Pterosaur Rostrum Discovered on the Isle of Wight

Thanks to sharp-eyed, local fossil collector Will Thurbin, a fragment of bone from an Early Cretaceous pterosaur has established that a another member of the Ornithocheiridae flew over the skies of what was to become the Isle of Wight.  Whilst searching for fossils along Chilton Chine beach on the south-west coast of the Isle of Wight, Mr Thurbin spotted a strange looking, well worn pebble that when examined more closely showed traces of eroded teeth

Strange Fossil Discovery

Unsure of what the object was, he brought the specimen to the Dinosaur Isle museum on the island so that the experts there could examine it.  After consulting Dr Dave Martill (School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Portsmouth), an expert in vertebrate fossils from the Isle of Wight, the find was identified as the tip of the rostrum the upper jaw of a Pterosaur genus known as Coloborhynchus.

To give readers an idea of which part of the animal the fossil belongs, we have taken the excellent model of Guidraco made by CollectA, another ornithocheirid, but this time from China and used this replica to show you where the rostrum is located.

The tip of the upper jaw.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

CollectA Deluxe Pterosaur Figure

The picture (above), shows the rostrum of a CollectA Supreme/Deluxe pterosaur model.  To view the CollectA Supreme/Deluxe range: CollectA Deluxe/Supreme Prehistoric Animal Figures.

Although very worn, the fossil still retained enough detail to provide the scientists with the opportunity to identify the family (Ornithocheiridae) and the pterosaur genus.  The specimen, which is just a few centimetres long has gone on display at the Dinosaur Isle Museum.

The Isle of Wight Coloborhynchus Pterosaur Fossil

Posterior view for Isle of Wight fossil.

Picture credit: Isle of Wight Council

The fossil may not look much, but this fossil fragment, the tip from the upper jaw (rostrum), represents the world’s oldest example of the Coloborhynchus genus.  It pre-dates earlier Coloborhynchus fossils by around ten million years.  In all likelihood it is a new species, but that’s the trouble with the Pterosauria, lots of species have been named from just fragments of fossil material.  This tends to “muddy the waters somewhat” when it comes to Pterosauria taxonomy, let’s look into this in a bit more detail.

The Problem with those “English Pterosaurs”

Coloborhynchus belongs to a very enigmatic family of pterosaurs, the Ornithocheiridae.  The fossil record for the ornithocheirids is a bit of a “curates egg”, that is to say, that the fossil record is good in parts.  Thanks to beautifully preserved specimens from China and South America, this family is amongst the best known of all the flying reptiles, but it has only been in the last twenty-five years or so that these specimens have come to light.  Before that much of what we knew (or thought we knew) about these widespread Cretaceous pterosaurs came from the study of extremely fragmentary specimens found in southern England.

Poorly Preserved Specimens

These very poorly preserved fossils probably would not get a lot of attention these days, but back in the latter part of the 19th century these remains were studied by some of the most eminent scientists around at the time.  The likes of Sir Richard Owen and Harry Govier Seeley examined and described these specimens, as a result, a range of different genera were erected, most of them now regarded as nomen dubium.  Much of these fossil were excavated from the Cambridge Greensand of southern England, marine deposits laid down in the Cretaceous, with most of the material dating from around 105 to 115 million years ago.

Three-dimensional Fossil Material

The fossils are preserved in three-dimensions, just like the Isle of Wight Coloborhynchus specimen but they are the remains of pterosaurs that died far out to sea.  The corpses were scavenged, the bones once they had sunk to the bottom of the sea became encrusted with shelled animals such as barnacles and they were drilled into by marine worms.  These bones were eventually buried only to be exposed again by violent storms and finally buried as part of the fossil record several million years after the flying reptile had actually died.  As a result, these fossils are extremely difficult to interpret, let alone assign to a new species.

Coloborhynchus clavirostris Holotype Fossil Material (Hastings Group)

Rostrum from the Hastings Group (West Sussex). A Coloborhynchus rostrum.

Picture credit: Natural History Museum

The picture above shows one of the pterosaur fossils from the 19th century.  This is the holotype for C. clavirostris, (A) = anterior view (view from the front), with (B) a line drawing of the same view.  The fossil is viewed from the side, a left lateral view (C) with a corresponding line drawing (D).  Numbers and arrows indicated teeth sockets (alveoli) and individual teeth.

Scale bar = 1cm.

Coloborhynchus Rostrum

When the Isle of Wight fossil is compared to the holotype fossil material (both seen in anterior view), these two specimens look very similar, but it was the position, orientation of the alveoli (teeth sockets) that aided identification.

The Isle of Wight Fossil Material with Teeth Sockets Labelled (anterior view)

Teeth sockets can clearly be seen, it was the orientation, shape and position of the teeth sockets that led to the Coloborhynchus identification.

Picture credit: Isle of Wight Council with additional annotation by Everything Dinosaur

Pterosaur Piscifores

It is very likely that these toothy pterosaurs were mainly fish-eaters and they lived on the coast, or at least in estuarine environments.  The paper detailing this 2014 discovery has just been published in the Proceedings of the Geologists Association.

Intriguingly, in 2014, two fragmentary pieces of pterosaur rostrum were found on the Isle of Wight.  They were found at different locations and they are shaped differently.  The second fossil, donated by Mr Glyn Watson (Nottinghamshire), is currently being researched in order to identify the pterosaur family.  This too, is likely to be a new species, although whether a species can be assigned from the rostrum alone has yet to be determined.

An Illustration of Coloborhynchus

An illustration of the pterosaur called Colobohynchus (C. clavirostris).

Picture credit: Mark Witton

 Coloborhynchus was certainly a sizeable pterosaur, although not the biggest member of the Ornithocheiridae.  Size estimates are difficult to calculate based on fragmentary material, but a maximum wingspan between four and six metres has been cited by a number of authors.

“Cooper” Australia’s Biggest Dinosaur Awaits Scientific Description

The largest dinosaur discovered to date in Australia is set to go on public display for the first time with the opening of the Eromanga Natural History Museum (Eromanga, south-western Queensland).  The fossilised bones, part of a treasure trove of Cretaceous dinosaur fossils, were found back in 2007, but it has taken years of careful, painstaking research to reveal details of this enormous plant-eating dinosaur, a creature that exceeded thirty metres in length.  The huge dinosaur, a titanosaur which has been nicknamed “Cooper” will go on display when the museum opens in a few months time.

Australia’s Largest Dinosaur

An Illustration of the Giant Titanosaur

Australia’s giants.

Picture credit: ABC News/David McSween

Excavating Fossils in Queensland

This part of Queensland has been suffering from severe drought, it is hoped that the dinosaur themed museum will bring in much needed tourist revenue to the town.  At the moment a number of dig sites in Queensland are being excavated, this is the “digging season” Down Under, the slightly cooler weather permits such excavations to take place as scientists and local volunteers strive to uncover Australia’s rich dinosaur fossil heritage.

To read more about current excavations in the Queensland area: Annual Queensland Dig Yields Dinosaur Fossils.

Everything Dinosaur team members did predict that 2015 was going to be an important year for dinosaur discoveries in this part of the world, in fact, we made it one of our New Year predictions, to read more about our predictions for breaking news stories in 2015:

Everything Dinosaur’s 2015 predictions: Our 2015 Palaeontology Predictions.

Commenting on the importance of regional museums, Dr Scott Hocknull (Queensland Museum) stated:

“The opportunity for this small town to actually become a point of real national pride, there’s a great opportunity that we can’t miss.”

Titanosaurs

Titanosaurs are sauropods.  The Titanosauria consists of about four dozen genera and they seem to have replaced the diplodocids and the brachiosaurids that thrived during the Late Jurassic.  Titanosaur fossils have been found on all the continents, including Antarctica, but they seem to have been most successful and diverse in the Southern Hemisphere.  Some titanosaurs are amongst the largest terrestrial vertebrates known.  Dr Hocknull and his colleagues are currently working on the scientific paper which will describe and formally name “Cooper”.

This Australian dinosaur, whose fossils were found on a remote sheep station, will be amongst the largest titanosaurs so far described.  Bodyweight estimates suggest that “Cooper” weighed about as much as ninety Merino rams, that’s around 40,000 kilogrammes (a lot of sheep)!

A Scale Drawing Illustration of Australia’ Biggest Dinosaur Known to Date (2015)

Scale drawing of “Cooper”.

Picture credit: Dr Scott Hocknull

More Dinosaur Discoveries Likely

Several other dinosaur specimens have been found in and around the Eromanga basin area since this location was first identified as a “hot spot” for Southern Hemisphere Cretaceous dinosaurs back in 2004.    Soon after the first large dinosaur fossils were found, plans were put forward to build a local dinosaur museum (Eromanga Natural History Museum), after ten years and a great deal of fund raising from the locals, the museum is nearly ready to open its doors.

The Enormous Pelvis of “Cooper” will be on Display

Giant Aussie dinosaur bones.

Picture credit: ABC News/Josh Bavas

“Cooper” may not hold the title of “Australia’s biggest dinosaur” for long.  Over the last few years a number of titanosaurid specimens have been discovered, the majority have been given nicknames such as “Zac”, “Tom”, “George” and “Sid”.   “George,” may be bigger still, but it too has yet to be formally described.

The Giant Femur (Thigh Bone) of “Cooper”

Giant limb bone of Australian titanosaur.

Picture credit: ABC News/Josh Bavas

Huge Femur

The 1.9 metre long femur (thigh bone) can be seen in the foreground.  Like the pelvis pictured earlier, it is still partially in its protective plaster jacket.  The distal end (articulating with the lower leg bones, is towards the left of the photograph).  The picture is not too clear but the second femur might be just behind.

Palaeontologists think that both Cooper and Sid (titanosaurs) became trapped in mud and subsequently died.  The fossils also show evidence of trampling from other titanosaurs.  As the bones lay on the ground, other titanosaurs walked over them.  This is not the first time that such incidents have been preserved in the fossil record.  In addition, field workers found a preserved tree branch stuck in the femur, the bones of these dinosaurs were so massive that they formed “log jams” in rivers trapping other material and debris.

Planning to Make Three-dimensional Models

Dr Hocknull explained that cutting edge technology such as photogrammetry to make three-dimensional models coupled with CT scans are changing the way palaeontologists work.

He stated:

“All this is completely revolutionising the way we even do our science.  Instead of just taking a happy snap of the actual bone we can recreate the bone in three-dimensions and that gives us more data than we can ever poke a stick at.”

Everything Dinosaur team members would not advise poking sticks at dinosaur bones, no matter how big the fossils might be.  However, we look forward to the grand opening of the Eromanga Natural History Museum as well as learning more about Australia’s ancient and most impressive mega-fauna.

For models and replicas of titanosaurs and other dinosaurs: CollectA Deluxe Prehistoric Life Models.

Note: A revision of the Winton Formation sauropods published in April 2024 has cost doubt on the validity of this taxon.

Huanansaurus ganzhouensis – Demonstrating the Diversity of the Oviraptorids

Some very peculiar things can turn up at railway stations, just ask anyone who works in a lost property office.  However, for one group of construction workers helping to build the new Ganzhou Railway Station in Jiangxi Province (southern China), they got rather a big surprise when they unearthed the partial remains of a new type of theropod dinosaur.

A New Dinosaur Species

The new dinosaur has been identified as a member of the Oviraptoridae family, an extremely bird-like group of dinosaurs, it has been named Huanansaurus ganzhouensis and it suggests that there were many different types of oviraptorids living in the same environment but each type may have evolved a different feeding and foraging habit.

An Illustration of H. ganzhouensis (Male and Female)

A new feathered dinosaur from China.

Picture credit: Chuang Zhao

Although no feather impressions have been found with the fossils, it is assumed that this lithe dinosaur was indeed feathered.  The illustrator has also assumed that the males had different colouration when compared to the females.  In this imagined scene, one of a breeding pair approaches the other which is sitting on a nest of eggs.  More than two hundred oviraptorosaurian nests have been found in the Ganzhou area and this part of the world seems to have been a hot bed of oviraptorid evolution with a total of five genera now known from the strata around the city of Ganzhou.

Huanansaurus ganzhouensis

Size estimates vary, but based on skull measurements and comparisons with other Asian oviraptors, Everything Dinosaur’s team members estimate that Huanansaurus would have measured around 1.5 metres long and stood over a metre tall, making this dinosaur about half the size of its closest relative Citipati (C. osmolskae), fossils of which come from the Gobi Desert (Djadokhta Formation), that lies some 1,800  miles to the north-east of Jiangxi Province.

It is analysis of the beautifully preserved skull material that has permitted the research team to conduct a phylogenetic analysis placing Huanansaurus close to the Citipati genus in the Oviraptoridae family.  Huanansaurus is distinct from the other four other types of oviraptorid discovered to date from the Upper Cretaceous rocks (Nanxiong Formation),  located around Ganzhou city.

The four other types of oviraptorosaurs found in this area are:

• Banji long (named and described in 2010)
• Ganzhousaurus nankangensis (named and described in 2013)
• Jiangxisaurus ganzhouensis (also named and described in 2013)
• Nankangia jiangxiensis (named and described in that bumper year for southern Chinese oviraptorosaurs, 2013)

A Line Drawing of the Skull and Cranial Material (HGM41HIII-0443)

Left side (lateral view) of the skull and jaws.

Picture credit: Journal Science with additional annotation by Everything Dinosaur

Edentulous – Lacking Teeth

Like most of the later oviraptorosaurs, Huanansaurus lacked teeth, the shape and size of the skull along with the morphology of the jaws suggests that lots of different types of feathered oviraptorid dinosaur were able to live in the same environment.  These little dinosaurs co-existed as they probably had different foraging and feeding strategies.  The prevalence of oviraptorosaurs in southern China indicates that other parts of Asia may have had different types of oviraptorid present within their biota, but these fossils may not have been found as yet.

The researchers involved in this study include scientists from Japan, South Korea, Uppsala University (Sweden), Henan Geological Museum and the Chinese Academy of Scientists.  The fossils are currently stored in the vertebrate fossil collection of the Henan Geological Museum.

To view a selection of feathered theropod models: Wild Safari Prehistoric World Models.

Everything Dinosaur Comments on the Fossil Find

A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur explained:

“In simple terms, the jaw shapes and sizes are different in the Jiangxi Province oviraptors.  Although these feathered dinosaurs all lived at the same time, the very late Late Cretaceous and they shared the same environment, they probably specialised in eating different types of food.  For example, the lower jaw tip of Banji long is very strongly curved downwards, whilst the same part of the jaw found in Nankangia jiangxiensis is not.  Both Jiangxisaurus and the newly described Huanansaurus come somewhere in between these two extremes.  It is likely that each type of dinosaur occupied a different ecological niche in the Late Cretaceous palaeoenvironment.”

More Research Required into Oviraptorids Like Huanansaurus ganzhouensis

What did oviraptor-like dinosaurs eat?  That remains a bit of a mystery, we suspect that they were omnivorous with perhaps each animal adapted to eating different types of seed, fruit and nuts as well as catching and eating amphibian, small mammals and insects.

Everything Dinosaur stocks a range of oviraptors within the Papo model range: Papo Oviraptor Models and Dinosaur Figures.