Borealopelta markmitchelli Fact Sheet Preparations

In a few weeks’ time, the first of the 2019 CollectA prehistoric animal models will be coming into stock at Everything Dinosaur.  One of the first figures expected to arrive is the Age of Dinosaurs Borealopelta figure, a fifteen centimetre long replica of a nodosaurid that roamed north-western Alberta around 112 million years ago.  The fact sheet for this new dinosaur model is being prepared and a scale drawing of Borealopelta (B. markmitchelli) has been produced.

The Scale Drawing of Borealopelta (B. markmitchelli) Prepared for the Everything Dinosaur Fact Sheet

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Heavily Armoured with Countershading

The exquisite state of preservation has permitted palaeontologists to gain a great deal of information about the position of the osteoderms and scutes that covered the dinosaur’s body.  When the scientific paper providing the formal description of Borealopelta was published in 2017, the research team described how chemical analysis of organic compounds in the armour and skin permitted the research team to infer the armoured dinosaur’s pigmentation.

It was discovered that Borealopelta possessed countershading, with a reddish-brown top half contrasting with a much paler underside.  In extant animals, countershading helps to provide camouflage against predators, but most large animals today, such as rhinos, elephants and hippos, don’t have countershading.

The CollectA Age of Dinosaurs Borealopelta Dinosaur Model

Borealopelta markmitchelli

At more than five metres long and with such strong armour, it seems surprising that this armoured dinosaur would evolve countershading to help it avoid detection.  Such a large and powerfully built dinosaur would have presented a formidable opponent for most theropod dinosaurs, but apparently it paid Borealopelta to try to maintain a low profile.

It is not known what sort of meat-eating dinosaurs Borealopelta tried to hide from but three-toed prints, some measuring in excess of 90 cm long and ascribed to the ichnogenus Irenesauripis indicate that they may have been some 12-metre-plus carnivores in the ecosystem that were best avoided.

Everything Dinosaur’s original blog post announcing the discovery of the fossilised remains but before a formal scientific description was published can be found here: Extremely Rare Ankylosaur Fossil Turns Up in Alberta’s Oil Sands.

To read an article about the dermal armour of Borealopelta markmitchelli: The Remarkable Armour of Borealopelta.

What Sort of Giant Theropods?

As to what sort of theropods could have predated Borealopelta, we can only speculate.  However, it has been postulated that the super-sized carnivores that Borealopelta was trying to avoid were probably carcharodontosaurids or allosaurids.  This armoured dinosaur is estimated to have weighed more than 1.3 Tonnes, it is much larger than animals alive today that have evolved countershading, therefore, the assumption is that there must have been super-sized, hypercarnivores that Borealopelta was trying to avoid.

Summarising the Research into the Armoured Dinosaur Borealopelta

Picture credit: Brown et al, published in Current Biology with additional annotation from Everything Dinosaur

To view the range of  CollectA  prehistoric animal models available from Everything Dinosaur: CollectA Prehistoric Animal Models.

The scientific paper: “An Exceptionally Preserved Three-Dimensional Armored Dinosaur Reveals Insights into Coloration and Cretaceous Predator-Prey Dynamics” by Caleb M. Brown, Donald M. Henderson, Jakob Vinther, Ian Fletcher, Ainara Sistiaga, Jorsua Herrera and Roger E. Summons published in Current Biology.

Visit the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

Rebor Club Selection Limited-edition Baryonyx “Hurricane”

Team members at Everything Dinosaur are busy making plans for the imminent arrival of the latest figure in the Rebor Club Selection range – a hatching Baryonyx nicknamed “Hurricane”.  Only 1,000 of these highly collectable replicas have been produced and like the hatching Triceratops (Jolly) and the T. rex (Rudy), the Baryonyx replica is likely to sell out quickly.

New for 2019, the Rebor Club Selection Limited Edition Baryonyx Figure

Inspired by a Footballer – Harry Kane

Baryonyx is known from Lower Cretaceous strata from Europe, most notably the Upper Weald Clay Formation in Surrey, from which the holotype specimen was excavated in 1983.  This theropod is associated with southern England and the Isle of Wight, but isolated teeth and other material from Portugal and further afield suggest that Baryonyx (or closely related species/ancestral forms) may have had a wider distribution.

Both the Weald Clay Formation and the Wessex Formation of the Isle of Wight, which has also yielded Baryonyx walkeri fossil material, represent palaeoenvironments that would have been subjected to tropical storms so the moniker “Hurricane” is scientifically appropriate.  However, it was the 2018 renaissance of the English football team captained by Harry Kane that proved the inspiration for the name “Hurricane”.

Baryonyx and the World Cup

In 2018, the England football team reached the semi-finals of the World Cup in Russia and in the inaugural UEFA Nations League, England have qualified for the semi-finals.  England’s semi-final against Holland in June 2019, will be played in Portugal, highly appropriate as fossil material ascribed to the Baryonyx genus has also been described from that country.

The Rebor Hatching Baryonyx – “Hurricane” (Harry Kane)

Baryonyx walkeri

When the field team from the British Museum (London Natural History Museum), had finished excavating the fossil remains from the Smokejacks Brickworks in Ockley (Dorking, Surrey) in 1983, some 70% of the skeleton of an individual meat-eating dinosaur had been recovered.  This makes this fossil material one of the most complete, large theropod dinosaur remains to have been found in Europe.  The Smokejacks Brickworks material represents a sub-adult animal, so estimating the size of Baryonyx walkeri is difficult.  However, most vertebrate palaeontologists estimate that this theropod reached an adult size of between 7.5 to 10 metres in length, but like all dinosaurs, this giant hatched from an egg.

The Limited-edition Rebor Hatching Baryonyx Dinosaur Figure “Hurricane”

A Hand-painted Rebor Replica

The hand-painted, highly detailed figure has  been beautifully sculpted and the dinosaur can be displayed with or without the football accessory.  Note also the care taken to sculpt that enlarged, curved thumb claw, an anatomical feature that first drew the attention of the world’s media to the fossil discovery back in 1983.

A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented:

“We are excited and can’t wait to take delivery of this limited-edition dinosaur figure. The stock is due to arrive at our warehouse in the next few days and then we shall be emailing all those collectors who have asked us to reserve a Club Selection replica hatching Baryonyx for them.  We suspect that when “Hurricane” arrives it will create a bit of storm amongst fans of dinosaur models.”

To view the range of Rebor prehistoric animal replicas in stock at Everything Dinosaur: Rebor Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal Models.