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The Big Dinosaur Podcast

The Big Dinosaur Podcast

A site about dinosaurs

I Know Dino Podcast: Tarbosaurus (Episode 4)

In our fourth episode of I Know Dino, we had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Phil Currie, a renowned paleontologist who has contributed so much to paleontology that there’s even a museum named after him. Dr. Currie is also a professor at the University of Alberta, where he teaches the online course Dino 101, which goes over dinosaur appearances and major groups, how fossils are formed and interpreted, how dinosaurs lived, dinosaur origins, and dinosaur extinction, and more.

Dr. Currie has named 25 new dinosaurs and had three named in his honor. He is also famous for a centrosaurus bonebed, hadrosaur nesting sites, and the Canada-China Dinosaur Project, and he has written numerous books.

He started working at the Royal Alberta Museum in 1976, then known as the Provincial Museum of Alberta, and found so many dinosaur bones the museum ran out of storage space. In 1979 he wrote the proposal for what is now the Tyrell Museum, which showcases Alberta’s dinosaurs and has lab facilities, a study center, and massive storage space. In 2005 he took up the Canada Research Chair at the University of Alberta so he could spend more time in the field.

So of course, we were very honored to be able to interview him.

You can listen to our free podcast, with all our episodes, on iTunes at:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/i-know-dino/id960976813?mt=2

In this episode, we discuss:

  • The dinosaur of the day: Tarbosaurus, which means “Alarming Lizard.”
  • Tarbosaurus lived in Asia during the late Cretaceous, about 70 million years ago, and weighed up to 5 tons, was 33-39 feet long, and had 60 teeth (not quite as big as T-rex).
  • Like T-rex, Tarbosaurus had small forearms, and in fact had the smallest forearms of all tyrannosaurs.
  • Tarbosaurus lived in the Gobi Desert, in southern Mongolia.
  • It was large but had a lightweight skeleton.
  • Tarbosaurus is more ancient than T-rex, which suggests the genus started in Asia and moved to North America through a land bridge that connected the two continents.
  • Fun Fact: Most dinosaurs were herbivores, but the first dinosaurs were carnivores.

See below for the full transcript of our interview with Dr. Phil Currie:Continue Reading …

I Know Dino Podcast: Oryctodromeus (Episode 2)

The I Know Dino podcast is going strong. We have multiple episodes up already, and are working on getting them all transcribed.

You can find our free podcast, with both episodes, on iTunes at:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/i-know-dino/id960976813?mt=2

In our second episode, our featured guest is Dr. Anthony J. Martin, a paleontologist who specializes in ichnology, which according to his website, is “the study of modern and ancient traces caused by animal behavior, such as tracks, trails, burrows, and nests.”

Dr. Martin is also the author of several books, including his most recent one, Dinosaurs Without Bones. You can also find him on Twitter, @Ichnologist. and I recommend reading his post that dissects the ichnology in the Jurassic Park movies.

In this episode, we discuss:

  • The dinosaur of the day: Oryctodromeus. The name is Greek for “Burrowing Runner.”
  • Oryctodromeus was the first known burrowing dinosaur, and Dr. Martin and his colleagues found an adult and two juveniles in a fossilized chamber, in 2007. They had died and decayed in the burrow, which looked similar to those made by hyenas and puffins.
  • Having juveniles with the adults suggests Oryctodromeus provided parental care for an extended period of time.
  • Oryctodromeus lived during the Middle Cretaceous, about 95 million years ago, in southwestern Montana and southwestern Idaho.
  • Oryctodromeus was up to 6.8 long, and weighed 70 pounds (it was small, but quick)
  • Oryctodromeus did not have long arms and legs, like modern burrowing animals. But it did have more specialized adaptations, such as a flexible tail it could curl up underground. This makes it similar to rabbits, aardvarks, and hyenas.
  • Dr. Martin recommends visiting Dinosaur State Park in CT to see dinosaur tracks.
  • Fun Fact: The largest dinosaur eggs were as big as basketballs. Bigger eggs had thicker shells, so if the eggs had been larger than basketballs, dinosaur babies probably would not have been able to hatch.

For those who may prefer reading, see below for the transcript of the episode, including our interview with Dr. Martin:Continue Reading …

I Know Dino Podcast: Tyrannosaurus Rex (Episode 1)

After months of researching, interviewing, and polishing, we have finally launched our long-awaited I Know Dino podcast!

You can find our new, free podcast on iTunes at:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/i-know-dino/id960976813?mt=2

Our first episode features Pete Larson, president of the Black Hills Institute in South Dakota. 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.
  • 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-rexwas 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.
  • 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.

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

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