The Big Dinosaur Podcast

Episode 194 is all about Brachylophosaurus, a large hadrosaurid with a paddle-like bony crest on its head.

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In this episode, we discuss:

News:

• The largest sauropod foot was found in Wyoming source
• Allosaurus may be getting a neotype to replace the incomplete holotype source
• Liaoning Beipiao Sihetun Ancient Fossils Museum is being built in China where it will open sometime next year source
• In Wales, Cardiff’s Bute Park will have an interactive dinosaur experience next weekend, called Jurassic Kingdom: Where Dinosaurs Come to Life source
• In Westchester, New York, Lasdon Park has getting a bunch of dinosaurs in their Dinosaur Garden, which is now a permanent exhibit source
• American Ninja Warrior released a video of Grant McCartney being chased through the course by a flock of T. rex and Velociraptor ninjas source
• Iron Sky: The Coming Race will feature dinosaurs, reptilians, a moon base, and a hollow earth source

The dinosaur of the day: Brachylophosaurus

• Hadrosaurid that lived in the Cretaceous in what is now Montana, US, and Alberta, Canada (found skeletons and bonebeds in the Judith River Formation and the Oldman Formation)
• Name means “short-crested lizard”
• Described in 1953 by Charles Mortram Sternberg, based on a skull and partial skeleton
• Sternberg found the fossils in 1936 in Alberta, and at first thought they were Gryposaurus
• Type species is Brachylophosaurus canadensis
• Species named refers to the fact that it was found in Canada
• Later, it was found that a partial skull discovered in 1922 could be referred to Brachylophosaurus canadensis
• In 1988 Jack Horner described a second species, Brachylophosaurus goodwini (named in honor of collector and preparator Mark Goodwin), found in the Judith River Formation (though in 2005 Albert Prieto-Márquez said the differences between the two species were either because of individual variation or the result of the second species specimen being reconstructred with an upside down skull crest
• More specimens have since been found in both Alberta and Montana (though more were have been found in Montana now, especially since a bonebed was found near Malta, Montana, and has over 800 specimens)
• About 30 ft (9 m) long as an adult, though Gregory Paul estimated it to be 36 ft (11 m) long and weighing 7 tons
• Had a relatively small head, long lower arms, and a wide upper jaw beak, covered in a sheath
• Had cheeks to keep food in and dental batteries, and continually replaced teeth
• Head was elongated (wide at the rear and narrow along most of the snout)
• Had large nostrils
• Had a bony crest, which was flat and paddle-like over the top of the back of its head, and had a ridge on the midline (also, was not hollow)
• Crests varied, depending on age (some covered most of the skull, others were shorter and narrower)
• May have had sexual dimorphism, where males had larger crests than females for display
• Crest may have been used for pushing contests for display (not enough evidence to know for sure)
• Soft tissues have been found in Brachylophosaurus “mummies” (tissue replaced by minerals, so it’s the fossil of a mummy)
• Most famous “mummy” is nicknamed “Leonardo”. Leonardo is 90% covered in soft tissue, and shows that the base of the neck had a lot of muscle, that there were small polygonal scales on the broad beak, there was a midline frill on the back made by triangular-shaped projections, and that the second, third, and fourth fingers on its hands were in a soft tissue so it looked like a mitten
• Leonardo was found in the bonebed in 2000, by Dan Stephenson
• Leonardo got his name because graffiti near where it was found said “Leonard Webb and Geneva Jordan, 1917”
• Leonardo was a juvenile when it died, and was 22 ft (7 m) long and weighed between 1.5 and 2 tons
• Leonardo had pebbly skin texture
• Leonardo’s gut contents were preserved: ferns, confiers, magnolias, and pollen from more than 40 different plants
• Leonardo also had small, needle-like worm parasites in its stomach (other dinosaurs may have also had parasites)
• Lived in a wet enivornment, and mummification usually happens in dry conditions, so not clear how it was mummified (soft tissues may have been preserved another way before the body decomposed)
• In 1994 in Malta, Montana, Nate Murphy found a complete, well preserved Brachylophosaurus that he nicknamed “Elvis”
• Other specimens found include “Roberta,” (almost complete), “Peanut” (juvenile with skin impressions), and “Marco”
• Peanut is on display at the Judith River Dinosaur Institute in Malta, Montana
• Evidence of tumors were found in Brachylophosaurus skeletons in a 2003 study
• Tumors may be a sign of inbreeding (not enough genetic diversity, leads to the increase of tumors)
• Other dinosaurs that lived in the same time and place include the ceratopsian Chasmosaurus, the hadrosaur Parasaurolophus, the tyrannosaurs Daspletosaurus and Gorgosaurus, and the troodont Troodon

Fun Fact:

Sir Richard Owen named Dinosauria, but the three animals he based the group on were all named by Gideon Mantell. Owen also thought Dinosaurs were related to pachyderms (a dubious name for elephants, rhinos & hippos).

Sponsors:

This episode is brought to you in part by TRX Dinosaurs, which makes beautiful and realistic dinosaur sculptures, puppets, and animatronics. You can see some amazing examples and works in progress on Instagram @trxdinosaurs