Episode 449: How to survive a dinosaur encounter. Steve Brusatte joins to discuss a new book with tips on how to survive in the Mesozoic. We also share two new dinosaurs, a spinosaurid from Spain and a peculiar theropod from China

News:

• There’s a new spinosaurid dinosaur, Protathlitis cinctorrensis, that is estimated to be 10–11m (33–36ft) long source
• A new small theropod was named Migmanychion laiyang for its peculiar hand claws source

Interview:

Steve Brusatte, a paleontologist, paleontology advisor for Jurassic World, and author of a number of paleontology books. He’s also the expert reviewer for a new National Geographic Kids book by Stephanie Warren Drimmer, called “How to Survive in the Age of Dinosaurs”

Sponsors:

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The PaleoPins Collection: Diversity Expansion Kickstarter expands on The PaleoPins Collection with new prehistoric animal skulls! They have new designs like Dunkleosteus, Mosasaurus, and Diplodocus. Plus, as a perk for backing, you get access to the original line of The PaleoPins Collection with over a dozen dinosaurs (plus even more prehistoric animals). Check them out and get yours at bit.ly/paleopins

The dinosaur of the day: Claosaurus

• Hadrosauroid that lived in the Late Cretaceous in what is now Kansas, U.S. (Niobrara Formation)
• Probably looked somewhat similar to Edmontosaurus, and had a duck bill, and long tail
• Herbivorous, probably walked on two legs and stood on all fours to graze food
• Hard to know how big it was, because there are not that many fossils, but Tom Holtz estimated it to be about 12 ft (3.7 m) long
• Originally named by Marsh in 1872 as Hadrosaurus agilis
• In 1890 renamed to Claosaurus agilis (found to be too different from Hadrosaurus)
• Type species is Claosaurus agilis
• Genus name means “broken lizard”, refers to the way the fossils were found
• Found in the Niobrara Formation in Kansas, U.S.
• Likely that the Claosaurus specimen died on shore and got washed out to sea
• Found parts of the skull and an articulated skeleton
• O.C. Marsh wrote: “The skull of Claosaurus is long and narrow, with the facial portion especially produced”
• Also wrote: “[…] the skull shows a blunt, rugose muzzle”
• Many of the bones found are crushed and flattened
• Fossils found include vertebrae, parts of the chest and shoulder, parts of the arms, parts of the pelvis, parts of the legs and parts of the feet
• There were two other Claosaurus species, but those are no longer considered valid
• Marsh named Claosaurus annectens in 1892, based on two skeletons found in the Lance Formation (which later became Anatosaurus, then Edmontosaurus)
• In 1903, G. R. Wieland named Claosaurus affinis, based on three toe bones found in the Pierre Shale in South Dakota (found along with fossils from a giant sea turtle)
• The fossils got mixed up with Claosaurus agilis
• In 1948 Joseph Gregory found three toe bones similar in size in the Yale collections that looked like it came from the Pierre Shale, but didn’t reassign the species (it was older in age and too fragmentary)
• In 2004, Jack Horner and others found Claosaurus affinis to be dubious
• In 1940, Claosaurus was described partially by its broad, leaf-like teeth. Walter Coombs Jr. in 1988 said Claosaurus should be redefined based on something other than teeth characteristics
• In 2011, when Albert Prieto-Marquez found Hadrosaurus to be a valid dinosaur, also found Claosaurus agilis to be valid
• What makes Claosaurus unique is that the length of its deltopectoral crest (a ridge on the front of the upper arm) is less than 48% the length of the humerus, as well as details in the ilium (part of the pelvis)
• Gastroliths thought to be found in Claosaurus, but turned out to most likely be gravel that washed in after the individual died. Also turns out it was an Edmontosaurus specimen found with the “gastroliths,” not Claosaurus (when Barnum Brown found the specimen in 1900, Edmontosaurus was considered to be Claosaurus)

Fun Fact:

A good sense of smell would have been very useful for herbivorous dinosaurs, not just those that spent their time hunting and/or scavenging. Herbivores like ornithopods, Ankylosaurus, and the therizinosaur Erlikosaurus all likely had a good sense of smell.

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