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