The Big Dinosaur Podcast

In our 177th episode, we got to chat with Ethan Pettus author of Primitive War, a sci-fi novel about the Vietnam War and dinosaurs that was published in early 2017.

Episode 177 is also about Hoplitosaurus, an ankylosaurian named after the spear-toting Greeks famous for their phalanx formation.

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In this episode, we discuss:

News:

• A new dinosaur was found in China named Anomalipes—think Gigantoraptor, but about 2% of the size
• A Lufengosaurus appears to have developed an abscess, likely after a bite by a Sinosaurus
• Three sets of dinosaur tracks were found on the Isle of Skye in Scotland, here are the first 50 published
• The Arizona House and Senate have passed the bill adding Sonorasaurus as the state dinosaur
• Engineers at the University of California, Irvine, have invented new materials inspired by squids and Indominus rex
• From now until May 6, the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum has a special exhibit, called Excavation 2017
• New photos from the ongoing work at Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History fossil hall show a T. rex skeleton attacking a Triceratops
• The dinosaur sculpture “Plod” was stolen from the National Folk Festival in Canberra, Australia
• Unlike last year, a power outage in Missoula, Montana did not lead to a stolen dinosaur at a local gas station thanks to employees keeping a lookout
• Red Podium is hosting 3 virtual races:
  • “Must Go Faster Sprint” based on the T.rex chase in Jurassic Park
  • “Dino DNA 5K”
  • “Raptor Run 10K”
• Two dinosaurs are being auctioned off in Paris, an Allosaurus and Diplodocus skeleton, we’ll have the results next week
• Bob Campbell Geology Museum in South Carolina recently installed a Utahraptor sculpture by local artist Duncan Burns

The dinosaur of the day: Hoplitosaurus

• See Hoplitosaurus in a promotional image of the Holoscape interface at the Innovation Center in Jurassic World (may be in the Gallimimus Valley and Cretaceous Cruise)
• Polacanthinae (type of ankylosaur) that lived in the Cretaceous in what is now South Dakota, US (Lakota Formation)
• Name means “Hoplite lizard”
• Partial skeleton found in 1898 by Nelson Horatio Darton (found ribs, caudal vertebrae, right femur and some armor, including tall spines)
• Described in 1901 by Frederic Augusta Lucas as a new species of Stegosaurus, Stegosaurus marshi, but in 1902 considered to be its own genus, Hoplitosaurus
• Charles W. Gilmore described all known material in 1914
• Type species is Hoplitosaurus marshi
• Species name in honor of Othniel Charles Marsh, who named Stegosaurus
• Genus name refers to heavily armored soldiers, called hoplites, in ancient Greek city-state armies
• Not much is known about it. Some scientists wanted to synonymize it with Polacanthus in the late 1980s-early 1990s, and William Blows and Javier Pereda-Suberbiola named Polacanthus marshii, but that was rejected. Kenneth Carpenter and Jim Kirkland found that the similarities between the Hoplitosaurus and Polacanthus were actually similarities found in other ankylosaurus, or were similarities based on damage to the bones
• Polacanthus and Hoplitosaurus had similar armor, though Hoplitosaurus did not have the sacral shield of armor (over the hips) that Polacanthus had
• Had osteoderms along its back, and may have also had spikes on its shoulders and sides
• Used armor as defense
• About 4 ft (1.2 m) tall at the hips
• Herbivorous, probably ate vegetation low on the ground (could not rear up)

Fun Fact:

• The Morrison Formation is named for a small town in Colorado named Morrison (estimated 435 people)
• The formation includes Stegosaurus, Apatosaurus, Brontosaurus, Brachiosaurus, Camarasaurus, Diplodocus, Allosaurus, Saurophaganax, Ceratosaurus, Ornitholestes, and about 40 more
  • Meaning about 1 dinosaur species named for every 9 people in Morrison
• Not all were found in Morrison, the formation covers parts of 13 states, but Apatosaurus, Diplodocus & Stegosaurs were all originally found in the city of Morrison
• The city is just a few miles southwest of Denver and has its own dinosaur museum

This episode was brought to you by:

TRX Dinosaurs, which makes beautiful and realistic dinosaur sculptures, puppets, and exhibits. You can see some amazing examples and works in progress on Instagram @trxdinosaurs.

Enter to win a TRX Dinosaurs-made 1:1 scale Velociraptor sculpture. It’s open to anyone in the US or Canada (except Quebec) ages 18 and older to win. Complete rules are at https://iknowdino.com/velociraptor-sculpture-sweepstakes-official-rules

This week’s link to enter is http://bit.ly/Giveaway177

And by the Royal Tyrrell Museum, which is located in southern Alberta, Canada. Right now they are hosting their free-to-attend Winter speaker series (also on YouTube). More information can be found at tyrrellmuseum.com.