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I Know Dino Podcast Show Notes: Protoceratops (Episode 154)

Episode 154 is all about Protoceratops, a ceratopsian whose name means “first horned face.”

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In this episode, we discuss:

News:

New titanosaur from Argentina Choconsaurus (which isn’t made of chocolate)
New coelophysoid from Argentina named Powellvenator from the late Triassic
New Uzbekistani Alverezsaurid is the oldest found so far in the Northern Hemisphere
T. rex may have moved about 5 to 8mph based on corrections to a previous formula
A new general model estimates animals’ top speeds based on weight alone
A new remarkably complete icthyosaur was found in India
A new clip shows how Archaeopteryx may have moved
The High Desert Museum in Bend, Oregon, has a new exhibit called Dinosaurs Take Flight
Scott Persons and Lida Xing are exploring folklore where dinosaur footprints are found
BBC’s “In Our Time” radio show did an episode on feathered dinosaurs
Marco de Blois is working on restoring lost footage of Gertie the Dinosaur from 1913
A huge storm knocked over the giant T.rex in front of an amusement park in Kansas City, Missouri
The Bayville dinosaur in New Jersey, Dino, is getting a makeover soon
America’s Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit, Michigan’s new largest float will be a 125 ft long, 20 ft tall “Dinosaurs on Parade” float
A new dinosaur themed golf course has opened in Nottingham, UK
a viral video showed a 17-month old girl in Taiwan and her encounter with a sauropod balloon
Primark in the UK is now selling a bunch of onesies, including a bright blue dinosaur one
One couple in the UK had a dinosaur at their wedding, courtesy of their best man’s little brother
National Geographic Kids has a quiz, Which Dinosaur Are You?

The dinosaur of the day: Protoceratops

Ceratopsian that lived in the Cretaceous in what is now Mongolia
Name means “first horned face”
Described in 1923 by Walter W. Granger and William King Gregory
James Blaine Shackelford, a photographer, first found Protoceratops in the Gobi Desert in 1922, as part of an American expedition led by Roy Chapman Andrews looking for the ancestors of humans (they didn’t find any human fossils, but Andrews collected a lot of Protoceratops fossils (as well as Velociraptor, Oviraptor, and Psittacosaurus)
Type species is Protoceratops andrewsi
Species name is in honor of Roy Chapman Andrews
Two species: Protoceratops andrewsi, Protoceratops hellenikorhinus
Protoceratops hellenikorhinus was named in 2001. It lived around the same time and place as Protoceratops andrewsi, but it had a slightly different frill, more robust horns, and was a lot larger. Also had two small nasal horns and no teeth at the front of its snout
Teresa Maryanska and Halszka Osmólska described another species, Protoceratops kozlowskii in 1975, though the fossils they described were from an incomplete juvenile, and is now thought to be synonymous with Bagaceratops rozhdestvenskyi
At first thought to be the “long sought ancestor of Triceratops”
Part of Protoceratopsidae (early horned dinosaurs)
Had some primitive traits and was smaller than later ceratopsians
About 6 ft (1.8 m) long
Adults could weigh about 400 lb (180 kg)
Many Protoceratops was the same size as modern sheep
Known as the sheep of the Cretaceous, because it was so common (Anthony J. Martin has called them “Mesozoic Mutton”)
Nicholas Longrich said that Protoceratops has often been found in an upright position, so they may have been standing in tunnels when they died (which means they may have burrowed); also would make sense for why so many Protoceratops have been found, being underground meant they were less likely to be scavenged
Roy Chapman Andrews found fossilized eggs in Mongolia in the 1920s that were thought to be Protoceratops, but turned out to be Oviraptor (talked about this in episode 78, Oviraptor, where scientists first thought that Oviraptor ate Protoceratops eggs)
In 1971, a Velociraptor fighting a Protoceratops was found in Mongolia (they probably died by a sand storm or had a sand dune collapse on top of them)
In 2011, a nest of 15 young Protoceratops andrewsi was found in Mongolia (the first Protoceratops nest found); shows that Protoceratops may have cared for their young, at least early on (other ceratopsians may have also cared for their young, since Protoceratops is a basal member)
Probably incubated for at least 83 days, based on studies of the lines of growth in teeth in embryo Protoceratops andrewsi
Protoceratops was the first dinosaur found preserved with footprints (one found in 1965 and studied in 2011), the footprint was right under the skeleton
Quadrupedal, had a large beak, for cropping vegetation
Had pointy cheek bones (epijugals)
Had powerful jaw muscles to slice through plants
Had a large skull
Had large orbits (probably large eyes)
Had sclerotic rings in the eyes
May have been cathemeral
Had a large neck frill, probably used for display (could also have been to protect the neck, anchor the jaw muscles, though the frill was probably too fragile)
Frill had two large holes
The size and shape of the frill differed among individuals (some had short frills, others had frills about half the length of their skulls); possibly due to age and sexual dimorphism
May have lived in herds
Adrienne Mayor, a folklorist and science historian, suggested that Scythian nomads who mined gold may have found Protoceratops and other dinosaurs with beaks, which may have led to the myth of the griffin (lion sized, with large claws, a beak, and laid eggs); Greek writers first described the griffin around 675 B.C. when the Greeks first came into contact with Scythian nomads
Not everyone agrees, since Griffin anatomies are of modern animals (lion and eagle), there’s a variation of Griffin images and maybe written stories, which means there may have been multiple origins, ancient Greek writings don’t seem to have much reference to Protoceratops
Lived alongside Gallimimus, Velociraptor, Oviraptor, Tarbosaurus
Lived in a dry and arid habitat

Fun Fact:

From “The evolution of ornithischian quadrupedality” By Paul M. Barrett, Susannah C. R. Maidment

Within Ornithischia, quadrapedality evolved at least three times: in Ceratopsia, Thyreophora, and Hadrosauriformes. Each time required major anatomical changes to the forelimbs, hips, and hindlimb musculature.

Sponsor:

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

This Week in Dinosaur News: The oviraptor Heyuannia laid blue-green eggs, new African titanosaur, and more

“Dinosaur origin of egg color: oviraptors laid blue-green eggs” By Jasmina Wiemann et al.

Oviraptor Heyuannia laid blue-green eggs
New titanosaur from Tanzania named Shingopana songwensis—Swahili for Wide Neck from Songwe
Paleontologist Jordan Mallon has lifted out his Chasmosaurus skull from the badlands with a helicopter
In addition to California, both Arkansas and Connecticut also named state dinosaurs in 2017
The University of Kansas museum has a new T. rex skeleton
The Western Australian Museum in Perth, Australia has a new exhibit called Dinosaur Discovery: Lost Creatures of the Cretaceous
The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University also has a new exhibit, called Tiny titans: Dinosaur Eggs and Babies
Extreme Dinosaurs: The Exhibition, opens October 12 in Orlando, Florida
In Deadwood, South Dakota, Deadwood History Inc. is hosting a Dinosaur Workshop
Texas Energy Museum in Beaumont, Texas, will have a Dinosaur Day on October 28
The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History is hosting a Homeschool Day on November 8
The BBC is making a film by Chris Packham which will try to demystify T. rex. Cleverly called called T. rex
Robert Legere, a Canadian photographer, has been taking photos of British Columbia with dinosaur models for the past year
If you have Hulu, you can now stream the 90’s TV show Dinosaurs.

Check out these stories, our fun fact, and dinosaur of the day Antetonitrus in episode 150 of the I Know Dino Podcast

I Know Dino Podcast Show Notes: Antetonitrus (Episode 150)

Episode 150 is all about Antetonitrus, a sauropodomorph whose name means “Before the thunder,” because it lived before Brontosaurus.

Big thanks to all our patrons! I Know Dino exists because of you! For all the dinosaur enthusiasts out there, check out our Patreon page at https://www.patreon.com/iknowdino

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:

News:

Oviraptor Heyuannia laid blue-green eggs
New titanosaur from Tanzania named Shingopana songwensis—Swahili for Wide Neck from Songwe
Paleontologist Jordan Mallon has lifted out his Chasmosaurus skull from the badlands with a helicopter
In addition to California, both Arkansas and Connecticut also named state dinosaurs in 2017
The University of Kansas museum has a new T. rex skeleton
The Western Australian Museum in Perth, Australia has a new exhibit called Dinosaur Discovery: Lost Creatures of the Cretaceous
The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University also has a new exhibit, called Tiny titans: Dinosaur Eggs and Babies
Extreme Dinosaurs: The Exhibition, opens October 12 in Orlando, Florida
In Deadwood, South Dakota, Deadwood History Inc. is hosting a Dinosaur Workshop
Texas Energy Museum in Beaumont, Texas, will have a Dinosaur Day on October 28
The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History is hosting a Homeschool Day on November 8
The BBC is making a film by Chris Packham which will try to demystify T. rex. Cleverly called called T. rex
Robert Legere, a Canadian photographer, has been taking photos of British Columbia with dinosaur models for the past year
If you have Hulu, you can now stream the 90’s TV show Dinosaurs.

The dinosaur of the day: Antetonitrus

Sauropodiforme that lived in the Triassic/Jurassic (boundary) in what is now South Africa (Elliot Formation)
Named in 2003 by Adam Yates (co-authored by James Kitching)
Type species (and only species) is Antetonitrus ingenipes
Name means “Before the thunder”, which refers to it existing before Brontosaurus and other known sauropods
Species name means “massive foot”
Fossils were found in 1981 by Kitching, and they were stored at the Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
They were originally labeled as Euskelosaurus, until Yates suggested they were a separate taxon
The holotype consists of vertebrae and bones from the forelimb and hind limb
Five limb bones from a smaller specimen were also referred to Antetonitrus
Holotype was about 26-33 ft (8-10 m) long, but the neural arches of the vertebrae were not fused with the centra, so it may not have been fully grown
Had a long neck
Skull is not known
Mostly quadrupedal herbivore, but had primitive adaptations to use forelimbs for grasping, in addition to supporting its weight
Had forelimbs that were longer than its hindlimbs
The first digit of its hand (the “thumb” or pollex”) were still flexible and capable of grasping (later sauropods had large, thick wrist bones, and their hands were locked in a way to support its weight full time)
Antetonitrus did have broader, thicker wrist bones, so it shows an adaptation
Feet show the beginning of developing to support great weight
Also the first toe on its foot had a claw, though it wasn’t sickle shaped like in later sauropods
Could be a transitional link between bipedal sauropodomorphs and quadrupedal sauropods
Not necessarily a direct ancestor to sauropods however. Scientists have classified it as a sauropodiforme (an animal that has features related to the origin of sauropods)
Closely resembles Blikanasaurus and Lessemsaurus (but both of those are poorly known)

Fun Fact:

Back in 2007 the lead author on the crustaceans-in-poo article, Karen Chin, also reported on dinosaurs eating wood. That time while studying the Two Medicine formation and coprolite believed to be from Maiasaura.

~74–80MYA formation
Identified as coprolite by dung beetle burrows
Cited lack of twigs as intentionally eating wood
- Not accidental while eating leaves
- Conifer wood accounted for 13%–85% of each coprolite
This wood was also decaying (fungus), possibly meaning that the fungus broke down the wood into something bioavailable
- Even hadrosaurs with their grinding teeth and massive stomachs couldn’t get much nutritional value from wood
- Cited this as a potentially useful resource given the overall lack of grasses and other angiosperms that modern herbivores prefer

The Best and Worst Animatronic Dinosaurs

As far as large animatronic dinosaurs go, there are not a lot of options around. Back in 2007 the three-time Emmy Award winning BBC miniseries “Walking with Dinosaurs” launched an “Arena Spectacular” to bring dinosaurs to life. And more recently, in 2012, “Field Station: Dinosaurs” was opened as a theme park near Manhattan by a dinosaur enthusiast. But other than dinosaurs, the two have very little in common.

The Field Station is set up to resemble just that, a large field with lots of dinosaurs and dinosaur activities around for kids to enjoy. It’s typically categorized as a theme park, and it seemed effective at entertaining small children. But as an adult there is very little to do, the activities certainly don’t have much to offer, and the only other thing to do is to walk around and look at the dinosaurs. Which would be fine, but the dinosaurs leave a lot to be desired.

Most of the dinosaurs do appear well modelled and are laid out in a way where one never knows what to expect. But the Devil is in the detail. Possibly because the entire exhibit is outside, the dinosaurs move very little. Most of the movements can be described as head bobbing, tail wagging, or a jaw opening and closing but only ever one animation per dinosaur. But what really eliminates the sense of wonder is the terrible sound. There are many motion activated speakers around to bring the dinosaurs to life, but every speaker I heard was full of static. So at the end of the day there is a stationary dinosaur with one actuator moving back and forth to the soundtrack of static.

Walking with Dinosaurs, on the other hand, has fully articulated dinosaurs. They walk, eat, nuzzle, battle, and chase each other around an arena. And because it is staged in an arena the sounds are excellent. The dinosaurs come with a full narration pulled largely (sometimes verbatim) from the documentary, which brings the viewer deeper into the world. The mechanical achievement of the show is nothing short of amazing.

With kids, the Field Station could probably be an afternoon affair, but skipping the side-shows, you’ll be through in about 30 minutes. Walking with Dinosaurs is 80 minutes with a break in the middle. A ticket to the Field Station runs about $20 while Walking with Dinosaurs is about $60. So if you’re on a very tight budget the Field Station is a better choice, but you definitely get what you pay for.

The Field Station isn’t all bad, it’s comprised of 32 life-sized animatronic dinosaurs, while Walking with Dinosaurs was closer to half that number. And being able to walk much closer to them, especially when some are so large does give a certain sense of awe, but it is constantly limited by the poor animation and sound. If you have the opportunity, Walking with Dinosaurs is a must see. Field Station: Dinosaurs is a good choice if you’re in the NYC area and you have a young dinosaur enthusiast to entertain, but expect to be babysitting, not enjoying yourself.