Episode 347 is all about Tanycolagreus, a Late Jurassic theropod which is most likely a basal coelurosaurian.

Big thanks to all our patrons! Your support means so much to us and keeps us going! If you’re a dinosaur enthusiast, join our growing community on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/iknowdino.

You can listen to our free podcast, with all our episodes, on Apple Podcasts at: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/i-know-dino/id960976813?mt=2

In this episode, we discuss:

News:

• A new Velociraptor-sized Dromaeosaur, Kansaignathus, was found in northern Tajikistan source
• Ankylosaurs are now known from another province in China, this time Jilin, which is northeast of Liaoning source
• In Nagasaki, Japan, researchers found a new ornithopod shoulder which may represent a new species source
• In Sichuan, China, a new type of dinosaur footprint has been named Eubrontes nobitai source
• In Broome, Western Australia, new sauropod and theropod tracks have been found next to each other source
• Munchehagen Dinosaur Park in Rehburg-Loccum, Germany, now has two Plateosaurus skeletons from Switzerland on display source
• The Bishop Museum in Honolulu, Hawaii, will have a new exhibit, Expedition Dinosaurs, Rise of the Mammals source
• 21 identical T. rex sculptures around Norwich, England have been decorated to celebrate Dippy at Norwich Cathedral source
• There’s a new Marvel hero called Reptil who can turn into any dinosaur that he knows about source
• John Hutchinson shared tips for early career researchers on PeerJ source
• The recently released game “Lemme splash: Soar-o-pods” pokes fun at some recent dinosaur claims and is really fun to play source

The dinosaur of the day: Tanycolagreus

• Basal coelurosaur theropod that lived in the Late Jurassic in what is now the U.S. (found in a few places)
• Looks like a typical theropod, with shorter arms and a long tail
• Had a large skull and long, lightly built legs
• Carnivorous
• Holotype collected in 1995 during an excavation by Western Paleontological Laboratories, in the Bone Cabin Quarry West in Wyoming (Morrison Formation)
• Holotype includes an incomplete skull and lower jaws, and parts of the skeleton (chevrons, gastralia fragments, ulnae, humeri, fibula, metatarsals, complete right foot)
• Skull is not as well known
• When the holotype was first found, it was thought to be Coelurus fragilis (in 1998, by Miles and others)
• Kenneth Carpenter and others named Tanycolagreus in 2005
• Other partial skeletons found nearby include Coelurus and Ornitholestes
• Carpenter and others compared the fossils and said it was not Coelurus or Ornitholestes
• Of all known theropods in the Morrison Formation, most similar to Coelurus (but more primitive)
• Carpenter and others wrote: “Small theropods during the Late Jurassic were clearly more diverse than previously realized”
• Paratype includes an incomplete hand, found in the Bone Cabin Quarry in Wyoming (Henry Osborn referred to it as Ornitholestes hermanni in 1903)
• Also referred a premaxilla previously thought to be Stokesosaurus clevelandi (since 1974)
• Had been found along with an ilium in the Cleveland-Lloyd Quarry in Utah
• No ilium known for Tanycolagreus, so they couldn’t compare them and be sure
• Distal pubes found in Colorado were referred to Coelurus in 1920 by Charles Gilmore (now Tanycolagreus)
• Type species is Tanycolagreus topwilsoni
• Genus name means “long limb hunter” or “stretched out limb hunter”
• Genus name is based on having longer forelimbs and hindlimbs compared to Coelurus
• Species name is in honor of George “Top” Wilson. From the paper: “retired, United States Marine Corps”, the father of a benefactor who supported the research
• Holotype was a subadult, about 11 ft (3.3 m) long
• Premaxilla found in the Cleveland-Lloyd quarry was part of an individual estimated to be 13 ft (4 m) long, estimated to weigh 260 lb (120 kg)
• Unclear how big an adult could get (age of premaxilla specimen unclear)
• Can see Tanycolagreus at the North American Museum of Ancient Life at Lehi, Utah
• Appears in Jurassic World Alive

Fun Fact: Dinosaurs don’t seem to fit into the “rules” about how animals change in colder climates (particularly Bergmann’s rule & Allen’s rule).

Sponsors:

Our comfy dinosaur clothes are available in several new awesome designs! Get them on T-shirts, hoodies, tank tops, and lots of other items by going to bit.ly/iknowdinostore