The Big Dinosaur Podcast

Episode 456: The oldest diplodocoid and a new Egyptian titanosaur. Tharosaurus, a dicraeosaurid like Amargasaurus, is the oldest diplodocoid ever found; The new titanosaur, Igai, was described from Egypt; and we explore how cabinets of curiosity were the original natural history museums

News:

• There’s a new titanosaur, Igai semkhu source
• There’s a new dicraeosaurid sauropod, Tharosaurus indicus source
• The Ubirajara fossil was officially returned to Brazil in June source
• Gavin Leng, a fossil hunter known for discoveries such as Eotyrannus, recently passed away source
• If you’re in London, check out the Brick Dinos exhibit at the Horniman Museum & Gardens source

Sponsors:

This episode is brought to you by Exquisite Eons. They have new Triceratops, Stegosaurus, and Ankylosaurus bronze figurines available for pre-order! Get a discount by ordering the full set for a limited time at https://exquisiteeons.com/

The dinosaur of the day: Megapnosaurus

• Also includes Syntarsus and to some extent Coelophysis
• Mentioned Megapnosaurus/Syntarsus briefly in episode 426 (there’s a pair of them on display in a diorama at the Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe)
• Coelophysid theropod that lived in the Early Jurassic in what is now Africa and possibly the U.S.
• Looked like Coelophysis, had a long tail, walked on two legs, had short arms, and a long face
• Similar in size and shape to Coelophysis
• Small to medium sized
• Estimated to grow up to 7.2 ft (2.2 m) long and weigh up to 29 lb (13 kg)
• Lightly built and fast
• Had a large brain cavity, so probably intelligent especially compared to other dinosaurs
• Based on growth rings, lived on average seven years
• May have been nocturnal, based on scleral rings looking similar to modern nocturnal birds
• Had a “weak joint” in the jaw bones, which gave it a hooked premaxillary jaw (tip of the snout)
• Hypothesis then that it was a scavenger (couldn’t go after live prey)
• Name is still debated, as Megapnosaurus, Coelophysis or a new genera
• Genus name Megapnosaurus means “big dead lizard”
• Two species? Megapnosaurus rhodesiensis and Megapnosaurus kayentakatae
• Some paleontologists consider Megapnosaurus to be synonymous with Coelophysis, but this is still being debated
• Start with Megapnosaurus rhodesiensis
• Megapnosaurus rhodesiensis found in the Elliot Formation in South Africa and the Forest Sandstone Formation in Rhodesia (now known as Zimbabwe)
• Megapnosaurus rhodesiensis estimated to be up to 7.2 ft (2.2 m) long and weigh up to 29 lb (13 kg)
• Described as lean and long, with an s-shaped neck, long legs that looked like legs of birds like the secretary bird (which looks like it’s walking on stilts)
• Had shorter arms, with four fingers on each hand, and a long tail
• No evidence it had feathers, but often portrayed that way, because it looked so bird-like
• Fossils first found in 1963
• Holotype includes most of a well preserved skeleton (only missing skull and neck vertebrae)
• More fragments also found
• Several specimens found in 1985 in South Africa (Elliot Formation), and 26 specimens collected in Zimbabwe (Forest Sandstone Formation) in 1963, 1968, and 1972
• Elliot Formation probably an ancient flood plain. Other dinosaurs that lived around the same time and place include the sauropodomorphs Massospondylus and Ignavusaurus, also ornithischians like Lesothosaurus and Heterodontosaurus
• Forest Sandstone Formation had crocodiles, Massospondylus and indeterminate prosauropods
• In 1972, Raath found hundreds of bones from at least 26 individuals from different growth stages (included skulls and neck vertebrae, as well as gut contents)
• Raath described the fossils in his thesis in 1977 (fossils from that locality now at the Queen Victoria Museum in Australia)
• Healed fractures of the leg and feet found in Megapnosaurus rhodesiensis, and one specimen had signs in the sacral rib of fluctuating asymmetry, which may be from living in stressful conditions
• Possible they hunted in packs
• Possible sexual dimorphism, based on some individuals being robust with large limbs and large muscle attachments compared to more gracile individuals that are similar in size (and adults)
• Lots of variable growth, with some individuals being larger but younger/more immature than smaller, mature adults
• Variable growth likely common in earlier dinosaurs but later lost (birds don’t do it), and may have helped early dinosaurs adapt to harsh environments
• Originally named Syntarsus rhodesiensis by Michael Raath in 1969 based on the Zimbabwe (Rhodesia) fossils
• But in 2001, found there was a beetle named Syntarsus asperulus
• Ivie and others renamed Syntarsus rhodesiensis to Megapnosaurus in 2001
• Some controversy here (will get into)
• In 2001, Michael Ivie and others named Megapnosaurus and combined Megapnosaurus rhodesiensis (named by Raath in 1969) and Megapnosaurus kayentakatae (named by Rowe in 1989)
• Syntarsus asperulus was a beetle, named in 1869 by Fairmaire (though two of the authors, including Ivie made it a junior synonym of Cerchanotus in 1990—but still, name had been already used)
• According to Ivie and others: “This turn of events requires a new name, and although S. rhodesiensis is described inside the cover of the 1996 volume 3 of the journal SYTNTARSUS as “a small carnivorous dinosaur,” and although as good and loyal phylogeneticists, we understand that it was not really on the lizard lineage, at the scale of an entomologist, it looks like a big dead lizard. So, in what may well be the first name for a dinosaur every proposed in an entomological journal, we propose the replacement name Megapnosaurus”
• “[…] this moniker seems highly appropriate for this animal”
• Debates on whether to lump Megapnosaurus into Coelophysis (and make Megapnosaurus rhodesiensis a junior synonym, to become Coelophysis rhodesiensis)
• Gregory Paul, Michael Raath, and others agree
• Talked about Coelophysis in episode 204
• A couple studies in 2018, by Barta and others and by Christopher Griffin, found enough differences to keep them separate
• Some examples: Megapnosaurus rhodesiensis doesn’t have a fifth hand bone (metacarpal) and Coelophysis bauri does
• Also differences in scars, grooves, and depressions on the humerus and femur (arm and leg bones)
• Now on to Megapnosaurus kayentakatae
• In 1989, Timothy Rowe described a second species of “Syntarsus”, as Syntarsus kayentakatae, based on a skull and parts of a skeleton
• Fossils found in the Kayenta Formation in Arizona, U.S. (Early Jurassic)
• Kayenta Formation had rivers, and rainy summers and dry winters
• Other dinosaurs from the Kayenta Formation include theropods like Dilophosaurus and Kayentavenator (which was originally thought to be Syntarsus kayentakatae/Megapnosaurus kayentakatae—but there are enough differences to be separate), the “Shake-N-Bake” theropod, an undescribed coelophysoid known from a partial skeleton found in 1978 (lots of small bones cemented together in a dense matrix because the fossils had washed down together), sauropodomorphs like Sarahsaurus and Anchisaurus, heterodontosaurs, and armored dinos like Scelidosaurus and Scutellosaurus
• Other animals that lived around the same time and place include sharks, fish, frogs, turtles, lizards, pterosaurs, mammals, crocodylomorphs, mussels, and snails
• Found at least 16 individuals of Syntarsus kayentakatae (fragmentary remains)
• Fossils found between 1977 and 1979
• Type specimen of Syntarsus kayentakatae is a fully mature, robust adult
• Holotype of Syntarsus kayentakatae was distorted (mostly left side preserved, because it rested on left side and was partially buried, but right side including the skull was exposed to water currents)
• Species name refers to Dr. Kathleen Smith, who has the nickname “Kayenta Kay” because of her work in the Kayenta Formation, which includes finding the type specimen of Megapnosaurus kayentakatae
• Megapnosaurus kayentakatae estimated to be up to 8.2 ft (2.5 m) long and weigh up to 66 lb (30 kg)
• One big difference between Megapnosaurus rhodesiensis and Megapnosaurus kayentakatae is that Megapnosaurus kayentakatae had two small crests on its head (similar to Dilophosaurus but smaller)
• Whether to use the name Megapnosaurus or Syntarsus depends on who you ask
• In 2000, Alex Downs compared Coelophysis bauri and Syntarsus rhodesiensis and found them to be so similar that Syntarsus was a junior synonym to Coelophysis (only had minor details in the neck length and other small differences)
• In 2004 Anthea Bristowe and Michael Raath synonymized Coelophysis and Syntarsus as well, based on work on a partially disarticulated skull of a juvenile Syntarsus specimen
• Said “that the recently proposed facetious replacement name for Syntarsus (Megapnosaurus) should not stand”
• Found only minor differences and said that could be because they lived at different times (Coelophysis in Late Triassic and Syntarsus in Early Jurassic)
• In 2017, Daniel Barta and others found differences in the hands of Coelophysis bauri and Megapnosaurus rhodesiensis (fifth metacarpal)
• In 2018 Christopher Griffin found Megapnosaurus to be valid (enough differences between the two, including that there were some characters that varied as Megapnosaurus grew that weren’t found in Coelophysis, like scar on the humerus, and depressions on the femur)
• Though, did so most of the features that changed while growing (during ontogeny) were the same, and they were similar in size once fully grown
• In 2020 Adam Marsh and Timothy Rowe kept the name Syntarsus rhodesiensis instead of using Megapnosaurus or Coelophysis “because the systematic relationships of these animals within Coelophysoidea is in flux”
• In 2021 Ezcurra and others found that Syntarsus kayentakatae was not closely related to Coelophysis bauri or Megapnosaurus rhodesiensis
• In 2022 Skye McDavid and Jeb Bugos found Megapnosaurus rhodesiensis to be the valid name
• Controversy on the name change to Megapnosaurus and whether how it was changed was valid (some sources said whether it was ethically done)
• According to McDavid and Bugos, “If a taxonomic name is invalid (preoccupied or incorrectly formulated), then it is considered ethical to contact its original describer or describers to inform them of the problem so that they can correct their own error. If the original describer or describers are unreachable (for example if they are deceased or do not respond to correspondence) then the person who learns of the error will typically publish a correction. Ivie attempted to contact Raath but never received a reply. He and coauthors proceeded with publication of the replacement name after two years, and after being (incorrectly) told by dinosaur paleontologist John “Jack” Horner that Raath was deceased. (Michael Ivie, pers. comm.)”
• Also said, “The genus Megapnosaurus is here considered to be likely distinct from Coelophysis, but in need of further research”
• Found Megapnosaurus rhodesiensis to be correct, for now, but said it could possibly be a junior synonym and “usage of the name Megapnosaurus rhodesiensis is recommended. Usage of the name Coelophysis rhodesiensis is neither recommended nor discouraged. Usage of the name Syntarsus rhodesiensis is discouraged.”
• Also found that Syntarsus kayentakatae is most likely its own genus, and recommend it be provisionally referred to as ‘Megapnosaurus’ kayentakatae, “with quotation marks indicating a problematic genus assignment, until a new genus is formally described for this species”
• Other fossils found that may be Megapnosaurus or used to be Megapnosaurus/Syntarsus
• Darlington Munyikwa and Michael Raath described part of a Megapnosaurus/Syntarsus snout found in the Elliot Formation in South Africa (this is now known as Dracovenator)
• Several coelophysoid bones found in Mexico from the Early Jurassic were described as “Syntarsus” “mexicanum” but they weren’t properly described and are probably from an indeterminate coelophysoid
• Scientists referred a theropod specimen from Wales to Syntarsus sp. But in 2021 that was later named Pendraig (talked about in ep 360)
• In 2004, Randall Irmis reported fossils of Megapnosaurus found in Lufeng Formation, China, Early Jurassic (two specimens found). Would mean Megapnosaurus was also in Asia

Fun Fact:

Dicraeosaurids are not unique for their bifurcated neural spines (like those on Amargasaurus), even we have them!

Thank you 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 patreon.com/iknowdino

Episode 455: The Fastest Dinosaurs. Plus two new dinosaurs: A new iguanodontian Oblitosaurus, the largest known ornithopod from the Late Jurassic in all of Europe; and Furcatoceratops, a close relative of Nasutoceratops.

News:

• A new iguanodontian dinosaur, Oblitosaurus, whose name means “obsolete” or “forgotten” lizard; But its an important find source
• There’s a new ceratopsid, Furcatoceratops elucidans, a close relative of Nasutoceratops that was already 10ft long at only 2 to 3 years old source

Listener Question:

What was the fastest dinosaur?

The dinosaur of the day: Sinornithomimus

• Fastest dinos are ornithomimosaurs, and we’ve covered a bunch of them
• From a 2015 paper by James Farlow and others on theropod locomotion: Cursoriality is something we’re not sure what it is, but we think we know it when we see it
• Hard to know exactly how fast dinosaurs could run
• Ornithomimid that lived in the Late Cretaceous in what is now Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China (Ulansuhai Formation)
• Lived about 90 million years ago
• Looked somewhat ostrich like, but with a shorter neck and a longer head and longer tail
• Ornithomimids had toothless jaws with beaks and long necks, and long arms and legs
• Had a relatively short neck and head, for an ornithomimosaur
• Estimated to be 8.2 ft (2.5 m) long and weighed about 201 lb (91 kg)
• Had slender arms
• Type species is Sinornithomimus dongi
• Described in 2003 by Yoshitsugu Kobayashi and Lü Junchang
• Genus name means “Chinese bird mimic”
• Species name is in honor of Zhiming Dong, who found the fossils
• Most completely known ornithomimid
• At least 25 individuals found, ranging in age from one to seven
• Fossils first excavated in 1997, as part of the Mongol Highland International Dinosaur Project (first spotted in 1978)
• Found in a bonebed, of at least 14 skeletons (each one had gastroliths), 3 sub-adults to adults and 11 juveniles (9 were nearly complete and mostly uncrushed)
• Holotype is a subadult
• In the first expedition, they ran out of time, but managed to collect multiple skeletons
• In 2001, a second expedition found more skeletons
• Bonebed has been compared to Pompeii (that’s how well preserved they are—one article said they even knew the size of the dinosaur’s eyeballs)
• Expedition team had to deal with lots of dust storms in the Gobi Desert
• Team in the second round had some help digging (had to treat the area carefully—need to look at the surroundings to know what happened to the dinosaurs, not just dig out the skeletons)
• Paul Sereno wrote about the experience in 2011, and said toward the end of their expedition, they had a day off and played a game of basketball at the Chinese army outpost. They noticed the heavy equipment and ask officials at the base if they could help excavate the dinosaurs. They had many rounds of baijiu, and a few days later, the team got a bulldozer
• Bulldozer removed the hill for them, so the team could excavate the last 13 individuals. Also found the skull of an unknown predator
• A 2008 paper studied the graveyard
• No evidence the bones moved after the dinosaurs died, and the bones were unweathered and in siltstone and layers of clay, so it’s likely they all died in a catastrophic event
• Crab-like animals found around them, which shows the dinosaurs were covered in water shortly after they died (they’re very well preserved)
• Found they were trapped in the mud
• Modern animals rarely die stuck in mud, so wasn’t clear at first that’s what happened to the dinosaurs
• Has to be just the right conditions, with low water levels, and those conditions may only last a few days
• When stuck in mud, usually die from dehydration, starvation, and/or predation
• Some hip bones missing, which may have been from a scavenger eating meat around the hips after they died
• No signs of weathering or tooth marks
• No shed theropod teeth found around the skeletons
• But skeletons were mostly facing the same direction
• Most of the individuals legs were stuck in the mud, with their bodies lying flat
• Some of the tails stuck/plunged in mud
• One skeleton had fallen on top of another
• Probably were walking around looking for water at the edge of a drying lake, and fell into the mud
• Marks in the mud around the skeletons shows they tried to get out of the mud
• Would have died a slow death, stuck in the mud (and flailing would attract predators and scavengers)
• Since bonebed/graveyard found with mostly juveniles (no adults, no hatchlings), seems the juveniles spent their time together and then maybe joined the adults once they were grown up
• Safety in numbers from predators
• Possible the adults focused on nests or brooding, and so juveniles lived together
• Got better at running as it grew up (adults had relatively longer lower legs)
• Took about 10 years to reach maturity
• Holotype had a 12.5 in (32 cm) long femur
• As it grew, the ratio of the tibia to femur (leg bones) of Sinornithomimus increases
• Similar to tyrannosaurids
• Seems ornithomimids and juvenile tyrannosaurids were similarly good at running
• Fossils found with gastroliths in the stomach areas, so likely it was herbivorous, or at least more herbivorous than omnivorous
• Gastroliths are stones they swallowed to help grind food in their stomachs
• Larger individuals had larger gastrolith masses
• Ornithomimids often thought to be omnivorous because of their beaks
• Another ornithomimosaur found with what’s probably gastroliths (pebbles found in the abdomen) was Shenzhousaurus, which lived in the Early Cretaceous in what is now China
• Not only found gastroliths, but also a thin film of black carbon coating on the sides of the gizzard (the plants the dinosaur ate)
• Lived in an arid to semi-arid environment
• Other dinosaurs that lived around the same time and place include the theropods Chilantaisaurus and Shaochilong, the ankylosaur Gobisaurus, and the pachycephalosaur Sinocephale, and iguanodonts

Fun Fact:

Some dinosaurs like Megalosaurus and Iguanodon weren’t given species names at first.

Thank you 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 patreon.com/iknowdino

Episode 453: Who destroyed the Central Park Dinosaurs? Boss Tweed has long been blamed for vandalizing New York City’s version of the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs, but it turns out someone else was to blame.

News:

• There’s a new neornithischian dinosaur, Minimocursor source

Our favorite (mostly free) resources for learning more about dinosaurs:

• If you want to learn more about dinosaurs you can take virtual tours of museums, take free online courses, or get other free virtual resources here
• Check out the Paleobiology Database, our favorite dinosaur books, and our favorite dinosaur websites
• If you teach elementary, middle, or high school students we have free dinosaur lesson plans for you

The dinosaur of the day: Anchiceratops

• Anchiceratops, request from Victrix via patreon/discord
• Chasmosaurine ceratopsid that lived in the Late Cretaceous in what is now Alberta, Canada
• Looked similar to Triceratops
• Had two long brow horns and a short nasal horn
• Frill was long and rectangular, with triangular projections along the edges
• Stout and muscular, walked on all fours, had a short tail, and a beak (which is what makes it a ceratopsian)
• Medium-sized
• Estimated to be up to 14 ft (4.3 m) long
• Estimated to weigh 1.2 tonnes
• Fossils first found in 1912 by Barnum Brown, along the Red Deer River (found three partial skulls)
• Described in 1914 by Barnum Brown
• Holotype includes the back half of the skull, and the long frill
• Brown in 1914 wrote: “Besides showing a unique type of crest this genus adds one more link in the morphological chain by which the ceratopsian crest has been developed”
• Also made a cast of the brain, “that in accuracy of detail has rarely been equaled in fossil crania”
• Type and only species is Anchiceratops ornatus
• Genus name means “near horned face” or “near Ceratops”
• Brown thought Anchiceratops was a transitional dinosaur closely related (and in between) Monoclonius and Triceratops
• Species name refers to the ornamentation on its frill
• Charles M. Sternberg found a complete, more slender skull in 1924, which he described in 1929 as the second species Anchiceratops longirostris (but now Anchiceratops longirostris is considered to be a junior synonym of Anchiceratops ornatus)
• Most fossils found in the Horsehoe Canyon Formation, some found in the Oldman and Dinosaur Park Formations (may be early Anchiceratops ornatus or a second species), and some found at the St. Mary River Formation, but too fragmentary to refer to a species
• Fossils also possibly found in the Almond Formation in Wyoming, U.S.
• One or two possible bonebeds found in Alberta, but hasn’t been described
• Ten skulls found
• Skulls show individual variation, though in the past paleontologists thought the differences were due to sexual dimorphism (the larger skulls with longer horns were males)
• Variation in the skulls (size of horns and frill) could be due to ontogeny (changed as it grew up)
• One specimen had 30 tail vertebrae (most chasmosaurs have 46 tail vertebrae), a long pelvis, and long neck. However, this specimen (NMC 8547) may actually be Arrhinoceratops. If that’s the case, there hasn’t really been any Anchiceratops skeletons described (only skulls)
• Mallon in 2010 said the skeleton Sternberg collected in 1925 was complete and articulated and Sternberg attributed it to Anchiceratops, “although he did not give a reason for his identification”
• Lived in a subtropical climate
• Other dinosaurs that lived around the same time and place included maniraptorans such as Epichirostenotes, ornithomimids such as Ornithomimus, pachycephalosaurids such as Sphaerotholus, hadrosaurs such as Edmontosaurus, ceratopsians such as Pachyrhinosaurus, and tyrannosaurs such as Albertosaurus
• Anchiceratops fossils found in marine sediments, so may have lived in estuaries (where rivers meet ocean or larger bodies of water)
• In 1959 Wann Langston Jr. suggested Anchiceratops was semi-aquatic, with its long snout helping it to walk through deeper swamps and its frill to help it counterbalance and point its beak upwards so it could take breaths, and that its short tail, large body, and stocky limbs made it sluggish and it would have “enjoyed relative seclusion and protection of a swampy environment”
• Most paleontologists didn’t agree, but Jordan Mallon suggested NMC 8547 was like a modern hippo, and that’s why it was so robust and muscular (though the small tail didn’t help). Its body type may have helped it move through muddy, lowland swamps
• Mallon wrote: “It is possible that other ceratopsids were also adapted to semi-aquatic life, as the clade shares several features in common with the hippo. It is important to limit speculation via reference to circumstantial sedimentology, however, as several ceratopsids are known from well-drained alluvial settings”
• Anchiceratops ornatus species lasted about 1.5 to 2 million years
• Other ceratopsid species lasted a long time (Triceratops horridus for 1.5 million years and Pentaceratops sternbergi for 2.5 million years) but in the Dinosaur Park Formation where Anchiceratops was found, most species lasted about 700,000 years
• Species lived for a long time, possibly because there wasn’t as much dinosaur diversity in the Horseshoe Canyon Formation, and there wasn’t as much competition for food. Or could be because the Western Interior Seaway was shrinking, so there wasn’t as much habitat fragmentation so Anchiceratops seems to have lasted longer. Or it could be Anchiceratops was good at dealing with environmental changes

Fun Fact:

Boss Tweed wasn’t the culprit behind the smashing of the Central Park dinosaurs.

Thank you 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 patreon.com/iknowdino

Episode 452: Two new duckbills and a cabin made out of real dinosaur bones. Plus there’s a new megaraptorid coming soon and we answer a question about the status of Torosaurus vs Triceratops

News:

• A new hadrosauroid, Gonkoken nanoi, is the first duck-billed dinosaur from the subantarctic region source
• Paleontologists named a new ornithopod, Iani smithi source
• There’s a new “Freddy Krueger of dinosaurs” source
• Patron question: The status of some reported juvenile Torosaurus finds source

Sponsors:

This episode is brought to you by Exquisite Eons. Their Intrepid Triceratops and Savvy Stegosaurus brooches are going extinct. Get them now, before they’re gone forever! They’re both available at steeply discounted prices while they last at https://exquisiteeons.com/

The dinosaur of the day: Diamantinasaurus

• Titanosaur that lived in the Late Cretaceous in what is now Australia (Winton Formation)
• Looked like a compact, sturdy sauropod
• Had a long tail and walked on all fours
• Did not have a particularly long neck
• Medium sized, estimated to be 52 ft (16 m) long and weigh up to 28 tons
• One subadult was about 49 ft (15 m) long and weighed 20 to 22 tonnes
• Had a broad pelvis
• Had a wide stance
• Had stout arms
• Had thumb claws (unusual for titanosaurs)
• Had a rounded lower jaw
• Stripped off food, didn’t chew it
• Could eat at least 3 ft (1 m) above the ground, probably 20 to 23 ft (6 to 7 m) above the ground, not clear what exactly it ate
• Best known sauropod from the Cretaceous in Australia
• Type species is Diamantinasaurus maltidae
• Described in 2009 by Scott Hocknull and others
• Genus name means “Diamantina lizard”
• Refers to where it was found (near the Diamantina River)
• Species name comes from the Australian song, “Waltzing Matilda” (written by Banjo Peterson in Winton in 1895). According the paper that named Diamantinasaurus, it’s “one of Australia’s National songs” and Winton is “Matilda Country”
• Holotype found near Australovenator
• Holotype included part of the shoulder, arms, hands, ribs, part of the pelvis, and right leg
• Fossils found at the “Matilda Site” at Elderslie Sheep Station near Winton, in Queensland, Australia
• Holotype is nicknamed “Matilda”
• When discovered, Diamantinasaurus was the first sauropod named from Australia in more than 75 years
• More specimens found later, including vertebrae, part of the feet, skulls, and more
• Other specimens found nicknamed: Alex, Oliver, and Ann
• Talked about “Ann”, the newly discovered, nearly complete skull in episode 441 (fourth Diamantinasaurus specimen found, and second skull found, and the most complete sauropod skull found in Australia)
• Ann showed that Diamantinasaurus is closely related to Sarmientosaurus, which lived around the same time and at a similar paleolatitude
• Dinosaurs may have moved between Australia and South America via a land connection through Antarctica
• Oliver is a juvenile specimen
• Oliver was the smallest sauropod specimen found in Australia (weighed almost 5 tons)
• Oliver helps show titanosaurs did not grow isometrically (equally). Its long bones grew faster than other parts of its body
• Oliver had narrower limb bones, and helped show that the limb bones Diamantinasaurus grew thicker as the dinosaur grew up (probably to help support its weight)
• Being in the Antarctic Circle, may have had winters with long periods of darkness
• Lived alongside crocodylomorphs, fish, turtles, mollusks, pterosaurs, insects
• Other dinosaurs that lived around the same time and place include sauropods like Wintonotitan, Savannasaurus, and Austrosaurus, and ankylosaurians and hypsilophodonts
• Can see fossils at the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum of Natural History in Winton, Queensland (can see holotype)
• Diamantinasaurus is on an Australian specialty coin from 2022, and on stamps

Fun Fact:

There is a cabin built out of dinosaur bones (and it’s not the only building that’s been made of dinosaur bones)

Thank you 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 patreon.com/iknowdino