Episode 306 is all about Zephyrosaurus, a small, potentially burrowing, dinosaur from what is now Montana.
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In this episode, we discuss:
News:
- Two exceptionally well preserved dinosaurs were found fossilized in what was likely their own burrow source
- A new marine dig site was found full of Spinosaurus teeth adding support for Spinosaurus as an aquatic hunter source
- Paleontologist Jingmai O’Connor will become the associate curator of fossil reptiles at the Field Museum in Chicago source
- There are a couple of campaigns to raise money for Mary Anning’s statue in Lyme Regis source
- In Thailand, one restaurant is filling up empty seats with dinosaurs to encourage social distancing source
- A new sci-fi satire comic will feature a fossil fuel company going back in time to prevent dinosaurs from going extinct source
- “Dinosaur Hunters” is a new 2 hour mashup of action movies and dinosaur movies which presumably features hunting dinosaurs source
- Frank Marshall, producer of Jurassic World: Dominion, said that Dominion will not be the end of the Jurassic Park franchise source
The dinosaur of the day: Zephyrosaurus
- Ornithischian that lived in the Cretaceous in what is now Montana, US (Cloverly Formation)
- Estimated to be 5.9 ft (1.8 m) long
- Small and probably fast
- Bipedal and herbivorous
- Had a beak
- Had bosses on its cheeks (large knob)
- Had four toes and had five fingers
- May have burrowed (like Oryctodromeus and Orodromeus)
- Type species is Zephyrosaurus schaffi
- Named in 1980 by Hans-Dieter Sues
- Genus name means “westward wind lizard”
- Charles R. Schaff found the fossils
- Partial skull and postcranial skeleton found, including jaw fragments, braincase, vertebrae, and parts of the rib
- May be closely related to Orodromeus, based on both having bosses on their cheeks
- Some dino art looks kind of like a kangaroo (shows it jumping)
- More individuals found in 2003 by Martha Kutter (at least 7 individuals), reported in an abstract for SVP
- Dinosaur tracks found in 2004 in Maryland and Virginia (Patuxent Formation) named Hypsiloichnus marylandicus (means “trace of a Hypsilophodon from Maryland”) that are thought to be from a dinosaur similar to Zephyrosaurus (or are Zephyrosaurus)
- Tracks found by Ray Stanford (first saw them in 2001)
- Tracks show the dinosaur on all fours, with a smaller front foot in front of the larger hind foot (could be resting, eating, or drinking)
Fun Fact: In addition to some non-avian dinosaurs, many modern dinosaurs (birds) burrow instead of nesting in trees.