TYRANNOSAUR TIME! Remarkable (To Me at Least!) That

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Summer December 2013 to March 2014 re VIEW

The Woodhen: flightlessness has evolved multiple times, a flightless island bird with perhaps 1500 species of island rail liftout defying extinction in existence before humans moved across for young scientists by Clifford Frith Oceania and extinguished them. CSIRO Publishing, 2013 ACTIVITIES The Woodhen of Lord Howe Island make your own dinosaur A paradox for ecologists and evolutionary was unwary and easily captured by new meet the neighbours biologists is that they are driven by a desire mammalian immigrants, providing to understand diversity, yet some of the fresh meat and eggs to sailors and their INTERVIEW most influential discoveries have been accompanying dogs, cats, pigs and rats. animator matt drummond By 1887 an Australian Museum scientist made in the most species-poor ecosystems. COLLECTOR’S CARD reported that woodhens ‘… were soon Because island faunas usually arise from guanlong, the crown to become extinct unless protected’, dragon the occasional and somewhat unpredictable but their decline continued, perhaps arrivals of immigrants, they tend to have assisted by an overzealous 1915 collector INFO fewer species than comparable mainland (82 skins!), and their population eventually carla’s blog areas – a feature that has stimulated major dropped to 30 individuals by the 1970s. meet the family breakthroughs in evolutionary ecology by legends like Darwin, Wilson and Diamond. They were then saved from extinction by a dedicated team (including Australian Some immigrant species are able to Museum scientists, I’m relieved to say) establish and prosper, while others become who implemented a captive breeding extinct because they are unable to establish program and eliminated the bird’s main or co-exist with other hapless arrivals on predators. The Woodhen’s population the island zoo. But if a species is able to has now stabilised at around 250 – withstand this juggling act of immigration a heartening ‘back from the brink’ story and extinction for long enough, it can fully documented in this useful volume. evolve within its new environment and differentiate from its mainland ancestors. There are two audiences for this book: conservation managers, for whom The flightless Woodhen of Lord Howe this book is a handy, comprehensive Island, like many other island rails, evolved manual, and lay readers, for whom the from a free-flying immigrant ancestor. extraordinary level of detail may sometimes Given the physiological cost of developing make for frustrating reading. and servicing the powerful musculature required for flight, selection against flight However it is worth persevering with should be great in environments which are because the content is so rich, and the naturally free of mammalian predators, setting so compelling, that the story such as Lord Howe. ultimately provides an inspirational tale of conservation in action. Once flight is lost, dispersal between islands becomes extremely infrequent Dr Richard Major and island rails are free to evolve into distinct species without immigrants polluting their gene pools. It’s truly TYRANNOSAUR TIME! remarkable (to me at least!) that

Explore 35(3) Summer 2013 Page 18 Scient ist fo 15 & 16 January Tyrannosaurs:r a rise and fall of the tyrant kings day 22 & 23 January DNA detectives

Have you ever wanted to unearth the secrets Meet the family of the Tyrannosaurs? Or maybe you’re a DNA Fun Fact Tyrannosaurs: meet the family is the Museum’s latest detective in the making? Find out in these fun, The first Australian dinosaur exhibition to feature real dinosaur fossils as well as casts used one-day workshops. Zoom in bones ever found were collected by scientists to make copies of fossils for further study. The most Ages 8–12 years from Cape York by the crew spectacular is Dilong, a recently discovered tyrannosaur from China Time 9 am – 3 pm to the museum of HMS Fly in 1844 and taken that became fossilised in volcanic ash. Others on display include: C to see our latest dinosaurs back to England. It was 50 years ost Members $110, non-Members $135 Tyrannosaurus – a real tooth, bone, claw and coprolite (fossil poo!) exhibition, Tyrannosaurs: meet the later that they were named Bookings family. And don’t forget to see Agrosaurus and placed with the Yangchuanosaurus – a real articulated skeleton t 02 9320 6389 our regular Dinosaurs exhibit prosauropods. e [email protected] Gorgosaurus – a real half-skeleton fossil in matrix while you’re here! For the complete school holiday program, Albertosaurus – a real partial jaw fossil visit australianmuseum.net.au/whatson plus skull casts of Teratophoneus, Alioramus, Tarbosaurus, Carla’s blog Appalachiosuarus, fossil eggs and more. Fun Facts Hi, I’m Carla and I work at the Australian Museum. Tyrannosaurus rex (T. rex) was I love nature and science and I’m here to tell you stories and share known as the king of the dinosaurs. interesting facts. Its name translates to Tyrant Lizard King. Stegosaur broome Just this morning, I was digging a burrow in the bush and came across Rhoetosaurus T. rex was over 12 metres long, 3.5 metres roma a big dinosaur bone. So I brought it into the Museum and asked one R Dreaming of dinosaurs tall at the hips, towering to 7 metres, re

o Muttaburrasaurus

of the scientists what it belonged to. After a close look they said it was from l and weighed up to 8 tonnes. That means p muttaburra Describe what your dream dinosaur would look like, x

a Muttaburrasaurus – a large plant-eating dinosaur that lived in Australia e it was longer than a bus, tall enough to what it would eat and how big it would be. Is it small more than 100 million years ago. Cool! ov Minmi look into an upstairs window and heavier minmi crossing and fast, or big and slow? Does it run, swim or fly? rem than an African bull elephant. Did you know that the king of dinosaurs, T. rex, was born with feathers, Fulgurotherium Email your entry to [email protected] or post it to lightning ridge es online at australianmuseum.net.au/blog/dream-dinosaur. just like a cuddly bird? Maybe they aren’t so scary after all. l ap

t Allosaurus

s gingin t f

li Leptocerotops inverloch

Allosaurus Each issue of Xplorer includes a collector’s Meet the cape paterson Make your own dinosaur model neighbours card for you to cut out and keep!

This map shows where people have found dinosaurs in Australia. 3 use coloured paper So far, there are no confirmed sightings of a tyrannosaur fossil 28 to add special features. in Australia.

4 find some feathers to Check the map above to find the following Australian dinosaurs, collector’s card then find their names in the word puzzle, below.

umphreys. stick on to the dinosaur H 1 draw and colour Leptoceratops Muttaburrasaurus fulgurotherium in your dinosaur any way you like using Rhoetosaurus stegosaur minmi Allosaurus crayons, paint, coloured pencil or all of the above! B R R H O E T O S A U R U S E N 5 When you’re done, D A N E X P E W Y U M I N M I D

yrannosaurs have arrived at the Australian Museum! 2 glue the page to a fold the tabs to make T piece of stiff card, then a stand, then admire! I R A L L O S A U R U S T Y R A cut out the dinosaur, T B F U L G U R O T H E R I U M remembering to include tab tab M U T T A B U R R A S A U R U S Styling by Jeremy Austen. Photo by Stuart Styling by Jeremy On the cover tabs to act as a stand. J L E P T O C E R A T O P S O U E L T I M S T E G O S A U R U S Guanlong wucaii Scient ist fo 15 & 16 January Tyrannosaurs:r a rise and fall of the tyrant kings day 22 & 23 January DNA detectives

o Muttaburrasaurus

of the scientists what it belonged to. After a close look they said it was from l and weighed up to 8 tonnes. That means p muttaburra Describe what your dream dinosaur would look like, x

t Allosaurus

s gingin t f

li Leptocerotops inverloch

Allosaurus Each issue of Xplorer includes a collector’s Meet the cape paterson Make your own dinosaur model neighbours card for you to cut out and keep!

This map shows where people have found dinosaurs in Australia. 3 use coloured paper So far, there are no confirmed sightings of a tyrannosaur fossil 28 to add special features. in Australia.

4 find some feathers to Check the map above to find the following Australian dinosaurs, collector’s card then find their names in the word puzzle, below.

yrannosaurs have arrived at the Australian Museum! 2 glue the page to a fold the tabs to make T piece of stiff card, then a stand, then admire! I R A L L O S A U R U S T Y R A cut out the dinosaur, T B F U L G U R O T H E R I U M remembering to include tab tab M U T T A B U R R A S A U R U S Styling by Jeremy Austen. Photo by Stuart Styling by Jeremy On the cover tabs to act as a stand. J L E P T O C E R A T O P S O U E L T I M S T E G O S A U R U S Guanlong wucaii SCIENCE REPORTER FOR A DAY xplanations Living the dream Send your query to the Search & Discover team, email [email protected]

Helping to bring science to life is all part of a day’s BLISS: And finally, and most importantly, if you were work for animator Matt Drummond. He took time out stranded in Jurassic Park, which dinosaur would you to chat with the Museum’s Bliss Jensen, exhibition be most nervous about meeting? project manager for Tyrannosaurs. MATT: Velociraptor – though actually the animals in the BLISS: So Matt, you’re a director, animator and visual Jurassic Park movie weren't Velociraptors. They were based FX artist – what did you work on before Tyrannosaurs? upon Deinonychus but given the size of a 7-metre long DISCOVER Utahraptor. Velociraptor was actually the size of a turkey search MATT: I wrote and directed a feature film called Dinosaur – not a 6-foot turkey as the kid in the movie states, Island, which is due for worldwide release in early 2014. but a tiny half-metre feathered theropod! It involved re-creating many dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures. It’s a lot of fun. Weblink

BLISS: What has been the most exciting part Check out one of Matt’s videos at youtu.be/VX8pB7H9dyw of working on the Tyrannosaurs exhibition?

MATT: Visually bridging the gap between birds and dinosaurs! Film director, animator and visual FX artist Matt Drummond. Photo courtesy Matt Drummond. Guanlong and Dilong are small, feathered tyrannosaurs and it was great to be able to give them very bird-like qualities in their motion and behaviour.

BLISS: So how do you create an animation of dinosaurs?

MATT: I usually start with pencil and paper and roughly Q. I saw a Swamp Wallaby in my backyard Q. My dad and I were debating the difference Q. I have photographed rock formations like sketch the animal based on the scientific research at hand. in St Ives. Who can I report it to? between a turtle and a tortoise. Can you help? these at various locations in the upper Blue I then build a rough form in the computer. Once the Mountains. What are they called and how were That’s a great sighting! The Swamp Wallaby, What a great debate! The terms turtle and dimensions of the animal are correct, I sculpt and paint the they formed? Wallabia bicolor, is not as common tortoise are often used interchangeably animal’s details until I have a final creature. I then create in Sydney as it once was, but can still and can cause some confusion. It all Your photo shows outcrops of sedimentary a skeleton and rigging in the computer to be able to move be found in a few places in its preferred comes down to their habitat. In the past, rocks from the Narrabeen Group sandstones. the animal around. habitat of thick forest undergrowth all freshwater turtles were called tortoises, They have concentric ironstone and ironstone or sandstone heath. and marine (salty water) turtles were called pipe concretions, and differential weathering turtles. Now, the term ‘turtle’ is used for (from wind, rain, heat and cold) has resulted This edition of Xplorer compiled by Tim Mall You can upload this and any other those that live in water, while tortoises in alternating prominent and recessed layers. sightings to the Atlas of Living Australia are those that live exclusively on land. It also shows honeycomb weathering, which (ALA) at the URL shown below. The As such, there are no tortoises in Australia. adds to the patterns with stone filigree of ALA is the same network that museums, G However, Australia is home to 23 species weather-resistant iron-rich sandstone layers uanlong wucaii herbaria and other scientific institutions of freshwater turtle, and six species of and less-resistant pure sandstone. Guanlong wucaii was a small/medium-sized early use to share information and create tyrannosaur, about 4 metres long. marine turtle. ‘crowned dragon’, so called because of its large but fragile a picture of the organisms that inhabit The iron-rich sandstone has formed from Its name means head crest along the midline of the skull – one of the most Australia. The ALA produces maps based If you really want to impress your dad iron oxides moving in solution through the elaborate crests of any non-avian dinosaur. on museum specimens and sighting data. with your knowledge, tell him about porous sandstone. The concretions have the crest much like a peacock raises its tail, and possibly for the terrapin – this term is sometimes used formed from minerals such as quartz and the same reason – to attract a mate. It could raise This is a great resource if you’ve ever prey in its long, three-fingered forelimbs. overseas for turtles that are semi-aquatic iron oxides either precipitating as successive It ate meat, capturing wondered about the animals that have and live near brackish waters or swampy layers around a nucleus (such as a mineral At around 160 million years old, Guanlong is 95 million been recorded in an area, such as your years older than T. rex. regions. They’re like a mix between a turtle fragment, shell or pebble) or occupying the lineage with no known Idescendants.t’s not an ancestor but a specialised own neighbourhood. fun fact and a tortoise as they spend their time pore spaces in a layer of sandstone, shale Scientists in China discovered two skeletons of Guanlong, Chris Hosking divided between water and land. or other sedimentary rock. one lying one on top of the other. The earliest animated film to feature in the fossilised giant footprint of a massive sauropod, Melissa Slarp Melissa Murray They were entombed Weblink Mamenchisaurus. a dinosaur was Gertie the Dinosaur, made in 1914 by American cartoonist and animator Try out the Atlas of Living Australia for yourself Editor’s note: The fossils discussed on page 32 have retained at ala.org.au/get-involved their historical common name of horned turtles, despite Winsor McCay. This silent film in black and suggestions they were terrestrial when extant. Illustration by Matt Drummond. white ran for just 12 minutes!

Swamp Wallaby, Wallabia bicolor. Eastern Snake-necked Turtle, Chelodina rugosa. Rock formations in the Blue Mountains. Photo by Stuart Humphreys. Photo by John Cann. Photo © Derek Finter.

Page 19 Explore 35(3) Summer 2013