Episode 343 is all about Zhuchengtyrannus, a tyrannosaurid that was between Tarbosaurus bataar and Tyrannosaurus rex in size.
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In this episode, we discuss:
News:
- 3 New Talarurus skulls were described from Mongolia source
- A new sauropod from Spain might be one of the largest ever from Europe source
- You can see Pops the ceratopsian being prepared in the fossil lab at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science source
- Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin and 24 other museums and universities in Germany are digitizing their collections source
- The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology published (another) moratorium recommendation for Burmese amber research source
- Italy’s customs authorities shared a video of finding a smuggled fossilized sauropod egg source
- The Southeast Library in Washington, D.C. is hosting a dinosaur-roaring contest source
- Lanarkshire, Scotland has a scavenger hunt of 20 prehistoric animals from June 25 until August 29 source
- on June 25, Herb the Triceratops will be unveiled at the Great Plains Dinosaur Museum and Field Station in Malta, MT source
- A dinosaur-filled Van Halen dinosaur video was discovered from near Milan, Italy source
- IMAX showings of F9 have a five minute extended preview of Jurassic World: Dominion source
- Jurassic World Evolution 2 has been announced, a sequel to the popular park builder from 2018 source
The dinosaur of the day: Zhuchengtyrannus
- Tyrannosaurid theropod that lived in the Late Cretaceous in what is now Shandong Province, China (Xingezhuang Formation)
- Looked similar to Tyrannosaurus, and had powerful jaws, and small arms with two-fingers on its hands
- Large and carnivorous
- Estimated to weigh up to 6 short tons
- Type and only species is Zhuchengtyrannus magnus
- Described and named in 2011 by David Hone and others
- Genus name means “Zhucheng tyrant”
- Genus name refers to the type locality (Zhucheng City)
- Species name means “great” in Latin (because of it being so large)
- Dave Hone wrote on his blog he’s not fond of “place-name-saurus” type names, and he wrote: “some of us are born with bad names for dinosaurs, some achieve bad dinosaur names, and (in this case) some have bad names thrust upon them!”)
- Fossils found in 2009, while a construction crew was digging foundations for a museum
- Holotype is ZCDM V0031, and includes a nearly complete right maxilla (upper jaw) and left dentary (the lower jaw). Both have teeth
- Now housed at Zhucheng Dinosaur Museum
- Cast at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology
- Maxilla was later damaged during handling, but the cast was made and it was photographed before the accident
- No broken bones or signs of pathologies
- Probably an adult, or near adult, based on its size and characteristics seen only in adult tyrannosaurs, such as heavy sculpting on the maxilla
- Maxilla was 25 in (64 cm) long, and dentary was about 31 in (78 cm) long
- Two adult T. rex specimens have maxilla are 1 and 2 cm longer, and Sue the T. rex has a 79 cm long maxilla
- Tarbosaurus specimens range from 19 in (49 cm) (probably a juvenile) to 29ish in (73 cm) long, with a few in the low 20s in inches (60s in centimeters)
- Hard to know exact size of Zhuchengtyrannus
- Dentary of the holotype is a bit smaller than most T. rex specimens, and a bit bigger than most Tarbosaurus specimens
- Based on maxilla, holotype is about the same size as or in between Tyrannosaurus and Tarbosaurus
- So Zhuchengtyrannus estimated it to be between 33–39 ft (10–12 m) long
- Had unique features in its skull
- Subtle features in how the fenestrae, fossa, and other parts of the skull are organized. Near the front of the fenestra on the maxilla there’s a rounded notch, and there is a horizontal shelf on the lateral surface of the base of the ascending process of the maxilla (the part going up from the upper jaw)
- Hone also said there are probably a lot of Zhuchengtyrannus fossils collected, but they were isolated and so far, it’s too hard to distinguish it from the other tyrannosaur (thought be different because of the teeth), so for now could only point to the two skull pieces found together
- A second dentary and a second maxilla found at the same site, Zangjiazhuang quarry (different from Zhuchengtyrannus, which means there is probably at least one other tyrannosaurid from the area, though not yet named)
- Teeth have serrations that go all the way to the base of the tooth crown
- Dave Hone wrote on his blog around the time of publication, “While 2010 was celebrated as the year of ceratopsians for many, it should not be overlooked the huge number of tyrannosaurs that have cropped up in the last year or so”
- Second tyrannosaurine from China, and probably overlapped with Tarbosaurus (no direct evidence but fossils found near each other, in time and space)
- Phylogenetic analysis in 2013 found Zhuchengtyrannus to be the sister taxon of Tarbosaurus (both tyrannosaurines), and suggested Zhuchengtyrannus and other known tyrannosaurids in Asia were part of an evolutionary radiation (rapid increase in a clade’s diversity) that came from the same North American stem that led to Tyrannosaurus
- Seems to be a trend of multiple species of large, carnivorous dinosaurs living at the same time and place. Probably filled different ecological niches
- Probably was a predator and scavenger
- Having so many large carnivores around each other may have been more of the norm (like Spinosaurus and the Kem Kem Beds), so it’s unusual that doesn’t seem to be the case for T. rex
- Fossils found in what used to be a floodplain (dinosaurs probably washed together during floods and then fossilized)
- Found in one of the highest concentrations of dinosaur fossils in the world
- Also from the same time and place: Sinoceratops, hadrosaurids (probably Shantungosaurus) and ankylosaurs
Fun Fact: Spinosaurus wasn’t the only dinosaur fossil destroyed during World War II, there were at least 5 others.
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