Episode 133 is all about Lesothosaurus, a primitive dinosaur that lived in the Jurassic in what is now Lesotho.
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In this episode, we discuss:
News:
- A New troodontid Dinosaur Liaoningvenator currie from China was found curled up almost like an embryo
- A Camarasaurus found in Montana is the farthest north and oldest (30 years at death) found to date
- New research sheds light on the mysterious Jurassic Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry from Central Utah
- The debate of whether T. rex had scales or feathers continues with featherless skin impressions published in Biology Letters
- A study of how Australian birds that bury their eggs may help us learn more about how & where titanosaurs buried their eggs
- The Missouri Institute of Natural Science got a “truckload of fossils” in from Wyoming including many hadrosaurs
- Mark Witton explains how paleoartists use bone textures to predict skin composition, thickness, and ornamentation
- Dinosaurs in the Wild Experience begins in Birmingham on June 24 and they put a Dakotaraptor in a mall to advertise
- Laurel Dinosaur Park in Maryland is open to public volunteers to help excavate fossils on the first and third Sundays
- The Australian film, My Pet Dinosaur has begun getting reviews and so far it’s exceeding expectations
- Saurian has sent out copies of the pre-release to kickstarter backers at the $60 level and above
- Neverwinter is releasing a new expansion “Tomb of Annihilation” which will feature dinosaurs
- Who would win in a fight, 10,000 chickens or 20 T. rex? Apparently the chickens, at least according to CNET
- A small child (somehow) gets surrounded by small T. rex toys in a toy store in China and panics
- A new “Lego Idea” features dinosaur fossils in a museum rather than the typical recreations
The dinosaur of the day: Lesothosaurus
- Name means “lizard from Lesotho”
- Ornithischian that lived in the Jurassic in what is now southern Africa (Lesotho)
- Named by Peter Galton in 1978
- Only one valid species: Lesothosaurus diagnosticus
- Named for the country Lesotho, where it was found
- Originally considered to be an ornithopod, but Paul Sereno suggested it could be the most primitive of known ornithischians
- Had some primitive anatomy, like a partially closed hole in its pelvis by a medial wall (most dinosaurs did not have this)
- Lesothosaurus has been sometimes confused with Fabrosaurus (an ornithischian from the same time and place, that was named in 1964). But only a jawbone and three teeth have been described of Fabrosaurus, so it’s hard to know for sure)
- Richard Butler said in 2005 that Lesothosaurus was a basal member of Neornithischia (includes pachycephalosaurs, ceratopsians, ornithopods)
- Could also be an early thyreophoran (same group as stegosaurs and ankylosaurs)
- Richard Butler named a new dinosaur, Stormbergia dangershoeki, in 2005, and some scientists think it was an adult version of Lesothosaurus, which would make them synonyms. (In 2017, Baron, Norman & Barrett studied the differences between the two and found they were mostly because of their growth.)
- Bipedal
- About 3-6 ft (1-2 m) long
- Had a small skull that was short and flat
- Had large eye sockets and large cavities for the jaw muscles
- Had a short, flexible neck
- Had short forelimbs compared to its hindlimbs
- Had five fingers on each hand (only 4 were well developed)
- Had long, slender legs, small arms (hands could not really grasp things), and a slender tail
- Probably was a fast runner
- Had a beaklike structure
- Beak was covered in keratinous material
- Had leaf-shaped teeth behind the beak, and 12 fanglike teeth in front of the upper jaws
- Could not chew its food, but could slice it with its beak
- Omnivorous, probably (based on studies of its tooth, which found not enough wear)
- Probably ate small animals and soft plants
- May have been similar to a gazelle, browsing low-vegetation and running off when predators approached
- May have lived in groups
- In 2015, scientists CT scanned Lesotho skulls, which gave a much more detailed description of the skull and was used to refer more specimens to the genus.
- These specimens were buried together, which is why scientists think they may have lived in groups
- May have grown to adult size in 4 years
Fun Fact:
Using the term “chicken sized” to describe a dinosaur is problematic
- A study in Poultry Science in 2014 bred 3 sets of birds from strains from
- 1957, 1978, 2005
- After 56 days
- 900g, 1,800g, 4,200g (2lb, 4lb, 9.25lb)
- More than 4x increase in under 50 years
- The world record chicken “Big Boy” from Pennsylvania weighed over 24lbs (just under 11Kg)
- Approaching velociraptor weight
- One velociraptor specimen is estimated to be 15Kg
- But nowhere near velociraptor length—about 1.5m (5ft)
- Approaching velociraptor weight
- 900g, 1,800g, 4,200g (2lb, 4lb, 9.25lb)
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