The Big Dinosaur Podcast

Episode 197 is all about Achillobator, a larger dromaeosaur from cretaceous Mongolia.

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In this episode, we discuss:

News:

• Two new alverezsauroids were found in China, filling the largest gap in theropod evolution source
• Walking with Dinosaurs The Arena Spectacular has gone on tour in Europe, with some of the most impressive dinosaur animatronics ever made source
• Expedition: Dinosaur, will be at Grand Rapids Public Museum starting October 14. There will be life sized animatronic dinosaurs, and visitors will be able to control some of them source
• Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History got a $160 million donation from Edward P. Bass, a billionaire and philanthropist who graduated from Yale in 1967 source
• Congrats to Drumheller’s World’s Largest Dinosaur Structure which reached two million visitors source
• In Sibay, Russia,a welder caught a T. rex on fire at an amusement park source
• A couple got engaged on the Jurassic Park ride at Universal Studios Hollywood after riding it 62 times, breaking the park record source
• A fiberglass T. rex head is for sale on Okaloosa Island, in Florida source
• Parkasaurus, a sim where you can build your own dinosaur park, is opening up early access on Steam September 25 source

The dinosaur of the day: Achillobator

• Dromaeosaurid theropod that lived in the Cretaceous in what is now Mongolia
• Found in 1989 on a Mongolian and Russian field expedition, in the Bayan Shireh Formation of Dornogovi Province
• Named in 1999 by Altangerel Perle, Mark Norell, Jim Clark
• Only the holotype has been found, and includes part of the upper jaw with teeth, vertebrae, rib fragments, pelvis, left femur and tibia, hindlimbs, forelimbs, shoulder
• Estimated to be 16.4 to 19.7 ft (5 to 6 m) long (pretty large for a dromaeosaur)
• May have weighed up to 771 lb (350 kg)
• Type species is Achillobator gigantas
• Name means “Achilles hero”, named after Achilles, the ancient Greek warrior who fought in the Trojan War, and the Mongolian word baatar, which means “hero”
• Name is because of its large Achilles tendon, connected to its sickle claws (probably had a robust tendon because it was a large dromaeosaur)
• Species name comes from the Greek word gigantas, which means “giant,” and refers to Achillobator’s large size for a dromaeosaur
• Bipedal carnivore
• Had serrated, recurved teeth
• Hunted and used it’s sickle-shaped claws
• Femur was 3% longer than tibia, which is rare for dromaeosaurs
• Pelvis has primitive characteristcs compared to other dromaeosaurs (had a wide expansion at the end, compared to other dromaeosaurs, and pubis points vertically down, though other dromaeosaurs and birds have a pubis that points backwards)
• Some scientists though Achillobator was a fossil chimera, but not everyone believes this (many fossils were found semi-articulated, and they have the same color and preservation)
• Other dinosaurs the lived in the same time and place included the therizinosaurid Segnosaurus, the deinocheirid Garudimimus, the ankylosaurid Talarurus, sauropods, and tyrannosaroids

Fun Fact:

Ovoviviparity means holding eggs inside until they hatch, whereas oviparity means laying eggs long before they hatch

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