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/Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories

Fossil finds, new dinosaur discoveries, news and views from the world of palaeontology and other Earth sciences.

6 10, 2023

The New Rebor “Lonesome George”

By | October 6th, 2023|Adobe CS5, Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Dinosaur Fans, Everything Dinosaur Products, Main Page, Photos of Everything Dinosaur Products, Press Releases, Product Reviews|0 Comments

The Rebor “Lonesome George” giant tortoise replica is now in stock at Everything Dinosaur. Part of the Rebor GrabNGo range, the model is a 1:6 scale replica of a famous resident of Pinta Island.

Rebor "Lonesome George.
The Rebor 1:6 scale Pinta Island tortoise “Lonesome George” in oblique lateral view. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Rebor “Lonesome George”

The detailed giant tortoise figure honours “Lonesome George” the last Pinta Island tortoise known to science. This tortoise died on June 24th, 2012. The subspecies Chelonoidis niger abingdonii became extinct. It is thought that “Lonesome George” was over a hundred years old when he died.

Rebor "Lonesome George in posterior view.
The Rebor 1:6 scale Pinta Island tortoise “Lonesome George” in posterior view. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

To view the range of Rebor models and replicas available from Everything Dinosaur: Rebor GrabNGo Models and Prehistoric Animal Figures.

Rebor Replica Pays Tribute

“Lonesome George” has become a symbol for conservation. The preserved taxidermy of this tortoise is on display at the Fausto Llerena Breeding Centre in the Galapagos National Park headquarters on the island of Santa Cruz. The facility was established to help protect the remaining indigenous tortoise populations of the Galapagos Islands.

Rebor "Lonesome George in ventral view.
The Rebor 1:6 scale Pinta Island tortoise “Lonesome George” in ventral view. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The Rebor “Lonesome George” figure measures 30 cm long and it stands around 20 cm tall. The model shows amazing detail, even the underside is stunning (see image above). The plastron and the texture on the feet are to be commended.

Rebor "Lonesome George" the Pinta Island replica.
The Rebor 1:6 scale Pinta Island tortoise “Lonesome George” in lateral view. The model measures 30 cm long and stands 20 cm high. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur praised Rebor for their attention to detail. The pose of the Rebor “Lonesome George” replica reflects the pose chosen by the taxidermist for the giant tortoise.

Visit the website of Everything Dinosaur: Everything Dinosaur.

26 09, 2023

The First Dicraeosaurid from India

By | September 26th, 2023|Adobe CS5, Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Dinosaur Fans, Main Page, Palaeontological articles|0 Comments

Scientists have described the first dicraeosaurid sauropod dinosaur known from India. The dinosaur, named Tharosaurus indicus roamed northwestern India during the Middle Jurassic. At around 167 million years old, Tharosaurus indicus represents the earliest diplodocoid dinosaur described to date. It lived at least ten million years earlier than famous North American diplodocids such as Apatosaurus and Diplodocus, to which it was distantly related.

Partial cervical vertebrae (neck bones) of Tharosaurus indicus.
Partial cervical vertebrae (neck bones) of Tharosaurus indicus and interpretive line drawings. Scale bars equal 5 cm. Picture credit: Bajpai et al © Springer Nature Limited 2023.

Fragmentary Fossils from Rajasthan

The fragmentary and disarticulated fossils consisting of vertebra and a solitary rib are believed to represent a single animal. The fossils were excavated from shale deposits just north of the village of Jethwai in Rajasthan State. The area is hot and arid, and it is known as the Great Indian Desert or the Thar Desert. The genus name of this new dinosaur references the Thar Desert, in recognition of the location of the fossil finds. The specific name honours the country of origin – India.

The fossil material was excavated from a bedding plane located at the base of the Fort Member (Jaisalmer Formation) with represents an early to middle Bathonian faunal stage deposition.

The Dicraeosauridae

The dicraeosaurids are a clade of small-bodied diplodocoid sauropods classified by their distinctive vertebrae with long paired neural spines. They are both temporally and geographically dispersed with fossils found in Africa, South America as well as China and the USA. The discovery of Tharosaurus extends their temporal range from the Bathonian faunal stage of the Middle Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous.

Dicraeosaurus scale drawing.
A scale drawing of the first dicraeosaurid to be described – Dicraeosaurus (1914). Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The dicraeosaurid illustration (above) is based on the Haolonggood Dicraeosaurus 1:35 scale replica.

To view the range of Haolonggood dinosaur models: Haolonggood Dinosaur Models.

New Insights into Sauropod Diversity

The research team suggest that Tharosaurus indicus is a relic of a sauropod lineage that originated in India and underwent rapid dispersal across the rest of Pangaea. Writing in the academic journal “Scientific Research”, the scientists conclude that this fossil discovery provides new insights into sauropod diversity. It also has important implications for the origin and dispersal of neosauropod dinosaurs.

Tharosaurus indicus and diplodocoid distribution in the Middle Triassic.
A palaeogeographic distribution of diplodocoids with taxa of different ages plotted together in a simplified Middle Jurassic (170 Ma) map to show their spatio-temporal distribution across Pangea. Silhouettes indicate the type of diplodocoid and fossil occurrences. Numbers adjoining sauropod silhouettes indicate age of the fossils as follows: 1—Middle Jurassic (early–middle Bathonian); 2—Late Jurassic; 3—Cretaceous; 4—Middle Jurassic (Callovian). Picture credit: Bajpai et al © Springer Nature Limited 2023.

Tracing the Origins of the Sauropoda

The Sauropoda is thought to have originated in the Late Triassic/Early Jurassic. The origin and radiation of the Neosauropoda and its major clades (Macronaria and the Diplodocoidea) remains contentious. Non-neosauropods were restricted to eastern Gondwana (Zimbabwe and India) and parts of Laurasia (China, Germany and Thailand) during the Late Triassic/Early Jurassic. This suggests that there were barriers preventing their dispersal to the Americas and the most southerly portions of Gondwana. Although preservation and sampling biases cannot be ruled out, neosauropods possibly appeared during the late Early or early Middle Jurassic. The geologically youngest forms being associated with the Americas and Asia.

Tharosaurus indicus temporal range within the Sauropoda.
A time-calibrated phylogenetic tree of the Sauropoda. Tharosaurus indicus is represented by the red star. It represents the oldest diplodocoid dinosaur known to science. The phylogenetic analysis defines Tharosaurus as a member of the Dicraeosauridae family. Picture credit: Bajpai et al © Springer Nature Limited 2023.

Tharosaurus indicus – Helping to Clarify Neosauropoda Evolution

Tharosaurus indicus is among the earlier-diverging dicraeosaurid dinosaurs, and its stratigraphic age (Bathonian) makes it the earliest known diplodocoid dinosaur globally. The authors of the paper stress the importance of the Lower and Middle Jurassic deposits of India and propose that further fossil discoveries will help to clarify the evolutionary history of the Neosauropoda.

The scientific paper: “Fossils of the oldest diplodocoid dinosaur suggest India was a major centre for neosauropod radiation” by Sunil Bajpai, Debajit Datta, Pragya Pandey, Triparna Ghosh, Krishna Kumar and Debasish Bhattacharya published in Scientific Reports.

Visit the award-winning Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

20 09, 2023

A Bizarre Avialan Theropod from China

By | September 20th, 2023|Adobe CS5, Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Dinosaur Fans, Main Page, Palaeontological articles, Photos/Pictures of Fossils|0 Comments

A new taxon of avialan theropod has been described from fossils found in Fujian Province (China). This small dinosaur has been named Fujianvenator prodigiosus. The fossil bones demonstrate a mosaic of anatomical features that are shared with early avialans as well as other members of the Maniraptora.

Fujianvenator prodigiosus life reconstruction.
A life reconstruction of Fujianvenator prodigiosus along with other vertebrates associated with the Zhenghe Fauna (Late Jurassic of south-eastern China). Picture credit: Zhao Chuang.

Fujianvenator prodigiosus

Writing in the academic journal “Nature”, the researchers describe this new theropod and state that it is one of the stratigraphically youngest avialans described to date. Fujianvenator roamed a wetland environment around 148-150 million years ago (Tithonian faunal stage of the Late Jurassic). Its fossils are likely to prove invaluable in understanding the evolution of the characteristic bird body plan, and to reconcile phylogenetic controversies over the origin of birds.

Fujianvenator is one of the geographically southernmost Jurassic avialans known to science. The headless specimen was excavated from Nanyuan Formation deposits near Yangyuan Village (Zhenghe County).

Defining the Avialae

The Avialae (means bird wings), is a clade of theropods. It contains the Aves (avian dinosaurs) and all non-avian dinosaurs more closely related to birds than to deinonychosaurs. In turn, the Avialae is part of the larger Maniraptora which includes all birds, and well-known types of dinosaurs such as dromaeosaurs, troodontids, the Alvarezsauroidea, the therizinosaurs and the Oviriaptorosauria.

During the fieldwork, a diverse assemblage of vertebrate fossils were documented. The assemblage is dominated by aquatic and semi-aquatic species. Fossil discoveries include fish, turtles and choristoderes (semi-aquatic, diapsid reptiles). Only one dinosaur fossil has been found at the location (Fujianvenator prodigiosus). Furthermore, this is the first time that a dinosaur fossil has been discovered in Fujian Province.

Fujianvenator prodigiosus fossils and interpretative line drawing.
Fujianvenator prodigiosus fossils and interpretative line drawing. Picture credit: Xu et al Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Fujianvenator and the Zhenghe Fauna

Fujianvenator demonstrates a mosaic of morphological features. The forelimbs are similar to those of Archaeopteryx, whereas the hip bones are more typical of troodontids. The hindlimb is elongated, suggesting that this theropod adapted to a wading lifestyle. In contrast, other early avialans show specific adaptations to powered flight or a life in the trees.

Such is the amount of vertebrate fossil material collected that the palaeontologists can build up a detailed map of this ancient swampland ecosystem. They are confident that it will provide key insights into terrestrial ecosystems of the Late Jurassic. Perhaps more avialan theropod fossils will be found.

Everything Dinosaur acknowledges the assistance of a press release from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in the compilation of this article.

The scientific paper: “A new avialan theropod from an emerging Jurassic terrestrial fauna” by Liming Xu, Min Wang, Runsheng Chen, Liping Dong, Min Lin, Xing Xu, Jianrong Tang, Hailu You, Guowu Zhou, Linchang Wang, Wenxing He, Yujuan Li, Chi Zhang and Zhonghe Zhou published in Nature.

For models and replicas of dinosaurs including members of the Maniraptora: Dinosaur Replicas Including Models of Theropods.

16 09, 2023

New Research into Brachiopods and Bivalves Faunal Turnover

By | September 16th, 2023|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Dinosaur Fans, Main Page, Palaeontological articles, Photos/Pictures of Fossils|0 Comments

Scientists have used complex statistical analysis to assess one of the most dramatic changes in the history of visible life on Earth. At the end of the Permian, during a mass extinction event there was a dramatic and extensive faunal turnover between brachiopods and bivalves.

One of the biggest crises in Earth’s history was marked by a revolution in the shellfish. Brachiopods, sometimes called “lamp shells”, as some genera superficially resembled Roman lamps, were replaced everywhere ecologically by the bivalves, such as clams, mussels and oysters. This happened as a result of the devastating end-Permian mass extinction which reset the evolution of life 250 million years ago.

Research conducted by palaeontologists based in Wuhan (China) and the University of Bristol, has shed new light on this crucial faunal turnover when ocean ecosystems changed, eventually taking on a more modern, familiar structure that still persists today.

Revolution in the shellfish. Brachiopods and Bivalves.
Left, Devonian brachiopod fossils from Ohio, USA. Image by ‘Daderot’ (Wikimedia Commons; Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication). Right, recent bivalve shells from shell beach, western Australia. Picture credit Zhong-Qiang Chen.

Brachiopods and Bivalves

Life on land and in the sea is rich and forms particular ecosystems. In modern oceans, the seabed is dominated by animals such as bivalves, corals, gastropods, crustaceans, marine worms and fishes. These ecosystems all date back to the Triassic when life slowly recovered from the “Great Dying”. During that crisis, only one in twenty species survived, and there has been long debate about how the new ecosystems were constructed and why some groups survived, and others perished.

Brachiopods were the dominant shelled animals prior to the extinction. However, bivalves thrived afterwards, seemingly better adapting to their new conditions.

Lead author of the study published in “Nature Communications”, Zhen Guo commented:

“A classic case has been the replacement of brachiopods by bivalves. Palaeontologists used to say that the bivalves were better competitors and so beat the brachiopods somehow during this crisis time. There is no doubt that brachiopods were the major group of shelled animals before the extinction, and bivalves took over after.”

Statistical Bayesian Analysis

Co-author Joe Flannery-Sutherland added:

“We wanted to explore the interactions between brachiopods and bivalves through their long history and especially around the Permian-Triassic handover period. So, we decided to use a computational method called Bayesian analysis to calculate rates of origination, extinction, and fossil preservation, as well as testing whether the brachiopods and bivalves interacted with each other. For example, did the rise of bivalves cause the decline of brachiopods?”

The researchers found that in fact both groups shared similar trends in diversification dynamics right through the time of global crisis.

This suggests that these two groups were not really competing or preying on each other. It is more likely that these unrelated groups were responding to similar external drivers such as fluctuations in sea temperature, oxygen levels and acidity.

The bivalves eventually prevailed, and the brachiopods retreated to deeper waters, where they still occur, but in much reduced numbers.

Brachiopods and Bivalves examining their diversity.
Diversities of brachiopods and bivalves over the past 500 million years, showing the brachiopod-bivalve switch near the Permian-Triassic boundary. Picture credit: Zhen Guo et al.

Statistical Analysis to Resolve the Brachiopods and Bivalves Faunal Turnover Issue

Professor Zhong-Qiang Chen (China University of Geosciences, Wuhan) explained that it was very satisfying to see how modern computational techniques helped resolve a long-standing issue in palaeontology.

Professor Zhong-Qiang Chen stated:

“We always thought that the end-Permian mass extinction marked the end of the brachiopods and that was that. But it seems that both brachiopods and bivalves were hit hard by the crisis, and both recovered in the Triassic, but the bivalves could adapt better to high ocean temperatures. So, this gave them the edge, and after the Jurassic, they just rocketed in numbers, and the brachiopods didn’t do much.”

Fossils of over 330,000 brachiopods and bivalves were analysed in the course of this study. The Bristol University supercomputer took weeks to crunch all the numbers. The Bayesian analysis took into account all kinds of uncertainties and aspects of the data to provide an extremely detailed report on the evolutionary changes.

Brachiopods and Bivalves examining the impact of the end-Permian mass extinction event.
Diversities of brachiopods and bivalves through the time of the brachiopod-bivalve switch near the Permian-Triassic boundary. Picture credit: Zhen Guo et al.

Professor Michael Benton (University of Bristol) concluded:

“The end-Permian mass extinction was the biggest of all time, and it massively reset evolution. In fact the 50 million years after the crisis, the Triassic, marked a revolution in life on land and in the sea. Understanding just how life could come back from near-annihilation and then set the basis for modern ecosystems is one of the big questions in macroevolution. I’m sure we haven’t said the last word here though!”

Everything Dinosaur acknowledges the assistance of a media release from the University of Bristol in the compilation of this article.

The scientific paper: “Bayesian analyses indicate bivalves did not drive the downfall of brachiopods following the Permian-Triassic mass extinction” by Zhen Guo, Joseph T. Flannery-Sutherland, Michael J. Benton, and Zhong-Qiang Chen published in Nature Communications.

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15 09, 2023

Furcatoceratops – A New Centrosaurine

By | September 15th, 2023|Adobe CS5, Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal Drawings, Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Dinosaur Fans, Main Page, Palaeontological articles|0 Comments

The discovery of a new species of horned dinosaur from the Judith River Formation of Montana has been announced. The new dinosaur named Furcatoceratops elucidans has been assigned to the Nasutoceratopsini subfamily of the Centrosaurinae. This ceratopsian is known from a single, sub-adult specimen (holotype number NSM PV 24660). However, the nearly complete and three-dimensionally preserved bones have the potential to yield valuable data on early centrosaurines. The fossil material was first described in 2015, it was reputed to represent an Avaceratops.

Furcatoceratops elucidans life reconstruction.
A Furcatoceratops life reconstruction. The recently described (2023), ceratopsid Furcatoceratops elucidans shown in lateral view. Picture credit: Tim Bollinger.

Furcatoceratops elucidans

The disarticulated skeleton was collected from the upper Coal Ridge Member of the Judith River Formation. The fossil material is believed to around 75.6 million years old (Campanian faunal stage of the Late Cretaceous. Postcranial material recovered included a substantial proportion of the left side of the body, including a complete left front limb and parts of the pelvis. In addition, a significant amount of skull material was excavated.

Although the fossil specimen represents a sub-adult, researchers estimate that this herbivorous dinosaur probably reached a maximum length of around four metres. It may be possible to calculate an accurate assessment of bodyweight using circumference measurements of the left femur. Consequently, it may be possible to demonstrate that a fully grown adult Furcatoceratops would have weighed over five hundred kilograms.

Furcatoceratops elucidans scale drawing
A scale drawing showing the newly described centrosaurine Furcatoceratops elucidans. This horned dinosaur from the Judith River Formation of Montana is thought to have been around four metres in length. Picture credit: Tim Bollinger.

A Significant Ceratopsid Fossil Discovery

The authors of the scientific paper conducted a phylogenetic assessment and concluded that F. elucidans was closely related to Nasutoceratops titusi from Utah and Avaceratops lammersi, which is also known from the Judith River Formation. Although Avaceratops lammersi was scientifically described in 1986, palaeontologists have remained uncertain with regards to classifying ceratopsid fossil material associated with other strata within the Coal Ridge Member.

The Furcatoceratops fossils will permit palaeontologists to study postcranial autapomorphies. Research on centrosaurines will be less reliant on skull fossil characteristics. Therefore, the Furcatoceratops holotype will likely be valuable for understanding previously neglected aspects of ceratopsian anatomy.

The genus translates as “forked horn face”, presumably a reference to the curved shape of the prominent brow horns. The species name comes from the Latin for “enlightening”, which reflects the significance of the holotype in terms of providing insights into ceratopsid anatomy and growth rates.

Scale Drawing and Illustration

Everything Dinosaur team members were composing a blog post about Furcatoceratops when an email was received from American artist Tim Bollinger. We checked out his DevianArt page: UnexpectedDinoLesson and discovered that he had drawn Furcatoceratops.

Tim stated:

“I love everything you are doing at Everything Dinosaur. I am a dinosaur enthusiast myself, and an aspiring palaeoartist I would love to be involved with Everything Dinosaur in any way possible.”

We explained that we get many requests such as this. However, in a bid to showcase his work, we asked and received permission to feature Tim’s illustration of Furcatoceratops in our blog post.

Everything Dinosaur acknowledges the assistance of artist Tim Bollinger in the compilation of this article.

Take a look at Tim Bollinger’s work under the moniker UnexpectedDinoLesson:

Instagram – @unexpecteddinolesson
Facebook – @UnexpectedDinoLesson
X (Twitter) – @Dino_Lesson
YouTube – @unexpecteddinolesson (subscribe to the channel here: Unexpected Dinosaur On YouTube.

The scientific paper: “Furcatoceratops elucidans, a new centrosaurine (Ornithischia: Ceratopsidae) from the upper Campanian Judith River Formation, Montana, USA” by Hiroki Ishikawa, Takanobu Tsuihiji and Makoto Manabe published in Cretaceous Research.

Visit the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

13 09, 2023

New Study – How Angiosperms Survived Mass Extinction

By | September 13th, 2023|Adobe CS5, Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Main Page, Palaeontological articles, Photos|0 Comments

Angiosperms are great survivors! Anyone having to remove dandelions and buttercups from their lawn or garden border will testify to this. However, a new study demonstrates that flowering plants are truly nature’s great survivors. The angiosperms came through the K-Pg extinction event relatively unscathed. This extinction event may even have assisted flowering plants as they became the dominant flora on our planet.

The study by researchers from the University of Bath in collaboration with colleagues from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (Mexico) shows that flowering plants were not too badly affected by the extinction event that wiped out the non-avian dinosaurs.

Angiosperms are great survivors.
Plant diversity at a cenote (sinkhole) near the Chicxulub crater caused by the asteroid hit 66 million years ago. Picture credit: Jamie Thompson.

Mass Extinction Events

Scientists have detected evidence of five major extinction events during the Phanerozoic Eon. The most famous is the end-Cretaceous extinction event that saw the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs. An extra-terrestrial bolide impact may have contributed to the eradication of around 75% of all species. The impact on the angiosperms had not been explored until now.

Plant fossils are relatively rare compared to the body and trace fossils of animals. This makes it very difficult for palaeontologists to assess how genera might have been affected by extinction events.

If the fossil record is too poor and fragmentary to provide data, then an alternative method of analysis must be found. Dr Jamie Thompson of the Milner Centre for Evolution (University of Bath) and Dr Santiago Ramírez-Barahona of Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México analysed evolutionary trees constructed from mutations in the DNA sequences of up to 73,000 living species of flowering plants. Using complex statistical methods, they fitted “birth-death” models to estimate the rates of extinction throughout deep geological time.

A water lily in flower.
From the time of the dinosaurs, but flowering plants were relatively unscathed by the K-Pg extinction event. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Angiosperms Flourished After the Extinction Event

The fossil record suggests that the K-Pg event had a strong regional impact on flowering plant species extinctions. However, it only had a minor impact on the extinction rates of major lineages (families and orders). These lineages survived and flourished. Out of approximately 400,000 extant plant species, around 300,000 are angiosperms.

Molecular clock evidence suggests that the vast majority of angiosperm families around today existed before the end-Cretaceous event. Species including the ancestors of orchids, water lilies, magnolia and mint all shared Earth with the dinosaurs.

Commenting on the study, co-author Dr Jamie Thompson stated:

“After most of Earth’s species became extinct at K-Pg, angiosperms took the advantage, similar to the way in which mammals took over after the dinosaurs, and now pretty much all life on Earth depends on flowering plants ecologically.”

Angiosperms are Great Survivors – How?

Despite being unable to walk and relying on the sun for energy and food, how did the flowering plants become so successful?

Fellow author Dr Ramírez-Barahona explained:

“Flowering plants have a remarkable ability to adapt. They use a variety of seed-dispersal and pollination mechanisms, some have duplicated their entire genomes and others have evolved new ways to photosynthesise.”

The seeds of many angiosperms are also extremely robust and remain dormant for years until the right conditions occur to allow them to germinate.

The study is published in Biology Letters and the project was supported by benefactors Roger and Sue Whorrod.

Everything Dinosaur acknowledges the assistance of a media release from the University of Bath in the compilation of this article.

The scientific paper: “No phylogenetic evidence for angiosperm mass extinction at the Cretaceous–Palaeogene (K-Pg) boundary” by Jamie B. Thompson and Santiago Ramírez-Barahona published in Biology Letters (Royal Society Publishing).

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7 09, 2023

A New Japanese Deinocheirid Dinosaur

By | September 7th, 2023|Adobe CS5, Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Dinosaur Fans, Main Page, Palaeontological articles, Photos/Pictures of Fossils|0 Comments

A new species of Japanese dinosaur has been announced. The dinosaur, classified as a deinocheirid and therefore distantly related to the bizarre Deinocheirus has been named Tyrannomimus fukuiensis.

Fragmentary fossils representing a type of ornithomimosaur had been excavated from the Kitadani Dinosaur Quarry (Fukui Prefecture, Japan) since 1998. The remains represent several individuals, but the fossil bones show identical anatomical traits leading palaeontologists to conclude that a single, new taxon was present.

Tyrannomimus fukuiensis fossil material.
Fossil material associated with T. fukuiensis. The holotype (FPDM-V-11333) shown in red and the paratype shown in blue. The right femur in the diagram is a mirror image of the left femur (FPDM-V-11338). Picture credit: Hattori et al with additional annotation by Everything Dinosaur.

Tyrannomimus fukuiensis

Phylogenetic analysis indicates that T. fukuiensis is the earliest definitive deinocheirid described to date. Its discovery will help scientists to better understand the evolution and dispersal of early ornithomimosaurs. Tyrannomimus is estimated to have had a body length of around 2.5 metres. It was probably feathered.

Tyrannomimus fukuiensis dig site in 2019.
The Kitadani Dinosaur Quarry in 2019 with an arrowhead indicating where the studied specimens were found. Picture credit: Hattori et al.

The bonebed from which the fossil material was excavated is thought to be around 120 million years old (Aptian faunal stage of the Cretaceous). The Kitadani Dinosaur Quarry has yielded several different types of dinosaur. The stratum from where the Tyrannomimus was excavated is associated with two other dinosaurs – Fukuiraptor (possible megaraptoran) and the herbivorous Fukuisaurus (hadrosauriform).

Tyrannomimus fukuiensis from the Kitadani Dinosaur Quarry.
Stratigraphic section of the part of the Kitadani Formation in the Kitadani Dinosaur Quarry showing the approximate location of key fossils including dinosaurs such as Tyrannomimus fukuiensis. Picture credit: Hattori et al with additional annotation by Everything Dinosaur.

Kitadani Dinosaur Quarry Bonebed 1 Biota

Both Fukuiraptor (F. kitadaniensis) and Fukuisaurus (F. tetoriensis) are found at the same level as Tyrannomimus fossil material. This suggests these dinosaurs were coeval. The palaeoclimate of the lower portion of the Kitadani Formation is believed to have been a humid, tropical ecosystem. Slightly younger geological deposits, yield abundant conifer fossils indicating that the climate may have become drier.

CollectA dinosaur models Fukuiraptor and Fukuisaurus.
The CollectA Fukuiraptor (top) and the CollectA Deluxe Fukuisaurus (bottom). These dinosaurs may have been contemporaries of the newly described deinocheirid Tyrannomimus.

The picture (above) shows Fukuiraptor and Fukuisaurus figures. These replicas are part of the CollectA range of prehistoric animal figures. Fukuiraptor is in the CollectA Age of Dinosaurs range, whilst the 1:40 scale Fukuisaurus is found within the CollectA Deluxe range.

CollectA Age of Dinosaurs: CollectA Age of Dinosaurs Prehistoric Life.

CollectA Deluxe Models: CollectA Deluxe/Supreme Scale Models.

Not a Tyrannosauroid

The genus name translates as “tyrant mimic”. The ilium shows similarities to the hip bones of tyrannosauroids. Indeed, prior to its formal scientific description this dinosaur was thought to be a member of the Tyrannosauroidea.

The identification of Tyrannomimus fukuiensis as an ornithomimosaur has implications for a dinosaur found in Portugal. Aviatyrannis jurassica was named and described in 2003 (Rauhut). It is estimated to have lived around 155 million years ago (Late Jurassic). Aviatyrannis was thought to represent a tyrannosauroid. However, analysis of the bones of Tyrannomimus with Aviatyrannis revealed similar characteristics. As such, Aviatyrannis may represent an ornithomimid too. If this is the case, then Aviatyrannis jurassica, may represent the earliest ornithomimosaur described to date.

If Aviatyrannis is confirmed to be a member of the Ornithomimosauria, then it significantly expands the temporal and biogeographic range of these theropod dinosaurs.

Everything Dinosaur acknowledges the assistance of the open-access scientific paper in the compilation of this article.

The scientific paper: “New theropod dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of Japan provides critical implications for the early evolution of ornithomimosaurs” by Soki Hattori, Masateru Shibata, Soichiro Kawabe, Takuya Imai, Hiroshi Nishi and Yoichi Azuma published in Scientific Reports.

Visit the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

5 09, 2023

New Research into Miocene Ape Fossil from Turkey Challenges Human Origins

By | September 5th, 2023|Adobe CS5, Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Main Page, Palaeontological articles, Photos/Pictures of Fossils|0 Comments

Fossils of an ancient ape that lived in Turkey around 8.7 million years ago is challenging accepted ideas about human origins. The fossils include skull bones, jaws and teeth of both males and females. This new ape has been named Anadoluvius turkae. The material was excavated from the Çorakyerler fossil locality near Çankırı in northern Turkey, about 60 miles (100 km) northeast of the country’s capital, Ankara. Assigned to the subfamily Homininae, the genus name is from “Anadolu” the modern Turkish word for the Anatolia region.

The discovery of A. turkae lends support to the hypothesis that the Homininae first evolved in Europe before migrating to Africa 7–9 million years ago.

Anadoluvius turkae partial cranium.
A female Anadoluvius turkae partial cranium. From left to right, palatal, right lateral and anterior views. Picture credit: Sevim-Erol et al.

The subfamily Homininae consists of two tribes. The Hominini which includes modern humans and their extinct relatives along with the subtribe Panina which consists of bonobos and chimpanzees. In addition, there is the Gorillini tribe (gorillas).

Anadoluvius turkae

The researchers suggest that hominines (members of the Homininae tribe), not only evolved in western and central Europe but spent over five million years evolving there and spreading to the eastern Mediterranean. These apes eventually dispersed into Africa, probably as a result of a drying climate reducing the amount of forest habitat in the eastern Mediterranean.

The well-preserved fossils including an Anadoluvius cranium permitted the scientists to conduct a detailed analysis of character attributes in the fossil record. This new study supports the hypothesis that hominines originated in Europe and dispersed into Africa along with many other mammals between 9 and 7 million years ago (Tortonian stage of the Miocene Epoch).

Anadoluvius turkae was about the size of a modern chimpanzee. Anadoluvius probably weighed around 50-60 kilograms. It inhabited dry forested habitats and probably spent a lot of time on the ground rather than in the trees.

More Miocene Homininae Fossils

The researchers consisting of scientists from Ankara University, Pamukkale University and the Ege University Faculty of Science (Turkey), along with colleagues from the Naturalis Biodiversity Centre (Holland) and the University of Toronto (Canada) hope to find more fossils.

A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented:

“Further fossil discoveries will help to clarify the evolutionary origins of the Homininae. More fossils from Africa and Europe will help palaeontologists to outline the geographical distribution of our ancient ancestors.”

Everything Dinosaur acknowledges the assistance of the Media Relations team at the University of Toronto (Canada) in the compilation of this article.

The scientific paper: “A new ape from Türkiye and the radiation of late Miocene hominines” by Ayla Sevim-Erol, D. R. Begun, Ç. Sönmez Sözer, S. Mayda, L. W. van den Hoek Ostende, R. M. G. Martin and M. Cihat Alçiçek published in Communications Biology.

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4 09, 2023

New Research Suggests Rapid Neck Evolution in Plesiosaurs

By | September 4th, 2023|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Dinosaur Fans, Main Page, Palaeontological articles, Photos/Pictures of Fossils|0 Comments

Long necks in proportion to overall body length is known in many tetrapods. Giraffes and sauropods are typical examples. The evolution of a longer neck being linked to feeding strategies. A newly described ancestor of plesiosaurs named Chusaurus xiangensis suggests that neck elongation occurred rapidly in these types of marine reptiles. Lengthy necks, ideal for pursuing fast-moving nektonic prey such as fish and squid developed quickly over a five-million-year period approximately 250 million years ago.

Chusaurus xiangensis demonstrates rapid evolution of long necks in the Plesiosauria
The new described pachypleurosaurid sauropterygian, Chusaurus xiangensis indicates that increasing neck length rapidly evolved in the Plesiosauria. Picture credit: Qi-Ling Liu.

Picture credit: Qi-Ling Liu

Chusaurus xiangensis

Researchers have reported a new species of pachypleurosaurid sauropterygian from southern China. The new species shows key features of its Middle Triassic relatives, but has a relatively short neck, measuring 0.48 of the trunk length, compared to > 0.8 from the Middle Triassic onwards. Comparative phylogenetic analysis shows that neck elongation occurred rapidly in all Triassic eosauropterygian lineages. This evolution was probably driven by feeding pressure in a time of rapid re-establishment of new kinds of marine ecosystems.

The lengthy necks of marine reptiles, used for chasing fast-moving fishes, developed quickly over a five-million-year period around 250 million years ago.

Keichousaurus life reconstruction.
The best-known of all the pachypleurosaurs is Keichousaurus.

Adding More Vertebrae

The researchers conclude that pachycephalosaurs lengthened their necks mainly by adding new vertebrae.

The findings, published today in BMC Ecology and Evolution, and carried out by scientists in China and the UK, show that pachypleurosaur taxa lengthened their necks mainly by adding new vertebrae. One taxon, Keichousaurus had more than 20 cervical vertebrae, while some Late Cretaceous plesiosaurs such as Elasmosaurus had as many as 72. Its neck was five times the length of its trunk.

Elasmosaurus scale drawing
The Elasmosaurus scale drawing commissioned by Everything Dinosaur as the company’s fact sheet is updated. This plesiosaur had a neck five times the length of its trunk and more than seventy cervical vertebrae. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The illustration (above) was inspired by the recently introduced CollectA Age of Dinosaurs Elasmosaurus figure.

To view this range of prehistoric animal figures: CollectA Age of Dinosaurs Prehistoric Life Models.

Pachypleurosaurs Like Chusaurus xiangensis Evolved in the Early Triassic

These reptiles originated in the Early Triassic, four million years after the end-Permian mass extinction that wiped out around 90% of Earth’s species. Ecosystems were undergoing dramatic changes in the aftermath of the extinction event.

The authors of the study, including scientists from the University of Bristol, studied the Chusaurus xiangensis fossils from Hubei Province (China). Its neck had begun to lengthen. However, it was less than half the length of its trunk, compared to later relatives that had a neck length to trunk ratio of greater than 0.8 (80%).

Two Fossil Skeletons to Study

Lead researcher Qi-Ling Liu from the China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), commented:

“We were lucky enough to find two complete skeletons of this new beast. It’s small, less than half a metre long, but this was close to the ancestry of the important group of marine reptiles called Sauropterygia. Our new reptile, Chusaurus, is a pachycephalosaur, one of a group of small marine predators that were very important in the Triassic. I wasn’t sure at first whether it was a pachypleurosaur though because the neck seemed to be too short.”

Co-author Dr Li Tian (China University of Geosciences) added:

“The fossils come from the Nanzhang-Yuan’an Fauna of Hubei. This has been very heavily studied in recent years as one of the oldest assemblages of marine reptiles from the Triassic. We have good quality radiometric dates showing the fauna is dated at 248 million years ago.”

Fellow author Professor Michael Benton of the University of Bristol’s School of Earth Sciences explained:

“The end-Permian mass extinction had been the biggest mass extinction of all time and only one in twenty species survived. The Early Triassic was a time of recovery and marine reptiles evolved very fast at that time, most of them predators on the shrimps, fishes and other sea creatures. They had originated right after the extinction, so we know their rates of change were extremely rapid in the new world after the crisis.”

Not All Vertebrates Evolve in the Same Way

Not all vertebrates evolve in the same way. When it comes to evolving a lengthy neck, giraffes have changed in a different way to pachypleurosaurs. Most mammals have seven neck vertebrae. Giraffes have seven neck bones too. Each one is extremely long, so these herbivores can browse on the tops of trees. Chusaurus had seventeen. Later pachycephalosaurs had twenty-five. Late Cretaceous plesiosaurs such as the huge Elasmosaurus had seventy-two. These long necks with numerous vertebrae are likely to have been extremely flexible. These marine reptiles could whip their necks round and grab a fish, whilst keeping their body steady.

Flamingos also have long necks so they can reach the water to feed. They have extra cervical vertebrae, up to twenty, but each one is also long.

Chusaurus xiangensis – Perfectly Adapted to its Environment

Dr Benjamin Moon, who also collaborated in this study stated:

“Our study shows that pachycephalosaurs doubled the lengths of their necks in five million years, and the rate of increase then slowed down. They had presumably reached some kind of perfect neck length for their mode of life.”

Dr Moon added:

“We think, as small predators, they were probably mainly feeding on shrimps and small fish, so their ability to sneak up on a small shoal, and then hover in the water, darting their head after the fast-swimming prey was a great survival tool. But there might have been additional costs in having a much longer neck, so it stabilised at a length just equal to the length of the trunk.”

Everything Dinosaur acknowledges the assistance of a media release from the University of Bristol in the compilation of this article.

The scientific paper: “Rapid neck elongation in Sauropterygia (Reptilia: Diapsida) revealed by a new basal pachypleurosaur from the Lower Triassic of China” by Qi-Ling Liu, Long Cheng, Thomas L. Stubbs, Benjamin C. Moon, Michael J. Benton, and Li Tian published in BMC Ecology and Evolution.

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3 09, 2023

Oldest Bat Skeletons Ever Found

By | September 3rd, 2023|Adobe CS5, Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Main Page, Palaeontological articles, Photos/Pictures of Fossils|0 Comments

Scientists have described a new species of prehistoric bat based on the oldest bat fossils ever discovered. The new bat species has been named Icaronycteris gunnelli and it flew in the skies above Wyoming approximately 52 million years ago.

The study describing these remarkable fossil finds was published earlier this summer in the academic journal PLOS One.

Icaronycteris gunnelli fossil (ROM)
Photograph of one of the two newly described bat skeletons representing Icaronycteris gunnelli. This specimen is in the research collections of the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada. Picture credit: Royal Ontario Museum.

Icaronycteris gunnelli

The authors at the American Museum of Natural History (New York) in collaboration with the Naturalis Biodiversity Centre in the Netherlands, hypothesise that bats diversified rapidly during the early Cenozoic.

There are more than 1,460 extant species of bats found in nearly every part of the world, with the exception of the polar regions and a few isolated islands. These fossils from the Green River Formation of Wyoming suggest that these mammals were geographically widespread by the early Eocene.

Bat fossils had been found in these strata over the last sixty years or so. However, they were all thought to represent the same two taxa. The two fossil bat taxa that have been described previously from the Green River Formation are Icaronycteris index (Jepsen, 1966) and Onychonycteris finneyi (Simmons et al, 2008).

Icaronycteris gunnelli fossil (AMNH)
A photograph of one of the two newly described bat skeletons representing Icaronycteris gunnelli. This specimen, the holotype, is now in the American Museum of Natural History’s research collections. Picture credit: Mick Ellison/AMNH.

Detailed Study

Scientists from the Naturalis Biodiversity Center started looking closely at Icaronycteris index by collecting measurements and other data from museum specimens. This more detailed study they suspected, would lead to new taxa being identified.

Although there are fossil bat teeth from Asia that are slightly older, the two I. gunnelli fossils represent the oldest bat skeletons ever found.

Arvid Aase, park manager and curator at the Fossil Butte National Monument, in Wyoming commented;

“The Fossil Lake deposits of the Green River Formation are simply amazing because the conditions that created the paper-thin limestone layers also preserved nearly everything that settled to the lake’s bottom. One of these bat specimens was found lower in the section than all other bats, making this species older than any of the other bat species recovered from this deposit.”

While the I. gunnelli skeletons are the oldest bat fossils from this site, they are not the most primitive, supporting the idea that Green River bats evolved separately from other Eocene bats around the world.

Everything Dinosaur acknowledges the assistance of a media release from the American Museum of Natural History in the compilation of this article.

The scientific paper: “The oldest known bat skeletons and their implications for Eocene chiropteran diversification” by Tim B. Rietbergen, Lars W. van den Hoek Ostende, Arvid Aase, Matthew F. Jones, Edward D. Medeiros and Nancy B. Simmons published in PLOS One.

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