Scientists Explore how Psittacosaurus Changed as it Grew

Commenting on his painstaking research work, the now qualified Dr Zhao stated:

“Some of the bones from baby Psittacosaurus were only a few millimetres across, so I had to handle them extremely carefully to be able to make useful bone sections.  I also had to be sure to cause as little damage to these valuable specimens as possible.”

Special Permission from the IVPP

With special permission from the IVPP,  the student sectioned two arm and two leg bones from sixteen individual dinosaurs, ranging in age from less than one year to ten years old, a fully grown adult animal.  He did the intricate sectioning work in a special palaeo-histology laboratory in Bonn, Germany, with the assistance and support of Professor Martin Sander of Bonn University.

The youngest specimens, those representing individuals around twelve months in age had long arms and relatively short back legs.  This suggest that these dinosaurs would have walked on all fours.  Analysis of the bone sections indicated that the arm bones were growing at their fastest when these reptiles were between one and three years of age.  From then on, the arm growth slowed and the hind legs showed a massive growth spurt, resulting in the hind limbs growing to nearly twice the length of the fore limbs.  The hind legs took over the role of locomotion, the adults could have ambled about on all fours if they wanted to (facultative quadrupeds).

A Change in Locomotion as these Dinosaurs Matured

Picture credit: Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology

Professor Xing Xu of the Beijing Institute, one of Dr Zhao’s thesis supervisors, stated:

“This is a remarkable study, the first of its kind, it shows how much information is locked in the bones of dinosaurs.  We are delighted the study worked so well, and see many ways to use these new methods to understand even more about the astonishing lives of the dinosaurs.”

Professor Mike Benton of the University of Bristol, whom team members at Everything Dinosaur have met on several occasions, and Dr Zhao’s other PhD supervisor, added:

“These kinds of studies can also throw light on the evolution of a dinosaur like Psittacosaurus.   Having four-legged babies and juveniles suggests that at some time in their ancestry, both juveniles and adults were also four-legged, and Psittacosaurus and dinosaurs in general became secondarily bipedal.”

Asking Intriguing Questions

This study does ask a number of intriguing questions.  Psittacosaurus is regarded as a basal member of the Marginocephalia, a group of ornithischian dinosaurs that would give rise to the pachycephalosaurs and the ceratopsians.  Many of the early horned dinosaurs (dinosaurs that were ancestral to giants such as Styracosaurus and Triceratops), were lithe, agile, bipedal dinosaurs, animals like Archaeoceratops and Liaoceratops.

It was only as larger genera evolved that these animals became quadrupeds.  If Psittacosaurus evolved from a type of ornithopod then it is worth noting that ornithopods such as iguanodonts suggest that these animals as youngsters were bipedal, as they matured, they adopted a four-footed stance, the opposite of what is being seen with the psittacosaur fossil material.

The exact taxonomic relationship between Early Cretaceous ornithischian dinosaurs remains unclear, perhaps fossil material ascribed to the Barremian faunal stage of the Early Cretaceous and believed to represent a new genus of iguanodontid with some advanced skull characteristics could provide further clues.

Evidence of Baby Dinosaurs – Pachyrhinosaurus perotorum

Over the last few years a number of dinosaur discoveries from Upper Cretaceous sediments from well inside the Arctic Circle have provided palaeontologists with some remarkable data regarding dinosaurs living at high latitudes.

When asked to conjure up images of dinosaur fossil discoveries, most people might think of the Badlands of the western United States or the dusty, arid, inland areas of Mongolia, the frozen, bitterly cold wastes of Alaska do not readily spring to mind.  However, a team of researchers from the Perot Museum of Nature and Science (Dallas, Texas), have been busy working their way through over ten tonnes of fossil material excavated from a site more than two hundred miles inside the Arctic Circle and they have been rewarded with the discovery of evidence of a juvenile dinosaur.

Juvenile Pachyrhinosaurus

A new species of Pachyrhinosaurus was named and described by Perot Museum scientists back in 2011 from a bone bed consisting of at least eleven individual specimens excavated from a quarry associated with the Prince Creek Formation (Upper Cretaceous).  This new type of horned dinosaur was named Pachyrhinosaurus perotorum, the third species to be assigned to the Pachyrhinosaurus genus.

To read more about this discovery: New Species of Pachyrhinosaurus Announced.

In addition to finding fossils of adults, the scientists have identified portions of the skull from a juvenile.  The presence of such a young dinosaur so far north suggests that far from migrating north each year to take advantage of the long days and good feeding opportunities the extra daylight brought, some dinosaurs may have been permanent residents coping with the harsh, cold winters at high latitudes.

Horned Dinosaur Fossil

Elements from the skull of the juvenile came from the same bone bed where the adult material was found.  The site is known as the Kikak-Tegoseak Quarry and the rocks in this area represent material deposited by rivers, the strata has been dated to approximately 69 million years of age (Early Maastrichtian faunal stage).

North Alaska today is approximately 1,500 miles from the North Pole, however, back in the Late Cretaceous it was much closer, about 350 miles away, although the temperature was much warmer than today.  Snow would have fallen occasionally but the landscape was dominated by extensive conifer forests with an understorey of hardy flowering plants and ferns.  During that part of the year, when the North Pole faces the sun there would have been constant daylight.  However, when the North Pole tilts away from the sun, northern Alaska would have endured the best part of four months in total darkness.

A Museum Quality Reconstruction of a Pachyrhinosaurus Specimen

PNSO Brian the Pachyrhinosaurus dinosaur model.

To view models and replicas of Pachyrhinosaurus and other ceratopsians: PNSO Age of Dinosaurs Figures.

The field team organised the removal and transport of the large amount of fossil material, transporting it by air and road to the preparation laboratory at the Dallas-based museum.  Dr Tykoski, the member of staff responsible for the fossil preparation work and his colleagues set about removing the fossils from the surrounding rock.  The discovery of the juvenile dinosaur fossil material was made last  year, when Dr Tykoski was working on a block of sediment about the size of a football.

Skull Elements

The fossils represent elements from the skull, an incomplete nasal bone.  Fortunately, one of the key diagnostic features of this species of Pachyrhinosaurus is the area of skull represented by the nasal bone.  The immature, juvenile specimen has a small, narrow, hardened patch on its snout, whilst in mature animals this area of the skull thickens into a large and bumpy boss.  It has been suggested that these hardened and very thick parts of the skull were used in intra-specific head-butting contests between adults.

This newly described specimen, reported in a paper published in the online academic journal “PLoS One”, shows a mix of features in the nasal bone that helps palaeontologists to assess how skull characteristics of Ceratopsian dinosaurs changed as the animal grew.  The specimen consists of an incomplete nasal bone that includes the rearward part of the nasal horn, the dorsal surface between the horn and the left-side contacts for the prefrontal and frontal bones, and some of the left side of the rostrum behind and slightly underneath in relation to the nasal horn.

The combination of morphologies in the new specimen suggests either an additional stage of development should be recognized in the ontogeny (growth and development) of the nasal boss of Pachyrhinosaurus, or that the ontogenetic pathway of nasal boss development in P. perotorum was notably different from that of other species within the Pachyrhinosaurus genus.

How the Skull Features of P. perotorum Grew and Developed

How a baby P. perotorum grew up.

Picture credit: Perot Museum of Nature and Science

Pachyrhinosaurus perotorum

A series of Pachyrhinosaurus perotorum skulls (on the left) and stylized life reconstructions (on the right) at three (of a proposed six) different life stages.  Stage 2 skull is based on juveniles of the closely related species Pachyrhinosaurus lakustai from southern Alberta.  The Stage 4 skull represents a ‘partially grown’ or ‘early adolescent’ individual, based on the new specimen (DMNH 21460) discovered in 2012 by the museum preparation team.  The Stage 6 skull is that of a mature adult, based on DMNH 22558, a nearly complete Pachyrhinosaurus perotorum skull described by Fiorillo and Tykoski in 2012 and currently on public exhibit in the Perot Museum of Nature and Science.

The ‘fleshed-out’ reconstructions are based on previously published ideas of Pachyrhinosaurus skin structures, but modified to reflect new information revealed by the new specimen (DMNH 21460).  Light tan indicates ‘normal’ skin, while dark brown indicates cornified (= thickened, hardened, horn-tissue-covered) scales, horns, sheaths, or other cornified tissue.  Scale bar equals 50 cm.

A Juvenile Specimen

Commenting on the discovery of juvenile Pachyrhinosaurus mateial Dr Tykoski stated:

“After a couple weeks of working on it, our question was ‘what on earth is this?’  It had features on it that looked like the big adult skull of the Pachyrhinosaurus perotorum that we had originally found, yet it was very narrow and skinny and didn’t have the big expanded nose of the adult.  After ruling out all of the possibilities through the process of elimination, we realised this was a juvenile specimen.  This provided us a snapshot in the development of the species – and that’s not common – so this was a very exciting moment for us.”

The finding of this juvenile specimen in and amongst the fossils of several adult animals has important ramifications.  This suggests that either very young animals migrated northwards, or perhaps they may have been born somewhere on route to the feeding grounds.  It also opens up the possibility that at least one species of large, herbivorous dinosaur was so at home in the harsh Alaskan environment that they were able to breed there and that they were perhaps permanent residents.

The Perot Museum of Nature and Science has already organised a number of return expeditions to North Alaska and the team have plans to study other likely fossil-bearing sites in a bid to learn more about these Late Cretaceous dinosaurs.

Three Different Species

At present, there are three different species of pachyrhinosaurs known, the last to be described was the Perot Museum’s North Alaskan discovery in 2011.  The species are differentiated by different morphologies on the skull.

An Illustration Showing the Differences in Skull Morphology of Pachyrhinosaurus species.

Three species of pachyrhinosaur have been described to date.

Picture credit: Perto Museum of Science and Nature

Everything Dinosaur acknowledges the help of the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in the compilation of this article.

Ancient Horse Bone Yields Oldest Sequence of DNA Known to Science

A team of international researchers have been able to sequence a substantial portion of the genome of an ancestral horse from a leg bone of a horse that roamed about in Canada some 700,000 years ago.  This research sheds light on the evolution of the Equine family and dramatically extends the known limit of DNA survival.  DNA material has been recovered from other Pleistocene aged fossils, those of Cave Bears (Ursus spelaeus), Mastodons and Mammoths but this DNA recovery is from a sample more than half a million years older than other material successfully studied to date.

Ancient Horse Bone

The study has just been published in the academic journal “Nature” the fossilised leg bone was part of a collection of horse fossils preserved in the Canadian permafrost of the Yukon.  The fossils were found at a location known as Thistle Creek (west-central Yukon Territory)

The fossils are estimated to be around 735,000 years old (Mid Pleistocene), and the fifteen centimetre long leg bone which was used in the DNA study, is part of a collection excavated out of the cold, hard permafrost back in 2003.  Leg bones, being relatively thick and robust have a greater potential for preserving organic material within them than smaller more fragile bone material.

Ancient Genetic Material Recovered from a Horse Fossil

Picture credit: D.G. Froese/Nature Journal

Extracting DNA

In a recent study, the leg bones of 158 Moas (extinct, giant flightless birds), were used to develop a framework for estimating the half-life of DNA.  This controversial research from New Zealand suggested a half-life of DNA at just 521 years.  The scientists involved with this study programme calculated that fragments of DNA could survive in perfect preservation conditions for perhaps as long as 6.8 million years, but analysis of this highly unstable, ancient material would probably prove impossible.  This new study of DNA related to Equus (horses), may not be 6.8 million years old but the ancient horse leg bone has yielded the most ancient DNA sequence know to science thus far.

To read more about the study of genetic material in Moa bones: Controversial Research Proposes a Half-Life for DNA.

Finding Organic Molecules

Ludovic Orlando, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Copenhagen and one of the co-authors of the scientific paper, explained that the team wanted to determine whether there might be any biological molecules left in this sample.  The first step was to try to identify any evidence of amino acids that would have constituted any collagen (protein found in bone), within the specimens studied.  Once the team had established that there were these proteins present, the researchers moved on in their analysis with the aim of trying to extract DNA from the ancient horse’s leg bone.

Recently, a team of scientists from Manchester University were able to identify an animal from fragments of tibia (leg bone) found in the Yukon.  The fossil bone fragments, much older than the horse fossils (dated to around 3.5 million years ago), were found to belong to a type of ancient camel.

The Manchester-based team were able to make this conclusion by tracing minute amounts of collagen in the fossilised bone and then de-coding it to see how closely it resembled the collagen found in living species.  The technique is referred to as “collagen fingerprinting”.  However, Ludovic Orlando and his colleagues were able to go further and to identify a quantity of genetic material within their sample, allowing them to sequence about seventy percent of this ancient horse’s genome.

Equus Genetic Material

Although for the majority of their 700,000 years of incarceration the horse fossils were protected from liquid water (ground water present in a fossil matrix can speed up the breakdown of organic material) and biological contaminants, the scientists were able to identify from climate change studies that the area in which the fossils had been found had thawed out on several occasions.  However, some of the Equus genetic material had still been preserved.

Of the twelve billion or so DNA molecules identified most were from bacteria that had populated the bone after the horse had died.  However, using DNA from the modern horse species as reference markers, the researchers were able to identify “endogenous DNA”, genetic material from the ancient horse itself.

From the detailed analysis of the organic material, the scientists were able to identify about 3% of the total “pool of organic data” as being horse DNA, that’s about 40 million DNA molecules.

Dr Orlando described this finding as:

“A bit of horse DNA in an ocean of microbial DNA.”

Multi-national Team of Researchers

The multi-national team of researchers pulverised a fragment of the bone to recover its DNA, then subjected it to high-throughput, next-generation gene sequencing to unravel the blueprint of this ancient horse, which team members at Everything Dinosaur have nick-named “Old Ned”, a reference to the theme to the television series “Steptoe and Son”, father and son rag and bone men who owned a horse.

A survey of the recovered DNA sequence looking for specific material in the genes known as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) has enabled the scientists to estimate past population sizes.  It seems that over the last two million years or so, the horse family has experienced a number of significant population declines and then population explosions.  Analysis of climate change data shows that there is a close match between rising horse numbers and improving (warmer) climate.

The location of the genetic differences between the ancient and modern horses also provided tantalising clues into some of the possible consequences of these genetic differences, Dr Orlando went onto explain:

“Once you have the genome, one thing you can do is to actually look at different genes that we know today are important for different traits.  What we’ve learned for example is the alleles that prime to the racing performance in domestics were not present at that time.”

Commenting on the wider implications of the study, co-author Eske Willerslev of the University of Copenhagen stated:

“Pushing back the time barrier is important because it has implications for our evolutionary understanding of anything from Hominins to other animals, because we can look further back in time than people have done previously.”

Everything Dinosaur Comments

A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur stated:

“Ten years ago, such developments in extracting viable genetic material from such fossil material was simply not possible, next generation sequencing technology has completely revised our expectations.  If DNA can be identified from fossil material more than 700,000 years old, then this widens the net for scientists as they seek to retrieve more genetic data from fossils.”

This branch of genetics is certainly leading to a whole range of new and exciting developments, not least of which is a more complete understanding of the evolution of extant types of horse – all 4 million years of it.  The fossil material from the Yukon is an example of a “rocking horse” that could well have “rocked” our understanding of the ability of organic material to survive fossilisation.

Study of Homo erectus Fossils Suggest that Early Hominins Had the Ability to Use Projectile Weapons

Our shoulder joints are effectively a loose fitting “ball and socket” joint.  The shoulder joints in humans have given our arms great manoeuvrability and mobility.  However, as a relatively loose fitting joint with a large degree of motion, injuries can occur.

The Shoulder Joint

The ability to use our arms and shoulders to throw an object, something like a roughly shaped spear, could have enhanced our ancestor’s ability to hunt game.  The addition of more meat into their diet would have enabled them to grow larger bodies, develop bigger brains and to raise more offspring, thanks to better, protein rich nutrition.  Research by a team of scientists from George Washington and Harvard universities (United States), suggests that shoulders capable of hurling an object at speed evolved some two million years ago.

The research paper, published in the academic journal “Nature” proposes that Homo erectus evolved the ability to throw.

Homo erectus

H. erectus was a long-lived species of hominid.  It evolved around two million years ago and survived at least until about 300,000 years ago, this makes it the longest surviving species of hominid known to science.  These ancient hominids evolved in Africa but spread into south-eastern Europe and Asia.  Although very different looking to modern humans with their long, low skulls and distinctive brow ridges they used fire and made sophisticated stone tools.  Intriguingly, they were the first species along the human branch of the hominid family tree to live environments outside their African savannah homelands.  Their brains were also considerably bigger than earlier human ancestors.

Could the ability to hunt using throwing spears have enabled Homo erectus to master new environments?

Homo erectus – The First Hominid Species to be Able to Throw a Projectile?

Early hominid with a strong throwing arm?

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

For models and replicas of prehistoric animals and early hominids: Bullyland Prehistoric Life Models.

Use of Stop-motion Photography

The American research team used stop-motion photography to capture the range of movement and muscle action when college athletes were involved in throwing activities.  They then compared their studies with the anatomy of chimpanzees.  The team discovered that humans have the ability to throw at very high speeds, much faster than our closest living relative, the chimpanzee.   Professional athletes can reach speeds in excess of ninety miles per hour, whilst chimps, although with stronger arms and superior grip strength, they can only reach throwing speeds of twenty miles per hour.

The bio-mechanics of the throw action was analysed and it was observed that the shoulder performs like a sling-shot as the arm rotates backwards.

The Evolution of Our Ability to Throw

The shoulder joint, our most mobile joint.

Picture credit: Neil Roach

The picture above shows that the maximum shoulder rotation (pictured middle) is when elastic energy is able to power the throw.

Store Elastic Energy

The ligaments and tendons surrounding the shoulder then stretch and store elastic energy, which powers the forward throw.  When this energy is released it generates what scientists found was the fastest motion the human body produces.

Neil Roach, (George Washington University) who led the study, stated that the changes in the anatomy of early humans enabled energy storage in the shoulder that permitted fast throwing.  From this evidence it could be implied that more effective hunting methods could have come about.

He went onto add:

“Success at hunting allowed our ancestors to become part-time carnivores, eating more calorie-rich meat and fat and dramatically improving the quality of their diet.  This dietary change led to seismic shifts in our ancestors’ biology, allowing them to grow larger bodies, larger brains, and to have more children, and it also did interesting things to our social structure.  We start to see the origins of divisions of labour around that time, where some would be hunting, others would be gathering new foods.  It probably also allowed us to move to new environments, such as areas that did not have vegetation to support us before we had the ability to hunt.”

The Throwing Action

Professor Daniel Lieberman, (Harvard University) declared that for him the most fascinating aspect of this research was that half the power the humans generate from the throwing action comes from elastic energy stored in the shoulder muscles.

He commented:

“That’s not a by-product of evolution for something else, it’s clearly an adaptation.  There were shifts in our anatomy that enabled us to throw accurately, so we want to understand better just what those early hunting challenges were.”

With no evidence of spears having been found in the earliest fossils of H. erectus, this interpretation of fossil material by the American team has raised a few eyebrows (or should that be brow ridges).  Other scientists, including those that specialise in studying human and other primate anatomies have suggested that a more holistic approach to comparative anatomy be used.

Comparing Human Anatomy with that of a Chimpanzee

Chimp chest (pictured left) compared with human chest (pictured right)

Picture credit: Brian Roach/Neil Roach

Professor Susan Larson from Stony Brook University, (United States), a scientist not involved in the study, has queried the conclusions drawn from this research.  Her work also focuses on the shoulder anatomies of primates and humans in order to study their evolution.  She said it could be easy to over interpret what was significant from a fossil.

“We’re looking at the same fossils, it’s a question about how you interpret the anatomy that you see in those fossils.  Homo erectus was not necessarily such a proficient thrower.  I think [Dr Roach and colleagues] are discounting the combination of features of how the shoulder as a whole has to work.”

The few fossils of Homo erectus arms and shoulders suggest that they had an extensive range of movement.  Their hands too, were very capable of manipulating objects and showing great dexterity, however, more work is required before such conclusions can be made.

Professor Larson added:

“You cannot look at just one thing and say how a complicated piece of anatomy works, especially something like the shoulder.  You have to understand how all parts work together to bring about a broad range of motion.”

One interesting point to note, if ancient hominids like H. erectus were throwing spears, chances are they would favour either the left or right hand.  The paper has been regarded as an interesting hypothetical model rather than a definitive explanation of fossil evidence by many scientists working in this field.  For example, the humeral torsion, the angle at which the head of the humerus (funny bone) articulates with the scapula (shoulder bone) in H. erectus specimens does not fall within the range of modern throwing athletes.

There is also no evidence of asymmetry in the humeral torsion angle in H. erectus fossils that one would expect if one limb was preferred over the other for throwing.

Interesting thought, those ball tosses at Wimbledon by today’s tennis players may have a very ancient evolutionary lineage.

Bravoceratops polyphemus – New Horned Dinosaur Discovery Announced

A new species of large chasmosaurine dinosaur has been announced, this new member of the horned dinosaurs has been named Bravoceratops polyphemus and it lived in what is now Texas between 72 and 70 million years ago (Maastrichtian faunal stage of the Late Cretaceous).  Chasmosaurines were one of two groups of advanced horned dinosaurs.  In general, they had long neck frills and the brow horns were usually bigger than the nose horn, perhaps the most famous member of the Chasmosaurinae is the Triceratops genus.

New Species of Horned Dinosaur

The fossil material, which includes fragments from the giant skull were found in the lower layers of the Javelina Formation of Texas (United States).  Ceratopsian fossils from this portion of the Javelina Formation are rare, although fossils of Torosaurus, a later chasmosaurine have been found in upper layers of this particular series of strata.  The fossils show extensive weathering, this suggests that much of the material was exposed to weathering before burial and fossilisation, only the most robust elements of the skull and horns have survived as fossils.

The skull may have become disarticulated prior to fossilisation, the research team who discovered this new specimen, back in 2011, found that the pieces of skull were scattered over a ten metre square area.

The holotype material was found at the “Hippiewalk” site, north-east of Paint Gap Hills in the Big Bend National Park.  The fossils were studied by palaeontologists from the United States National Park Service and Texas Tech. University.  This dinosaur was named and described by Steven Wick (Division of Science and Resource Management – Big Bend National Park) and Tom Lehman (Department of Geosciences, Texas Tech).  The genus name – Bravoceratops means “wild horn face”, named after the Rio Bravo del Norte which marks the border between Mexico and the National Park.

Bravoceratops polyphemus

The term “Bravo” comes from the Spanish meaning “wild”.  The species name is derived from the Greek cyclops called Polyphemus, a one-eyed monster.  In the skull material there is a “socket” shape  to be found in part of the bones that form the back of the head, this is believed to have been an attachment area for a protruding bony epoccipital.   A paper on this new dinosaur has been published in the academic journal “Naturwissenschaften”,which incidentally, celebrates its 100th anniversary this year.

An Illustration of the Chasmosaurine B. polyphemus

An artists impression of a typical chasmosaurine dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Fragmentary Material

Although known from only fragmentary and very weathered material, scientists estimate that this was one of the largest of the horned dinosaurs with a skull in excess of 2.2 metres in length, and brow horns nearly one metre long.   It may have been as large as Triceratops horridus, perhaps measuring more than nine metres in length and weighing seven tonnes.  This dinosaur is not to be confused with the much smaller and more primitive ceratopsians from Asia known as Bagaceratops and Breviceratops.

The discovery of B. polyphemus comes at a time when the authorities at the Big Bend National Park are developing a permanent Cretaceous-themed exhibit to showcase some of the prehistoric animal discoveries that have been found within the Park’s borders.  It is hoped that a full-sized cast of the skull of Bravoceratops will form part of the dinosaur display.

B. polyphemus although very similar in appearance to a number of Late Cretaceous chasmosaurines, can be distinguished by its long, narrow snout, the substantial frill with large openings in bone (fenestrae) and several skull bone characteristics including a series of bony projections from the back of the skull (parietal bone).

To view several horned dinosaur models available in the CollectA Prehistoric Life, not-to-scale model range: CollectA Prehistoric Life/Prehistoric World Figures.

Family Holiday Unearths a Partial Sauropod Fossil Skeleton

The San Rafael desert is approximately 2,000 square miles of sandstone, limestone and shale formations in south, central Utah (United States).  It is a popular vacation destination with hikers and family groups.  A family holiday to this historic area, famed for its fossils and evidence of Indian settlements, turned out to be a vacation to remember when part of a huge, long-necked dinosaur skeleton was discovered.

Dinosaur Fossil Discovery

The Watt family have been visiting this part of Utah for many years, Amanda Watt explained that this was an annual trip, part of a long-time family tradition started by her father-in-law.  The discovery was made in Emery County, an area famed for its Upper Jurassic dinosaur fossils, the family and their friends who came with them on their camping trip, enjoy looking for fossils, but they never imagined that one of the young boys would uncover the articulated bones of a giant, herbivorous dinosaur.

Amanda commented that her nephew ran over to the rest of the family with the exciting news that he had found something quite big.

She added:

“It was just like, ‘Oh!’ and everybody was ecstatic  and couldn’t believe what was there.”

Palaeontologists were quickly informed so that the bones could be examined properly with a view to extracting them from the matrix where they have been for about 150 million years or so.

An Articulated Specimen

James Kirkland of the Utah Geological Survey commented:

“It’s also an articulated skeleton.  That means all the bones are joined together.  You can see the backbone just laid out on this animal.”

He praised the family for doing the right thing, alerting the authorities to take care of the excavation rather than trying to remove the fossilised bones themselves.  They may have uncovered the bones but they did not attempt to remove them.

A Possible Camarasaurid

The discovery made on public land but managed by the Bureau of Land Management may turn out to be an important example of a camarasaurid (Macronaria clade).  The family may be rewarded for their dinosaur bone spotting by being given the opportunity to help with the extraction and mapping of this dinosaur discovery.

A Model of a Typical Camarasaurid (Camarasaurus)

The award-winning Wild Safari Prehistoric World Camarasaurus dinosaur model. A replica of a Camarasaurus dinosaur.

The picture above shows a Wild Safari Prehistoric World Camarasaurus model, to view this range of exciting prehistoric animal figures: Wild Safari Prehistoric World Models.

Potentially Most Complete Fossil of Triceratops Discovered to Date

With all the new horned dinosaur discoveries it can be misleading to think that palaeontologists already have a comprehensive understanding of some of the more famous ceratopsians, giant prehistoric beasts such as Triceratops for example.  However, this is not the case as a number of gifted and talented year six and seven school children will discover when Everything Dinosaur takes part in a special science day at their school this week.

Triceratops

Triceratops may have been described as long ago as 1888, but “three horned face” is still full of mystery for palaeontologists.  The recent discovery of three sets of Triceratops fossils, alongside leg material from a tyrannosaur (probably T. rex) will help researchers to learn more about these giant Late Cretaceous herbivores.  One specimen may prove to be the most complete example of Triceratops (T. horridus) found to date

The discovery was made in May, near to the town of Newcastle, Wyoming.  Up until now, only two relatively complete Triceratops skeletons have been found, this famous dinosaur has been pieced together and become a mainstay of dinosaur galleries in museums from fragmented and disassociated fossils.

Three Triceratops Fossil Specimens

Commenting on the discovery, which includes the lower limb bones and foot of a Tyrannosaur’s left leg, Black Hills Institute President Pete Larson stated:

“We have been given a rare, I would say unprecedented, opportunity.”

The excavation will take the Black Hills Institute working in collaboration with co-workers from the Naturalis Biodiversity Centre from the Netherlands, around a month to complete as at least two of the specimens represent an adult animal.

A Triceratops Exhibit at a Museum

A cast of a Triceratops skeleton on display at the Naturmuseum Senckenberg (Natural History Museum – Frankfurt). On the left a wall mounted example of a Plateosaurus can be seen.  Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Dr Larson went onto add:

“If you could imagine a person, 6-foot tall, inside the stomach of one of these adult Triceratops, they couldn’t reach each side of the rib cage.”

Could Yield Important Data

This newly discovered site could yield some important data.  Preliminary work indicates two adults and one potential juvenile, this could be interpreted as a family group indicating parental care, although it is too early to make conclusions.

We, at Everything Dinosaur look forward to hearing about this dig and we are also looking forward to working with the students this week as we explore some of the mysteries of Triceratops with them.

To view articulated models of Triceratops and other horned dinosaurs: Beasts of the Mesozoic Articulated Figures.

Earliest Evidence of Cancer Discovered in Hominid Fossil Record

With a report out today from Macmillan Cancer Support stating that by 2020 nearly half the population of the United Kingdom will get cancer during their lifetime, scientists from the University of Kansas have been looking at the oldest incidence of hominid cancer yet found in the fossil record.  Many types of cancers today are associated with a diet which contains too much fat, or exposure to pollution, radiation or other toxins.  However, a fragment of rib bone found in a cave in Krapina, Croatia shows evidence of a fibrous dysplasia (bone cancer) in a Neanderthal.

Neanderthal Rib Bone

Finding evidence of pathology is rare in the human fossil record.  Something such as a fleshy tumour would not be preserved as a fossil, but the evidence of a tumour can be seen as it has affected the internal structure of the rib bone.  The rib specimen is believed to date from around 120,000 years ago, a paper on its discovery and its implications has been published in the on line, peer reviewed journal, PLoS One (public library of science).

A Picture of the Diseased Bone (Top) Compared to Healthy Neanderthal Bone (Bottom)

Abnormal bone (top) compared to healthy fossil bone (bottom).

Picture credit: University of Kansas

Neanderthals Suffered Tumours

Professor of Anthropology at the University of Kansas, David Frayer, one of the co-authors of the scientific paper commented:

“It’s evidence that Neanderthals suffered tumours — that they were susceptible to the same kinds of diseases that we see in modern humans.  Before this, the earliest tumour in bone that we’ve seen goes back to an Egyptian mummy.  So this is 100,000 years older[at least] than the previous tumour that has been found.  There is no evidence of cancer older than this in the human fossil record.”

The bone fragment is one of over 900 different hominid bones which have been found in the cave, along with other items such as stone tools.  The bone is not associated with a complete skeleton so it is impossible to say how severe the cancer was, or indeed whether or not it was the cause of death.  Researcher are not able to identify whether the bone comes from a male or female.  It does suggest that even in a pristine environment cancers were still present.

Our closest Relative

The Neanderthal (H. neanderthalis), is believed to be our closest relative, we share a common ancestor with the Neanderthals and in recent years study of both the Neanderthal and H. sapiens genome show that most people possess about 4 percent of Neanderthal genes in their genetic make up.

Neanderthals were short, stocky and heavily muscled.  Evidence of the heavy musculature appears in the extremely large muscle attachment scars on the fossil bones and the bowing of some of the limb bones.  Neanderthals were tough, used to hard physical work and suffered many injuries, although contrary to popular opinion they were not the brutish apemen often depicted in the early 20th Century.  They had large brains, were very well adapted to life in a cold climate and they made sophisticated stone tools.

Radiographs and CT Scans

According to the researchers, the Neanderthal bone is a 30-millimetre-long fragment of the left rib that shows a fresh break.  The break in the rib exposes a chamber that is 18 millimetres in length and 7.6 millimetres wide.  This cavity in the bone is highly unusual — ordinarily a rib is packed with cancellous bone.  After a detailed analysis with radiographs and CT scans, the investigators came to believe it was the site of a benign tumour associated with a bone cancer.

Fibrous dysplasia (bone cancer), is a developmental disorder of bone in which lesions develop fibrous tissue and spicules of woven bone.   However, it’s difficult to know for certain how severely the tumour affected the Neanderthal involved.

Detailed Analysis of the Bone Fragment Revealed the Pathology

Detailed analysis revealed the tell-tale signs of a bone tumour.

Picture credit: University of Kansas

Professor Frayer added:

“It wasn’t a small tumour.  It was a fairly large one, probably bulging at the base of the rib.  We’re not sure how far along it was, but it was well-expressed in the bone.  It was in the upper third of the back, and muscles attach there that are associated with raising the arm.”

This discovery will help scientists to understand a little more about how cancers could have affected our ancestors.  It also demonstrates that cancer is not a modern phenomenon and that although rare in the fossil record, it provides a clue to the complicated relationship between early humans and forms of cancer.