Episode 264 is all about Unenlagia, the Deinonychus-sized raptor from the Late Cretaceous of Argentina.
We also interview Jenni Brammall, special projects coordinator at the Australian Opal Centre in Lightning Ridge, NSW. She manages the opalized fossil collections at AOC and is helping to organize construction of the massive new Australian Opal Centre building. Check out our video of the AOC or checkout their Facebook page.
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In this episode, we discuss:
News:
- The new theropod, Lajasvenator, was tiny for a carcharodontosaurid source
- Hannah the ceratopsian is a Sytracosaurus albertensis source
- Dinosaur footprints have been found in the former Qing Dynasty imperial summer resort source
- The Jurassic World YouTube Channel has a new motion comic series source
The dinosaur of the day: Unenlagia
- Dromaeosaurid theropod that lived in the Late Cretaceous in what is now South America
- Only leg length is known, so not clear how long Unenlagia was. Estimates are anywhere from 6.6 ft (2 m) to 11 ft (3.5 m) long and weighing 165 lb (75 kg)
- Probably had an elongated head, based on relatives Buitreraptor and Austroraptor
- Pelvic region was similar to Archaeopteryx
- Originally thought the shoulder girdle was adapted for flapping, and that this showed flight started with flapping (still debating today) (flat scapula on top of the ribcage, so shoulder joint could point more laterally), but in 2002 Kenneth Carpenter found that the scapula was probably on the side of the ribcage
- Philip Senter suggested theropods like Unenlagia couldn’t lift their forelimbs above their back
- Not everyone agrees, and some scientists think if the scapula was in the lateral position the coracoid bone would jut into the ribcage, which wouldn’t make sense
- Two species: Unenlagia comahuensis (type) and Unenlagia paynemili
- Described by Fernando Novas and Pablo Puerta in 1997
- Genus name means “half bird” (in language of the indigenous Mapuche people)
- Species name refers to Comahue, the region where it was found
- Holotype includes a partial skeleton, no skull, but had vertebrae, sacrum, ribs, chevrons, scapula, humerus, partial pelvis, femur, tibia
- Second skeleton found in 2002, named and described in 2004 as Unenlagia paynemili
- Second species described by Jorge Calvo and others in 2004
- Found a holotype and several paratypes
- Species name is in honor of Maximino Paynemil, chief of the Paynemil community
- Unenlagia paynemili is more gracile than Unenlagia comahuensis
- Makovicky and others in 2005 found Neuquenraptor argentinus to be a junior synonym of Unenlagia comahuensis
- First theropod found in Argentina considered to be a dromaeosaurid
- Novas and Puerta considered Unenlagia to be a link between birds and maniraptoran theropods
Fun Fact: The two largest known carnivorous dinosaurs from the Jurassic are Torvosaurus & Saurophaganax
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