pasttimepaleo-blog

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PROCOMPSOGNATHUS “Before dainty jaw” Late Triassic, 210 million years ago

Though this early biped was actually more similar to Coelophysis, it was named  after another dinosaur, Compsognathus. Procompsognathus and Compsognathus were roughly the same size, but Procompsognathus lived earlier and had job benefits.

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Masiakasaurus is an animal found by the Mahajunga Basin Project, based at Stony Brook University where Past Time is currently based. The story is true. When you’re digging at a quarry, things can get pretty tedious and music goes a long way to keep everyone moving sediment. Sometimes it’s Dire Straits. Sometimes it’s Lady Gaga. And sometimes it’s podcasts. But more importantly, Check out those crazy front teeth!

MASIAKASAURUS “Vicious lizard” Late Cretaceous, 70 million years ago

This speedy predator’s unique, protrusive front teeth were probably used to grasp small prey. Its genus name comes from the word for “vicious” in the Malagasy language of Madagascar. Its species name, Masiakasaurus knopfleri, honors legendary guitarist and Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler, whose music helped inspire the crew during the excavation, and whose coded backwards messages throughout 1980’s platinum-selling Making Movies helped familiarize the team with the differences between abelisaur and ceratosaur biology. It’s all in there. Give it another listen.

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Today is the birthday of Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and the only U.S. president to describe an extinct species. The beast was found in the 1790s in West Virginia and sent Jefferson for analysis. He had some of the thigh and an arm which was adorned with gigantic claws. He called it "Megalonyx" or "Great Claw." He thought it might be some type of gigantic lion until a French paleontologist described the first giant ground sloth skeleton from Paraguay. Jefferson wrote that he was mistaken about the felid affinities of Megalonyx, and hypothesized it must also be a sloth, becoming the only president to issue a scientific correction. When he sent Lewis and Clark West into the newly acquired Louisiana Territory, Jefferson quietly hoped they might find a living Megalonyx in the unknown interior. Unfortunately, they just missed seeing giant ground sloths by a couple thousand years.

His paper on the beast: http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic774254.files/Jefferson%201799.pdf?hc_location=ufi

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An alternative taxonomic hypothesis would involve a reference to The Great Mouse Detective. But no one seriously entertains this possibility. 

BASILOSAURUS “King lizard” Late Eocene, 40-33 million years ago

This early whale was first thought to be an enormous marine reptile. It wasn’t until it was shown to anatomist Richard Owen (coiner of the term “dinosaur”) that it was confirmed to be a mammal, and correctly dated to the (post-dinosaur) Eocene epoch. (Basilosaurus was originally dated to the early Capreseous Period, which would have made it a contemporary of Tomatoceratops and the mighty Mozzarellodon.)

[pic source: http://jpl-live-the-legend.wikia.com/wiki/Basilosaurus_Cetoides]

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Suchomimus could only define itself in relation to others.

SUCHOMIMUS “Crocodile mimic” Early Cretaceous, 121-113 million years ago

Suchomimus was a smaller relative of Spinosaurus, though it was still 36 feet in length! It had a long, thin skull full of snaring teeth, suggesting it dined primarily on fish – a plentiful resource in its then-swampy western Africa habitat. Its name means “crocodile mimc,” because crocodiles run on two legs and roar now.

[pic source: http://jurassicpark.wikia.com/wiki/Suchomimus]

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VELOCIRAPTOR “Swift thief” Late Cretaceous, 75-71 million years ago 

Thanks to the Jurassic Park series of novels and films, Velociraptor is one of the most famous dinosaur genera. However, JP’s “raptors” are considerably larger than the real-life Velociraptor mongoliensis, due in part to Hollywood’s penchant for stretching the truth, but also to a nomenclatural misunderstanding. There was a time when Deinonychus (Deinonychus antirrhopus), a large North American relative, was re-classified by some as a species of Velociraptor (Velociraptor antirrhopus), perhaps explaining why an otherwise Asiatic genus was found in Montana near the beginning of the first film. Furthermore, fragmentary remains of a large, then-unclassified “Velociraptor relative” (the 15-to-19-foot-long Achillobator) had been found in Mongolia just prior to Michael Crichton’s first book. So, in the late 1980’s, the idea of a 12-foot “Velociraptor” was not completely unfounded. As we understand it today, Velociraptor was much less imposing. It was only about 6 feet long and less than 2 feet tall, it had a narrow, upward-curving skull, and it was probably covered in feathers. Yes, feathers. The new reconstruction has been hard to swallow for many. So entrenched is the Jurassic Park “raptor” in popular culture, that to gain any traction, several experts have decided to rebrand Velociraptor not as a tiny, feathered dinosaur, but as a “giant freaking murder-crow.” [citation needed]

[pic source: http://www.taringa.net/posts/info/16415639/Mis-5-dinosaurios-favoritos.html]

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Meet the oldest relative of Triceratops ever found in North America: Aquilops americanus "The American Eagle Face". The kitten-sized dinosaur sported a nose spike and a lot of American gumption. 

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DRACOREX “Dragon king” Late Cretaceous, 66 million years ago

Once considered its own genus, many scientists now believe Dracorex to be a juvenile Pachycephalosaurus. It is known from only one specimen – named “Dracorex Hogwartsia” in reference to the Harry Potter series of novels and films. This intersection of Potter fans and paleontologists is not surprising, as both share a penchant for fabulous beasts, social exile, and haphazard use of Latin.

[pic source: http://imgarcade.com/1/dracorex-hogwartsia-skeleton/]

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The story of Iguanodon IS the story of dinosaur paleontology. Watch as more fossils add to our evolving understanding of the dinosaur from lumbering Victorian rhino-beast to the agile modern animal we reconstruct today! What new fossils will we find that make our current ideas look goofy and out-of-date?

"The story of iguanodon is the story of dinosaur palaeontology". Two thumbs up for this podcast episode of pasttime.org, in which dinosaur enthusiasts Adam and Matt tell you the great story of iguanodons. With a lot of footage from our Dinosaur Gallery. They also talk about why our iconic iguanodons are in the false ‘kangaroo’ position. 

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Happy National (Saber-toothed) Cat Day!

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Scientific makeovers can make dinosaurs so catty...

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"TERRIBLE CLAW" GETS DR. SEUSS BODY

50 years ago paleontologists found the arms of a dinosaur that would have dwarfed T. rex...and found nothing else. They called it Deinocheirus - "terrible claws" - and kept looking for the rest. Today paleontologists announced the discovery of the rest of the pot-bellied, sail backed, horse headed beast.

The skeleton reveals Deinocheirus was closely related to omnivorous dinosaurs like Struthiomimus ("Ostrich mimic") and Gallimimus ("rooster mimic"). But none of them reach the scale of Deinocheirus, who would have shared the landscape with the Tyrannosaurus relative Tarbosaurus.

It was a hefty animal with widely spaced knees, and deep, toothless jaw. There's still a lot to learn about how this animal moved around, what it ate and how it used those claws, but at least the mystery of who owned the disembodied arms has been solved!

If you're in the New York area, you can check out Deinocheirus at the American Museum of Natural History. Just don't try to shake hands!

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2014/10/22/deinocheirus-exposed-meet-the-body-behind-the-terrible-hand/

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GIANT STRIDES FROM AN ANCIENT KANGAROO! A new study by Janis et al. (here's the link: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0109888) proposes the giant, short-faced, extinct kangaroos called the Sthenurinae (meaning "big tails) took a sharp turn from their living cousins by putting one foot in front of the other instead of hopping around! Modern kangaroos use their tails as an extra limb when they want to move a slow speeds, picking up their bodies with their tail and arms and doing a slow-motion hop. But the ancestors of the short-tailed giant kangaroos probably couldn't move like that and evolved rigid backbones to help them move like modern tree kangaroos (Which are by far the most awkward creatures to take to the trees. Yes, more awkward than sloths.) Scale that stride up and you get the giant, walking, short-faced 'roos of the Ice Age. The stable ankle, rigid back, and thick bones make the animal look more like a giant ground sloth than a hopping Skippy. The only piece of anatomy that doesn't quite fit the story is that giant kangaroos had only one long toe.  There is still plenty to discover in the world of fossil marsupials, but this is one big step in a new direction for kangaroos!

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Learn some exciting facts in our Deinosuchus episode by clicking here. Then learn a sad fact from saddinosaurfacts:

DEINOSUCHUS “Terrible crocodile” Late Cretaceous, 80-73 million years ago

Deinosuchus was a gargantuan crocodilian that lived alongside the dinosaurs. It could grow up to 36 feet long! It probably hunted much like a modern alligator – catching fish or ambushing land-dwellers stopping for a drink. The striking similarities between these powerful predators and their modern counterparts are a testament to their enduring laziness.

[picture source:http://dinosaurs.wikia.com/wiki/Deinosuchus, Deinosuchus skull compared to modern alligator]

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ALLOSAURUS “Other lizard” Late Jurassic, 155-150 million years ago

Allosaurus was probably the most common – and successful – carnosaur of the late Jurassic. It was a large but speedy predator, running up to 20 mph. It had sharp, powerful teeth and two ornate ridges along its skull, one above each eye. It was first discovered in the late 19th century, and enjoyed several decades of well-deserved fame before the garish Tyrannosaurus Rex eclipsed it in popularity. Experts agree that this elegant hunter was too noble to hold a grudge, and doesn’t need your pity.

[picture source:http://www.lovethesepics.com/tag/science/feed/]

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New podcast episode is live! Or as live as a paleontology-themed podcast can get...

We talk to paleoartist Julius Csotonyi, the guy responsible for these incredible images.

Find the episode here and become a dinosaur art aficionado! 

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www.pasttime.org From just a fistful of fossils, paleontologists were able to add another piece to the epic story of alligator evolution! Link to the paper: ...

The first You Tube edition of Past Time the paleontology podcast! Check out our other videos, listen to episodes of the show (you can listen to them in any order) and send us your burning questions about ancient life!