STL Science Center

STL Science Center

16 February 2016

Paper Dinosaurs

Partly due to the fact that David Evans, the lead author of the description paper on Wendiceratops, is an editor at PLOS One and partly because it is a quick publishing open source venue of science, we have a readily available product to talk about in regards to papers. The dinosaur is so new to science that this is literally the only article that has been published at this time. The paper describes Wendiceratops in a good amount of detail and even goes on to discuss evolution within ceratopsids. Specifically, the evolution of the nasal horn and other nasal ornamentation is discussed at length. The paper includes locality maps and quarry maps, something useful for anyone that wants to look at the formation discussed, as well as providing copious amounts of scientific illustration and, better than illustration, high detail photographs of all of the fossil material that was collected and attributed to Wendiceratops. High definition photos are easier to come by and produce in the current age, but even so, they are not often included in their entirety in descriptive publications. This is due in part to the limitations of print journals (score one for online supplementals and open access electronic journals).

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