Episode 207 is all about Montanoceratops, a primitive ceratopsian with an unusually deep tail thanks to its vertebral spines.

We also interview Ashley & Lee Hall, both from the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Ashley is the Adult Programs Coordinator and Lee is a Preparator and Lab Manager. But more importantly, like us, their wedding heavily featured dinosaurs. Follow Ashley on twitter & Instagram @LadyNaturalist and Lee on on twitter & Instagram @Paleeoguy

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In this episode, we discuss:

News:

More details from this years SVP conference (referenced abstracts can be found in the PDF from the meeting) source T. rex could turn more quickly than similar dinosaurs New histology on the tyrannosaurs Jane & Petey show that Nanotyrannus is probably a juvenile T. rex Simulated jaw mechanics showed the bite force and bone penetration of several tyrannosaurs The juvenile T. rex Found N.E. Montana includes partial hands, feet, vertebrae, ribs, a partial skull, and teeth Therizinosaurs have an unusual combination of basal arm musculature and more avian style leg musculature Dinosaurs’ unique single ovary appears to have evolved after Oviraptor but before Troodontidae We don’t know if large bodied dromaeosaurs (velociraptor and larger) had tail fans The new “Mtuka titanosaur” was found in Africa An analysis of fossil fragments in Mygatt-Moore showed about half of the bones had marks on them Maiasaura humeri bone microstructure changed as they aged, supporting a shift from bipedal to quadrupedal Pachycephalosaurus has theropod-like teeth in the front and other similarities to Dracorex An analysis of the pachycephalosaur Sphaerotholus showed that all 3 species should be considered valid Early dinosaurs had thin semi rigid eggs, but in the early to mid Jurassic their eggs got thicker—possibly as a solution to dehydration and predation By studying dozens of crocodilian, turtle, and bird nests, researchers found that the arrangement is preserved well as it is buried Professional fossil preparator tips include: wear gloves, use tools only after getting training, and test other methods in advance to avoid unwanted destruction High quality photogrammetry and 3D printing can be achieved using cheaper equipment It is important to standardize and clean up the large amounts of historical fossil data so that it is easy to search and understand



The dinosaur of the day: Montanoceratops

Name means “Montana horned face”

Small ceratopsian that lived in the Cretaceous in what is now Montana and Alberta

Quadrupedal, up to 9.8 ft (3 m) long

Primitive ceratopsian, had claws instead of hooves and had teeth in the upper jaw, instead of a toothless beak

Originally thought to have a nasal horn but turns out it was a cheek horn

Herbivore, probably used its beak to bite off leaves or needles

Had tall spines on the bones of its tail, though the spines were covered when it was alive

Tail was deep, and was flexible, so may have been used to signal to other Montanoceratops

First found in the St. Mary River Formation, and fossils collected in 1916 by Barnum Brown and Peter Kaisen

Material Brown found included an incomplete skull, several ribs, some vertebrae, pelvic girdle, femora, left tibia and fibula, some toes

Fossils are in the American Museum of Natural History collection

Reconstruction was mounted in 1935

Named in 1942 by Brown and Erich Maren Schlaikjer as a new species of Leptoceratops (Leptoceratops cerorhynchos)

Charles Sternberg studied more Leptoceratops in 1951 and found that the material Brown described was its own genus, Montanoceratops

Now is the type species of Montanoceratops

David Weishampel found more fossils in 1986

Description of these fossils published in 1998 by Brenda Chinnery and Weishamepl

Brown collected more material in 1910 from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation in Alberta, Canada. Peter Makovicky described it in 2001 (well-preserved braincase) and assigned it to Montanoceratops

Montanoceratops was a leptoceratopsid, that lived in the same habitats as larger ceratopsids and were pretty diverse

St. Mary River Formation had mountains on one side, and had small ponds, streams, and floodplains

Other dinosaurs that lived in the St. Mary Formation included ceratopsians Anchiceratops and Pachyrhinosaurus, nodosaur Edmontonia, hadrosaur Edmontosaurus, theropods such as Hagryphus, Sauronotholestes, Troodon, tyrannosaurid Albertosaurus

Also lived among fish, mosasaurs, reptiles, mammals, mollusks, and snails

Horseshoe Canyon Formation had a valley with channels, swamps, river deltas, floodplains, shorelines, and wetlands. Also had changing sea levels, with marine habitats, lagoons, tidal flats. It was subtropical, and wet and warm

Other dinosaurs that lived in the Horseshoe Canyon Formation included Anodontosaurus, Edmontonia, Euoplocephalus, maniraptorans such as Atrociraptor, Epichirostenotes, Richardoestesia, troodontids like Paronychodon, theropods like Albertonykus, ornithomimids like Dromiceiomimus and Ornithomimus, pachycephalosaurids like Stegoceras, ornithopods like Parkosaurus, hadrosaurids like Edmontosaurus, Hypacrosaurus, and Saurolophus, ceratopsians such as Anchiceratops, Arrhinoceratops, Eotriceratops, Pachyrhinosaurus, tyrannosauroids like Dryptosaurus, tyrannosaurids like Albertosaurus and Daspletosaurus

Mostly had hadrosaurs

Other animals included sharks, rays, sturgeons, and other fish, plesiosaurs, early marsupials, invertebrates (marine and terrestrial)

Cool climate, didn’t have many reptiles such as crocodilians and turtles (though possible that turtle diversity was declining)

Fun Fact:

Alamosaurus sanjuanensis is currently the only known titanosaur from North America.

Sponsors:

This episode is brought to you in part by TRX Dinosaurs, which makes beautiful and realistic dinosaur sculptures, puppets, and animatronics. You can see some amazing examples and works in progress on Instagram @trxdinosaurs

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