Episode 326 is all about Teratophoneus, a Late Cretaceous Tyrannosaurid from what is now Utah.
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In this episode, we discuss:
News:
- The first rebbachisaurid sauropod was named (Dzharatitanis) from Asia source
- Sauropodomorphs may have been stuck in southern Gondwana for 15 million years due to a large desert blocking their way source
- A new paper compares 7 different fossil digitizing techniques including photogrammetry & structured light scanning source
- Cretaceous dinosaur footprints were found in Portugal that fossilized about 129 million years ago source
- There are plans to build two museums to house dinosaur fossils in Niger source
- The Hokkaido Museum in Japan has an exhibit on local dinosaurs through March 14 source
- Denver Museum of Nature & Science recently put a “Tiny” ceratopsian on display that might be a Torosaurus source
- A pipe burst in the Burpee Museum in Rockford, Illinois delaying the reopening to at least February 26 source
- A 4-year-old named 71 dinosaurs in under one minute, a new record in the UK World Book of Records source
The dinosaur of the day: Teratophoneus
- Tyrannosaurid that lived in the Late Cretaceous in what is now Utah, US
- Carnivorous, and looks like typical, ferocious theropod tyrannosaur, with sharp teeth and proportionally short arms
- Holotype originally estimated to be about 20 ft (6 m) long and weigh 1,470 lb (667 kg)
- In 2016 Molina-Pérez and Larramendi estimated Teratophoneus to be 21 ft (6.4 m) long
- Gregory Paul estimated Teratophoneus to be 26 ft (8 m) long
- Looks different from more northern tyrannosaurs. Possible there’s a barrier (sea barrier?) that kept dinosaurs separate in the north and south and they evolved in different ways
- Compared to Albertosaurus, had a deeper skull and shorter proportionally between the tip of the snout and the front of the eye socket (specifically the lacrimal bone of the antorbital fenestra). Could mean it had stronger jaw muscles, which meant it had a strong bite force
- Type and only species is Teratophoneus curriei
- Genus name means “monstrous murderer”
- Species name in honor of Phil Currie
- Named in 2011 by Thomas Carr and others
- Found an incomplete skull and postcranial skeleton
- Found in the Kaiparowits Formation
- Holotype is BYU 8120, two other specimens have been referred to Teratophoneus: UMNH VP 16690 and UMNH VP 16691
- Holotype fossils originally thought to be from four different individuals, then later found to be probably from one individual, a subadult
- Specimen excavated in 2017 in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, and was airlifted to the Natural History Museum of Utah on October 15, 2017
- Airlifted specimen was found in 2015, when Alan Titus was prospecting for fossils. Turned out to be an articulated, nearly complete skeleton, maybe 80% (skull and most of the body, only missing back part of the tail and a few toes, unclear about the arms)
- Specimen was in plaster and lifted in pieces. The largest piece weighed about 1 ton
- Juvenile specimen, and probably was buried in a river channel or in a flooding event
- Estimated to be 17 to 20 ft (5 to 6 m) long
- Took the team and volunteers about 2,000-3,000 hours to excavate the site, and will probably take at least 10,000 hours to prepare the specimen
- Being prepared and studied at the Natural History Museum of Utah, and will look at growth patterns, how Teratophoneus moved, how fast it ran, and how it used its jaws
- Other animals that lived around the same time and place include hadrosaurs, ceratopsians, mammals, turtles, crocodilians like Deinosuchus, lizards, insects, snails, clams, fish, and amphibians
Fun Fact: During part of the Late Cretaceous: Asia & Europe were separated by the Turgai sea. Just like North America was split into Laramidia & Appalachia by the Western Interior Seaway.
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