Episode 191 is all about Koreaceratops, the first ceratopsian found in Korea.

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In this episode, we discuss:

News:

• The ankylosaur Akainacephalus johnsoni was found in Utah with a gryposaur, a turtle, and a crocodile source
• Dinosaur National Monument has a new paleontologist source
• A geology instructor donated a large collection of fossils and specimens to the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, Connecticut source
• A 30 foot inflatable dinosaur named Dino-Mite was briefly stolen from a fireworks store source
• The Virginia Museum of Natural History in Martinsville, Virginia is having a two-day Dino Festival source
• York Maze in the UK has opened a 15 acre maze of a T. rex and Triceratops to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Jurassic Park source
• BBC4 aired the three part series titled Jurassic Coast Revealed source
• A 1/2 oz pure silver colored Canadian dinosaur coin featuring Edmontonia was released source

The dinosaur of the day: Koreaceratops

• Basal ceratopsian that lived in the Cretaceous in what is now South Korea
• Found in a sandstone block that was part of the Tando dam at Hwaseong City (part of it cut off, after the block was extracted)
• Dam was built in 1994, and a public official first noticed the bones in 2008
• Described in 2011 by Yuong-Name Lee and colleagues
• Name means “Korea horn face”
• Type species is Koreaceratops hwaseongensis
• Species name refers to Hwaseong City
• First ceratopsian found in South Korea
• Found 36 caudal vertebrae, as well as partial hindlimbs and ischia
• No parts of the skull were found
• Had tall neural spines on its tail, a feature that may have independently evolved and could have been an adaptation for swimming
• Tall, deep tail would have looked like a paddle
• So, may have been semi-aquatic, based on this feature being seen in other animals that use their tail for swimming
• However, many basal ceratopsians had similar tails, and some even had quill-like structures on the tail to make them seem larger than they were
• Because of this, basal ceratopsians may have used tail ornamentation for display rather than neck frills and horns like later ceratopsians (though some later large ones, like Triceratops, may have had quill structures)
• Need more specimens to know for sure why the tail was that way
• Broad tail may have also have stored fat to help Koreaceratops survive in harsh weather, or fool a predator by making them attack the tail instead of the head, or attract mates or show social status in a herd
• Koreaceratops helps fill in gaps of ceratopsians originating in Asian and their first appearance in North America
• Herbivorous
• Closely related to Archaeoceratops and Cerasinops, so it probably had a parrot-like beak and was about 6 ft (1.8 m) long
• An in situ replica of Koreaceratops can be seen at the Korean National Science Museum in Daejeon

Fun Fact:

Most dinosaurs couldn’t pronate their lower arms

Sponsors:

This episode is brought to you in part by TRX Dinosaurs, which makes beautiful and realistic dinosaur sculptures, puppets, and animatronics. You can see some amazing examples and works in progress on Instagram @trxdinosaurs