Episode 340 is all about Amygdalodon, the first sauropod ever described in Argentina.
We also interview Nussaïbah Raja-Schoob and Emma Dunne. Together Emma (@emmadnn) and Nussaïbah (@mauritiantales) found a disconnect in where fossils were discovered and where the researchers were from. They were recently interviewed by the New York Times about decolonizing paleontology. Follow their work at paleoscientometrics.github.io
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 hadrosaur, Tlatolophus galorum, has a Parasaurolophus-like crest source
- A man in Spain passed away after getting stuck in a Stegosaurus statue source
- The company Blue Origin recently sent some dinosaur fossils into space source
- Eromanga Natural History Museum in Queensland, Australia just opened their new reception and coffee shop source
- The T. Rex Discovery Centre is open again in Eastend, Saskatchewan, Canada source
- Liberty Science Center has the SUE: The T. rex Experience exhibit in Jersey City, New Jersey source
- The Austrian Mint has a new glow in the dark coin featuring Deinonychus fighting Xenoceratops source
- A sauropod sculpture of over 6,000 corks named “Winasaur” was built in North Fork, New York source
- The mysterious sculptor who has been making dinosaurs out of twigs, twine, and bone in New Jersey has been revealed source
- A South Carolina man pranked his friend by having strangers leave “dinosaur roars” in his voicemail source
The dinosaur of the day: Amygdalodon
- Basal sauropod that lived in the Middle Jurassic in what is now Chubut Province, Argentina (Cerro Carnerero Formation)
- Looks like other sauropods, walks on four legs and had a long neck and long tail
- Not much known, but one of the few dinosaurs from the Jurassic found in South America, so far
- Estimated to be 39 ft (12 m) long and weigh more than 5 tonnes
- Had almond shaped teeth
- Enamel on teeth had a wrinkled pattern
- Cabrera described the teeth as very similar to Brontosaurus teeth, but narrower and about 50% larger (though he said Amygdalodon was much smaller than Brontosaurus, so proportionally its teeth were stronger)
- One of the teeth was found implanted in the alveolus
- Type species is Amygdalodon patagonicus
- Genus name means “almond tooth”
- Fossils found in 1936 (before, no sauropod fossils had been found in Argentina)
- Holotype includes vertebrae, ribs, four complete teeth, three partial teeth, partial pelvis and shoulder-blade
- Described by Ángel Cabrera, head of the Department of Vertebrate Paleontology at the Museo de La Plata, in 1947
- Alejandro Piatnitzky had mentioned in 1936 “bones of a saurian of no less than 5-7m long” in deposits in Chubut, and in 1947 Dr. Tómas Suero confirmed the fossils and excavated them
- Fossils were found “in a bed of sandy tuff and bluish gray clay”
- Rodolfo Casamiquela redescribed Amygdalodon in 1963 and found that fossils Suero found as well as other fossils previously found by Piatnitzky belonged to Amygdalodon
- In 2003, Oliver Rauhut revised Amygdalodon and found that the fossils described belonged to at least two individuals, and that some of those fossils may belong to a different species (though they may also show different ages of the same species). Made an anterior dorsal vertebra the lectotype, and said only three vertebrae were definitely Amygdalodon (also the teeth?), and the rest were indeterminate Eusauropod material
Fun Fact: The huge head crests on Parasaurolophus & Tlatolophus are formed by a massively extended premaxilla across the top of their heads.
Sponsors:
This episode is brought to you in part by BetterHelp which offers professional counseling done securely online. You can get 10% off your first month by visiting betterhelp.com/ikd
This episode is brought to you by Unidragon. Their beautiful wooden puzzles feature pieces which are each unique laser-cut shapes. Check out their dragon, owl, and other animal puzzles at Unidragon.com and use promo code dino for 10% off your purchase.
