Nicolas Cage Agrees to Return Tarbosaurus bataar Dinosaur Skull to Mongolia

The film actor and producer Nicolas Cage, he of films such as “Lord of War” and “Con Air” has agreed to return a rare dinosaur skull back to the Mongolian Government.  The Oscar-winning actor purchased the skull back in 2007, unaware that the specimen he had bought was stolen.  The Upper Cretaceous cranial material is from an Asian tyrannosaur, Tarbosaurus bataar, a close relative of the famous North American dinosaur Tyrannosaurus rex.

Nicholas Cage Dinosaur Fan

At the time of the purchase, it was reported that Mr Cage had out-bid fellow Hollywood “A-lister” Leonardo DiCaprio for the mounted skull fossil.

A Mounted Tarbosaurus bataar Fossil Skeleton

Mounted Tarbosaurus Specimen.

Picture credit: Heritage Auctions

Mr Cage purchased the skull for $276,000 USD (£185,000 GBP) from a Beverley Hills gallery (I. M. Chait), he was subsequently issued with a certificate of authenticity by the gallery.  U.S. Customs officials have not accused the actor or the gallery of any wrong doing.

Contacted by the Department of Homeland Security

A publicist for Mr Cage, Alex Schack commented that the actor had been contacted last year by officials from the Department of Homeland Security and informed that the skull was most likely illegally smuggled out of Mongolia.  The removal of artefacts and other items of “cultural significance” has been outlawed in Mongolia for decades, in fact, we at Everything Dinosaur believe that this law was in place before T. bataar was officially named and described (1955).

The office of Preet Bharara, U.S. attorney in Manhattan, filed a civil forfeiture complaint last week to take formal possession of the tyrannosaur skull material.  Preet Bharara had acted in 2012 as the prosecutor in the case involving Florida resident Eric Prokopi, who was found guilty over the falsifying of import documents related to a Tarbosaurus fossil skeleton that he had arranged to ship into the United States.  Mr Prokopi was imprisoned for his actions but as part of his guilty plea he helped U.S. Customs recover a further seventeen dinosaur fossils that had been smuggled out of Mongolia.

The Tarbosaurus Fossil Auction

To read the original article on the auction of a Tarbosaurus dinosaur fossil: Tyrannosaurid Fossil Goes Up for Auction.

At the time this first article was posted (May 2012), Everything Dinosaur along with other vertebrate palaeontologists and dinosaur fans supported a petition to stop the auction taking place.

To read an article about the seizure of the Tarbosaurus specimen (June 2012): Seizing a Tyrannosaur!

The outcome of the case against Mr Eric Prokopi (December 2012): Florida Man Pleads Guilty in Dinosaur Smuggling Case.

The return of the Tarbosaurus fossil skeleton to Mongolia (May 2013): Dinosaur Fossils to be Handed Back to Mongolia.

Tarbosaurus bataar Apex Predator of Late Cretaceous Asia

Alarming Reptile – Mounted Skeleton sold at Auction led to a legal dispute.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

PNSO include a replica of a Tarbosaurus in their dinosaur model range: PNSO Dinosaur Models.

Dinosaur Skeletons in Auctions

It is unclear whether Mr Cage or his associates had any dealings with Mr Prokopi.  The I. M. Chait gallery has previously purchased and sold an illegally smuggled hadrosaurid dinosaur skeleton which had been procured from Mr Prokopi.

U.S. attorney, Preet Bharara had described Eric Prokopi as a “one-man black market in prehistoric fossils”, but we at Everything Dinosaur suspect things are very different.  Sadly, the practice of smuggling fossils and other rare and precious objects out of Asian, South American and African countries is relatively common place.   A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur stated:

“Whilst we are delighted to hear that dinosaur fossils are being returned to their country of origin, so long as there are people prepared to pay vast sums for fossils, so the smuggling racket will continue.  There will always be a black market in fossils and it’s not just the “headliners” like dinosaur skulls that concern us, we shudder to think how many Christmas fossil gifts purchased on line in all innocence have their origins in the murky world of falsifying documents, fossil smuggling and the black market.”

Tarbosaurus bataar Compared to Tyrannosaurus rex

The table published below provides a comparison between these Late Cretaceous tyrannosaurids:

Tarbosaurus bataar Compared to Tyrannosaurus rex

A tale of the tape for two tyrannosaurids.

Table credit: Everything Dinosaur

Well Mr Cage, here’s one “National Treasure” heading home to its rightful owners.

Computer Simulations, Penguins, Plesiosaurs and Underwater Flight

Recently, Everything Dinosaur published an article on a fascinating piece of research published in the academic journal “PLOS Computational Biology” which focused on how plesiosaurs propelled themselves through the water.  The paper had been written by researchers at the School of Interactive Computing, (Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA) with the collaboration of Dr Adam Smith (Nottingham Natural History Museum, Wollaton Hall, Nottinghamshire).

Plesiosaur Swimming Speed

A three-dimensional model of a plesiosaur based on the Early Jurassic Meyerasaurus was used to examine how this marine reptile might have swam.  The computer simulations implied a forelimb dominated approach with the hind-limbs having a likely role not in active locomotion but in manoeuvring and stability.

Recently Published Paper Tackles How Plesiosaurs Moved in Water

The most effective swimming motion for the plesiosaur is flapping the two front flippers in an underwater flight motion

Picture credit: Royal Tyrrell Museum/Sabrowski/CP

In essence, these extinct reptiles may have “flown” through the water in the same way that extant penguins and turtles do today.

Swimming Plesiosaurs

One point team members at Everything Dinosaur picked up on was the velocities recorded during computer simulations of different limb configurations and different ranges of movement within the joints.  The speeds seemed remarkably low to us, especially when one considers how robust some of the limb bones of plesiosaurs seem to be.  A few weeks ago, team members were allowed to view some fossil bones from a plesiosaur that had been excavated over a series of dives off the coast of Dorset.  The humerus (upper arm bone) in particular was most impressive and it obviously came from a large and powerful swimmer.

Swimming Speeds Recorded in the 3-D Study

Rear flippers don’t seem to contribute much to velocity.

Picture credit: Liu at el/PLOS Computational Biology

The bar graph above shows the speed of the best motions that were found by the optimisation for each of the joint ranges (narrow, medium, wide).  They do not correspond to the maximum swimming speed likely to be achieved by a plesiosaur, although previous studies involving the plesiosaur genus used as the basis for the three-dimensional model (Meyerasaurus), suggested a swimming speed of around 0.4 metres/second.

Dr Smith Provides Clarification

We expressed our surprise with regards to the velocity cited in this research and emailed Adam Smith asking him to clarify the readings obtained.  Dr Smith email swiftly back explaining:

“The speeds we reported are not estimates of maximum swimming speeds.  We used speed only as a way to compare efficiency of simulations using all limbs versus simulations using just one pair of limbs (using identical joint ranges).  Comparison between simulations under *different* joint ranges are meaningless because all the simulations have the same beat frequency.  This is why the simulations with wider ranges are faster – the limbs move further in the same amount of time.”

The focus of this particular piece of research, the utilisation of state-of-the-art computer modelling to examine the locomotion of a Plesiosaur whose fossilised remains come from Lower Jurassic strata located in Germany, was on the range of motion of the limbs, calculating the maximum speed of the animal did not come within the parameters of the research brief.

Dr Smith added:

“If we put more energy into the simulations [by increasing the frequency of the limb beats] then they would certainly move more rapidly.  However, we wanted to ensure that our swimming motions were biologically possible, so we made sure the beat frequency was quite conservative.”

The Plesiosaur Clade (Plesiosauria)

The plesiosaur clade (Plesiosauria) consists of a very wide variety of prehistoric creatures ranging in size from around 1.5 metres in length to more than 15 metres long.  Swimming speeds are likely to have varied amongst species with different swimming abilities being consistent with different forms of feeding and hunting strategies.

To determine the maximum velocity of these creatures would involve calculating the muscle mass of a number of different sized individuals and looking at the influence on forward speed of different speeds of limb movement within a framework of what was biologically possible.  In addition, the metabolism of the animal would have to be considered.

Papo have a number of marine reptiles in their model range including a Plesiosaurus figure: Papo Marine Reptile and Dinosaur Models.

Estimating Maximum Velocity

Dr Smith explained that estimating the maximum velocity of a plesiosaur was beyond the scope of this project but he teased:

“Maybe a future research project!”

Perhaps, we will have the answer one day to the theoretical question, how close to the beach would you have to be to allow you to escape before a large predatory marine reptile caught up with you?

How Much of a Head Start Would You Have Needed?

A scale drawing of a Pliosaurus. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

To read the recent article which highlighted the research into the locomotion of plesiosaurs: Computer Simulations, Penguins, Plesiosaurs and Underwater Flight.

Plesiosaurs “Flew” Through the Water Like Penguins

Plesiosaurs roamed the seas for much of the Mesozoic.  The fossil record demonstrates that this group of long-necked, round-bodied marine reptiles were highly successful, with a global distribution and a geological record of some 135 million years or so.  However, ever since Mary Anning discovered the “sea dragon”, plesiosaur fossil at Lyme Regis in 1823, scientists have puzzled over how these animals actually moved through the water.

Studying Plesiosaurs

A team of scientists including Dr Adam Smith (Nottingham Natural History Museum, Wollaton Hall), have used computer modelling to recreate plesiosaur locomotion.  It turns out that these extinct creatures most likely used their two front flippers to effectively “fly” through the water, much in the same way as penguins and turtles do today.

Scientists Use a Computer Simulation to Unravel the “Flight” of a Plesiosaur

The most effective swimming motion for the plesiosaur is flapping the two front flippers in an underwater flight motion.

Picture credit: Liu et al. 

The Plesiosaurians

Plesiosaurs are part of the Sauropterygia, taxonomically a Superorder which was defined by Richard Owen in 1860 and encompasses a diverse range of marine reptiles such as the nothosaurs, the Pistosauroidea and the Plesiosauria.  Although the Sauropterygia consist of a myriad of marine reptiles with many different bauplans (body plans), they are united by having a modified pectoral girdle designed to provide support for the powerful strokes of the front flippers.

It seems that in some of the Plesiosauria at least, this modified pectoral girdle and other anatomical adaptations permitted these animals to swim primarily with the forelimbs, using an unmodified flight stroke to “fly” through the water.

A Long Evolutionary History

Throughout that long evolutionary history of the plesiosaurs,  a unique body plan with two pairs of large, wing-like flippers was maintained, but just how these animals propelled themselves through the water has remained a controversial subject.   In this new study, published in the open access publication “PLOS Computational Biology” the researchers adopted a novel approach using a digital, three-dimensional, articulated computer model to simulate the actions of this type of marine reptile swimming.

A large number of simulations were conducted to test the efficiency of various swimming methods and the team concluded that within the biologically possible range of limb motion, the simulated plesiosaur moved primarily with its forelimbs using an unmodified underwater flight stroke, in essence, the same locomotion method found in extant penguins and turtles.

Plesiosaurs “Flew” in the Water Like Penguins

A replica of a long-necked plesiosaur swims into view.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Using a Computer Model

Surprisingly, the computer model demonstrated that the rear flippers flapping added little to the forward speed of the plesiosaur studied.  Instead, the back flippers of plesiosaurs were probably used for steering and stability, a sort of underwater version of rear wheel steer and front wheel drive.

The researchers involved in the study were Shiqiu Liu, Yuting Gu, Jie Tan, C. Karen Liu and Greg Turk from the School of Interactive Computing, (Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia) along with palaeontologist Dr. Adam Smith (Nottingham Natural History Museum, Wollaton Hall).

Commenting on the study, Dr Smith stated:

“Plesiosaur swimming has remained a mystery for almost 200 years, so it was exciting to see the plesiosaur come alive on the computer screen.  Our results show that the front limbs provide the powerhouse for plesiosaur propulsion while the hind limbs are more passive”.

A Bar Chart Comparing the Forward Speeds Achieved in the Simulation

Rear flippers don’t seem to contribute much to velocity.

Chart credit: Liu at el/PLOS Computational Biology

Plesiosaur Velocity

In the table above the velocity of a typical plesiosaur was calculated over a series of joint ranges (wide, medium and narrow).  Measurements were taken when forelimb-only flapping, hind-limb-only flapping and both pairs of limbs together were flapped.  Note that the forward speed in the forelimb-only tests are superior or broadly equivalent to the velocity achieved when both pairs of limbs moved together.  When hind-limb-only optimisations were tested the speed was greatly reduced.

Interestingly, these swimming speeds are relatively slow given the length of time these creatures had to evolve.  Elite human athletes can swim at around two metres per second for short periods.  Although plesiosaurs are likely to be much more agile in water than a person, the velocity recorded in the computer simulation is much lower than we, at Everything Dinosaur would have expected.  Most fish would have easily been able to swim faster, perhaps, as most palaeontologists predict, that long neck holds the key to the hunting strategy of the plesiosaurs.

Plesiosaurs and Marine Reptile Models

The CollectA Prehistoric Life model range contains several plesiosaur models: CollectA Prehistoric Life Models.

The species used as the template for the computer model was Meyerasaurus victor, known from the Lower Jurassic of Germany.  This small (3.5 metre long), plesiosaur is known from an almost complete articulated skeleton which is on display at the Natural History Museum of Stuttgart (Germany).  Meyerasaurus had a typical body plan amongst the Plesiosauria, with a moderately long neck, so it was considered to be an ideal candidate to represent the clade.

The research team  hopes to modify their computer programme to assess how the rear flippers helped in the manoeuvrability of these marine reptiles.  Just how agile were plesiosaurs in water?  The computer model can also be used to better understand the swimming motion of other prehistoric animals such as the short-necked plesiosaurs – the pliosaurs.

A Surrey Pliosaur

To read a recently published article about a Surrey pliosaur specimen that links Dorking to Kansas: Pliosaur Skull Links Dorking to Kansas.

Everything Dinosaur acknowledges the help of the press release from the Georgia Institute of Technology and Dr Adam Smith in the production of this article.

Ischioceratops zhuchengensis – Potentially a New Leptoceratopsid

A team of international scientists including researchers from the Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology (Beijing), the Chicago Field Museum and the Zhucheng Dinosaur Museum, (Zhucheng, Shandong Province, China) have published a paper on the fossilised bones of a Late Cretaceous leptoceratopsid, one that although scientifically named may turn out to be further material that ends up assigned to Zhuchengceratops.

Ischioceratops zhuchengensis

This new dinosaur has been named Ischioceratops zhuchengensis but as the fossils were found at about the same stratigraphic level as the holotype material assigned to Zhuchengceratops, Ischioceratops may end up as a junior synonym of Zhuchengceratops inexpectus.  Let’s explain.

A New Leptoceratopsid

The Holotype Material of Ischioceratops zhuchengensis 

Left lateral view (A), line drawing (B) and skeletal placement (C).

Picture credit: PLOS One

The picture above shows the fossil material used to describe and name this new genus of the family Leptoceratopsidae.  The fossils found include the right femur (thigh bone), plus the lower leg bones from the right hind limb (tibia and fibula), along with the anterior portion of the tail (articulated tail bones), a complete sacrum, both halves of the pelvis and a number of ossified tendons.

Although a only a portion of the skeleton representing a single individual has been found, and it is from the animals backside, not to put too fine a point on it, the morphology of the bones, especially those bow shaped ischia have enabled scientists to firstly, confidently assign these fossils to the Leptoceratopsidae family and secondly to erect a new genus for this Chinese dinosaur.

A Dorsal (Top Down) View of the Fossil Material

A top down view of the fossil material with the left ischium ringed in the photograph and highlighted in the line drawing.

Picture credit: PLOS One

The picture above shows the unique shape of the ischia (a pair of bones that make up part of the pelvic girdle.  The bone is curved sharply towards the proximial end of the bone (part of the bone closest to the animal’s trunk).  In the photograph above the left ischium in the photograph has been ringed and in the line drawing opposite the same bone has been highlighted.

Although there has been some distortion and displacement as part of the fossilisation process the research team are confident that is the shape of the actual bone and therefore they have erected a new genus.

Assigning a Leptoceratopsid to a New Genus

Naturally, with such a unique autapomorphy (distinctive anatomical feature) associated with the ischia, it is only appropriate to name this new dinosaur after this feature.  Hence the name Ischioceratops zhuchengensis (this means ischium horn-face from Zhucheng), the trivial name honours the fossil find location, the city of Zhucheng, in the south-east of Shandong Province.

Assigning the Fossils to a New Genus based on the Ischia

Ossified tendons indicate a member of the Ornithischia and the shape of the actual bones suggests that this animal was an example of a leptoceratopsid. Those never-seen-before ischia have resulted in the erection of a new genus.  No other dinosaur known* has a pelvic bone quite shaped like these two, therefore the research team felt confident that a new dinosaur could be added to the fold.

Left Side Views of Other Ornithischian Dinosaurs Compared to Ischioceratops

Note line drawings are not to scale.

Picture credit: PLOS One with modification and additional annotation by Everything Dinosaur

The picture above shows a number of line drawings of the left ischium of a number of well-known ornithischian (bird-hipped), dinosaurs.  Although more closely related to the ceratopsians listed (E to F) than to the other bird-hipped dinosaurs included in the diagram, the unique shape of the ischium of Ischioceratops can clearly be seen.  It is on this basis, that the dinosaur fossils, currently part of the collection of the Zhucheng Dinosaur Museum have led to the establishment of a new dinosaur genus.

The fossil material has been dated to the Late Cretaceous (72 million years ago to 66 million years ago approximately – Maastrichtian faunal stage) and based on the femur length of around 29 centimetres, in comparison to the femur length of the related Brachyceratops, Everything Dinosaur estimate that this plant-eating dinosaur was around 1.8 to 2 metres long.

The Fly in the Ointment – An Uneasy Feeling in our Hip Pocket

Unique morphology, so far so good for Ischioceratops, but there may be a problem to the establishment of this new dinosaur name.  The site where the fossils were found, known as the Kugou quarry has yielded a great quantity of vertebrate fossil bones, including other ceratopsids.  Back in 2010, another new leptoceratopsid dinosaur was named from the Kugou quarry location – Zhuchengceratops (Z. inexpectus).

These fossils were found at the same level in the strata as the newly named Ischioceratops.

Ischioceratops zhuchengensis and Zhuchengceratops inexpectus

Sadly, the fossil material ascribed to Zhuchengceratops (ribs, vertebrae, skull, jaw bone etc.) represent bones from the front of the animal.  Ischioceratops and Zhuchengceratops do not have any overlapping fossil bones to allow a direct comparison to be made.  Therefore, it is possible that the fossils found and described as a new genus could represent the back end of the already described Zhuchengceratops.

The authors of the scientific paper acknowledge this potential threat to their new dinosaur.  Hopefully, future fossil discoveries will settle the argument and we will know for sure whether Ischioceratops and Zhuchengceratops are two different, but closely related dinosaurs that co-existed or whether  Ischioceratops is a junior synonym of Zhuchengceratops.

PNSO have included a wide variety of horned dinosaurs including basal members of the Ceratopsia in their model range: PNSO Age of Dinosaurs.

What Does the Term “Junior Synonym” Mean?

A synonym is another name for an item, a synonym is a word that means exactly the same as another word in the same language.  It comes from the ancient Greek for “with word”.  When it comes to erecting new taxa, the first name used to describe the organism becomes the senior synonym and any other names coined afterwards are referred to as the junior synonyms.  In this instance, should further fossil discoveries prove that Ischioceratops and Zhuchengceratops are indeed the same dinosaur, then Zhuchengceratops (first coined in 2010) will become the senior synonym and Ischioceratops (2015) will become the junior synonym.

No other dinosaur known* – the bow shaped ischia could end up being assigned to Zhuchengceratops.   Ischioceratops and Zhuchengceratops could be conspecific (the same species).

To read a recently published article about the discovery of leptoceratopsid fossil material from the eastern United States: Leptoceratopsidae from Appalachia in the Spotlight.

Lower Jurassic Fossils Lead to Chinese Road Hold Ups

Chinese news agencies have released some remarkable photographs showing the preserved remains of two types of Early Jurassic herbivorous dinosaur, whose fossils have been found during a road building project in Yunnan Province (south-western China).  The dinosaurs have been identified as two different species within the Lufengosaurus genus, in fact, Lufengosaurus has only two recognised species within the genus, it is quite unusual to find examples of the same genera in such close proximity.  These fossils were found less than five hundred metres apart. It is a case of Lufengosaurus fossils holding up road building.

Lufengosaurus Fossils

Once the construction workers had realised that they had stumbled across some dinosaur bones, palaeontologists from the Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology (Beijing) were called in and the fossils were carefully excavated.  The picture above shows the preserved rear end of Lufengosaurus magus.  The hind limbs, dorsal area and the anterior portion of the tail have been preserved in almost perfect articulation.  A spokesperson for the Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology explained that measurements of the hind limbs and tail bones suggest that this dinosaur would have been around nine metres in length.

Early Jurassic Prosauropods

The Lufengosaurus magus material consists of three sacral vertebrae, rib bones, the pelvis, thirteen dorsal vertebrae, tail bones and the complete hind legs.   The other Lufengosaurus material, assigned to the smaller of the two species L. huenei consists of elements of the leg bones, dorsal vertebrae and two tail bones from the anterior end of the tail.

How to Preserve the Fossils?

The Director of the Department for Geological Heritage Protection at the Lufeng Land Resources Bureau stated that a museum might be built over the site to preserve the fossils in situ.  This could mean that the road that was being built could end up being diverted.

Lufengosaurus Profile

Although a number of media reports suggest that the fossils are about 180 million years old, team members at Everything Dinosaur suspect that the fossils are at least fifteen million years older.  Lufengosaurus was a long-necked, bipedal plant-eating dinosaur with a small head, a large, round body and the hind limbs were bigger, longer and more robust than the forelimbs.  Regarded as a prosauropod, debate surrounds this dinosaur as to whether or not it is very closely related to the European prosauropod Plateosaurus.  Other writers have suggested that this dinosaur may be more closely related to Massopondylus.  CollectA made a very good quality replica of this dinosaur.  This was introduced into the “Prehistoric World” range of not to scale models in 2012.

To see the Lufengosaurus model and other replicas in the “Prehistoric World” range: CollectA Prehistoric Life Dinosaur Models.

The CollectA Lufengosaurus Model

The CollectA Lufengosaurus model.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

To view the range of prehistoric animal figures and replicas available from Everything Dinosaur: Prehistoric Animal Models and Figures.