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The Big Dinosaur Podcast

The Big Dinosaur Podcast

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This Week in Dinosaur News: The last day of the Cretaceous Period was recorded in a 1.3 meter deposit in North Dakota

The Tanis site. Which captures the hours when all non-avian dinosaurs went extinct.
From doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1817407116

Here’s what came out this week in dinosaur news:

  • The day that wiped out the dinosaurs was captured in a 1.3m layer of flood water, fossilized fish, and raining tektites source
  • According to the New Yorker, we can expect to see many dinosaur fossils that were killed by the asteroid in future articles source
  • Several museums are working together to excavate near the Jurassic Mile in Wyoming source
  • A man found a Spinosaurus tooth while running erands in Japan source
  • The Discovery Center of Idaho in Boise is installing Tinker, a juvenile T. rex cast source
  • The Antarctic Dinosaurs exhibit is now at LA’s Natural History Museum with Cryolophosaurus and Glacialisaurus source
  • A Jurassic Park fan created a 6 minute stop motion short called Indomation featuring an Indoraptor toy and wooden artist manikins source

Check out these stories, our fun fact, and dinosaur of the day Gigantspinosaurus in episode 228 of the I Know Dino Podcast!

I Know Dino Podcast Show Notes: Gigantspinosaurus (Episode 228)

Episode 228 is all about Gigantspinosaurus, a stegosaur (not a spinosaur) with large shoulder spines.

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:

  • The day that wiped out the dinosaurs was captured in a 1.3m layer of flood water, fossilized fish, and raining tektites source
  • According to the New Yorker, we can expect to see many dinosaur fossils that were killed by the asteroid in future articles source
  • Several museums are working together to excavate near the Jurassic Mile in Wyoming source
  • A man found a Spinosaurus tooth while running erands in Japan source
  • The Discovery Center of Idaho in Boise is installing Tinker, a juvenile T. rex cast source
  • The Antarctic Dinosaurs exhibit is now at LA’s Natural History Museum with Cryolophosaurus and Glacialisaurus source
  • A Jurassic Park fan created a 6 minute stop motion short called Indomation featuring an Indoraptor toy and wooden artist manikins source

The dinosaur of the day: Gigantspinosaurus

  • Stegosaur that lived in the Late Jurassic in what is now Sichuan, China
  • Holotype is of an adult and included a partial skeleton of a subadult, with lower jaws (no skull), hind feet, and end of the tail, as well as plates, spines, and scutes
  • Also found a skin impression from the left shoulder
  • Medium-sized, estimated to be 14 ft (4.2 m) long and weighed 1,500 lb (700 kg)
  • Had large shoulder spines, twice as long as the shoulder blades, and small plates on its back
  • Had a large head, with 30 teeth in the lower jaw
  • Had broad hips, and robust forelimbs
  • Xing Lida and others described the skin impressions in 2008. They were pentagonal or hexagonal in shape
  • Skeleton had a pathology in the left femur, probably from a bone tumor (based on CT scans)
  • Type species is Gigantspinosaurus sichuanensis
  • Name means “giant spined lizard”
  • Species name refers to Sichuan
  • Found in 1985 by Ouyang Hui, and described in 1986 by Gao Ruiqi and others, who thought it was Tuojiangosaurus
  • Named in 1992 by Ouyang, in an abstract for a lecture
  • Thought to be a nomen nudum until 2006 (the abstract had enough of a description)
  • Tracy Ford wrote an article in 2006 that reconstructed Gigantspinosaurus (there had been other images of it published before)
  • Ford said earlier representations had the shoulder spines upside down, his reconstruction had them going upwards
  • Peng Guangzho and others in 2005 redescribed Gigantspinosaurus
  • Susannah Maidment and Wei Guangbio in 2006 also found it was a valid taxon
  • Can see Gigantspinosaurus at the Zigong Dinosaur Museum

Fun Fact: The “Age of the Dinosaurs” that we all imagine was mostly the Cretaceous Period.

I Know Dino Podcast Show Notes: Glacialisaurus (Episode 168)

Episode 168 is all about Glacialisaurus, a sauropodomorph from Antarctica whose name means “icy lizard.”

Big thank you to all our patrons! If you like dinosaurs, consider joining our growing community 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:

The dinosaur of the day: Glacialisaurus

    • Massospondylid sauropodomorph that lived in the Jurassic in what is now Antarctica
    • Fossils were found in the 1990s by Dr. William R. Hammer of Augustana College and a team
    • Found in the lower part of the Hanson Formation, in Mount Kirkpatrick
    • Fossils were found at an elevation of more than 13,000 feet (~4,100 meters)
    • Had to remove the bones from ice and rock, using jackhammers, rock saws, and chisels
    • Known from a partial foot and referred material of a left femur
    • Described in 2007 by Nathan Smith and Diego Pol
    • Type species is Glacialisaurus hammeri
    • Name means “icy lizard” or “frozen lizard”, and refers to the Beardmore Glacier region in the Central Transantarctic Mountains, where the fossils were found
    • Species name is in honor of William Hammer
    • First sauropodomorph found in Antarctica
    • Glacialisaurus shows how early sauropods/sauropodomorphs were distributed (China, South Africa, South America, North America, Antarctica, probably due to connections between continents at the time)
    • Other sauropod fossils have been found in the same formation, which shows that early sauropods and sauropodomorphs co-existed together for a while
    • Herbivorous
    • Estimated to be 20-25 ft long (6-8 m) and weigh 4-6 tons
    • Predators at the time include Cryolophosaurus
    • Its foot is similar to Lufengosaurus (lived in the Early Jurassic in China), which may have been a close relative

Fun Fact:

Birds evolved from dinosaurs, but birds were already established before the K-Pg Mass Extinction.

This episode was brought to you 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.

And by the Royal Tyrrell Museum, which is located in southern Alberta, Canada. Right now they are exhibiting their free-to-attend Winter speaker series (also on YouTube). More information can be found at tyrrellmuseum.com.

I Know Dino Podcast Show Notes: Cryolophosaurus (Episode 68)

Episode 68 is all about Cryolophosaurus, a theropod with a curved head crest found in Antarctica.

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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:

  • The dinosaur of the day: Cryolophosaurus
  • Name means cold crest lizard
  • Species is Cryolophosaurus ellioti
  • Large theropod
  • Lived in the early Jurassic in what is now Antarctica
  • Dr. William Hammer first excavated the bones in 1991
  • Elliot and Hammer were excavating in Antarctica in 1991, and Elliot’s team first found Cryolophosaurus at an altitude of 13,000 ft (4,000 m), about 400 mi (640) from the South Pole. He told Hammer about it, and Hammer excavated it over 3 weeks.
  • Hammer and Hickerson described Cryolophosaurus in 1994 in the journal Science
  • Species named after David Elliot, who first discovered the fossils
  • Found bones including a skull and femur
  • 21.3 ft (6.5 m) long, and weighed 1,025 lb (465 kg); one of the largest theropods
  • Only one known specimen, and it’s a sub-adult, so may have grown larger
  • Second expedition in 2003 to find more Cryolophosaurus bones
  • Hammer and team found over 100 fossil bones (some of Cryolophosaurus)
  • Primitive brain
  • In 2013 Vernon Meidlinger-Chin did an unpublished study of the cranial cavity (it was large and intact enough to give the shape and size of the brain) and it showed it was not similar to allosauroids and coelurosaurs, so Cryolophosaurus would be some sort of basal theropod
  • A potential pathology was found in a Cryolophosaurus ankle bone, but it could be a unique feature (small splint from the fibula above the ankle)
  • First carnivorous dinosaur found in Antarctica and first non-avian dinosaur from Antarctica officially named
  • Scientists didn’t find any dinosaur fossils in Antarctica until the 1980s (Antarctopelta oliveroi was found in 1986, but not named until 2006)
  • Top predator in Antarctica
  • Large theropods like Allosaurus didn’t live until a few million years later (interesting Cryolophosaurus was so large)
  • Thick, muscular legs
  • Lighter and faster than T-rex
  • U.S. Geological Survey found that dinosaurs could live in colder conditions (called polar dinosaurs, had good night vision, warm-blooded and could look for food in winter at night)
  • Back then, Antarctica was closer to the equator and warmer than modern Antarctica (though still fairly cool)
  • Because of high altitude, may mean in the early Jurassic the area was covered in forests and had a wide range of species on the coast (plenty of food)
  • Cryolophosaurus may have been a scavenger
  • Some Cryolophosaurus bones found with nibble-like markings (possible a scavenger)
  • Another dinosaur in the area was Glacialisaurus (“frozen lizard”), a prosauropod (too large for Cryolophosaurus to hunt)
  • Probably had sharp teeth that curved backwards (to hold its prey in its jaws)
  • Short forearms, so jaws were important
  • Cryolophosaurus probably went for juveniles or sick or old Glacialisaurus, or scavenged them
  • A few long cervical ribs of a prosauropod were found in Cryolophosaurus’ mouth, so in 1998 Hammer concluded it was eating the prosauropod when it died.
  • But, the ribs went all the way into Cryolophosaurus‘ neck, so it’s possible Cryolophosaurus choked to death on the ribs. However, a separate study led by Smith said those ribs belonged to another Cryolophosaurus and not a prosauropod
  • The ribs were displaced after it died (Cryolophosaurus)
  • High, narrow skull, about 26 in (65 cm) long
  • Had a crest on its head that ran from side to side, and looked like a Spanish comb (probably used to recognize species)
  • Curved head crest faces forward
  • Nasal crest over the eyes, thin and furrowed (other theropods have crests, but usually ran along the skull instead of across the skull)
  • Crest would not have been a good weapon, but may have been used for display in attracting mates
  • Nicknamed “Elvisaurus” because it’s crest is Elvis Presley-like
  • Can see Cryolophosaurus in the first episode of Dinosaur Revolution (a couple look at their eggs, then a larger male attacks and eats the eggs)
  • Can also see Cryolophosaurus in Primal Carnage and Primal Carnage: Extinction (can spit out poison in Primal Carnage and acid in Primage Carnage: Extinction)
  • On PBS’ Dinosaur Train, there’s a recurring character called King Cryolophosaurus
  • Board book on dinosaurs called “Dinoblock” has a Cryolophosaurus in it
  • Thought to be a primitive member of Tetanurae or a close relative (skull has advanced features and there was debate over whether it was a tetanuran, abelisaurid, ceratosaur or allosaurid; femur is primitive and caused debate over whether it was a dilophosaurid)
  • Part of Tetanuran family
  • Tenanurae means “stiff tails” and is a clade that includes more theropods
  • Appeared in the early or middle Jurassic
  • Clade was named in 1986 by Jacques Gauthier
  • Includes all theropods more closely related to modern birds than Ceratosaurus
  • Fun Fact: The University of California, Santa Cruz simulation shows an approximation of the “mega tsunami” created by the Chicxulub impact. It estimates that the water would be vaporized at the impact site, but just outside it, a ~100m (330ft) high wave would have propagated.

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