(Re)burying Dinosaur Tracks in Pinon Canyon, Colorado

Dustin on Dysfunctional Analysis posted today about the Pinon Canyon development in Colorado.

The Pinon Canyon training ground is a military facility that will soon be extended, engulfing several townships and ranches. It is also the largest dinosaur track site in North America and the site contains ruins of the Dolores Mission, an old graveyard, and Native American petroglyphs. The historical and scientific value of the canyon is incredible.

Fossil tracks suggest dinosaurs could swim

Ancient footprints have provided compelling evidence that some dinosaurs were able to swim. The 15m (50ft) trackway was discovered in the Cameros Basin in Spain, which, 125 million years ago, in the Early Cretaceous was a vast lake.

The unusual-shaped prints suggest the animal clawed at sediment on the lake bottom as it swam in about 3m (10ft) of water. Though it has been suggested that large sauropods occasionally waded through shallow waters, it is thought that these tracks were left by a large, bipedal, carnivorous dinosaur that was not wading, but rather was using the water to support its body.

Dr Loic Costeur, a palaeontologist at the University of Nantes, France, says "The Cameros Basin has thousands of walking footprints from diverse dinosaur fauna, but when we saw these it was obvious straightaway that this was a swimming dinosaur."

The underwater trackway is well-preserved in sandstone and is made up of 12 consecutive prints each consisting of two to three scratch marks. Ripple marks around the track suggest the dinosaur was swimming against a current, attempting to keep a straight path. Dr Costeur also stated that "The dinosaur swam with alternating movements of the two hind limbs: a pelvic paddle swimming motion."

I guess it was a sort of a prehistoric doggie paddle:)

Shark vs. Dinosaur

A recent find in Utah reveals a large prehistoric lake around 200 million years with an amazing fossil cache including an enormous, carnivorous dinosaur and several species of sharks. Anatomical features of the dinosaur suggest it specialized in eating fish, including sharks and huge bony fish, meals which palaeontologist James Kirkland describes as “like biting through chain mail [since] fish in the past were more armored than they are today."

The dinosaur, a relative of the crested dino Dilophosaurus, was about 20 feet long and so would have been a formidable adversary for its ferocious prey. The dinosaur’s slender, serrated teeth are quite unusual and only found in dinosaurs like Spinosaurus and Suchimimus.

Dilophosaurus was well adapted to being a fisherman. Its nasal openings retracted back from the end of its snout so that it could, like today's crocodiles and alligators, still breath when its mouth was underwater.

There are clear tracks and claw scrapes showing the dinosaur wading into the lake to catch its prey. "We have counted over 3,000 individual claw marks and toe scrapes that show incredibly detailed preservation," reveals palaeontologist Andrew Milner. "We can see details of cuticle on the tips of claws, skin impressions, scale scratch lines and where claw cuticle was overlapped by the fleshy toe pads at the end of the toes."

What were T. rex’s tiny little arms for anyway?

American palaeontologist Henry Osborn first described T. rex but initially expressed doubts that the diminutive arms he found belonged to this enormous animal. After investigating further and finding it to be true, he considered their purpose and advanced the first theory in 1906: that they were used as ‘graspers’ or stabilizers during copulation.

But this was only the start of a debate that still rages. In 1970 British palaeontologist Barney Newman suggested that the small arms braced the beast's body as it stood up.
Another, contrasting theory suggested that the small limbs are vestigials (degenerated organs that have lost their use).

To add to the confusion it seems that the muscular of the T. rex was very well defined and though the arms were disproportional to the animal's body, they were still very strong. So some people consider that the most useful function of the limbs was to be used as meat hooks while the animal fed. This theory is supported by the beautifully sharp claws on T. rex’s two fingers.

In contrast, Greg Erickson has recently commented on a biomechanical analyses of a new specimen. The aim of this study was to try and understand the physical capacities of T. rex's diminutive structures. Erickson has concluded that the elbow could not be extended beyond 90° and though the arms were very strong (they could lift about 180 kg or 400lbs) they had a very limited side-to-side and up-and-down motion.

It is also known that T. rex's arms were often broken (and mended) during its life, suggesting that the arms were poorly suited for their function that these animals could go without using their arms for extended periods of time.

I read an interesting theory a while back that suggested the arms were most useful in juveniles, as a counterbalance to the young dinsaurs fast quickly. The suggestion was made that the arms were proportionally longer in childhood compared to adulthood. However, as far as I know this theory did not gain popularity.

The truth is that no one knows the answer. Scientific inquiry into this issue has been going on for a century and it doesn’t seem likely that the mystery will be solved soon. If you have any other ideas, please let me know!

Launch of Dinobase

Well it is has FINALLY happened. After a lot of hard work on the part of many people in Bristol, DinoBase was officially launched today. DinoBase is a new interactive resource for dinosaur fans of all ages.

As Mike Benton notes, ‘We all know that people have a natural curiosity for dinosaurs, so we hope that the information on DinoBase will satisfy people's enthusiasm.'

You can search the database for your favourite dinosaur, find out its species, when and where it lived, what it ate, how big it was and how to pronounce its tongue-twisting Latin name. Also try browsing the colourful picture galleries to see what dinosaurs looked like in their prehistoric world.

Did you know, for example, that the Albertaceratops nesmoi, which means ‘Alberta horn-faced’, was only discovered this year in Canada? It is a centrosaurine ceratopsian dinosaur with a pair of long horns on the brow and a blade-like nasal horn. It lived about 75 million years ago, was 6 metres long and weighed 2 tons.

DinoBase also has an online forum, where you can ask questions about dinosaurs, which experts at Bristol University will answer. The database will continue to grow in the future as new discoveries are made and more features are added. There will be a news section that will report the most recent happenings in dinosaur research, and a ‘New Dinosaur’ alert system that will let visitors know about new discoveries.

I would like to thank a lot of people for their hard work, but most especially for the people on our team who have made the final push in last week, including Paul Ferry, Manabu Sakamoto and Tom Fletcher.

Check out DinoBase at http://dinobase.gly.bris.ac.uk/

Ancient proteins link T. rex to chickens

Well I’m sure everybody has seen this sensationalist headline in the last week, instead of tackling the controversy myself, I’ve decided to list a few posts by bloggers who have already posted on the topic:

PZ Meyers of Pharyngula posts Stone soup; or, extracting protein fragments from T. rex bones

Brian Switek of Laelaps in his post, And the T. rex goes… cock-a-doodle-do?

Mike Ryan of Palaeoblog posts T. rex Protein Sequenced

And the original article:
Analyses of soft tissue from Tyrannosaurus rex suggest the presence of protein. 2007. Science 316: 277 - 280

Book Review: How To Keep Dinosaurs by Robert Mash

This book is not new, but I only discovered recently. If you haven’t read it and enjoy palaeo-humor I suggest you pick it up! It is picturesque, surreal and an equally amusing read for geeks and children:)

Synopsis: Hollywood and the popular press would have us believe that all dinosaurs are gigantic, hostile and untameable. In fact, there are many species that make charming and even useful companions. From Compsognathus (mild-mannered and affectionate - once it has learnt to recognise its owner) to Deinonychus (will not eat dog food - dogs are another matter) this book advises you which dinosaur is right for you and your home, from the city apartment dweller looking for a lap pet, to the country estate owner looking to tighten up on security. How To Keep Dinosaurs is packed with the sort of information keen dinosaur keepers crave - from feeding and housing to curing common ailments, breeding and showing your animal. It will even tell you where you can purchase your new pet. The author, a zoologist with extensive experience of dinosaurs, has provided a timely and much-needed source book for all those who keep dinosaurs and for the huge numbers who are contemplating getting one. It is as essential to every dinosaur keeper as a stout shovel and a tranquilizer rifle.

High Stakes Custody Battle for Fossil Dinosaur Continues

Custody battles for fossils can bring big money these days so it comes as no surprise that it was announced today that a 2 ½ year custody battle for the ownership of Tinker, a juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex will continue. A federal court of appeal ruled that a the lease formed between fossil hunters, who dug up the 65 million-year-old fossil and the County of Harding County, South Dakota was valid. This reverses a ruling made last year that deemed the lease void because it didn't follow a state law that requires leases exceeding 120 days and $500 USD to go before a public hearing.

Tinker is currently interned in Pennsylvania. An offer of $8.5 million USD has been made for the extraordinary fossil skeleton. In 1992, South Dakota saw another a custody battle for a dinosaur skeleton: Sue, a beautifully preserved, 13m (42ft) long T. rex specimen was at the center. Claims to Sue were made by a local rancher, a team of fossil hunters, a Sioux Indian tribe and the United States Government. It ended seven years later by awarding the dinosaur to the rancher on whose land the find was made. He then auctioned her off at Sotheby's, the winning bid went to Chicago's Field Museum with corporate sponsorship from McDonald’s and Walt Disney to the tune of $8.4 million. To date, it has been the most expensive fossil ever sold, I wonder if Tinker will break the record?

Creationist Museum Signs

Earlier today I wrote post about how Tyrannosaurus rex ate coconuts and how all dinosaurs used to be herbivores, at least according to a new Creationist museum in Kentucky, USA. In response, a reader sent me some hilarious signs that would be well suited to the museum:

Environmental message
“Another flood will make fossil fuels a renewable energy source”

Cafeteria menu
“Fish Sticks are organic and are not your relatives”

“Today’s special: Buy a spaghetti monster and get a free drink”

Museum Shop
“The Danny Dinosaur Adventure Ride is closed today. Please visit the Adam and Eve organic fruit and pet store”

T. rex ate coconuts

A new museum in Petersburg, Kentucky greets visitors with a 20ft tall tumbling waterfall and at its base, mannequins of frolicking children play amongst dinosaurs. The Creation Museum, which cost $25 million to build, is home to many unusual sites: a diorama of ancient people overshadowed by a towering T. rex, Adam and Eve swimming in a river with giant reptiles, and even a scale model of Noah's Ark. It seems Noah solved the problem of fitting dinosaurs into his vessel by only taking baby dinosaurs. Indeed, the ark has a detailed display of many animals happily boarding the boat: dinosaurs cavort with giraffes, penguins, hippos, and bears.

Museum guides tell visitors that before Adam and Eve were expelled from paradise all of the dinosaurs were peaceful plant-eaters. In Genesis 1:30 God gives ‘green herb’ to every creature to eat and so there were no predators. When a curious museum visitor asks, why exactly T. rex had six-inch long serrated teeth, the guides go on to explain that T. rex used his big teeth to open coconuts. Apparently it was only after Adam and Eve sinned and were cast out of paradise that the dinosaurs started to eat flesh.

My opinion: I think the people who built this museum are smoking a bit too much ‘green herb’.

Dinosaur Blog

Found this great cartoon online. Sorry I don’t know who the author/illustrator is so I can’t give them the proper credit.

In the News...

Big news in palaeontology this week, Graeme Lloyd posts on yet another gliding reptile in This Life is a Fiction, Matt Celeskey discusses Oryctodromeus, a burrowing dinosaur in his blog, The Hairy Museum of Natural History and Michael Ryan declares that T. rex Wins By A Nose in Palaeoblog.

What was the biggest dinosaur?

If you’re a palaeontologist you’ve heard this question a thousand times. And if you’re not a palaeontologist you might wonder why you never get the same answer twice. Well you see the annoying part of palaeontology is that the most spectacular animals are sometimes only known from a single bone or sometimes a fragment of a bone and so ‘reconstructing’ that animal can be incredibly difficult (and controversial).

The famous French naturalist, Georges Cuvier once said
"Today comparative anatomy has reached such a point of perfection that, after inspecting a single bone, one can often determine the class, and sometimes even the genus of the animal to which it belonged, above all if that bone belonged to the head or the limbs. ... This is because the number, direction, and shape of the bones that compose each part of an animal's body are always in a necessary relation to all the other parts, in such a way that - up to a point - one can infer the whole from any one of them and vice versa."

This principal is key to the reconstruction of many giant sauropods, which are often found as disarticulated, isolated specimens and historically, estimates of their size have varied dramatically. The other day, my nephew, Ben and I were debating whether sauropods were the largest animals that ever lived on Earth. Ben felt very strongly for the ‘for’ side while I was in the conservative camp of ‘against’ because I thought that while sauropods came close, they did not exceed the size of Blue Whales (about 30-33m long and 150-170 tonnes). Well according to Ken Carpenter's most recent estimate, pictured below by Matt Celeskey, Amphicoelias fragillimus may have been an amazing 58m (190ft) long! If you want to read more about how this estimate was made, visit Matt's wonderfully entertaining blog, the Hairy Museum of Natural History.


Left back: Amphicoelias fragillimus - estimated to be 58 m (190 ft) long
Left front: Seismosaurus hallorum - 33m (110ft) long
Middle: Human, Homo sapiens - 1.8m (6ft) tall and African Elephant, Loxodonta africana - 4m (13ft) tall
Medial right: Argentinosaurus huinculensis - estimated 30m (98ft) long
Furthest right: Puertasaurus reuili - estimated at least 35m (115ft) long

Friday's Mystery Fossil Revealed

Congratulations to Mambo Bob for his response. Friday's Mystery Fossil was indeed a theropod and specifically a Tyrannosaurus but not Sue of the Chicago Field Museum. Rather, the picture is of a specimen at Palais de la découverte in Paris. Also, points Malacoda for his imaginative guess (an obvious asset in palaeontology:)

The image may be familiar to some as it was featured in my January posting, CSI: Garfield County.

Image copyright ©2005 David Monniaux.

Albertaceratops nesmoi

News of a new horned dinosaur, Albertaceratops nesmoi made headlines earlier this month but I am a little behind! Though the dinosaur was discovered in 2001 and described in Ryan’s 2003 dissertation (as Medusaceratops) it has now been formally published. The generic name means ‘Alberta horned face’ and the specific name honours Cecil Nesmo, a rancher from Southern Alberta who aided the palaeontologists recovering the fossil.

The animal, known from a single complete skull and postcranial fragments, is from the middle Campanian (Upper Cretaceous) Oldman Formation of Alberta, Canada, and Judith River Formation of Montana, USA.

Distinctive features include: long brow horns a bony ridge over its nose two large outwardly-projecting hooks on its frill. Ryan’s phylogenetic found it to be the most basal centrosaurine known.

Ryan, M.J. (2007). A new basal centrosaurine ceratopsid from the Oldman Formation, southeastern Alberta. Journal of Paleontology 81(2):376-396.

Sneak Peak at DinoBase

As its name suggests, DinoBase is the ultimate dinosaur database and we are letting you have a sneak peak at it! Check out at http://dinobase.gly.bris.ac.uk.

*News – The newsest species, big finds and current controversies

*Forum – Chat and discuss all aspects of Dinosauria. To be come a member, visit http://dinobase.gly.bris.ac.uk/forum/login.php.

*DinoBase Kids – Q & A, activities, info on toys and movies

And of course….

*The Database – find info on dinosaur species, including discovery info, vital statistics and classification.

Enjoy!

If dinosaurs hadn't gone extinct: the evolution of dinosauroids

Horizon: My Pet Dinosaur was broadcast on BBC Two on 13 March at 21:00GMT. The idea behind the program is what would have happened if the dinosaurs hadn’t gone extinct? This sounds like a fantastic idea for a program and I am all for popularizing science, I believe public interest in scientific research is important. But some of these popularizations go to far; there are bound to be small anatomical mistakes in TV shows, even some hypotheses based on limited evidence, but what I hate is unreined wild speculation.

Several palaeontologists including Kristi Curry-Rogers and Phil Currie lent their names to this show and make reasonable statements about a world of dinosaurs today including:
“Adaptable dinosaurs had it all covered. Dinosaurs could have comfortably colonised many environments, from polar conditions to regions of rivers and forests, jungle and deserts”.
"We wouldn't have the modern animals that we're used to. Giraffes and elephants and so on; they just wouldn't have evolved because dinosaurs would still be here.”

But the show then goes on to state that dinosaurs like the bipedal Troodon with its good vision, long grasping hands and problem-solving abilities made it a candidate for a human-like evolutionary path.

Dr Simon Conway Morris says: "The human is extraordinarily well designed," he says. The whole arrangement is actually designed for a particular mode of life, which, as you can see looking around us, is incredibly successful…If it's such a good solution for us, is it so difficult to imagine it could be a good solution for a dinosaur, therefore a 'dinosauroid'?"

The show even includes full-sized, bold constructions of ‘dinosauroids’. Ok so maybe I am being to harsh and this is just a little fun, but I like my popular science to at least have some element of science.

March Preview

Upcoming posts:

*Deep Sea Living Fossils *More White Tigers & *The Ultimate Dinosaur Database

CSI: Garfield County

I have been watching way too much CSI. For those who haven’t seen the popular American television show, it is about a team of highly skilled Crime Scene Investigators who use keen observational skills and high tech gadgetry to solve crimes each week in Las Vegas (The franchise also includes Miami and New York).

Well on the way to the coffee house yesterday my husband, Paul, spotted a trail of blood, obviously a fight at one of the local clubs the night before. I know we have been watching too much CSI because before the end of the block we had determined the trail we were examining was the result of gravitational blood splatter (GBS) from two wounds on a single victim heading up Queen’s Road. Paul wouldn’t let me keep following the trail after we got to the coffee shop so unfortunately you will have to wait to hear about my findings until I can go back to take a look.

I found myself thinking along the same lines when I read a news article this week about a spectacular Montana find: a team of fossil hunters in the badlands of western Garfield County have found a unusual pair of creatures frozen in time: a theropod and a ceratopian dinosaur. The pair died near the coast of Montana's prehistoric sea 75 million years ago and the sediment preserved remarkable detail. The theropod resembles a Gorgosaur and the unidentified ceratopian has a frill like a triceratops but no horns. Slightly bittersweet, the theropod skeleton is marred by a single flaw: one missing claw keeps it from being 100% complete.

The discovery is believed to be one of only three that have ever captured a carnivorous and herbivorous dinosaur together, and the first in North America. As the excavators cleared the sandstone, they found four carnivore teeth lodged in the vegetarian's cervical and thoracic vertebrae (Queue: Who are you….? Who? Who? Who? Who?).

At first glance it may seem that we may have solved a millions of years old cold case but palaeontologist Nate Murphy claims that the evidence against the theropod suspect is circumstantial only. Based on the placement of the skeletons he thinks it is more likely that the two were the unfortunate victims of a flood. He believes that the herbivore was attacked before it met the suspect, who at worst was guilty of stalking its prey. I however believe the real answer may lie in the missing claw…

On another note, the discovery has stirred up the controversial issue commercial fossil hunting. Especially since some of the fossil hunters believe this discovery is in the league of "Sue," the largest and most complete T. rex found. Though Sue eventually found her home in the Chicago Field Museum, she was the center of a five year long custody battle between three parties which ended in a sale of $8 million provided through corporate sponsorship.

You can read more about the spectacular Montana find on the website of the Great Falls Tribune.