Episode 314 is all about Arkansaurus, the state dinosaur of Arkansas which was probably an ostrich-like ornithomimosaur.
We also interview Tony and James Pinto, the father and son team currently creating the feature length documentary Why Dinosaurs? which explores why people like us spend so much time on dinosaurs. Watch the extended video version of the interview at https://youtu.be/j6s0pXYJg74
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In this episode, we discuss:
News:
- Two new sauropods, Punatitan & Bravasaurus, were named from Argentina source
- National Geographic has an AR experience on Instagram source
- The Dinosaur ride at Disney’s Animal Kingdom recently broke down so riders got a behind the scenes view with the lights on source
The dinosaur of the day: Arkansaurus
- Ornithomimosaur theropod that lived in the Early Cretaceous in what is now Arkansas, US (Trinity Group)
- Probably closely related to Nedcolbertia (ornithomimosaur found in Utah)
- Estimated to be between 6 and 15 ft (1.8 and 4.6 m) tall
- Bipedal, with a long neck and slender, small head and may had had teeth in the front part of its jaw
- Probably a swift hunter that went after small animals, insects, and eggs
- May have also eaten fruit and leaves
- Had a small skull for its body but had a relatively large brain
- Had long arms and probably three fingers on each hand
- Could probably grasp with its hands
- Need more fossils to know for sure
- Do know that the foot claws had strong curvature (usually flat with ornithomimosaurs)
- More primitive than Asian ornithomimosaurs that lived around the same time
- In 1993, Jim Kirkland found the arms and legs of an unknown theropod that lived in the Early Cretaceous in what is now Utah. He thought it was closely related to Ornithomimus but the hands were too primitive. The ankle was nearly identical to Ornitholestes. Then in 1995, Kirkland looked at the foot of Arkansaurus and found they were similar, but Arkansaurus was larger
- If Arkansaurus is more closely related to Ornitholestes, instead of Ornithomimus, it may have been a carnivore with teeth
- Lived along the shore
- At the time Arkansaurus lived there was the Western Interior Seaway dividing the continent. Not much known about other dinosaurs that lived in the same area
- Only dinosaur known so far from Arkansas
- Ornithomimosaur tracks from around the same time Arkansaurus lived have been found near Moab, Utah at the Mill Canyon Dinosaur Tracksite
- Type species is Arkansaurus fridayi
- Genus name means “Arkansas lizard”
- Joe B. Friday, owner of a service station in Locksburg, Arkansas, saw some vultures circling in August 1972. When he checked on his cows, he saw some exposed fossils near the road where some gravel and been moved recently for reconstructing Arkansas Highway 24
- He excavated the fossils (foot fossils) and put them on display at his service station for months (no one realized they were dinosaur fossils)
- Eventually geology professor Doy Zachry Jr. took the fossils to his colleague James H. Quinn at the University of Arkansas. Quinn realized they were dinosaur fossils and prepared them
- He took the fossils to be examined at SBP in Lincoln, Nebraska in 1972, and scientists thought they were related to Ornithomimus
- Quinn presented the fossils the next year in 1973 at the Geological Society of America Meeting in Little Rock, Arkansas
- James Quinn and Benjamin Clardy (from the Arkansas Geological Commission) went to the site where the fossils were found in March 1973, hoping to find more fossils. But the site was now a pit dug up for road construction so all they found was a toe bone. Possible the bones were scattered either when buried or during the road construction
- Fossils found include three metatarsals, four phalanges, three claws (a nearly complete right foot)
- Quinn meant to name the dinosaur Arkansaurus fridayi but in 1977 had a fatal fall when looking for fossils in Nebraska
- The name Arkansaurus was used in a pop-science book in 1983, but it was a nomen nudum (not officially described)
- Officially named in 2018 by ReBecca Hunt-Foster and James H. Quinn
- Became the official state dinosaur of Arkansas one year before it was officially named (bill approved by the governor February 17, 2017)
- High school student Mason Oury had the idea to make Arkansaurus the official state dinosaur, partly because other states like Oklahoma, Texas, and Missouri had state dinosaurs. He worked on it for 3 years, and drafted the legislation himself
- Mason Oury said in an Inverse article “It’s the only dinosaur that truly bleeds Razorback Red”
- Four casts have been made, and given to the Friday family, University of Arkansas, Arkansas Geological Commission, and Arkansas Museum of Science and Natural History
- Can see the cast in a classroom in Ozark Hall at the University of Arkansas
- Can see the cast and a statue of Arkansaurus at the Arkansas Museum of Science and Natural History
- Original fossils are at the University of Arkansas Museum Collections
Fun Fact: If dinosaurs are like birds, they were probably monogamous. To find a mate, the females would have ventured far from home while the males stayed closer to where they were born.
