Ancient, Primal and Powerful Inosaurs Have Captured the Imagination of Many Since the First Fossils Were Found
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Dino Hunt Checklist Card Name Type Rarity Acanthopholis
Dino Hunt Checklist Card Name Type Rarity Acanthopholis Dinosaur Common Acrocanthosaurus Dinosaur Rare Albertosaurus Dinosaur Rare Albertosaurus Dinosaur Ultra Rare Alioramus Dinosaur Rare Allosaurus Dinosaur Rare* Altispinax Dinosaur Rare* Amargasaurus Dinosaur Uncommon* Ammosaurus Dinosaur Uncommon* Anatotitan Dinosaur Common Anchiceratops Dinosaur Common Anchisaurus Dinosaur Common* Ankylosaurus Dinosaur Uncommon* Antarctosaurus Dinosaur Common Apatosaurus Dinosaur Uncommon* Archaeopteryx Dinosaur Rare* Archelon Dinosaur Rare Arrhinoceratops Dinosaur Common Avimimus Dinosaur Common Baby Ankylosaur Dinosaur Common Baby Ceratopsian Dinosaur Common Baby Hadrosaur Dinosaur Common Baby Raptor Dinosaur Rare Baby Sauropod Dinosaur Common Baby Theropod Dinosaur Rare Barosaurus Dinosaur Uncommon Baryonyx Dinosaur Rare* Bellusaurus Dinosaur Common Brachiosaurus Dinosaur Rare* Brachyceratops Dinosaur Uncommon Camarasaurus Dinosaur Common Camarasaurus Dinosaur Ultra Rare Camptosaurus Dinosaur Common Carnotaurus Dinosaur Rare Centrosaurus Dinosaur Common Ceratosaurus Dinosaur Rare* Cetiosaurus Dinosaur Common* Changdusaurus Dinosaur Common Chasmosaurus Dinosaur Common Chilantaisaurus Dinosaur Rare Coelophysis Dinosaur Uncommon* Coloradisaurus Dinosaur Common* Compsognathus Dinosaur Rare* Corythosaurus Dinosaur Common* Cryolophosaurus Dinosaur Rare Cynognathus Dinosaur Rare Dacentrurus Dinosaur Common* Daspletosaurus Dinosaur Rare Datousaurus Dinosaur Common Deinocheirus Dinosaur Rare* Deinonychus Dinosaur Uncommon* Deinosuchus Dinosaur Rare* Diceratops -
Brains and Intelligence
BRAINS AND INTELLIGENCE The EQ or Encephalization Quotient is a simple way of measuring an animal's intelligence. EQ is the ratio of the brain weight of the animal to the brain weight of a "typical" animal of the same body weight. Assuming that smarter animals have larger brains to body ratios than less intelligent ones, this helps determine the relative intelligence of extinct animals. In general, warm-blooded animals (like mammals) have a higher EQ than cold-blooded ones (like reptiles and fish). Birds and mammals have brains that are about 10 times bigger than those of bony fish, amphibians, and reptiles of the same body size. The Least Intelligent Dinosaurs: The primitive dinosaurs belonging to the group sauropodomorpha (which included Massospondylus, Riojasaurus, and others) were among the least intelligent of the dinosaurs, with an EQ of about 0.05 (Hopson, 1980). Smartest Dinosaurs: The Troodontids (like Troödon) were probably the smartest dinosaurs, followed by the dromaeosaurid dinosaurs (the "raptors," which included Dromeosaurus, Velociraptor, Deinonychus, and others) had the highest EQ among the dinosaurs, about 5.8 (Hopson, 1980). The Encephalization Quotient was developed by the psychologist Harry J. Jerison in the 1970's. J. A. Hopson (a paleontologist from the University of Chicago) did further development of the EQ concept using brain casts of many dinosaurs. Hopson found that theropods (especially Troodontids) had higher EQ's than plant-eating dinosaurs. The lowest EQ's belonged to sauropods, ankylosaurs, and stegosaurids. A SECOND BRAIN? It used to be thought that the large sauropods (like Brachiosaurus and Apatosaurus) and the ornithischian Stegosaurus had a second brain. -
The Sauropodomorph Biostratigraphy of the Elliot Formation of Southern Africa: Tracking the Evolution of Sauropodomorpha Across the Triassic–Jurassic Boundary
Editors' choice The sauropodomorph biostratigraphy of the Elliot Formation of southern Africa: Tracking the evolution of Sauropodomorpha across the Triassic–Jurassic boundary BLAIR W. MCPHEE, EMESE M. BORDY, LARA SCISCIO, and JONAH N. CHOINIERE McPhee, B.W., Bordy, E.M., Sciscio, L., and Choiniere, J.N. 2017. The sauropodomorph biostratigraphy of the Elliot Formation of southern Africa: Tracking the evolution of Sauropodomorpha across the Triassic–Jurassic boundary. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 62 (3): 441–465. The latest Triassic is notable for coinciding with the dramatic decline of many previously dominant groups, followed by the rapid radiation of Dinosauria in the Early Jurassic. Among the most common terrestrial vertebrates from this time, sauropodomorph dinosaurs provide an important insight into the changing dynamics of the biota across the Triassic–Jurassic boundary. The Elliot Formation of South Africa and Lesotho preserves the richest assemblage of sauropodomorphs known from this age, and is a key index assemblage for biostratigraphic correlations with other simi- larly-aged global terrestrial deposits. Past assessments of Elliot Formation biostratigraphy were hampered by an overly simplistic biozonation scheme which divided it into a lower “Euskelosaurus” Range Zone and an upper Massospondylus Range Zone. Here we revise the zonation of the Elliot Formation by: (i) synthesizing the last three decades’ worth of fossil discoveries, taxonomic revision, and lithostratigraphic investigation; and (ii) systematically reappraising the strati- graphic provenance of important fossil locations. We then use our revised stratigraphic information in conjunction with phylogenetic character data to assess morphological disparity between Late Triassic and Early Jurassic sauropodomorph taxa. Our results demonstrate that the Early Jurassic upper Elliot Formation is considerably more taxonomically and morphologically diverse than previously thought. -
A Re-Evaluation of the Enigmatic Dinosauriform Caseosaurus Crosbyensis from the Late Triassic of Texas, USA and Its Implications for Early Dinosaur Evolution
A re-evaluation of the enigmatic dinosauriform Caseosaurus crosbyensis from the Late Triassic of Texas, USA and its implications for early dinosaur evolution MATTHEW G. BARON and MEGAN E. WILLIAMS Baron, M.G. and Williams, M.E. 2018. A re-evaluation of the enigmatic dinosauriform Caseosaurus crosbyensis from the Late Triassic of Texas, USA and its implications for early dinosaur evolution. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 63 (1): 129–145. The holotype specimen of the Late Triassic dinosauriform Caseosaurus crosbyensis is redescribed and evaluated phylogenetically for the first time, providing new anatomical information and data on the earliest dinosaurs and their evolution within the dinosauromorph lineage. Historically, Caseosaurus crosbyensis has been considered to represent an early saurischian dinosaur, and often a herrerasaur. More recent work on Triassic dinosaurs has cast doubt over its supposed dinosaurian affinities and uncertainty about particular features in the holotype and only known specimen has led to the species being regarded as a dinosauriform of indeterminate position. Here, we present a new diagnosis for Caseosaurus crosbyensis and refer additional material to the taxon—a partial right ilium from Snyder Quarry. Our com- parisons and phylogenetic analyses suggest that Caseosaurus crosbyensis belongs in a clade with herrerasaurs and that this clade is the sister taxon of Dinosauria, rather than positioned within it. This result, along with other recent analyses of early dinosaurs, pulls apart what remains of the “traditional” group of dinosaurs collectively termed saurischians into a polyphyletic assemblage and implies that Dinosauria should be regarded as composed exclusively of Ornithoscelida (Ornithischia + Theropoda) and Sauropodomorpha. In addition, our analysis recovers the enigmatic European taxon Saltopus elginensis among herrerasaurs for the first time. -
The Anatomy and Phylogenetic Relationships of Antetonitrus Ingenipes (Sauropodiformes, Dinosauria): Implications for the Origins of Sauropoda
THE ANATOMY AND PHYLOGENETIC RELATIONSHIPS OF ANTETONITRUS INGENIPES (SAUROPODIFORMES, DINOSAURIA): IMPLICATIONS FOR THE ORIGINS OF SAUROPODA Blair McPhee A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. Johannesburg, 2013 i ii ABSTRACT A thorough description and cladistic analysis of the Antetonitrus ingenipes type material sheds further light on the stepwise acquisition of sauropodan traits just prior to the Triassic/Jurassic boundary. Although the forelimb of Antetonitrus and other closely related sauropododomorph taxa retains the plesiomorphic morphology typical of a mobile grasping structure, the changes in the weight-bearing dynamics of both the musculature and the architecture of the hindlimb document the progressive shift towards a sauropodan form of graviportal locomotion. Nonetheless, the presence of hypertrophied muscle attachment sites in Antetonitrus suggests the retention of an intermediary form of facultative bipedality. The term Sauropodiformes is adopted here and given a novel definition intended to capture those transitional sauropodomorph taxa occupying a contiguous position on the pectinate line towards Sauropoda. The early record of sauropod diversification and evolution is re- examined in light of the paraphyletic consensus that has emerged regarding the ‘Prosauropoda’ in recent years. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I would like to express sincere gratitude to Adam Yates for providing me with the opportunity to do ‘real’ palaeontology, and also for gladly sharing his considerable knowledge on sauropodomorph osteology and phylogenetics. This project would not have been possible without the continued (and continual) support (both emotionally and financially) of my parents, Alf and Glenda McPhee – Thank you. -
A New Basal Sauropodomorph Dinosaur from the Lower Jurassic Navajo Sandstone of Southern Utah
A New Basal Sauropodomorph Dinosaur from the Lower Jurassic Navajo Sandstone of Southern Utah Joseph J. W. Sertich1*, Mark A. Loewen2 1 Department of Anatomical Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, United States of America, 2 Utah Museum of Natural History, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States of America Abstract Background: Basal sauropodomorphs, or ‘prosauropods,’ are a globally widespread paraphyletic assemblage of terrestrial herbivorous dinosaurs from the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic. In contrast to several other landmasses, the North American record of sauropodomorphs during this time interval remains sparse, limited to Early Jurassic occurrences of a single well- known taxon from eastern North America and several fragmentary specimens from western North America. Methodology/Principal Findings: On the basis of a partial skeleton, we describe here a new basal sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Lower Jurassic Navajo Sandstone of southern Utah, Seitaad ruessi gen. et sp. nov. The partially articulated skeleton of Seitaad was likely buried post-mortem in the base of a collapsed dune foreset. The new taxon is characterized by a plate-like medial process of the scapula, a prominent proximal expansion of the deltopectoral crest of the humerus, a strongly inclined distal articular surface of the radius, and a proximally and laterally hypertrophied proximal metacarpal I. Conclusions/Significance: Phylogenetic analysis recovers Seitaad as a derived basal sauropodomorph closely related to plateosaurid or massospondylid ‘prosauropods’ and its presence in western North America is not unexpected for a member of this highly cosmopolitan clade. This occurrence represents one of the most complete vertebrate body fossil specimens yet recovered from the Navajo Sandstone and one of the few basal sauropodomorph taxa currently known from North America. -
Giants from the Past | Presented by the Field Museum Learning Center 2 Pre-Lesson Preparation
Giants from the Past Middle School NGSS: MS-LS4-1, MS-LS4-4 Lesson Description Learning Objectives This investigation focuses on the fossils of a particular • Students will demonstrate an understanding that group of dinosaurs, the long-necked, herbivores known as particular traits provide advantages for survival sauropodomorphs. Students will gain an understanding by using models to test and gather data about the of why certain body features provide advantages to traits’ functions. Background survival through the use of models. Students will analyze • Students will demonstrate an understanding of and interpret data from fossils to synthesize a narrative ancestral traits by investigating how traits appear for the evolution of adaptations that came to define a and change (or evolve) in the fossil record well-known group of dinosaurs. over time. • Students will demonstrate an understanding of how traits function to provide advantages Driving Phenomenon in a particular environment by inferring daily Several traits, inherited and adapted over millions of years, activities that the dinosaur would have performed provided advantages for a group of dinosaurs to evolve for survival. into the largest animals that ever walked the Earth. Giant dinosaurs called sauropods evolved over a period of 160 Time Requirements million years. • Four 40-45 minute sessions As paleontologists continue to uncover new specimens, Prerequisite Knowledge they see connections across time and geography that lead to a better understanding of how adaptations interact • Sedimentary rocks form in layers, the newer rocks with their environment to provide unique advantages are laid down on top of the older rocks. depending on when and where animals lived. -
PAL E1059.Pdf
Downloaded from rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org on November 23, 2010 A new transitional sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of South Africa and the evolution of sauropod feeding and quadrupedalism Adam M. Yates, Matthew F. Bonnan, Johann Neveling, Anusuya Chinsamy and Marc G. Blackbeard Proc. R. Soc. B 2010 277, 787-794 first published online 11 November 2009 doi: 10.1098/rspb.2009.1440 Supplementary data "Data Supplement" http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/suppl/2009/11/09/rspb.2009.1440.DC1.h tml References This article cites 24 articles, 5 of which can be accessed free http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/277/1682/787.full.html#ref-list-1 Subject collections Articles on similar topics can be found in the following collections palaeontology (132 articles) taxonomy and systematics (296 articles) evolution (2213 articles) Receive free email alerts when new articles cite this article - sign up in the box at the top Email alerting service right-hand corner of the article or click here To subscribe to Proc. R. Soc. B go to: http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/subscriptions This journal is © 2010 The Royal Society Downloaded from rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org on November 23, 2010 Proc. R. Soc. B (2010) 277, 787–794 doi:10.1098/rspb.2009.1440 Published online 11 November 2009 A new transitional sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of South Africa and the evolution of sauropod feeding and quadrupedalism Adam M. Yates1,*, Matthew F. Bonnan2, Johann Neveling3, Anusuya Chinsamy4 and Marc G. Blackbeard1 1Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2050, South Africa 2Department of Biological Sciences, Western Illinois University, Macomb, IL 61455, USA 3Council for Geoscience, Pretoria 0001, South Africa 4Zoology Department, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Rhodes Gift 7700, South Africa Aardonyx celestae gen. -
Back Matter (PDF)
Index Note: Page numbers in italic denote figures. Page numbers in bold denote tables. Abel, Othenio (1875–1946) Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, Robert Plot 7 arboreal theory 244 Astrodon 363, 365 Geschichte und Methode der Rekonstruktion... Atlantosaurus 365, 366 (1925) 328–329, 330 Augusta, Josef (1903–1968) 222–223, 331 Action comic 343 Aulocetus sammarinensis 80 Actualism, work of Capellini 82, 87 Azara, Don Felix de (1746–1821) 34, 40–41 Aepisaurus 363 Azhdarchidae 318, 319 Agassiz, Louis (1807–1873) 80, 81 Azhdarcho 319 Agustinia 380 Alexander, Annie Montague (1867–1950) 142–143, 143, Bakker, Robert. T. 145, 146 ‘dinosaur renaissance’ 375–376, 377 Alf, Karen (1954–2000), illustrator 139–140 Dinosaurian monophyly 93, 246 Algoasaurus 365 influence on graphic art 335, 343, 350 Allosaurus, digits 267, 271, 273 Bara Simla, dinosaur discoveries 164, 166–169 Allosaurus fragilis 85 Baryonyx walkeri Altispinax, pneumaticity 230–231 relation to Spinosaurus 175, 177–178, 178, 181, 183 Alum Shale Member, Parapsicephalus purdoni 195 work of Charig 94, 95, 102, 103 Amargasaurus 380 Beasley, Henry Charles (1836–1919) Amphicoelias 365, 366, 368, 370 Chirotherium 214–215, 219 amphisbaenians, work of Charig 95 environment 219–220 anatomy, comparative 23 Beaux, E. Cecilia (1855–1942), illustrator 138, 139, 146 Andrews, Roy Chapman (1884–1960) 69, 122 Becklespinax altispinax, pneumaticity 230–231, Andrews, Yvette 122 232, 363 Anning, Joseph (1796–1849) 14 belemnites, Oxford Clay Formation, Peterborough Anning, Mary (1799–1847) 24, 25, 113–116, 114, brick pits 53 145, 146, 147, 288 Benett, Etheldred (1776–1845) 117, 146 Dimorphodon macronyx 14, 115, 294 Bhattacharji, Durgansankar 166 Hawker’s ‘Crocodile’ 14 Birch, Lt. -
Lyons SCIENCE 2021 the Influence of Juvenile Dinosaurs SUPPL.Pdf
science.sciencemag.org/content/371/6532/941/suppl/DC1 Supplementary Materials for The influence of juvenile dinosaurs on community structure and diversity Katlin Schroeder*, S. Kathleen Lyons, Felisa A. Smith *Corresponding author. Email: [email protected] Published 26 February 2021, Science 371, 941 (2021) DOI: 10.1126/science.abd9220 This PDF file includes: Materials and Methods Supplementary Text Figs. S1 and S2 Tables S1 to S7 References Other Supplementary Material for this manuscript includes the following: (available at science.sciencemag.org/content/371/6532/941/suppl/DC1) MDAR Reproducibility Checklist (PDF) Materials and Methods Data Dinosaur assemblages were identified by downloading all vertebrate occurrences known to species or genus level between 200Ma and 65MA from the Paleobiology Database (PaleoDB 30 https://paleobiodb.org/#/ download 6 August, 2018). Using associated depositional environment and taxonomic information, the vertebrate database was limited to only terrestrial organisms, excluding amphibians, pseudosuchians, champsosaurs and ichnotaxa. Taxa present in formations were confirmed against the most recent available literature, as of November, 2020. Synonymous taxa or otherwise duplicated taxa were removed. Taxa that could not be identified to genus level 35 were included as “Taxon X”. GPS locality data for all formations between 200MA and 65MA was downloaded from PaleoDB to create a minimally convex polygon for each possible formation. Any attempt to recreate local assemblages must include all potentially interacting species, while excluding those that would have been separated by either space or time. We argue it is 40 acceptable to substitute formation for home range in the case of non-avian dinosaurs, as range increases with body size. -
Yates, A.M., Wedel, M.J., and Bonnan, M.F. 2012. the Early Evolution of Postcranial Skeletal Pneumaticity in Sauropodo− Morph Dinosaurs
The early evolution of postcranial skeletal pneumaticity in sauropodomorph dinosaurs ADAM M. YATES, MATHEW J. WEDEL, and MATTHEW F. BONNAN Yates, A.M., Wedel, M.J., and Bonnan, M.F. 2012. The early evolution of postcranial skeletal pneumaticity in sauropodo− morph dinosaurs. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 57 (1): 85–100. Postcranial skeletal pneumaticity (PSP) is present in a range of basal sauropodomorphs spanning the basal sauro− podomorph–sauropod transition. We describe the PSP of five taxa, Plateosaurus engelhardti, Eucnemesaurus fortis, Aardonyx celestae, Antetonitrus ingenipes, and an unnamed basal sauropod from Spion Kop, South Africa (hereafter re− ferred to as the Spion Kop sauropod). The PSP of Plateosaurus is apparently sporadic in its occurrence and has only been observed in very few specimens, in which it is of very limited extent, affecting only the posterior cervical vertebrae and pos− sibly the mid dorsals in one specimen. The PSP of Eucnemesaurus, Aardonyx, Antetonitrus, and the Spion Kop sauropod consists of subfossae (fossa−within−fossa structures) that excavate the vertices of the posterior infradiapophyseal fossae of the posterior dorsal vertebrae. These subfossae range from simple shallow depressions (Eucnemesaurus) to deep, steep− sided, internally subdivided and asymmetrically developed chambers (Antetonitrus). The middle and anterior dorsal verte− brae of these taxa lack PSP, demonstrating that abdominal air sacs were the source of the invasive diverticula. The presence of pneumatic features within the infradiapophyseal fossae suggest that the homologous fossae of more basal saurischians and dinosauriforms were receptacles that housed pneumatic diverticula. We suggest that it is probable that rigid non−compli− ant lungs ventilated by compliant posterior air sacs evolved prior to the origination of Dinosauria. -
THE GENERA of REPTILES. By
T he Genera of Re pt il e s. By BARON FRANCIS NOPCSA (Budapest). (Eingelangt am 11. Mai 1927.) Among all the Paleontologists living none has dealt with the recent and fossil reptiles with a wider grasp than Prof. L. D o l l o and at his anniversary it seems quite appropriate to review their whole array. The classification used in the following enumeration of all genera of reptiles is much the same as in my hook „Die Familien der Reptilien“; at this instance however an effort has been made to give a precise definition of every systematic unit. Alteration of the classification became necessary among the Dino- cephalians, the Nothosaurians, the Lacertilians (called here Sauroidea), the Coelurosauroidea and the Crocodilia. The new classification of the Sauroidea is intermediate between the classifications proposed by B o u l e n g e r and C a m p . Naturally as a rule only those fossil genera are referred to, that are more than simple catalogue numbers that facilitate the finding of the respective piece in a collection; indeterminable problematic genera of small interest have mostly been omitted. Extinct units and genera are marked in the lists with a cross ("j*). Difficulties of classification have been encountered in the Lacertilia and Ophidia, for in the new system the conventional families of recent Lizards and Serpents has been given subfamily rank and conse quently the different recent subfamilies had to be dropped. Instead of these subfamilies the minor units were separated by greek letters. — The tedious and complicated revision of the genera of recent Lizards and Snakes was done by Prof.