Originally posted by Mickey Mortimer |
STL Science Center
31 October 2013
In Storage
30 October 2013
Adasaurus is A Stocky Animal
©Mike Hanson |
29 October 2013
Inkless
Adasaurus has a short history of being written about. Unfortunately, it is a history that is mostly lacking. In part due to the recentness of the writing and in part due to the fact that the writing was not recent enough that it made its way onto the internet. There have been other articles which mention Adasaurus or allude to it such as this 2000 article about a French Dromaeosaurid. Sadly, that means, there are no scholarly articles to share without finding a paper copy of the original and scanning it. Hopefully someday someone will do that or we will find a copy that the publisher finally decided to put online.
28 October 2013
Gaming Material
27 October 2013
One For Kiddos
There are few fact pages dedicated to children for Adasaurus. We have seen fewer than are available today though. There is a pretty easy to read page over at Academic Kids, its only real short coming is how short it is. The About page on Adasaurus is a little more detailed, so we should definitely share that as well. The biggest loser of the day, though, is in the coloring pages area. There really are not any. This gelatinous dinosaur exists and there are a few that might qualify on deviantArt (the first page is kid friendly and only has one non-dinosaur but fully clothed model photo, beyond that I have not checked, so be wary). Those illustrations are not meant as coloring pages though, so so not assume that they can be used as such!
26 October 2013
Being Average
Unknown but clearly based on the Timothy Bradley illustration |
25 October 2013
Adding Up!
©Karkamesh (accuracy disputed) |
24 October 2013
Dubious Favorite
Acanthopholis, meaning "spiny scales", is somewhat famous, despite being dubious in its distinctions, from time to time. Unfortunately, the debatable nature of things due to fragmentary remains as well as the 1999 study that determined it to be a nomen dubium. Regardless, it has shown up on websites for information purposes and not in many other places. In fact, toys, books, and even modifications to video games seem to be lacking for Acanthopholis. It is just too bad that there is not much in the popular culture world for this dinosaur.
23 October 2013
Something New to Consider
In 1999 Superbiola and Barrett reviewed the materials attributed to Acanthopholis and determined that the material was not distinct enough to merit being anything more than fragmentary bits of the average Nodosaur. As such, they determined the name to be a nomen dubium and to disregard its existence. However, the name is still in use and considered valid, apparently, by the majority of research that I have seen. Nestled in the family Nodosauridae, Acanthopholis is a small member of the family with small oval dermal ossifications with spikes in the shoulder and neck area and along the spine. Nomen dubium or small Nodosaur? You decide.
©Mariana Ruiz |
22 October 2013
Short of A Prize
Thomas Huxley described and named Acanthopholis in the 19th century. Some of the writings he created in which the dinosaur is mentioned have survived long enough to make it online. However, these writings are far from free and, honestly, are quite a bit more expensive than a one or two page historical document would appear to warrant; though I am not a historiographer nor am I an appraiser so I cannot say with certainty that this is true. Regardless, at around $45 a piece, some of the articles from the Geological Magazine printed by the Cambridge University Press can be obtained. Ken Carpenter tackles armored dinosaur phylogeny in a book he edited called The Armored Dinosaurs and mentions the positioning of Acanthopholis within the family and this reading is far more easily available at any large library or here in piecemeal if one wanted to simply skim over an article.
21 October 2013
Drawing in Tribute
Acanthopholis has tribute videos, like many another dinosaur that has been featured in these hallowed spaces throughout the few short years this page has been open. It appears as though all dinosaurs will be revered at some point after we know about them and spread the wealth of our knowledge about them. The tribute video is shown here, view if you would like, or not. Remember, sometimes images are not exactly what they are credited as and that there is usually music. This one is in Spanish also, which is interesting. Personally, I am a big fan of this speed drawing video in terms of videos related to Acanthopholis; it really is not that speedy honestly, but it is faster than I would draw it.
20 October 2013
Acanthopholis, Late for Kids
Acanthopholis, though a bit late today, is for children and quite friendly in that regard. Since it is so late on a Sunday (in the states) I can only imagine this will not be seen by children until Monday. Therefore, may they enjoy an early Monday, or late Sunday fact page and a somewhat simplified coloring sheet:
19 October 2013
When You've Seen Them All
Nodosaurs, and Ankylosaurs, in general, appear to have always been drawn in a very odd way. Older illustrations are always pretty entertaining, and therefore, we shall start with that older illustration this time around. Acanthopholis in an old school fashion appears as do many of those old school Nodosaurs; namely with a semi-sprawling gait, dragging tail, and odd posture of the trunk brought about by the combination of sprawling and shortened forelimbs depicted here. The head of this Acanthopholis is also a little odd in that there is no dermal armor depicted on it; as if it was completely devoid of any type of protection. Even without "armor" the head of this dinosaur was most likely not entirely smooth as appears to be the case in this illustration.
The DK illustration, illustrator otherwise unknown, is a little more acceptable in terms of modern interpretation of the skeleton of Acanthopholis. The dermal armor on the trunk and tail are a little more heavy duty than they appeared on the older illustration. The tail is also held straight out from the body rigidly rather than drooping and dragging in the dirt. The trunk is now show as being mostly leveled with the forelimb less sprawled and therefore nearly as tall as the hindlimb. The head has also been massively updated with a keratinous beak and at least a less smoothed over skull roof if not a dermal plated skull roof.
The DK illustration, illustrator otherwise unknown, is a little more acceptable in terms of modern interpretation of the skeleton of Acanthopholis. The dermal armor on the trunk and tail are a little more heavy duty than they appeared on the older illustration. The tail is also held straight out from the body rigidly rather than drooping and dragging in the dirt. The trunk is now show as being mostly leveled with the forelimb less sprawled and therefore nearly as tall as the hindlimb. The head has also been massively updated with a keratinous beak and at least a less smoothed over skull roof if not a dermal plated skull roof.
18 October 2013
Feminine Dinosaurs
©Karkemish |
17 October 2013
Seeing Elaphrosaurus Again
Elaphrosaurus does not appear in the toy world nor does it appear in the literary world (outside of Paul's Predatory Dinosaurs) and it does not appear in many other places like documentaries and movies. How does such a long known and even a well known dinosaur over time become so unknown to the general public? Perhaps this dinosaur was not as famous as it seems to have been when it was discovered. Perhaps it just fell out of favor as more and more of the synonyms disappeared over time because they were investigated further and determined to be synonyms. Regardless, Elaphrosaurus was a very interesting dinosaur and has been illustrated hundreds of times even though it has not appeared in many typical popular sources. Take one last look at Elaphrosaurus:
16 October 2013
Elaphrosaurus is Snakey
Regardless of the image I use for Elaphrosaurus, it always seems as though it is just a little bit off. This includes the use of the two different skeletal mounts that have been simultaneously attributed to Elaphrosaurus. Both of those skeletons, however, do share traits that are very similar. The difference is in the skull. The mounted skeleton, which is the newer mounting of the skeleton, that is free-standing has a robust and much more oval-like skull whereas this encased skeleton, the original mounting, has an elongated snout that is low in profile. The skeleton, post-cranial, is very gracile though, appearing rather slender and "snakey" in that it appears to have allowed for a great deal of flexion in many different planes. The newer mount reflects a much more active animal and appears a little stiffer, but still retains that rather gracile look at the same time. The older mount, we can see here, has the "classic" dinosaur profile with the tail nearly dragging. This mount is certainly based on the old way of mounting skeletons and given that the animal was unearthed from the Tendaguru Formation in 1910, that makes a lot of sense; it is also very informative as to how dinosaurs used to be viewed for younger readers that may not remember the depiction of dinosaurs as slow tail dragging beasts.
15 October 2013
Lack of Papers
©Michael BH |
14 October 2013
Old Posts
Today feels like one of those days back when I started doing particular ideas or themes for different days of the week. Back in the beginning I found a lot of so-so tribute videos with music that was tolerable at best in the background. I also found a lot of Dinosaur George videos in which he answered emails on camera like this one.
These videos were always fun to watch; they have become quite a bit less frequent though and I assume it is because he has been a very busy guy as of late. Regardless, he has some good information and opinions, as always.
13 October 2013
The Tortoise and The Elaphrosaurus
12 October 2013
A Rather Blah Theropod
©Nobu Tamura |
©M. Shiraishi |
11 October 2013
A Lightweight Lizard
Elaphrosaurus skeleton, Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin |
10 October 2013
New Popularity
When dinosaurs are discovered and named they are media darlings for, usually, a few months, before their name starts to fall out of headlines and disappear back into the quiet rocks from whence they came (to get a little poetic). As noted, the official paper was released this year that described Nasutoceratops, but the story goes back 7 years to the 2006 unearthing of a nearly complete skull and a rather well preserved post cranial skeleton; "rather well" is a bit of a misnomer when we consider Ceratopsian post cranials as they are not often associated with skulls if they are present at all. The paper and name were known in 2010; editing and peer review, as usual, slowed publication for years. Nasutoceratops, therefore, should have been popular for the past 7 years instead of the last 7 months. Thankfully, though, Dr. Scott Sampson has presented our newest friend here at least once, as seen below, and that gets the name spread around. I predict this will be a much loved dinosaur in the next few years given its interesting anatomy.
09 October 2013
Horns and Noses
From Sampson et al. |
08 October 2013
In the News
Nasutoceratops, as we have discussed, is in the news a lot this year because of its discovery and naming in May. The paper that announced and discussed the anatomy of Nasutoceratops is available for free through the Royal Society. I can let the paper talk for itself today I think!
07 October 2013
More Newscasts
It is rough being the new guy on the block. As a dinosaur, unless it is the prime dinosaur documentary making time, which seems to happen every few years, there are pretty long furloughs where newly described dinosaurs have to wait for extended periods of time to be recognized. In our "gotta have news" world, however, I can dig up newscast after newscast that announces new dinosaurs; media outlets seemingly revel over being able to discuss new dinosaurs no matter what the public may think of that particular outlet's stance on dinosaurs and evolution I have seen announcements for newly named and described dinosaurs treated nearly equally by creationist websites and ABC news while NPR takes calls and comedians announce how ridiculous these new animals look. Everyone, somewhere in their mind, seems to love dinosaurs; I am not complaining. However, Nasutoceratops is far too recent a discovery to warrant its inclusion in anything other than newscasts though I have no doubt its unique physique will make it into a documentary sometime in the near future. Yesterday I shared an NPR broadcast that was a bit longer than a traditional news story, and today I would like to share the other extreme by sharing this one minute news story. Speed reading at, arguably, a very fine moment in news.
06 October 2013
Nasutoceratops is for Kids
Technically, it is not for kids. Really, there is not even really much of a fact page concerning Nasutoceratops that is completely related to children or for children. In part this is due to the newly described nature of the remains and it is also partly due to the fact that it just has not been done quite yet. In response to the lack of a fact page I have dug up an NPR Science Friday broadcast concerning the discovery and naming of Nasutoceratops. Have a listen and enjoy.
05 October 2013
Exaggerating the Exaggerated
©Lukas Panzarin |
The parietal frill's ornamentations are, simply put, very weak compared to the ornamentations of later members of the family like Styracosaurus. The brow horns' cores are slightly smaller than those of even more basal forms, such as Diabloceratops. The nasal ridge is quite prominent in Nasutoceratops and the sinus cavity is enlarged, as stated previously. The antorbital fenestra is not exactly larger than any other Ceratopsian or Centrosaurine specifically, but evidence for the extension of the sinus cavity extending along the nasal and top of the maxilla has been described briefly at least. An enlarged olfactory and sinus may provide us with what was essentially the first truffle scenting animal. Picture that for a moment as you look at this skull with its extremely forward pointing and almost horizontal brow horns; a truffle digging ceratopsian. That idea is one part speculation and two parts hopeful interpretation of what we are looking at on my part, however, and is not, to my knowledge endorsed by anyone else.
04 October 2013
Centrosaurs Bring in October
©Andrey Atuchin |
03 October 2013
Popularity and the Hound
Highlights by David Thomson |
02 October 2013
Before Things Got Dire
Hesperocyon, as the progenitor of the canid lineage, was an interesting small dog. Being only about 3 feet long and 4 pounds the "dog" was a rather small animal. It was also the only dog in the canine family with retractable claws (as far as I am aware). The body of the average Hesperocyon actually appeared much more like an extant civet than it did either a dog or a cat. The fact that it was not an arboreal living hunter make it much less like a civet or even its ancestors the Miacidae. Hesperocyon would eventually lead to a rapid radiation of canids including at least 28 members of the subfamily of Canidae, Hesperocyoninae that are most closely related to Hesperocyon. Canidae today includes a lot of species placed into two modern tribes: Canini (wolf related) and Vulpini (fox related); though this was generations away from Hesperocyon. We have seen many of those traits over this week that would continue into the descendants as well as those that would be lost, such as retractable claws.
01 October 2013
Hesperocyon's Brain
More than one study has been conducted on canine brain evolution. This, in part, is most likely due to the fact that people love dogs; canines are man's best friend after all. There have also been recent (this article is from 1994, so not too recent) phylogenetic studies conducted on Hesperocyon as well, but I admit I am more interested in the brain question today. Both of the papers I have found on brain evolution in canids discuss the evolution of the entire lineage of canines from Hesperocyon to the modern members of the family. One study uses endocranial casts of skulls throughout the lineage to discuss the evolution of the canids whereas the second paper discusses the endocranial casts of only Hesperocyon gregarius and Hesperocyon sp. to draw conclusions about the evolution of the canine brain. The former is available with purchase, subscription, or library loan and, while it appears to be solid in its science, that is only a preliminary conclusion drawn from the abstract. The latter paper is available for free, is a a fairly good read, and does provide a lot of good information in addition to a few very high detail images of skull casts, which are great to look at.
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