Episode 238 is all about Supersaurus, a Portuguese relative of Diplodocus.

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Supersaurus, at Tate Geological Museum

In this episode, we discuss:

News:

Several new opalized Iguanodontian fossils were described from Australia and were used to name a new dinosaur: Fostoria source

Two new dinosaurs were found in Thailand within a few miles of each other: Phuwiangvenator and Vayuraptor source

The National Museum in Rio de Janeiro lost less specimens than previously thought source

The new exhibit DinoQuest opened at the Science Centre Singapore source

A replica of Scotty the T. rex is now at the Durham Museum in Omaha, Nebraska source

The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Hall of Fossils reopened after years of renovations source

Kids from two group homes in Oklahoma will be digging for dinosaurs this summer at a site near Black Mesa source

Robert McIntosh made a video flying a drone through the Natural History Museum of Utah source

The French Lick Scenic Railway will have a Dinosaur Adventure Train and other activities source

In Michigan, 77-year old Sandra Crabb recently purchased Prehistoric Forest and hopes to bring it back to life source

In New Brunswick, Canada, Robin Hanson made a T. rex sculpture for his grandchildren source

John Hendrick’s mansion and ranch in Gateway, Colorado, is for sale including a dinosaur footprint source

Netflix released the first trailer for the new animated Jurassic World spinoff, Jurassic Park: Camp Cretaceous source

The dinosaur of the day: Supersaurus

Dilodocid sauropod that lived in the Late Jurassic in what is now Colorado and Wyoming, US (found in the Morrison Formation)

Type species is Supersaurus vivianae

Name means “super lizard”

Found in 1972 by Vivian Jones (species name after her)

Estimated to be 108-112 ft (33-34 m) long

Estimated to weigh about 32 to 38 metric tons

May have a similar body to Apatosaurus but less robust

Had a long tail and bulky body

Had a small head

Had one of the longest known necks (one large cervical vertebra found was 54 in or ~21 cm long)

Described in 1985 by James Jensen (informally named Supersaurus in 1973)

Originally found the shoulder girdle, ischium, and tail vertebrae

More complete individual found in Converse County, Wyoming, in 1996 and assigned to Supersaurus in 2007 (about 30% of the skeleton)

Potentially a second species: Supersaurus lourinhanensis, known from Portugal

A 2015 phylogenetic study of diplodocids found that Dinherirosaurus lourinhanensis is a new species of Supersaurus, Supersaurus lourinhanensis (Tschopp and others study, who brought back Brontosaurus)

Supersaurus has some junior synonyms: Ultrasauros/Ultrasaurus macintoshi and Dystylosaurus edwini

Jensen described Ultrasaurus but the type specimen was later found to be Supersaurus (dorsal vertebra) and had come from the same quarry

More to the story of Ultrasaurus, and we cover it in episode 21, Ultrasaurus

Dystylosaurus was a diplodocid found near the original Supersaurus quarry, and was also based on a dorsal vertebra later found to belong to Supersaurus

Can see a reconstruction at Wyoming Dinosaur Center (nicknamed “Jimbo”)

Fun Fact: Based on their olfactory bulb sizes, T. rex probably had an excellent sense of smell, but Archaeopteryx could not smell well.