Episode 270 is all about Struthiomimus, the ostrich of the Cretaceous.
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In this episode, we discuss:
News:
- A new alvarezsaurid, Nemegtonykus, was named from Mongolia source
- Wulong the “dancing dragon” was named with some fantastic tail feathers source
- Washington state may have a new state dinosaur, Suciasaurus rex source
- The Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum in Japan will be spending $86 million on renovations source
- The Paleontological Society has named Archaeopteryx as it’s “Fossil of the Year” for 2020 source
- Tristan Otto the T. rex is moving to Copenhagen at the end of January source
- In New Mexico, the Las Cruces Museum of Art has a new dinosaur exhibit source
- The National Museum of Scotland has a new exhibition from now until May 4 all about tyrannosaurs source
- The Sternberg Museum of Natural History has an exhibit called “Prairie Ocean: Long Time, No Sea” source
- For paleo artists, Mark Winton is teaching a new paleo art short course in March source
- The TV show Dinosaurs is getting Funko pops, one for each character in the Sinclair family source
The dinosaur of the day: Struthiomimus
- Ornithomimid dinosaur that lived in the Late Cretaceous in what is now North America
- Bipedal, with long legs, and were ostrich like
- Estimated to be about 14 ft (4.3 m) long and weigh around 330 lb (150 kg)
- Had small, elongated head
- Had large eyes
- Had stiff tails, probably used for balance
- Had three toes on each foot
- Probably a fast runner, which would have helped against predators
- Estimated to run between 31 to 50 mph (50 to 80 kph)
- Had toothless beaks
- Had long slender arms and hands
- Three fingers on the hands were about the same length, with slightly curved claws, and couldn’t move much between the first finger and second and third fingers
- May have been herbivorous or omnivorous
- One specimen found with gastroliths
- Hand may also have been used as a hook or clamp, to bring branches to its mouth
- Had sharp claws on the hands
- Type species is Struthiomimus altus
- Genus name means “ostrich mimic”
- Altus means “lofty” or “noble”
- One of the most common ornithomimids in North America
- Many found in Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta, Canada
- Lawrence Lambe found fossils in 1901 and named then Ornithomimus altus
- Had longer arms and stronger fingers than Ornithomimus, and fingers couldn’t grasp food as well
- Barnum Brown found a nearly complete skeleton in 1914 at the Red Deer River site in Alberta
- Henry Osborn described Struthiomimus altus in 1917 and compared it to a sloth’s arm (may have helped support wing feathers)
- Henry Osborn renamed Ornithomimus altus as a subgenus of Struthiomimus
- Dale Russell in 1972 made Struthiomimus a full genus, and referred other specimens to it
- Osborn also renamed Ornithomimus tenuis as Struthiomimus tenuis in 1916, but this is considered to be a nomen dubium
- William Parks named four more species of Struthiomimus: Struthiomimus brevetertius (1926), Struthiomimus samueli (1928), Struthiomimus currellii (1933), and Struthiomimus ingens (1933)
- Today they’re considered to be either Dromiceiomimus or Ornithomimus
- Specimens found in the lower Lance Formation are larger, with straighter, longer claws on the hands. One was originally known as Ornithomimus sedens but was reclassified as Struthiomimus sedens
- There may be another species of Struthiomimus, found in the Horshoe Canyon Formation and therefore younger than Struthiomimus altus, but it has no name (also has longer, more slender hands)
- One of the first theropods thought to be in a horizontal posture (unlike T. rex, with the dragging tail)
- Can see Struthiomimus in the game Jurassic World Evolution
Fun Fact: Alvarezsaurids were nearly called Mononykians.
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