A team of researchers writing in the journal “Geological Magazine”, have confirmed that the strange impressions exposed on the beach at Penarth (south Wales), are indeed dinosaur tracks. The site had been examined back in 2009, further evidence of tracks was revealed in 2020 after more of the bedding plane was laid bare by tidal erosion. The site some 800 metres south of Penarth pier, probably represents tracks made by different types of dinosaurs but they are too badly eroded for a more precise diagnosis other than to tentatively assign the largest, rounded tracks to the ichnogenus Eosauropus.

A part of the brushed and cleaned up trackway (left) with (right) a close-up view of a single print. Picture credit: NHM/Peter Falkingham.

Picture credit: NHM/Peter Falkingham

Carefully Mapped and Recorded

The tracks, some of which are more than 50 cm in diameter, are associated with the Upper Triassic Blue Anchor Formation. Although it is difficult to identify individual trackways, the high density of impressions suggests that the area was a trample ground that might have been visited by many individuals. Although the number of taxa making these impressions cannot be reliably inferred because of their poor preservation, based on their large size, round shape and digit impressions, the research team consider it likely that they were made by large sauropodomorph dinosaurs. As such, Late Triassic sauropodomorph tracks are exceptionally rare and the research team, which consisted of scientists from Liverpool John Moores University, the London Natural History Museum, Cardiff University, the University of Lyon and National Museum of Wales, conclude that these tracks provide additional information regarding the Late Triassic biota of the UK.

Detail images of individual tracks. (a) Individual D-shaped impression recorded in 2020, presented as photo-textured and height-mapped digital models. (b) Two to three overlapping impressions recorded in 2020, with a displacement rim spanning the centre of the deepest areas, presented as photo-textured and height-mapped digital models. (c, d) Individual tracks recorded during 2009, but showing clearer morphology in the displacement rims that we interpret as digit impressions (marked with *) (c). White scale bar = 10 cm. Picture credit: Falkingham et al.

Picture credit: Falkingham et al.

Likely to be Eroded Away in Just a Few Years

The team highlight the rapidly eroding site, more than one metre of the exposed surface has been lost since the first examination made in 2009 and the detailed mapping carried out in 2020. The loss of the bedding surface highlights the transient and vulnerable nature of these fossils. The site has been extensively photographed and mapped digitally ensuring that a computer record of these trace fossils can be stored in perpetuity.

Possible trackways observed on the northern surface, photo-textured models and interpretive outlines; dashed lines indicate extent of displacement rims. Picture credit: Peter Falkingham et al.

Picture credit: Peter Falkingham et al.

Team members from Everything Dinosaur visited the area in 2019 and had planned to return the following year to help record the tracks, unfortunately, COVID-19 restrictions prevented this. Still, this new study published this week confirms the presence of sauropodomorph tracks along the coastline and provides additional information on the Late Triassic biota of the British Isles.

The scientific paper: “Late Triassic dinosaur tracks from Penarth, south Wales” by Peter L. Falkingham, Susannah C. R. Maidment, Jens N. Lallensack, Jeremy E. Martin, Guillaume Suan, Lesley Cherns, Cindy Howells and Paul M. Barrett published in the journal Geological Magazine.

Scientists from Virginia Tech and Des Moines University in the USA have challenged the idea that spheres identified under high magnification in thin sections of fossilised dinosaur bone are preserved fragments of dinosaur blood. The reddish coloured circular structures might not be remnants of blood cells, but instead they could be sediments that have been altered physically, chemically or via biological action to provide misleading data.

That is the conclusion made by the authors of a scientific paper published recently in the peer-reviewed, open-access journal PeerJ.

Photograph of sampled specimen (Beipiaosaurus inexpectus, IVPP V11559) (A) and transmitted light micrographs of representative thin sections (B–D). In the section images black arrows indicate spheres (putatively identified as red blood cells), white arrows indicate osteocyte lacunae and grey arrows indicate non-spherical vessel fills. The researchers suggest the spheres are not evidence of dinosaur blood. Picture credit: Korneisel et al.

Picture credit: Korneisel et al

Analysing the Holotype of Beipiaosaurus inexpectus

The researchers, who included Sterling J. Nesbitt (Department of Geosciences at Virginia Tech), analysed thin sections of bone from the holotype of the Chinese therizinosaur Beipiaosaurus inexpectus from the Jehol Lagerstätte. The fossil specimen (IVPP V11559) consists of both cranial and postcranial elements and it was found in sediments representing the Yixian Formation. This specimen was the subject of a paper earlier this year, remarkably when B. inexpectus was scientifically described only the skull elements were examined in detail. In October (2021), Everything Dinosaur published a blog post on the study of the postcranial material which provided more anatomical traits to help define this genus and clarify the evolution of the Therizinosauridae.

Our post can be found here: Beipiaosaurus Revisited.

In this study, the researchers employed a variety of sophisticated techniques including Ramon spectroscopy, X-ray spectrometry and Time of flight – secondary ion mass spectrometry to analyse thin sections of fossil bone from the Beipiaosaurus and compare them to similarly prepared thin sections of fossilised wood.

The team found that the bone had been dramatically altered by the fossilisation process (taphonomy). Vascular canals in the bone, once thought to contain preserved red blood cells, were filled with a mix of clay minerals and carbonaceous compounds. The spheres that were identified could not be analysed in isolation, but the researchers did not find any evidence of pyrite or haemoglobin fragments associated with a concentration of iron.

However, similar spheres were identified in the thin sections of fossilised wood which were found close to the Beipiaosaurus fossils and as such, had presumably been subjected to the same taphonomic processes.

Transmitted light micrographs of fossil wood found near to the dinosaur fossil material seem to show similar, microscopic spherical structures. The blue arrows highlight small and large examples. At higher magnification (B) these spheres appear to consist of small crystals. Picture credit: Korneisel at al.

Picture credit: Korneisel et al

The researchers concluded that the reddish coloured spheres were not evidence of dinosaur blood, but more likely structures formed by diagenesis. Diagenesis is the process whereby sediments in sedimentary rocks are altered by the interaction of water, microbial activity or by physical and chemical processes.

This research suggests that further study of alleged red blood cells associated with fossil bone is required in order to confirm the assertions made in previous papers.

The scientific paper: “Putative fossil blood cells reinterpreted as diagenetic structures” by Dana E. Korneisel, Sterling J. Nesbitt, Sarah Werning and Shuhai Xiao published in PeerJ.

The award-winning Everything Dinosaur website: Dinosaur Models and Figures.

A new species of Early Cretaceous ichthyosaur has been named and described following the study of fossilised remains found in Columbia. The fossils had previously been assigned to the ophthalmosaurian Platypterygius, but researchers from Canada, Germany and Columbia have erected a new species Kyhytysuka sachicarum.

An examination of the teeth in the jaws of the 94-cm-long skull, found that the anterior teeth were small whilst the teeth towards the back of the jaw were much bigger and robust. The researchers, who include Hans Larsson (Director of the Redpath Museum at McGill University), conclude that this ichthyosaur evolved unique dentition that enabled it to despatch large prey such as other marine reptiles.

A life reconstruction of the newly described, Early Cretaceous ichthyosaur Kyhytysuka sachicarum. Picture credit: Dirley Cortés.

The First Ichthyosaur Fossils from Columbia to be Described

The fossil specimen, consisting of a relatively uncrushed skull, preserved in three-dimensions, was the first definitive ichthyosaur material to have been found in Columbia (Paja Formation). The material was compared to other South American ichthyosaur fossils and assigned to the Platypterygius genus, being formally described and assigned to a new species – P. sachicarum in 1997.

Writing in the “Journal of Systematic Palaeontology”, the research team concluded that this fossil should really be placed in its own separate genus. The name Kyhytysuka translates from the ancient Muisca culture of central Columbia as “the one that cuts with something sharp”, a nod to the heterodont dentition in the jaw.

Hans Larsson explained:

“This animal evolved a unique dentition that allowed it to eat large prey. Whereas other ichthyosaurs had small, equally sized teeth for feeding on small prey, this new species modified its tooth sizes and spacing to build an arsenal of teeth for dispatching large prey, like big fishes and other marine reptiles.”

A Columbian Researcher Assists with the Study

This is an exciting opportunity for graduate researcher and co-author Dirley Cortés, who hopes to be able to continue to study Columbian marine reptiles, as she grew up in the mountainous area of Columbia close to where this fossil was discovered.

Columbian researcher Dirley Cortés studying the skull of Kyhytysuka which was discovered in Columbia. Picture credit: Dirley Cortés.

A Fearsome Predator

The dentition of Kyhytysuka sachicarum is unique among ichthyosaurs. This ichthyosaur had heterodont dentition (teeth of different shapes and sizes in the jaw), the teeth at the front of the jaw were small and designed to pierce, further along the jaw the teeth were larger, and adapted to cut flesh, whilst teeth at the back of the jaw were more robust and better at crushing. These teeth and other skull adaptations imply that Kyhytysuka evolved as an apex predator specialising in the hunting and consuming of large vertebrates such as fish and other marine reptiles. As such, this is the first example of a Cretaceous hypercarnivorous ichthyosaur. A hypercarnivore is defined as an organism whose diet consists of at least 70% meat.

A scale drawing of the fearsome Kyhytysuka ichthyosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Columbia. Known bones are shown in white. Picture credit: Dirley Cortés.

The scientific paper: “Re-appearance of hypercarnivore ichthyosaurs in the Cretaceous with differentiated dentition: revision of ‘Platypterygius’ sachicarum (Reptilia: Ichthyosauria, Ophthalmosauridae) from Colombia” by Dirley Cortés, Erin E. Maxwell and Hans C. E. Larsson published in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology.

For models and replicas of marine reptiles and other prehistoric animals: Prehistoric Animal Models.

Scientists have re-examined fossil bones associated with the Chinese mamenchisaurid dinosaur Hudiesaurus sinojapanorum and propose that the robust limb bone associated with this sauropod represents an entirely different genus which they have named Rhomaleopakhus turpanensis.

The forelimb bones are exceptionally stout and strong, particularly the ulna. These fossils represent a giant sauropod. The researchers, who include Professor Paul Barrett of the London Natural History Museum, speculate that strong forelimbs could have helped this dinosaur to “push off” from the ground so that it could rear up onto its back legs to feed. Strong forelimbs would also have helped to resist the deceleration forces as the huge dinosaur lowered itself back onto all fours.

The robust right forelimb of Rhomaleopakhus turpanensis (specimen number IVPP V11121-1) showing the bones in approximate anatomical position (anterior view). The bones had been ascribed to Hudiesaurus sinojapanorum although they were not found at the same location as vertebrate that led to the erection of the Hudiesaurus genus. The forelimb bones demonstrate several autapomorphies that led the research team to propose a new genus R. turpanensis. Picture credit: Upchurch et al.

Picture credit: Upchurch et al.

Note – the scale bar in the picture (above) equals 20 cm. Although, only described from bones from the right forelimb, it is estimated that Rhomaleopakhus (pronounced Row-ma-lee-oh-pack-hus) could have been between 25 and 30 metres long.

Core Mamenchisaurus-like Taxa

In 1993, a joint Chinese/Japanese field team uncovered sauropod fossil material from the Jurassic-aged Kalazha Formation within Shanshan County in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of north-western China. The fossils consisted of a single, huge vertebra, four teeth and a nearly complete right forelimb. On the basis of these fossils, a new member of the Mamenchisauridae family of long-necked dinosaurs was erected in 1997 – Hudiesaurus sinojapanorum. This dinosaur’s name translates as Chinese/Japanese butterfly lizard, in recognition of the co-operation between China and Japan in field excavations and because the vertebra had a flat butterfly-shaped process on the front base of the vertebral spine.

Posterior cervical vertebra of Hudiesaurus sinojapanorum (IVPP V11120; holotype). A, right lateral view; B, left lateral view; C, anterior view; D, posterior view. Scale bar = 10 cm. Picture credit: Upchurch et al

Picture credit: Upchurch et al

Having reassessed the fossil material ascribed to Hudiesaurus the scientists, writing in the “Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology”, suggest that the bone from the spine, with its unique anatomical characteristics should remain the holotype material for H. sinojapanorum, but the forelimb which was found 1.1 kilometres from the vertebra and the teeth should not be assigned to Hudiesaurus. Indeed, the researchers propose that the robust forelimb with its own unique anatomical characteristics represents a new taxon. The teeth are too poorly preserved and can only be assigned to “core Mamenchisaurus-like taxa”.

Closely Related Mamenchisaurids

The researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, University College London as well as the London Natural History Museum undertook a phylogenetic assessment of the Hudiesaurus and the newly assigned Rhomaleopakhus fossil material. The analysis indicates that Hudiesaurus is closely related to the “core Mamenchisaurus-like taxon” Xinjiangtitan, although differences between them indicate that they should remain separate genera for the time being. The four, poorly preserved teeth cannot be identified with any certainty, but they too probably represent a mamenchisaurid. Rhomaleopakhus too is very likely a member of the Mamenchisauridae family, albeit closely related to Chuanjiesaurus and Analong from the Middle Jurassic and found in Yunnan Province (south-western China).

A view of the giant PNSO Er-ma the Mamenchisaurus dinosaur model.  A typical mamenchisaurid sauropod, with a very long neck. Mamenchisaurids have many more cervical vertebrae (18+) when compared to most other sauropods. The evolution of an exceptionally long neck could have occurred as a way to exploit other food resources or perhaps through sexual selection.

View the extensive PNSO prehistoric animal model range: PNSO Dinosaur Figures.

The scientific paper: “Re-assessment of the Late Jurassic eusauropod dinosaur Hudiesaurus sinojapanorum Dong, 1997, from the Turpan Basin, China, and the evolution of hyper-robust antebrachia in sauropods” by Paul Upchurch, Philip D. Mannion, Xing Xu and Paul M. Barrett published in the Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology.

The Everything Dinosaur website: Dinosaur Toys.