Episode 247 is all about Patagonykus, The “Patagonian claw” alvarezsaur from the Cretaceous.

We also interview Annalisa Berta, a paleontologist and professor emerita at San Diego State University. She’s also the co-author, along with Dr. Susan Turner, of the upcoming book Women in Vertebrate Paleontology, which is a history of women bone hunters beginning in the late 1700s.

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In this episode, we discuss:

News:

Elektorornis chenguangi was named based on its fuzzy foot, which was found in amber source

Elektorornis may have used its toe fuzz like birds use their facial bristles today source

A team of paleontologists found the first ever Tyrannosauripus footprint in China source

The Great Plains Dinosaur Museum is offering a dinosaur dig program for adults and kids in Malta, Montana source

Leeds city centre, in the UK, has five animatronic dinosaurs for the next few weeks source

In Fortnite Season X, there are weekly missions, including finding dinosaurs source

The new anime series “Jurassic!” will combine a modern world and prehistoric animals source

The dinosaur of the day: Patagonykus

Alvarezsaur that lived in the Cretaceous in what is now Neuquen Province, Argentina (Portezuelo Formation)

Estimated to be 6.5 ft (2 m) long

Holotype is incomplete, and includes vertebrae, partial forelimb, pelvic girdle, and hindlimbs (no skull)

Probably ate insects

Alvaresaurs are small, bipedal, and probably ate insects

Alvaresaurs also had short, robust forelimbs

Type species is Patagonykus puertai

Genus name means “Patagonian claw”

Described in 1996 by Novas

A second specimen was found in 2003, but only one digit from its finger

Other dinosaurs that lived around the same time and place include Megaraptor, Rinconsaurus and Antarctosaurus

Fun Fact: By looking at Tarbosaurus teeth, it appears that what is now the Gobi dessert was once a forest full of conifer trees (things like redwood, pine, & cedar).