Episode 333 is all about Turiasaurus, a sauropod from Spain which is probably the largest known dinosaur from Europe.
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In this episode, we discuss:
News:
- A new massive neck of a titanosaur found in Argentina rivals the largest dinosaurs ever found source
- Three bones from NW New Mexico show evidence of tyrannosaurid cannibalism source
- In Colorado, an 8th grader found a T. Rex tooth while hiking in Boulder County source
- The titanosaur known as the “dinosaur of Mato Grosso” was recovered from the ruins of the National Museum of Brazil source
- The Tiny Titans dinosaur exhibit is at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science (and online) source
- Two Medicine Dinosaur Center is now The Montana Dinosaur Center and they are planning their digs for this summer source
- Brookfield Zoo in Illinois has its animatronic “Dinosaurs Everywhere” exhibit again source
- Six Flags New England in Massachusetts has pivoted from roller coasters to dinosaurs with a new outdoor exhibit source
- In Arundel, Maine, Raptor Falls Mini Golf and Ice Cream is reopening on May Day source
- A vacation home in Florida is fully dinosaur themed, possibly too much so source
- The latest issue of The Flash includes a speedster Velociraptor source
The dinosaur of the day: Turiasaurus
- Sauropod that lived in the Late Jurassic/Early Cretaceous in what is now Teruel Province, Spain (Kimmeridgian Villar del Arzobispo Formation)
- Sauropod, so had a long neck and tail, and looks stocky in paleoart depictions
- Originally estimated to be 118-128 ft (36-39 m) long and weigh 40 to 48 tonnes (articles at the time it was announced said it was about the weight of six to seven adult male elephants)
- Later estimated to be 98 ft (30 m) long and weigh 50 tonnes
- Probably the largest dinosaur found in Europe, and one of the largest dinosaurs known at the time (now know about Patagotitan, etc.)
- The humerus was described as being as large as an adult human
- Claw on the first digit of its foot has been compared to the size of an American football
- Skull is 37.5 in (70 cm) long (pretty small proportionately)
- Head was not too big, possible that a bigger head would have broken its neck
- Had a short, high skull (like Camarasaurus)
- Herbivorous
- Had heterodont teeth
- Teeth had long roots and the crowns were heart-shaped
- Type and only species is Turiasaurus riodevensis
- Described in 2006 by Rafael Royo-Torres and others
- Genus name means “Turia lizard”
- Turia is the Latinized form of Teruel (province where it was found)
- Used to be informally known as Riodevasaurus, after Riodeva, Spain, the village near where the dinosaur was found
- Fossils found in 2003
- Found parts of the skull, scapula, femur, tibia, fibula, teeth, vertebrae, ribs, and phalanges
- Also found with theropod teeth, stegosaur fossils, fish, and turtles
- Formed a new clade Turiasauria, basal sauropods with heart-shaped teeth with grooves in the roots that lived in the Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous in what is now Europe, North America, and Africa
- New clade is distinct from Neosauropoda, which includes well known and giant sauropods like Apatosaurus, Brachiosaurus, Diplodocus, Argentinosaurus, Patagotitan
- Turiasaurus had more primitive features than other large sauropods
- Helps show that multiple lineages of sauropods evolved independently to grow so large
- Octávio Mateus in 2009 described a tooth and a nearly complete right forelimb that he had found in 1996 in Portugal (Lourinhã Formation), and tentatively referred to it as Turiasaurus (excavated in 1996, 2000, and 2002)
- Then in 2014 Mateus and others reassigned the fossils and named it the new dinosaur: Zby atlanticus
- Found it to be closely related to Turiasaurus (even had somewhat heart-shaped tooth crowns, but not as heart-shaped), but with enough differences, especially with the forelimb
- In 2012 Rafael Royo-Torres and Paul Upchurch described the skull of Turiasaurus
- Found the muscular anatomy to be similar to other sauropods, but did have smaller insertions and attachments compared to more derived sauropods, which may mean weaker feeding dynamics
- In 2021, Rafael Royo-Torres and others published a paper on a new “Rosetta” turiasaur specimen from Spain (talked about in depth in episode 324 of the podcast)
Fun Fact: The asteroid impact that killed the non-avian dinosaurs may have also led to the birth of modern rainforests.
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