Episode 238 is all about Supersaurus, a Portuguese relative of Diplodocus.
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In this episode, we discuss:
News:
- Several new opalized Iguanodontian fossils were described from Australia and were used to name a new dinosaur: Fostoria source
- Two new dinosaurs were found in Thailand within a few miles of each other: Phuwiangvenator and Vayuraptor source
- The National Museum in Rio de Janeiro lost less specimens than previously thought source
- The new exhibit DinoQuest opened at the Science Centre Singapore source
- A replica of Scotty the T. rex is now at the Durham Museum in Omaha, Nebraska source
- The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Hall of Fossils reopened after years of renovations source
- Kids from two group homes in Oklahoma will be digging for dinosaurs this summer at a site near Black Mesa source
- Robert McIntosh made a video flying a drone through the Natural History Museum of Utah source
- The French Lick Scenic Railway will have a Dinosaur Adventure Train and other activities source
- In Michigan, 77-year old Sandra Crabb recently purchased Prehistoric Forest and hopes to bring it back to life source
- In New Brunswick, Canada, Robin Hanson made a T. rex sculpture for his grandchildren source
- John Hendrick’s mansion and ranch in Gateway, Colorado, is for sale including a dinosaur footprint source
- Netflix released the first trailer for the new animated Jurassic World spinoff, Jurassic Park: Camp Cretaceous source
The dinosaur of the day: Supersaurus
- Dilodocid sauropod that lived in the Late Jurassic in what is now Colorado and Wyoming, US (found in the Morrison Formation)
- Type species is Supersaurus vivianae
- Name means “super lizard”
- Found in 1972 by Vivian Jones (species name after her)
- Estimated to be 108-112 ft (33-34 m) long
- Estimated to weigh about 32 to 38 metric tons
- May have a similar body to Apatosaurus but less robust
- Had a long tail and bulky body
- Had a small head
- Had one of the longest known necks (one large cervical vertebra found was 54 in or ~21 cm long)
- Described in 1985 by James Jensen (informally named Supersaurus in 1973)
- Originally found the shoulder girdle, ischium, and tail vertebrae
- More complete individual found in Converse County, Wyoming, in 1996 and assigned to Supersaurus in 2007 (about 30% of the skeleton)
- Potentially a second species: Supersaurus lourinhanensis, known from Portugal
- A 2015 phylogenetic study of diplodocids found that Dinherirosaurus lourinhanensis is a new species of Supersaurus, Supersaurus lourinhanensis (Tschopp and others study, who brought back Brontosaurus)
- Supersaurus has some junior synonyms: Ultrasauros/Ultrasaurus macintoshi and Dystylosaurus edwini
- Jensen described Ultrasaurus but the type specimen was later found to be Supersaurus (dorsal vertebra) and had come from the same quarry
- More to the story of Ultrasaurus, and we cover it in episode 21, Ultrasaurus
- Dystylosaurus was a diplodocid found near the original Supersaurus quarry, and was also based on a dorsal vertebra later found to belong to Supersaurus
- Can see a reconstruction at Wyoming Dinosaur Center (nicknamed “Jimbo”)
Fun Fact: Based on their olfactory bulb sizes, T. rex probably had an excellent sense of smell, but Archaeopteryx could not smell well.
