All about dinosaurs, fossils and prehistoric animals by Everything Dinosaur team members.
3 07, 2012

Megalosaurs join the Dinosaur “Tufty” Club

By |2023-02-02T08:03:00+00:00July 3rd, 2012|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Palaeontological articles|0 Comments

German Fossil Discovery Suggests all Meat-Eating Dinosaurs May have been Feathered

The discovery of a beautifully preserved and very nearly complete fossil of a baby meat-eating dinosaur in Germany has ruffled a few feathers in the field of palaeontology.  An analysis of this baby member of the theropod group known as the Megalosauridae, shows that this youngster had bristle-like feathers covering its body.  This is the first time evidence of a feathered dinosaur from the megalosaur clade has been detected and the first time a fossil of a feathered dinosaur has been found in Europe.

Megalosauridae

Most scientists accept that a number of dinosaurs were indeed feathered.  The feathers were not for flight, but the main function seems to have been to help insulate these active animals, to help keep them warm.  However, most feathered theropod fossils had been up to now associated with the Liaoning deposits of northern China.  This strata represents sediments laid down in the Early Cretaceous.  In addition, feathered theropods known to date are ascribed mostly to the Coelurosauria, this new discovery suggests that other types of theropod, a megalosaur, also might have possessed feathers.

To read about the recent discovery of a dinosaur related to T. rex that also may have been feathered: The One Tonne Basal Tyrannosaur.

Dr Oliver Rauhut, conservator at the Bavarian Collection for Palaeontology and Geology studied the 98% complete fossil along with colleagues and their findings have just been published in the American scientific journal “The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences”.

A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur stated:

“This is an amazing fossil, it looks too good to be true, as if it has been carved into the rock, but detailed tests have proved that this is indeed the fossilised remains of a baby dinosaur from the Late Jurassic”.

The Beautifully Preserved German Dinosaur

Baby dinosaur covered in feathers?

Picture credit: Dr Helmet Tischlinger

The seventy-two-centimetre-long baby shows typical juvenile traits such as the disproportionately large head and the presence of large orbits (eye-sockets) in the skull.  The fossil represents a new species of Tetanuran (stiff-tailed) theropod dinosaur, it has been ascribed to the megalosaurs and given the scientific name Sciurumimus albersdoerferi.  The genus name is derived from “Sciurus” – for squirrel;  a reference to the filamentous structures seen around the long tail under ultra-violet light.  It seems that this little dinosaur may have had a bushy tail just like a squirrel.  The specific name honours the private collector who helped bring this fossil discovery to light.

Very few of the bones are missing so the research team had the opportunity to study an almost complete dinosaur skeleton, perhaps one of the most complete ever found and certainly the most complete specimen of a theropod dinosaur found in Europe to date.

The actual fossils were recovered from a limestone quarry in Southern Germany, (Bavaria).  Although the research team can’t be sure how this baby dinosaur met its end, but its near perfect preservation and discovery in marine deposits suggest that this youngster drowned.

Once subjected to ultra-violet light, the remains of skin and the fibrous filaments that covered this animal’s body can be picked out.

Exposing the Fossil of Sciurumimus albersdoerferi to UV Light

A feathered baby megalosaur.

Picture credit: Dr Helmet Tischlinger

Dr Tischlinger, one of the authors of the study commented:

“Under ultraviolet light, one can see the remains of skin and the plumage as luminous spots and fibres on the skeleton.”

The scientists are unable to calculate just how big S. albersdoerferi would have been when an adult, although other types of megalosaur dinosaur were apex predators in Europe during the Late Jurassic and some members of this clade reached lengths in excess of six metres and weighed more than a 1,000 kilogrammes.   The German team have been able to write a paper on an exceptionally preserved baby dinosaur skeleton, a noncoelurosaurian theropod that had filamentous plumage at the base of its slender tail and elsewhere on its body.

Sciurumimus albersdoerferi

The filaments are similar in structure to the bristle-like structures found on the ornithischian dinosaur Psittacosaurus,(from Mongolia and China), as well as being similar to the primitive tyrannosaur Dilong and the therizinosaur Beipiaosaurus (both also Chinese dinosaurs).  As a European dinosaur, this new fossil find, will help scientists to piece together the relationship between different types of dinosaur and the different types of integumentary structures found in the Dinosauria.

For Everything Dinosaur team members, there are a number of other important elements to this particular fossil, not just the presence of feathers.  For example, this is a baby dinosaur fossil and such fossils are extremely rare.  The small bones of baby dinosaurs are seldom preserved in the fossil record and to have the chance to study such a complete specimen was described by one team member as “simply astonishing”.  We are not sure what the Reverend William Buckland, who was given the task of naming and describing the first dinosaur, ironically another megalosaur (Meglosaurus bucklandii), would have made of this new discovery, however, it is helping to clear up some of the issues relating to megalosaur classification.  The complete absence of a fourth digit on the hand is assisting scientists as they clarify the anatomical details that pertain to the megalosaurs as members of the Tetanurans.

The jaws show the teeth in such detail that the research team have been able to see that the teeth of this baby megalosaur are remarkably similar to the teeth of basal coelurosaurs.  This suggests that a number of dinosaur discoveries may have been misidentified in the past, with isolated fossilised teeth being ascribed to the coelurosaurs when they could actually have belonged to a megalosaur.

A fascinating discovery, one that will yield more secrets no doubt, but for the moment we at Everything Dinosaur are just happy to see a member of the Megalosauridae in the dinosaur “tufty” club.

To view Megalosaurus models and other dinosaur figures: Megalosaurs and Theropod Dinosaur Models (CollectA Age of Dinosaurs).

2 07, 2012

Observation is Key in Palaeontology

By |2023-03-09T10:17:48+00:00July 2nd, 2012|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Educational Activities|0 Comments

Can you spot a Fossilised Hominid Tooth?

Observation is very important in science, whether you are looking for the Higgs Boson or simply conducting an experiment with Primary school children to see what happens when you deny some germinating cress seeds access to sunlight.  It is important that appropriate observations are made and that these are recorded properly. Observation is key in palaeontology.

When taking a group of young, enthusiastic palaeontologists fossil hunting we demonstrate to them the two main advantages over us “grown ups” when it comes to finding fossils.  Firstly, the children being smaller than us are closer to the ground and this is where the fossils can be found.  Secondly, as they are younger than us, there us are generally better able to focus on small objects, therefore they can spot fossils better than we can.

Observation is Key in Palaeontology

Most fossils are still found by people who are not palaeontologists, we make a point to emphasis the important discoveries made by children as we enthuse them about the Earth sciences.  Observation for a fossil hunter is extremely important.  It is not just a case of knowing where to look but also knowing what to look for.

To illustrate this point, let us recall an event that took place recently in a laboratory at the Witwatersrand University in South Africa.  The University is a world-leader in early hominid research and has led the way in helping to unravel the evolution of a two million year old hominid species known as Australopithecus sediba.

To read an article on the early hominin A. sediba: New Fossils May Help Define Human Ancestry.

Revision of the Hominin Family

The hominin family tree is constantly being revised as more fossil material is discovered.  The Australopithecines were an early group of hominins that evolved around 4.2 million years ago and went extinct around 1.8 million years ago.  A number of species have been described, their exact taxonomic relationship to our own species is debated.  Researchers at the Witwatersrand University (Johannesburg) had brought back to their preparation laboratory a number of rocks and fossils from a site where A. sediba fossils had been found.

However, for three years a large, one-metre wide rock lay undisturbed in the laboratory until a technician observed a tiny, whitish object sticking out of the matrix.  The turned out to be a fossil tooth of Australopithecus sediba and computerised tomography (CT) scans of the rock revealed that hidden inside were a number of fossilised bones of this early hominin.  Observation had resulted in the discovery of very rare and important fossil material, in a rock that had been in the laboratory and under people’s noses as it were for years.

Can you spot the tooth in the rock?

Can you spot the Fossilised Tooth in the Rock?

Observation is very important in palaeontology.

Picture credit: University of Witwatersrand (Johannesburg)

Tooth Spotted in Rock

If the tooth had not been spotted the rock may not have been studied and the chance to learn more about one of the Australopithecines may have been missed.  As we say when we are teaching primary school children, the most important tool that a palaeontologist has are his or her eyes.  Careful observation can help us to uncover a lot of fascinating information as well as enabling us to spot fossils, even a fossil tooth from a 2-million-year-old, potential ancestor of our own species.

The Tooth Highlighted – Did you Spot It?

The tooth fragment i is circled in red.

Picture credit: University of Witwatersrand with additional input from Everything Dinosaur

For creative palaeontology themed crafts: Educational Dinosaur Themed Crafts and Toys.

Next time you are walking along a beach or wandering past a cutting in the road, take a good look you never know what you might find.

To read the article on the discovery of the fossil material inside the rock: Scientists Discover Amazing Early Human Fossil in Laboratory.

1 07, 2012

A Review of the Wild Safari Dinos Ceratosaurus Dinosaur Model

By |2023-02-02T07:44:56+00:00July 1st, 2012|Everything Dinosaur News and Updates, Everything Dinosaur videos, Product Reviews|0 Comments

Ceratosaurus Dinosaur Model Reviewed

As part of Everything Dinosaur’s commitment to the models made by Safari Ltd, we have been busy creating short video reviews of new model releases.  Below is a five minute video that provides a description of the 2012 release in the Wild Safari Dinos range of a Ceratosaurus dinosaur model.

Everything Dinosaur Reviewing the Ceratosaurus Dinosaur Model

Everything Dinosaur reviews the Wild Safari Dinosaurs Ceratosaurus dinosaur model.

Video credit: Everything Dinosaur

Ceratosaurus Dinosaur Model

In this short review we point out the features on the model that reflect the known fossil record of ceratosaurs from the Upper Jurassic rocks of the Morrison Formation.  We provide a commentary on this model by Safari Ltd and highlight for example, the snout horn and the two prominent brow horns, the length of the tail and the detail of the paintwork.

This dinosaur model has proved to be very popular with dinosaur fans and model collectors. It is a wonderful replica of a Jurassic theropod dinosaur.

To view the range of Safari Ltd – Wild Safari Prehistoric World models available from Everything Dinosaur’s user-friendly and award-winning website, take a look at this section of the Everything Dinosaur site: Wild Safari Prehistoric World Dinosaur Models.

 

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