Episode 504: There’s a New Stegosaur in The city!. Baiyinosaurus used to be one of the crucial earliest stegosaurs ever discovered (from the Center Jurassic); Debate at the evolution of the tyrannosaur Daspletosaurus; Miragaia updates; And our newest Di-Know-It-All Problem!
Information:
- There’s a brand new stegosaur, Baiyinosaurus baojiensis supply
- A brand new learn about reaffirms that Daspletosaurus species advanced into one any other (anagenesis) supply
- Elopteryx could be a abnormal mountaineering dinosaur with an extended tail, and synonymous with Balaur supply
Di-Know-It-All Problem:
You’ll be able to win a big Spinosaurus teeth, fossilized leaf, and extra by way of profitable our Di-Know-It-All Problem! Each and every week from episode 502 to 509 we’ll learn a puzzle at the display which you’ll be able to input to win by way of answering questions. This week you’ll be able to input at bit.ly/dinochallenge504 and if you happen to’re a patron you’ll be able to resolution the consumer query at patreon.com/posts/107966271. All of the laws for the problem are at bit.ly/dinochallenge24
This episode is dropped at you by way of BetterHelp. Give on-line remedy a check out at betterhelp.com/IKD
The dinosaur of the day: Miragaia
- The most recent learn about discovered the species Miragaia longicollum to be a synonym of Dacentrurus (which used to be named first), and that any other Miragaia species, Miragaia longispinus, is in truth Alcovasaurus
- Plenty of papers on all 3 of those dinosaurs, so going to head thru every one by one after which speak about the newest learn about
- However first, a little bit about stegosaurs…
- Stegosaurs identified for his or her plates and spines on their necks, backs, and tails
- Stegosaurs lived within the Center Jurassic to Early Cretaceous and feature been present in North The us, Europe, Asia, Africa, and South The us
- First stegosaur fragments have been discovered within the 1840s, and the primary stegosaur skeletons have been discovered and described within the 1870s in North The us and Europe
- Maximum stegosaurs identified from partial skeletons or fragments
- Dacentrurus
- Get started with Dacentrurus, as it used to be named first
- Coated Dacentrurus in ep 252
- Stegosaur that lived within the Past due Jurassic, and perhaps the Early Cretaceous, of what’s now Europe
- First stegosaur ever discovered and named used to be Dacentrurus armatus, named by way of Richard Owen in 1875
- Despite the fact that it used to be named Omosaurus
- Genus title Omosaurus manner higher arm, and refers to its tough humerus
- At the start named Omosaurus armatus by way of Owen in 1875, then later Stegosaurus armatus by way of Lydekker in 1890
- Renamed to Dacentrurus in 1902 by way of Frederick Augustus, as a result of Omosaurus used to be already in use for a non-dinosaur
- Richard Lydekker attempted to resolve the naming factor by way of renaming it Stegosaurus, however didn’t learned Marsh had already named Stegosaurus armatus in 1877
- Sort species of Omosaurus is Omosaurus perplexus, named by way of Joseph Leidy in 1856
- Now a doubtful reptile that lived within the Past due Triassic in what’s now North Carolina, U.S.
- Named in accordance with tooth, vertebrae, ribs, and an osteoderm (that have been misplaced)
- Tooth have been instantly, conical, and pointed
- Leidy concept Omosaurus used to be a marine reptile, and the fossils could be referable to an animal already named
- Later regarded as a crocodilian, now regarded as most likely a phytosaur, and a nomen dubium
- Sort species, Omosaurus armatus named in 1875 (then later Dacentrurus) in accordance with a skeleton present in Swindon, England
- Genus title Dacentrurus manner “tail stuffed with issues”
- Species title armatus manner “armed”, and refers back to the huge spike Owen concept used to be at the higher arm
- Omosaurus / Dacentrurus used to be more or less a wastebasket taxon
- Many species named however simplest Dacentrurus armatus is legitimate
- Miragaia longicollum is also a junior synonym
- Dacentrurus holotype is incomplete, which made issues complicated
- Estimated to be 26 to 30 toes (8 to 9 m) lengthy and weigh as much as 8 lots
- Had a wide intestine, quick hindlimbs, and rather lengthy forelimbs
- Had 12 neck bones
- Had spines at the tail
- Most certainly had two rows of small plates on its neck and two rows of lengthy spikes at the tail
- Holotype is a partial skeleton that used to be present in Swindon, England
- Fossils present in 1874 in a clay pit, in lumps of hardened clay
- Holotype comprises portions of the pelvis, again and tail vertebrae, a proper femur, and a few unfastened vertebrae
- Additionally discovered a just about whole left arm, portions of the leg, a proper neck plate and a left tail spike
- The “Swindon” stegosaur is on show on the Herbal Historical past Museum in London
- Casts of the bones are most likely happening show on the Swindon’s new museum subsequent 12 months, in 2025
- Fossils present in England, France, Spain, and Portugal have been categorised as Dacentrurus (many have been fragmentary)
- An egg referred to Dacentrurus, present in Portugal (about 125 mm lengthy), that used to be discovered related to stegosaur bones
- A couple of stegosaurs have been discovered through the years, together with a partial skeleton in 1942 from Pedras Muitas in Portugal, which resulted in extra passion in in search of fossils and dinosaurs in Portugal
- One skeleton used to be regarded as a sauropod (Astrodon pusillus), however later learn about in 1981 discovered it to be a juvenile stegosaur
- In 1991, Peter Galton redescribed all of the stegosaur fossils discovered and referred maximum of them to Dacentrurus armatus
- In 2008 Susannah Maidment discovered simplest the holotype used to be Dacentrurus armatus, and many of the named species to be nomina dubia
- Stegosaur vertebrae present in Spain have been described as Dacentrurus armatus in 2013, they usually helped display some variation in Dacentrurus
- In 2021, fossils discovered from the Early Cretaceous of what’s now France (portions of the braincase, vertebrae, and ribs) have been assigned to Dacentrurus
- To recap, plenty of stegosaur fossils present in Europe were referred to Dacentrurus
- Then got here Miragaia
- Prior to Miragaia, nearly all stegosaur specimens present in Portugal and Spain have been categorised as Dacentrurus armatus
- Coated Miragaia in ep 116
- Stegosaurid that lived within the Past due Jurassic in what’s now Portugal (Lourinhã Formation), and Wyoming, U.S. (Morrison Formation)
- Named in 2009 by way of Octávio Mateus, Susannah Maidment and Nicolai Christiansen
- Stegosaur, so appeared reasonably like Stegosaurus, with plates on its neck, however with a for much longer neck, and spikes at the again
- Maximum stegosaurs had quick necks for his or her our bodies
- Had a long-neck, the longest identified neck of any stegosaur, with no less than 17 neck vertebrae
- Had 8 extra neck bones than the ancestors it advanced from (basal Thyreophorans and ornithischians)
- Had extra neck bones than many sauropods
- A few of Miragaia’s neck bones was a part of the higher again however advanced to serve as like neck bones
- Lengthy neck might imply it will browse for meals different herbivores couldn’t succeed in
- Or perhaps the lengthy neck attracted friends
- Estimated to be about 20 to 21 toes (6 to six.5 m) lengthy and weigh about 2 lots
- Walked on all fours, had a small head and an extended tail that led to spikes
- Idea to have shoulder spines, however later discovered to be a part of the tail
- Had two pairs of lengthy tail spines
- Had a couple of triangular plates that ran down its neck
- Had a beak with out a tooth on the tip
- Had a notch within the tip of the snout that used to be formed like a W, when noticed from above
- Sort species is Miragaia longicollum
- Two species: Miragaia longicollum and Miragaia longispinus (the second one species is now regarded as to be Alcovasaurus)
- Genus title Miragaia is after the parish in Porto, Portugal and the geologic unit the place the fossils have been discovered
- Genus title Miragaia manner “superb goddess of the Earth”
- Species title longicollum manner lengthy neck in Latin
- Holotype is a just about whole entrance part of a skeleton with a partial cranium (comprises many of the snout, portions of the jaws, 15 neck bones, again vertebrae, ribs, shoulder bones, many of the hands, and 13 bony plates plus a spike)
- Fossils discovered whilst construction a street between the villages Miragaia and Sobral
- Again part of the skeleton most likely destroyed within the development
- Fossils have been excavated in August 1999 and 2001
- In accordance with histology, can be skeletally mature someday between 21 to twenty-five years outdated
- A juvenile used to be discovered on the similar location because the holotype, and comprises two partial again vertebrae and a partial pelvis
- Holotype of Miragaia used to be for some time regarded as Dacentrurus
- Miragaia longicollum previously has been referred to as Dacentrurus
- Debate through the years as as to whether Miragaia is legitimate
- In 2010, Alberto Cobos and others stated all of the distinctive options of Miragaia have been on portions of the skeleton that have been lacking from the Dacentrurus holotype present in England that lived round the similar time, and that during bones that overlapped, they appeared the similar
- They instructed Miragaia used to be a junior synonym of Dacentrurus
- In 2019, Francisco Costa and Octávio Mateus discovered Miragaia longicollum to be legitimate, after they described a specimen that used to be present in 1959 however wasn’t ready till 2015 to 2017 (probably the most whole dinosaur present in Portugal, and comprises portions of the back and front part of the skeleton, and tail bones)
- Additionally they stated Alcovasaurus used to be a 2nd species of Miragaia: Miragaia longispinus
- However then in 2024, Sergio Sánchez-Fenollosa, Fernando Escaso, and Alberto Cobos discovered Miragaia to be a junior synonym of Dacentrurus and for Alcovasaurus longispinus to be legitimate (gets into that)
- Again to the 2019 learn about: described a lately ready, lovely whole stegosaur discovered within the Lourinhã Formation in Portugal (MG 4863)
- Were in garage for some time, now not ready, and with out a box notes, simplest recognized by way of the label “Atouguia da Baleia”, and one of the crucial fossils have been jumbled together with unprepared subject matter of the holotype of Dracopelta (an ankylosaur)
- Fossils have been rediscovered in 2009, after which a part of a 2015 thesis, and sooner or later used to be nearly absolutely ready and studied
- Fossils from the similar person
- Skeleton is rather whole and comprises a part of the cranium, neck, again, and tail vertebrae, a part of the pelvis, legs, portions of the ft, fragments of plates, and extra
- Maximum whole dinosaur described in Portugal and probably the most whole stegosaur present in Europe, and some of the whole stegosaurs on this planet, as of 2019
- Most of the bones broke or have been beaten or twisted, however nonetheless lovely neatly preserved
- Discovered MG 4863 to be a tender grownup, now not absolutely grown, in accordance with main points within the neck vertebrae and loss of visual sutures
- MG 4863 referred to as the “Rosetta stone” specimen
- With this new specimen, the skeleton of Miragaia used to be now nearly absolutely identified (lacking again and tail osteoderms)
- Discovered MG 4863 had the similar characters as Miragaia longicollum and might be prominent from Dacentrurus, so it used to be referred to Miragaia longicollum
- MG 4863 had 4 portions of sacral ribs, which in some stegosaurs has been instructed to signify men (5 pairs most likely women), however the selection of vertebrae fused in combination to shape the sacral rod varies in stegosaurs, so now not transparent if this specimen is male
- Had 45 tail vertebrae
- Had huge spines over maximum or complete of its tail
- In accordance with this specimen and the holotype of Miragaia, learn about discovered plenty of detailed options (29 characters) that have been other from Dacentrurus, and that the 2 dinosaurs have been separate and legitimate
- MG 4863 now on show on the Museu Geológico de Lisboa
- Additionally discovered plenty of similarities with Alcovasaurus longispinus
- Alcovasaurus
- Stegosaur that lived within the Past due Jurassic in what’s now Wyoming, U.S. (Morrison Formation)
- Estimated to be about 21 toes (6.5 m) lengthy and weigh nearly 4 lots, or perhaps as much as over 5 lots
- Had a sacrum attached by way of six pairs of sacral ribs (different stegosaurs have 4 or 5)
- Had a versatile tail
- Longest spike at the tail used to be 34 in (86 cm) lengthy, however the level used to be damaged, so could have been as much as nearly 39 in (99 cm) lengthy
- Fossils present in 1908, a partial skeleton, close to Alcova in Wyoming, U.S. (Morrison Formation)
- Fossils present in 1908, and used to be described in 1914 by way of Charles Whitney Gilmore as Stegosaurus longispinus
- Miragaia longispinus has been referred to as Alcovasaurus longispinus, and prior to that Natronasaurus, and prior to that ?Kentrosaurus, and Stegosaurus
- Title Natronasaurus didn’t stick as it used to be revealed in a self-published e-book that didn’t have an ISSN
- Fossils come with 42 vertebrae, a part of the pelvis, the appropriate femur, a number of ribs and tail spines
- Sort specimen used to be broken within the past due Twenties, when water pipes on the College of Wyoming burst and there used to be water harm
- Considered misplaced, however there may be nonetheless a proper femur and plaster casts of the tail spikes, in addition to pictures
- In 2016, Peter Galton and Kenneth Chippie re-examined pictures and the fossils and named it the brand new genus Alcovasaurus
- Additionally referred a big spherical spike base to Alcovasaurus, which is misplaced, however there’s a solid (used to be discovered within the Nineteen Nineties)
- Sort species is Alcovasaurus longispinus
- Genus title refers to Alcova, Wyoming
- Species title manner “lengthy backbone”
- The 2019 learn about by way of Francisco Costa and Octávio Mateus discovered Alcovasaurus used to be now not distinct from Miragaia and renamed it Miragaia longispinus
- That brings us to the newest learn about, from 2024
- “A brand new specimen of Dacentrurus armatus Owen, 1875 (Ornithischia: Thyreophora) from the Higher Jurassic of Spain and its taxonomic relevance within the Ecu stegosaurian range”
Sergio Sánchez-Fenollosa, Fernando Escaso, Alberto Cobos
Zoological Magazine of the Linnean Society
(thanks Sergio for sending us the paper!) - The gist is that Miragaia longicollum is now Dacentrurus armatus, and Miragaia longispinus is again to Alcovasaurus longispinus
- That signifies that the stegosaurs of the Past due Jurassic of Europe at the moment are simply Dacentrurus armatus and Stegosaurus stenops (not more Miragaia longicollum)
- How did we get right here?
- There’s a brand new stegosaur specimen from San Cristóbal web page in Teruel, Aragón, Spain (Villar del Arzobispo Formation)
- Fossils present in situ. One person
- Came upon in 2005 and in part excavated in 2007
- Fossils taken to Museo Aragonés de Paleontología
- Extra bones have been later excavated and ready however stay on web page (a part of a museographic and vacationer undertaking referred to as ‘Dinosaur Path’)
- Method one of the crucial fossils are within the box, and researchers and guests can see it in an enduring show off (lined by way of a protecting construction)
- Fossils ready come with 10 again vertebrae, a number of ribs, bones from the sacrum (across the decrease again), bones from the hips, and a thigh bone and shin bone (femur and tibia)
- Within the learn about, the workforce re-examined all identified specimens of Dacentrurus and Miragaia, together with the brand new specimen (11 folks in all)
- Find out about described all of the fossils intimately, and in comparison them to different stegosaurs
- Miragaia has been debated prior to (even authors who described it later stated it might be Dacentrurus sp)
- Miragaia used to be established as a separate species from Dacentrurus as a result of now not sufficient overlapping fossils have been discovered (so the 2 dinosaurs couldn’t be in comparison), and on account of this, the authors stated it makes issues unsure. Additionally stated the few fossils that do overlap glance the similar
- The brand new specimen, CT-28, has options noticed in Dacentrurus specimens and Miragaia specimens, so it is helping fill in gaps and resolution questions
- Discovered that one of the crucial options that made Miragaia distinctive have been because of person variation, and might be suffering from the placement of vertebrae being misidentified (the place in sequence it used to be situated), and by way of issues going down within the fossilization procedure distorting the bones
- Discovered a couple of examples of person variation amongst all of the specimens
- For instance, there are 4 sacral vertebrae within the holotype of Dacentrurus, however there are 5 sacral vertebrae in different folks). This isn’t abnormal, because it’s noticed in different stegosaurs, together with Stegosaurus stenops and Kentrosaurus aethiopicus
- Stated extra specimens are wanted (hashtag extra fossils) to assist additional explain
- There may be nonetheless unpublished subject matter which can provide much more insights
- Up to date the options that make Dacentrurus, Dacentrurus
- Discovered Dacentrurus had 10 distinctive options, in accordance with the holotype and referred specimens
- Contains main points within the tail bones (quick neural spines), and main points within the pelvic house
- Different main points come with having no less than 17 neck vertebrae, the top of the snout being drawn into some extent, and different main points within the neural spines and vertebrae
- Discovered there have been fewer similarities between Alcovasaurus and Miragaia than Miragaia and Dacentrurus, particularly with the brand new CT-28 specimen
- Additionally discovered distinctive options in Alcovasaurus so it’s a separate genus
- Since Miragaia is thought of as to be Dacentrurus, Alcovasaurus is legitimate once more
Amusing Reality:
The ceratopsian Protoceratops will not be the muse at the back of the mythical griffin.
Thanks Consumers!
Your fortify manner such a lot to us and helps to keep us going! For those who’re a dinosaur fanatic, sign up for our rising group on Patreon at patreon.com/iknowdino