The Big Dinosaur Podcast

Episode 224 is all about Dromaeosaurus, the bigger badder cousin of velociraptor with a bite about three times as strong.

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In this episode, we discuss:

News:

• A new baby oviraptorid, Gobiraptor minutus, from Cretaceous Mongolia that may have eaten bivalves source
• The first stegosaur named in Mongolia, Mongolostegus exspectabilis, may be the most recent stegosaur found to date source
• A new article in Nature shows that two-thirds of 3D scan data is not shared online, largely so authors can exclusively use it for future work source
• The Montana House of Representatives passed the bill that says fossils are part of a property’s surface estate, not the mineral estate source
• The National Showcaves Centre for Wales sold a 15ft tall 30 ft long Allosaurus sculpture to make space for new sculptures source

The dinosaur of the day: Dromaeosaurus

• Theropod that lived in the Late Cretaceous in what is now the western U.S. and Alberta, Canada
• Not many fossils found
• Holotype includes a partial skull (missing most of the top of the snout), and some foot bones
• Discovery of other dromaeosaurids have helped fill in the gaps about Dromaeosaurus (Dakotaraptor, Utahraptor, other raptors, etc.)
• About 6.6 ft (2 m) long and weighed about 33 lb (15 kg)
• Had a robust skull, and sharp teeth
• Phil Currie published a study of Dromaeosaurus in 1994 and said the “braincase bones are not pneumatized” (heavy)
• Probably had a good sense of smell
• Had robust teeth, that had a lot of wear and tear (probably used to crush and tear, or “puncture and pull”, not slice flesh)
• Therrien and others in 2005 said Dromaeosaurus’ bite was almost three times more powerful than Velociraptor and may have used its jaws more than its sickle claw
• May have gone after large prey, and may have eaten bone (similar feeding strategy to tyrannosaurids)
• Had a sickle claw on each foot
• Type species is Dromaeosaurus albertensis
• Described in 1922 by William Diller Matthew and Barnum Brown
• Name means “swift running lizard”
• Species name refers to Alberta
• Fossils found in 1914 on an American Museum of Natural History expedition at Red Deer River (area now part of Dinosaur Provincial Park)
• Seven other species were named, mostly based on fragments. Some have been reclassified as other genera (Troodon, Velociraptor), and the rest are considered nomina dubia.
• Matthew and Brown put Dromaeosaurus in its own subfamily Dromaeosaurinae, under Deinodontidae, but in 1969 John Ostrom said it was similar to Velociraptor and Deinonychus, and assigned them to Dromaeosauridae (many more dinosaurs found, so there are lots of subfamilies within Dromaeosauridae, including Dromaeosaurinae)
• Dromaeosaurs were small to medium sized feathered carnivorous theropods that lived in the Cretaceous
• They’re often known as raptors (one of the most famous ones is Velociraptor)
• Found all over the world, on six continents, and possibly some teeth in Australia (so maybe all seven continents)
• Closely related to birds
• Bob Bakker and John Ostrom used droameosaurs (Deinonychus) to show dinosaurs were fast and smart, and related to modern birds
• Generally they had large skulls, serrated teeth, good binocular vision, large hands, long tails, and sickle claws on their feet (kept this toe off the ground when walking), and probably all were feathered
• Can see a cast at the Royal Tyrrell Museum’s Field Station (pack of Dromaeosaurus attacking a Lambeosaurus)

Fun Fact: Mongolostegus/Wuerhosaurus may be the most recent stegosaur, but there have been more recent tracks found in Australia, so that might be a good place to find a more recent stegosaur.