The Big Dinosaur Podcast

Episode 199 is all about Bonitasaura, a small titanosaur that had some features similar to Diplodocus.

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In this episode, we discuss:

News:

• A new nodosaurid ankylosaur, Invictarx zephyri, was named based on osteoderms found in New Mexico source
• A review of Ornithischian dinosaurs in the Morrison Formation synonymized a few and split out another named Dryosaurus elderae source
• Visitors to Crystal Palace Park got to get close to the dinosaurs last weekend for Heritage Open Days source
• Three of the 30 dinosaur statues in Drumheller, Alberta, Canada, were recently damaged source
• Chrome used a dinosaur for their 404 error page because dinosaurs didn’t have internet source
• On September 18, Universal Pictures and Facebook launched an AR experience for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom to coincide with the DVD release source

The dinosaur of the day: Bonitasaura

• Titanosaur that lived in the Cretaceous in what is now Patagonia, in Argentina (found in the Bajo de la Carpa Formation)
• Type species is Bonitasaura salgadoi
• Named in 2004 by Sebastián Apesteguía
• Name refers to the quarry where it was found, “La Bonita”
• Species name is in honor of Leonardo Salgado, an Argentine paleontologist, who did a lot of research on sauropods
• Name means “pretty lizard”
• Found a partial sub-adult, including lower jaw with teeth, partial vertebrae and limb bones
• About 33 ft (10 m) long, though may not have grown to be much larger (small for a titanosaur)
• Had features similar to diplodocids: similar skull (long and low), and also had front limbs shorter than hind limbs, and whiplash tails
• Herbivorous, and had peg-like front teeth, which it used to grab food, and then cropped it with its beak that had a keratin sheath
• Had a short neck and high, robust neural spines on its back vertebrae, so probably had strong muscle attachments (because of this, may have been a high browser and exerted its neck while eating)

Fun Fact:

Franz Nopcsa got into paleontology largely (if not entirely) because of his sister Ilona

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