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The Big Dinosaur Podcast

The Big Dinosaur Podcast

A site about dinosaurs

Episode 454: Tyrannosaurus with Pete Larson — remastered

Episode 454: Tyrannosaurus with Pete Larson — remastered. We went back and remastered our first ever episode of I Know Dino so that the interview is a lot easier to hear and understand.

The dinosaur of the day: Tyrannosaurus

Interview:

Pete Larson, paleontologist and president of the Black Hills Institute in South Dakota. He led the excavation of the T. rex named Sue, the largest and most complete T. rex found at the time. Pete is a T. rex expert, and one of the main people in the documentary Dinosaur 13:

When Paleontologist Peter Larson and his team from the Black Hills Institute made the world’s greatest dinosaur discovery in 1990, they knew it was the find of a lifetime; the largest, most complete T. rex ever found. But during a ten-year battle with the U.S. government, powerful museums, Native American tribes, and competing paleontologists they found themselves not only fighting to keep their dinosaur but fighting for their freedom as well.

In this episode, we discuss:

  • Pete Larson, paleontologist and president of the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research in South Dakota. He led the excavation of the T. rex “Sue,” the largest and most complete T. rex found at the time.
  • The documentary, Dinosaur 13, came out recently about the excavation, detailing the federal government’s seizure of Sue, the 10-year long legal battle, how Black Hills came together to fight for Sue, and Larson’s 18 months in prison.
  • The dinosaur of the day is Tyrannosaurus rex, which is ancient Greek for “Tyrant Lizard.”
  • T. rex lived during the late Cretaceous period, in western North America (at the time an island continent called Laramidia)
  • T. rex was one of the largest known land predators; up to 40 feet in length, 13 feet tall at the hips, and 6.8 metric tons
  • T. rex was probably a predator and a scavenger, and was estimated to have one of the largest bite forces among all terrestrial animals
  • Scientists used to think T. rex walked upright and dragged its tail (a “living tripod”) but now they think the tail as off the ground, as seen in Jurassic Park.
  • Henry Fairfield Osborn, the former president of the American Museum of Natural History, was convinced T. rex stood upright and unveiled the first complete T. rex skeleton this way in 1915. It stood in this upright pose for 77 years, until 1992.
  • T. rex probably had feathers, at least on parts of its body.
  • T. rex had enhanced eyesight, hearing, and sense of smell (comparable to modern vultures), and could track prey movements from long distances.
  • T. rex may have had pack behavior.

Garret: Yeah, when we were in Dinosaur National Monument, which is this really neat museum that spans the Colorado-Utah border, they have a couple points where they talk about dinosaurs with feathers and I like to imagine the T. rex being covered in black feathers and looking like a giant evil raven or something like that. And I can imagine that being much more terrifying with its ruffled feathers and looking that much bigger than if it was just a scaly, green creature.

Sabrina: It would be terrifying.

Fun Fact:

The time between when Stegosaurus lived and when T. rex lived is longer than the time between when T. rex lived and now.

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Your support means so much to us and keeps us going! If you’re a dinosaur enthusiast, join our growing community on Patreon at patreon.com/iknowdino

Transcript:

For those who may prefer reading, see below for the full transcript of our first episode (including the interview with Pete Larson):

Continue Reading …

Episode 364: Were Triassic dinosaurs special?

Episode 364 is all about Palaeoscincus, the “ancient skink” that was named after a single tooth, but is now considered dubious.

We also interview Sterling Nesbitt, an associate professor at Virginia Tech in the Department of Geosciences, a research associate/affiliate of a number of museums, who has over 100 publications focusing on the origin of dinosaurs and their early evolution.

Big thanks to all our patrons! Your support means so much to us and keeps us going! If you’re a dinosaur enthusiast, join our growing community on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/iknowdino.

You can listen to our free podcast, with all our episodes, on Apple Podcasts at: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/i-know-dino/id960976813?mt=2

In this episode, we discuss:

News:

  • Hadrosaur beaks, Hesperornis, & Ichthyornis talks from the Avialan Evolution & Biology session at SVP 2021 source
  • A recent paper has tips on staying safe while conducting field work source
  • A new list of resources has recommendations for LGBTQA+ paleontologists and students source
  • Another list of resources has recommendations for taking care of your mental health source
  • Dippy is headed back to the Natural History Museum in London from Summer 2022 through December 2022 source
  • The American Heritage Center in Wyoming has a digital replica of the Triceratops from the original King Kong movie source
  • The Buffalo Museum of Science in New York will have the traveling exhibit Antarctic Dinosaurs starting in February source
  • Flint Hills Discovery Center in Kansas has the exhibit Dinosaur Discoveries: Ancient Fossils, New Ideas until January 2nd source
  • The Royal Tyrrell Museum in Alberta, just received five Guinness World Records for their fossil collections (mostly dinosaurs) source

The dinosaur of the day: Palaeoscincus

  • Dubious ankylosaur that lived in the Late Cretaceous in what is now Montana, US (Judith River Formation)
  • Looks like other ankylosaurs, often depicted with armor like Edmontonia with spikes along the sides of the body and a tail club
  • Probably had a low, broad body, and stout limbs
  • Herbivorous
  • Type and only species is Palaeoscincus costatus
  • Genus name means “ancient skink”
  • Species name means “the ribbed one”
  • First ankylosaur named based on fossils found in the U.S.
  • Named by Joseph Leidy in 1856 based on one tooth
  • Tooth found by Ferdinand Hayden
  • Joseph Leidy, 1856 wrote “Notice of remains of extinct reptiles and fishes, discovered by Dr. F. V. Hayden in the Bad Lands of the Judith River, Nebraska Territories”
  • Two paragraphs about Palaeoscincus, includes: “The fang is flattened cylindrical and is hollow”
  • Leidy described it more in 1859
  • O.C. Marsh wrote in 1892, “Notes on Mesozoic vertebrate fossils”
  • Marsh said “many similar teeth have since been found, both in the Judith Basin and in various other localities of the Laramie”
  • Said a smaller species found in Wyoming, and called it Palaeoscincus latus
  • Said the crown of the tooth was broader and the apex more pointed
  • Also said a tooth Cope described in 1882 as a mammalian premolar and the type of Meniscoessus belongs to Palaeoscincus or something similar
  • Walter Coombs Jr. in 2010 wrote, “Teeth and taxonomy in ankylosaurs”
  • Said there were five sources of dinosaur teeth variation: positional, ontogenetic, intraspecific, taxonomic, and chimeric
  • Examples of positional variation include tooth size, number of cusps, where in the dental row the tooth is from, and ornamentation, such as grooves or ridges or serrations
  • Said teeth are rarely analyzed with enough detail to name a new taxon based on teeth
  • Said Palaeoscincus costatus is a nomen dubium, because not enough detail to tell the difference based on its tooth
  • Other Palaeoscincus species that have since been reassigned:
  • Palaeoscincus africanus, named in 1910/1912 by Robert Broom based on a partial jaw found in the Kirkwood Formation of South Africa, now known as the stegosaurid Paranthodon
  • Palaeoscincus asper, named by Lawrence Lambe in 1902 (means “the rough one”), based on a tooth found in Dinosaur Park Formation in Alberta, Canada. Now considered to be Euoplocephalus
  • Palaeoscincus latus, named by O.C. Marsh in 1892 (means “the wide one”) based on a tooth found in the Lance Formation in Wyoming. Now thought to be a pachycephalosaurid
  • Palaeoscincus rugosidens, named by Charles Whitney Gilmore in 1930 (means “rough tooth”), based on a skull and partial skeleton found in the Two Medicine Formation in Montana. Now thought to be Edmontonia or Chassternbergia (most illustrations based on this one)

Fun Fact: The “duck test” is wrong and the Digesting Duck automaton can’t digest anything.

Sponsors:

Our 2021 Holiday Gift Guide is available now! Find the perfect gift for the dinosaur enthusiast in your life (or yourself). This year’s guide features a dinosaur waffle maker, a Jeff Goldblum Pillow, a mug with a sauropod neck for a handle, and much more! Head to https://bit.ly/dinogifts21 to see the full list of 30+ gift ideas.

Episode 361: The origins of dinosaur cryptozoology

Episode 361 is all about Fabrosaurus, a very early ornithischian dinosaur that lived in what is now Lesotho.

We also interview Edward Guimont, an assistant professor of world history at Bristol Community College who has studied how dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals are connected through myths, legends, colonialism, and cryptozoology. Follow his work on twitter @edward_guimont

Big thanks to all our patrons! Your support means so much to us and keeps us going! If you’re a dinosaur enthusiast, join our growing community on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/iknowdino.

You can listen to our free podcast, with all our episodes, on Apple Podcasts at: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/i-know-dino/id960976813?mt=2

In this episode, we discuss:

News:

  • A new site in Patagonia, Argentina includes the brand new sauropod Menucocelsior source
  • Pops the ceratopsian in Weld County, Colorado might not be a Triceratops after all source
  • Dickinson Museum Center’s Badlands Dinosaur Museum in North Dakota is getting a tyrannosaur skeleton source
  • The North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum has updated its juvenile mummified Edmontosaurus specimen source
  • Podokesaurus is one step closer to becoming the state dinosaur of Massachusetts source

The dinosaur of the day: Fabrosaurus

  • Basal ornithischian dinosaur that lived in the Late Triassic / Early Jurassic in what is now Lesotho (Elliot Formation)
  • Walked on two legs, had a long body and a short head and short arms
  • Looked a lot like Lesothosaurus (may be the same)
  • Some scientists think Fabrosaurus specimens represent individual variations of Lesothosaurus
  • Lesothosaurus was about 3 ft (1 m) long
  • Herbivorous
  • Type species is Fabrosaurus australis
  • Described in 1964 by Léonard Ginsburg
  • Genus name means “Fabre’s lizard”
  • Name in honor of Jean Fabre, a geologist and one of Ginsburg’s colleagues on the expedition where the found the fossil
  • Species name refers to the fossil being found in the southern part of the Elliot Formation (means “southern” in Latin)
  • Holotype was a partial jawbone (mandible) with three teeth
  • More fossils found later, including two crushed skulls, vertebrae, ribs, and limb bones
  • Ginsburg described the holotype as thin and gracile, and the teeth as straight and triangular in profile
  • Said the teeth were Ornithischian teeth, similar to Scelidosaurus harrisonii
  • Described as a “dinosaur of a small size, with single-rooted teeth possessing long vertical roots”
  • Originally said it was a scelidosaurid
  • More ornithischian fossils later found, and later scientists found it had too many features in common with other species, and Fabrosaurus was a nomen dubium
  • Richard Thulborn in 1992 said Fabrosaurus and Lesothosaurus were synonymous
  • Richard Butler in 2005 reviewed ornithischians from the Elliot Formation and said Fabrosaurus was “based upon a single undiagnostic dentary” and considered it a nomen dubium

Fun Fact: There are over 50 named species of sauropods in Patagonia alone.

Sponsors:

The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology annual conference is right around the corner. We’ll be releasing premium content of some of the non-dinosaur stories for our patrons. Go to Patreon.com/iknowdino to get access and help us keep creating I Know Dino every week.

Episode 359: The “butterfly hunter” troodontid

Episode 359 is all about Colepiocephale, the “knucklehead” pachycephalosaurid from the Late Cretaceous of Canada.

We also interview Dave and Iszi, join us from the Terrible Lizards podcast. We chat about the origin of their show and all their other projects. We were also a guest on their podcast last week at terriblelizards.co.uk

Big thanks to all our patrons! Your support means so much to us and keeps us going! If you’re a dinosaur enthusiast, join our growing community on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/iknowdino.

You can listen to our free podcast, with all our episodes, on Apple Podcasts at: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/i-know-dino/id960976813?mt=2

In this episode, we discuss:

News:

  • A new “short-snouted” troodontid, Papiliovenator, was named from Inner Mongolia source
  • The Fernbank Museum has the Antarctic Dinosaurs traveling exhibit until January 2 source
  • Sabrina reviews the new Flintstones spinoff named Yabba-Dabba Dinosaurs source

The dinosaur of the day: Colepiocephale

  • Pachycephalosaurid that lived in the Late Cretaceous in what is now Alberta, Canada (Foremost Formation) and Montana, US (Judith River Formation)
  • Herbivorous
  • May have been prey for Thanatotheristes degrootorum (“Reaper of Death”), talked about in episode 273
  • Type species is Colepiocephale lambei
  • Genus name means “knucklehead”
  • Holotype includes part of the dome of the skull
  • Originally described by Sternberg in 1945 as Stegoceras lambei
  • Renamed by Robert Sullivan in 2003 to Colepiocephale
  • Sullivan did a phylogenetic analysis with 49 characters of multiple pachycephalosaurs, and found Colepiocephale to be a new genus
  • Unique enough in the posterior squamosal region (bumps at the back of the head)
  • At the time, Colepiocephale was the oldest diagnostic pachycephalosaur from North America. There was an older skull from the Milk River Formation but it was too incomplete and indeterminate to name the type of pachycephalosaur
  • In 2009 Ryan Schott and others analyzed Colepiocephale, including the holotype and a referred part of a dome found in the Judith River Formation of Montana
  • Reaffirmed Colepiocephale was its own genus based on several autapomorphies and being in a different stratigraphy from Stegoceras validum (lived at a different time)
  • There were three previous hypotheses that 1) it was synonymous with Stegoceras validum, 2) it was its own species within Stegoceras, or 3) it was more derived than Stegoceras

Fun Fact: Our dinosaur map has museums from 47 countries and 45/50 US states (let us know what we’re missing).

Sponsors:

This episode is brought to you by Prehistoric Pets, the new pop-up book by paleontologist Dr. Dean Lomax, illustrated by Mike Love. Prehistoric Pets takes a close look at 7 favorite pets and uses fossil clues to reveal who their prehistoric ancestors might have been. Pick up your copy at candlewick.com/r/prehistoricpets-dino

Episode 357: Sauropod carrion and a new ankylosaur

Episode 357 is all about Denversaurus, a nodosaurid ankylosaur found with over one hundred osteoderms.

We also interview Cameron Pahl, software developer, Research Associate, and Lecturer with Portland State University and Oregon Health & Safety University. He authored the controversial Allosaurus as a scavenger paper, which is really more about how sauropod carrion affected the ecosystem.

Big thanks to all our patrons! Your support means so much to us and keeps us going! If you’re a dinosaur enthusiast, join our growing community on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/iknowdino.

You can listen to our free podcast, with all our episodes, on Apple Podcasts at: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/i-know-dino/id960976813?mt=2

In this episode, we discuss:

News:

  • Titanosaur osteoderms might have been useful for defense after all, at least while they were young source
  • A new ankylosaur, Spicomellus, was named from a spiky osteoderm fused directly to a rib—a first for any animal source
  • Four dinosaurs were excavated in Montana including what could be Anzu, Triceratops, a theropod, and a hadrosaur source
  • Dinosauria Museum Prague in the Czech Republic is opening October 4 source
  • Morrison’s Dinosaur Ridge in Colorado has a new mural of three dinosaurs source
  • In Missouri, St. Louis Science Center has a new traveling exhibit, called Tyrannosaurs: Meet the Family source
  • Mary Anning’s statue in Dorset will be unveiled on May 21 next year source

The dinosaur of the day: Denversaurus

  • Nodosaurid ankylosaur that lived in the Late Cretaceous in what is now South Dakota, US (Hell Creek Formation, Wyoming (Lance Formation), and Texas (Aguja Formation)
  • Had a wide snout and a wide skull
  • Covered in osteoderms and had shoulder spikes
  • Estimated to be about 20 ft (6 m) long and weigh 3 tonnes
  • Type species is Denversaurus schlessmani
  • Fossils found in 1922 by Philip Reinheimer, a collector and technician at the Colorado Museum of Natural History (now the Denver Museum of Nature and Science)
  • Fossils found in Corson County, South Dakota
  • Barnum Brown referred those fossils (DMNH 468) to Edmontonia longiceps in 1943
  • In 1988, Bob Bakker said that fossil was a new species, Denversaurus, and another species, Edmontonia rugosidens, was Chassternbergia
  • Genus name means “Denver lizard”
  • Genus name refers to the Denver Museum of Natural History
  • Species name is in honor of Lee Schlessman, founder of the Schlessman Family Foundation, a benefactor to the museum
  • Holotype is part of the collection of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science
  • Holotype includes a skull, no lower jaws, and some osteoderms
  • Bakker also referred AMNH 3076 to Denversaurus (a skull found in the Aguja Formation in Texas by Barnum Brown and Roland Bird). Skull has been described as “weathered”
  • Bakker said, in a 1988 New York Times article, “Denversaurus was probably a little like a three-ton armadillo with spikes”
  • Bakker also said, “There seems to have been an evolutionary trend to get the eyes up off the ground and away from dust, and possibly to allow for a better view of potential predators”
  • In 1990 Kenneth Carpenter said Denversaurus was Edmontonia sp.. Said Bakker’s reason for naming Denversaurus (eye sockets were more to the rear of the skull, rather than the middle) was based on Bakker’s reconstruction of the skeleton, which was partially crushed)
  • Carpenter said Edmontonia sp. had affinities to Edmontonia rugosidens
  • In 2000, Ford found Denversaurus to be valid, after looking at osteoderms in ankylosaur systematics
  • In 2015 Michael Burns wrote his thesis on intraspecific variation in ankylosaurs, and found Denversaurus to be likely valid, based on phylogeny
  • Mentioned another specimen, BHI 6225, an endocast
  • Described the highest point of the skull roof as being between the orbits, and agreed with Bakker that the holotype did have orbits more toward the rear of the skull, but said there was too much variability in individual Denversaurus that this character was “not taxonomically useful”
  • Burns said in his thesis that Denversaurus, Edmontonia, and Panoplosaurus were all in the same clade, Panoplosaurinae
  • Also said Edmontonia was more basal than Denversaurus
  • Team from the Black Hills Institute found a Denversaurus skeleton in Niobrara County, Wyoming, nicknamed “Tank” (BHI 127327)
  • Tank includes lower jaws, parts of the torso and over one hundred osteoderms (can order a cast)
  • Can see Denversaurus at Woodland Park’s Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center in Colorado, US
  • Other dinosaurs that lived around the same time and place included T. rex, Triceratops, Edmontosaurus, Struthiomimus, Pachycephalosaurus

Fun Fact: We probably have dinosaurs & bats to thank for keeping flying insects small.

Sponsors:

This episode is brought to you by Indiana University Press. Dinosaur Tracks From Brazil: A Lost World of Gondwana by Giuseppe Leonardi and Ismar de Souza Carvalho, is out now. The book is the culmination of 40+ years of fieldwork, including over 200 drawings, paintings, and maps. It’s available now at iupress.org use promo code save30 for 30% off your copy.

Sign up for free as an I Know Dino Ambassador at refer.fm/iknowdino to get a mini-audiobook! Send your referral link to others who would enjoy our show and get rewards when they subscribe. Plus, whoever refers the most listeners in September will get a $20 Silver T. rex coin from the Canadian mint!

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