Episode 259: Dinosaur fossils that fit on the head of a pin
Episode 259 is all about Chingkankousaurus, a possible tyrannosauroid from eastern China known only from a shoulder blade.
We also interview Phoebe Wood, a primary student from Adelaide, South Australia. She won several awards for her Anchiornis huxleyi model. Including Young Scientist of the Year 2019 and the Oliphant Trophy—a first for a primary school student.
Get our new book 50 Dinosaur Tales here: http://bit.ly/50dinosaurtales
News from the final day of talks and posters at the 2019 meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology source
A large varied selection of dinosaur microfossils from the Alaskan Kakanaut Formation show that dinosaurs lived in the arctic year-round
After more restoration work, an alternative Allosaurus holotype is ready to be named
Siats and Moros finds show that Allosauroids and Tyrannosauroids coexisted in the cretaceous
We now have an excellent growth series of over 20 Sinornithomimus individuals from China
A coprolite "nugget" shows excellent preservation of at least two feather types and likely multiple ticks
More evidence shows that dinosaur diversity was very high up until the end-cretaceous extinction
By comparing LAGs in arm and leg bones, another study shows that Maiasaura was quadrupedal its whole life
A new Jurassic ankylosaur was found in Portugal
Two new ceratopsians were discovered in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument
A new "Super matrix" of crocodilians places some difficult taxa in a cladogram
An analysis of Dimetrodon (not a dinosaur) and its relatives shows the wide range of sizes that they came in
The Tate Geological Museum have found a couple of sauropod feet and a diplodocid skull
The Burke Museum in Washington has a new exhibit called Fossils Uncovered source
A new animation shows how long dinosaurs lived, by tracing our solar system's movement through the Milky Way Galaxy source
Horse Archer Productions has a new web series, A Million Bones of Stone, the first episode is about Laelaps source
Justice Smith and Daniella Pineda, who played Franklin and Zia, in Fallen Kingdom will be back for Jurassic World 3 source
The dinosaur of the day: Chingkankousaurus
Theropod that lived in the Late Cretaceous in what is now Shandong province in eastern China (Wangshi Group)
Only one species: Chingkankousaurus fragilis
Named for the village Chingkankou (Jingankou), near where it was found
Described by Yang Zhongjian (a.k.a. C.C. Young) in 1958 from one scapula, which he said was basically like Allosaurus but smaller
Some scientists thought the shoulder bone was a rib or part of gastralia, but a 2013 study found that to be unlikely
Dan Chure assigned the fossil to Coelurosauria in 2001, and a few years later scientists refined that to a tyrannosauroid
Fun Fact: There have been two Anchiornis specimens studied for their coloration patterns: one with orange head feathers and one without.
Filed Under: All, Dino Podcast, Interviews, Podcast Tagged With: A Million Bones of Stone, alaska, allosauroid, allosaurus, ankylosaur, arctic, ceratopsians, Chingkankousaurus, coprolite, Cretaceous, Daniella Pineda, Dimetrodon, dinosaur, dinosaur of the day, dinosaurs, Fallen Kingdom, feather, feet, fragilis, holotype, i know dino, Jurassic, Jurassic World 3, Justice Smith, LAGs, Lythronax, maiasaura, microfossils, Moros, neotype, north pole, Phoebe Wood, podcast, quadrupedal, rex, sauropod, siats, Sinornithomimus, skull, Suskityrannus, t-rex, topotype, trex, triassic, tyrannosauroid, tyrannosaurus
I Know Dino Podcast Show Notes: Masiakasaurus (Episode 127)
Episode 127 is all about Masiakasaurus, a small noasaurid theropod that lived in the Cretaceous in what is now Madagascar.
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Jeff Goldblum is confirmed to be coming back to the Jurassic Park franchise in Jurassic World 2
And there will likely be a submarine somwhere in the movie
Bonapartesaurus Rionegrensis, a saurolophine was discovered representing the rare Argentinian hadrosaurs
Researchers presented that the Stegosaurs Miragaia and Hesperosaurus should be considered there own genus again, if you even realized synonymizing them was proposed…
70 million year old dinosaur eggs have been found on a building site in China
Lurdusaurus, a possibly semi-aquatic iguanodont that lived in the early Cretaceous in what is now the western Sahara Desert was featured on Earth Archives
Did Sinosauropteryx and Kulindadromeus remains have feathers or collagen, a new paper says feathers
Ribs can be used instead of more valuable limb bones for measuring age by counting LAGs
Giraffititan is getting digitized at the Museum of Natural History in Berlin
A new movie based on the 1958 children's book Danny and the Dinosaur will be coming out soon
The Wyoming Dinosaur Center in Thermopolis, is building a new eco-friendly facility, which will open in 3 to 4 years and may incorporate smells
The dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving point in Utah is installing 1,500 solar panels
Another dinosaur replica caught fire, this time on the island Jersey in the UK
On June 17, the Schiele Museum of Natural History in North Carolina is opening a new exhibit, Dino Safari
A funny, but pretty accurate piece of art titled "Castles Made of Sand" by Rhunevild won the Utahraptor competition
A young girl in Australia caused a bit of a hubbub after not being able to find dinosaur clothes in the girls section of a retail store
The song "A Round of Applause for Dinosaurs" on YouTube is a goofy, family friendly song
The dinosaur of the day: Masiakasaurus
Name means "vicious lizard"
Small noasaurid theropod that lived in the Cretaceous in what is now Madagascar
Named in 2001 by Scott Sampson, Matthew Carrano, and Catherine Forster
Type species is Masiakasaurus knopfleri
Named after Mark Knopfler, lead singer of Dire Straits, whose music was considered to be the expedition team's lucky charm (they were listening to his songs when they made important discoveries)
About 40% of the skeleton was found, and included parts of the skull and the teeth, humerus, pubis, hindlimbs, and several vertebrae
More specimens were found in 2011, and included the braincase, premxilla, facial bones, ribcage, and more, and helped scientists learn more about noasaurids (Masiakasaurus is now one of the best known noasaurids), Now 65% of the skeleton is known
Multiple specimens from thirty localities were found in Madagascar
Part of the superfamiliy Abelisauroidea and the clade noasaurid, a group of small theropods
Bipedal, with forelimbs that were shorter than hindlimbs
About 6.6 ft (2 m) long
Weighed about 80 lb (35 kg)
A 2013 study of Masiakasaurus found that it took 8-10 years to grow, and became the size of a large dog (growth rate is 40% slower than similar sized non-avian theropods). But the slow growth meant it didn't have to consume as much food, which helped in a semiarid environment with dry seasons and short supplies of food
Long, long skull
Had a narrow neck
Had four fingers on each hand, though the four digit was reduced, and had stout, not very sharp, claws
Originally, the hand bones were thought to be foot bones (so scientists originally thought it had a sickle claw on its second toe), but now it's considered to be a finger
Front teeth projected forward instead of straight down, (different from other theropods)
Had heterodont teeth (different shapes along the jaw)
It's lower front teeth are nearly horizontal, and the angle of its teeth increase until its fourth tooth (the rest of the teeth are vertical)
These front horizontal teeth haven't been seen in other predatory dinosaurs
Posterior teeth have serrations and are recurved
Front teeth were good for grasping small prey, but not good for tearing large food apart (back teeth were better for cutting and slicing)
Probably had a specialized diet (fish and small prey)
Other animals that lived in the same time and place include Majungasaurus, Rapetosaurus, Rahonavis
Majungasaurus may have preyed upon Masiakasaurus (based on one specimen found with holes that look like puncture marks from being hunted or scavenged, though it could also have been an infection)
The name "fossil fuel" is really a misnomer. The formation of oil & coal is completely different than fossilization.
The prevailing theory for how crude oil formed goes:
Huge numbers of dead plankton, algae, and the occasional other plant or animal fall to the bottom of the ocean
Some of them get buried before they decompose (kind of like fossilization)
High pressure and heat convert them into oil (not at all like fossilization)
If you're wondering how many dinosaurs got mixed in; As William Thomas, a geologist from the University of Kentucky put it:
"Some of the dinosaurs may have gotten involved in some of this…" but he thinks "it would be quite rare and a very small and insignificant contribution."
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Filed Under: All, Dino Podcast, Podcast Tagged With: berlin, bonapartesaurus, Carnivore, china, Danny and the Dinosaur, dinosaur, dinosaur clothes, dinosaur eggs, dinosaurs, fire, giraffititan, Hesperosaurus, i know dino, jeff goldblum, jurassic park, jurassic world 2, Kulindadromeus, LAGs, Lurdusaurus, Masiakasaurus, Masiakasaurus knopfleri, miragaia, noasaurid, Schiele Museum, Sinosauropteryx, solar, stegosaurs, Thanksgiving point, theropod, utahraptor, Wyoming Dinosaur Center