary.  Was this extinction sudden and dramatic, caused by a catastrophic event such as an extraterrestrial impact or was it a gradual decline with many genera becoming extinct but over a longer period of time, perhaps as a result of global climate change?

Antarctic Fossils

A new study published recently in the journal “Nature Communications” suggests that the extinctions were rapid.  Analysis of sediment from Seymour Island in the Antarctic Peninsula indicates that there was a rapid and severe decline in marine fauna, this study supports the hypothesis that rather than a slow, gradual decline the K-Pg boundary represents a very rapid mass extinction event.

A Dramatic Reduction in the Number and Variety of Fossils

The white strip represents the Cretaceous-Palaeogene boundary.

Picture credit: Leeds University

Working on the remote Seymour Island in Antarctica, scientists from Leeds University along with researchers from the British Antarctic Survey, mapped and explored a series of highly fossiliferous marine sediments that date from approximately 69 million years ago through to around 65 million years ago.

Recording an Extinction Event Thanks to Antarctic Fossils

James Witts, a PhD student in the School of Earth and Environment (Leeds University), lead author of the scientific paper, was instrumental in identifying the various fauna that the 6,000 fossils represented.  It was then a case of ensuring that the fossils were documented in the correct stratigraphic sequence and from this, the researchers were able to conclude that there was a sudden reduction in the number of species living in Antarctic waters some 66 million years ago.  Around two thirds of the species disappear from the fossil record, at a time that coincides with the dinosaur extinction (K-Pg boundary).

In the picture above the K-Pg boundary is represented by the white paper strip.  There is a band of rocks in which no fossils can be found and in younger sediments deposited later, only a handful of different species are represented

A Sudden and Catastrophic Event

Student James commented:

“Our research essentially shows that one day everything was fine, the Antarctic had a thriving and diverse marine community and the next, it wasn’t.  Clearly, a very sudden and catastrophic event had occurred on Earth.  This is the strongest evidence from fossils that the main driver of this extinction event was the after-effects of a huge asteroid impact, rather than a slower decline caused by natural changes to the climate or by severe volcanism stressing global environments.”

A Rich and Diverse Maastrichtian Marine Ecosystem

This study is the first to conclude that the mass extinction that marked the end of the dinosaurs, pterosaurs and many other forms of life, was a truly global event and that it was just as sudden in high latitudes as it was in lower latitudes.  In short, the polar ecosystems were hammered too.

The fossils from the Late Maastrichtian strata that pre-date the extinction event indicate a rich and highly diverse marine food web populated by a huge array of molluscs such as gastropods, bivalves and cephalopods.  In turn, there were large numbers of different types of fish, the fish shared the shallow sea with a variety of marine reptiles including mosasaurs.  Numerous soft bodied organisms such as sea slugs, anemones, starfish and jelly fish would also have been present but their remains are not frequently preserved as fossils.

Peculiar Mollusces – Unravelling Ammonites

One of the more peculiar molluscs known from the Upper Cretaceous rocks of Seymour Island is the giant ammonite Diplomoceras.  This invertebrate, related to modern day cuttlefish and squid had a shell that uncoiled to a large extent.  It resembled a two-metre-long paper clip.  Although Diplomoceras fossils are found in rocks older than 66 million years, just like the rest of the ammonites, its fossils are absent in rocks laid down in the Palaeogene Epoch.

For models and replicas of ammonites and other prehistoric creatures: CollectA Prehistoric Life Figures.

An Illustration of the Bizarre Ammonite Diplomoceras

The bizarre Late Cretaceous ammonite Diplomoceras.

Picture credit: James McKay

Although the majority of ammonites had coiled shells, a number of families evolved in the Early Cretaceous with shells that were uncoiled to varying degrees.  In 2012, Everything Dinosaur wrote an article detailing research undertaken by scientists from the Natural History Museum of Vienna that provided an explanation for this adaptation.

To read more: Unravelling the Mystery of the Unravelling Ammonite.

A Rich and Diverse Marine Fauna – Prior to the Extinction Event

A rich and diverse marine fauna preserved in the strata of Seymour Island.

Picture credit: Leeds University

Everything Dinosaur acknowledges the help of Leeds University in the compilation of this article.  This blog post has also been constructed with reference to the academic paper: “Macrofossil evidence for a rapid and severe Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) mass extinction in Antarctica”, published in the journal Nature Communications in May 2016.

Visit Everything Dinosaur’s website: Everything Dinosaur.

Wahlisaurus massarae – A New Species of Early Jurassic Ichthyosaur

Manchester based palaeontologist Dean Lomax, has identified a new species of extinct marine reptile from a near complete fossil specimen discovered in an old Nottinghamshire quarry (East Midlands).  The fossil had been found many years ago and acquired by Leicester’s New Walk Museum back in 1951.  It is an ichthyosaur fossil.

However, the unusual deposition of the specimen, the carcase seems to have “nosedived” into the seabed prior to permineralisation, had prevented a new species of English marine reptile surfacing until now.

An Illustration of the Newest Member of the Ichthyosauria – Wahlisaurus massarae

New species of Early Jurassic Ichthyosaur announced.

Picture credit: James McKay

Rare Early Jurassic Ichthyosaur Fossil Find

Award winning palaeontologist Dean Lomax, an Honorary Scientist at the University of Manchester, took the opportunity to examine the specimen whilst visiting the New Walk Museum, he noticed a number of anomalies such as the morphology (shape) of some of the fossil bones.  The location of the fossil find (Nottinghamshire) and the age of the strata from which the fossils were collected, led him to suspect that this specimen might represent a new species of marine reptile.

Dean commented:

“When I first saw this specimen, I knew it was unusual.  It displays features in the bones – especially in the coracoid (part of the pectoral girdle) – that I had not seen before in Jurassic Ichthyosaurs anywhere in the world.  The specimen had never been published, so this rather unusual individual had been awaiting detailed examination.”

Visit the website of Dr Dean Lomax: British Palaeontologist Dr Dean Lomax.

The Nottinghamshire Ichthyosaur Fossil

The Nottinghamshire ichthyosaur fossil consists of skull elements, pectoral bones, limbs, bones from the pelvis, ribs and vertebrae.   It dates from the earliest part of the Jurassic, some 200 million years ago, (the Hettangian faunal stage).  Only a handful of ichthyosaur species are known from the very Early Jurassic.

Dean’s discovery is significant and it is helping scientists to map the radiation and diversity of the Ichthyosauria during the Early Jurassic.  It is also the first time a species of this geological age has been found outside the counties of Somerset and Dorset.

Adding to Our Knowledge or Early Jurassic Marine Reptiles

Publishing in the “Journal of Systematic Palaeontology”, this new species will contribute to our understanding of ichthyosaur species diversity, and their geographical distribution after the End Triassic extinction phase.  Recently, Everything Dinosaur published an account of Sclerocormus parviceps, a basal ichthyosauriform from eastern China whose fossils are some fifty million years older than those of Wahlisaurus.  Sclerocormus indicates that marine fauna recovered relatively quickly after the devastation of the End Permian mass extinction event.

To read more about the bizarre whip-tailed, “Black Sheep of the ichthyosaur Family”: The “Black Sheep” of the Ichthyosaur Family.

Ichthyosaur Fossils Can be Found at Various Locations in the British Isles

The Nottingham ichthyosaur (P. applebyi).  Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Palaeontologist and curator at the New Walk Museum, Dr Mark Evans stated:

“Parts of the skeleton had previously been on long-term loan to Ichthyosaur specialist and former museum curator D. Robert Appleby, and had only returned to the museum in 2004 after he sadly passed away.  He was clearly intrigued by the specimen, and although he worked on it for many years, he had identified it as a previously known species but never published his findings.”

Dean has named the new species Wahlisaurus massarae in honour of two palaeontologists (Professor Judy Massare and Bill Wahl), who have contributed significantly to the study of ichthyosaurs, and who first introduced Dean to studying them.  It was Professor Massare who co-authored a scientific paper on a new species of marine reptile from the Lower Jurassic of West Dorset that led to a the naming of an Ichthyosaurus species in honour of the 19th Century fossil hunter Mary Anning.

To read an article about Ichthyosaurus anningae: New Ichthyosaurus Species Honours Mary Anning.

Commenting on how he was inspired over the choice of name for the Nottinghamshire specimen, Dean said:

“Both Judy and Bill have been tremendous mentors for me.  They have significantly contributed to palaeontology, especially the study of ichthyosaurs, and I cannot think of a better way to remember them by naming this new ichthyosaur in their honour.  Their names will be set in stone forever, pun intended!”

The First British Early Jurassic Ichthyosaur Since Excalibosaurus

W. massarae is the first new genus of ichthyosaur from the British Early Jurassic to be described since Excalibosaurus (E. costini) in 1986.  Excalibosaurus is known from two specimens found at a beach locality in Somerset, “Excalibur lizard” is named after the animal’s elongated snout (rostrum), that reminded the researchers of the magical sword associated with Arthurian legend.

A Model of Excalibosaurus (CollectA Excalibosarus Model)

The CollectA Excalibosaurus model.

To view models of ichthyosaurs such as Excalibosaurus (whilst stocks last):

A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented: CollectA Age of Dinosaurs Models.

“Hundreds of thousands of people will visit beaches around the United Kingdom over the next few weeks of summer, but very few will be aware of the rich ichthyosaur fossil heritage that such locations have.  The United Kingdom remains one of the world’s most important sites for Early Jurassic ichthyosaur discoveries and as the Nottinghamshire specimen proves, you don’t have to visit the seaside to find marine reptile fossils.”

This article has been compiled with reference to: “A new leptonectid Ichthyosaur from the Lower Jurassic (Hettangian) of Nottinghamshire, England, UK, and the taxonomic usefulness of the Ichthyosaurian coracoid”, by Dean Lomax, Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, 2016, published by Taylor & Francis Group.

Visit Everything Dinosaur’s website: Everything Dinosaur.