Dinosaurs of the Day – Baryonix, Bristol, more - January 14, 2008
Some dinosaur delights for your delectation
Crocodile rocks
Engineering techniques applied to the skull of a Baryonyx fossil have shown that this dinosaur ate in a way reminiscent of the Indian fish-eating crocodilian gharial, with the skull bending and stretching. “On excavation, partially digested fish scales and teeth, and a dinosaur bone were found in the stomach region of the animal, demonstrating that at least some of the time this dinosaur ate fish,” says researcher Emily Rayfield. “Moreover, it had a very unusual skull that looked part-dinosaur and part-crocodile, so we wanted to establish which it was more similar to, structurally and functionally – a dinosaur or a crocodile.”
Her team compared Baryonyx, a theropod dinosaur, an alligator, and a gharial. “[A]lthough Baryonyx and the gharial have independently evolved to feed in a similar manner, through quirks of their evolutionary history their skulls are shaped in a slightly different way in order to achieve the same function. This shows us that in some cases there is more than one evolutionary solution to the same problem,” says co-author Angela Milner, of the UK’s the Natural History Museum (press release, research abstract from the Journal of of Vertebrate Paleontology, Daily Telegraph news coverage)
Rayfield, and some of the techniques used here, appear in a recent Nature News piece on sabretooth skulls.
Shipshape and Bristol fashion
Another story out of Bristol, this one concerning the reappraisal of Thecodontosaurus.
Scientists have discovered it lived not in a desert on the mainland but on subtropical islands. New research suggests that the dinosaur’s small size could be due to ‘island dwarfing’, where species isolated on islands shrink in size over time.
Mapping of the area shows the islands were quite small and frequently swept by fires. The pygmy species unearthed near Bristol may all have perished in these fires, the researchers suggest (press release, research abstract from the Geological Magazine, BBC news coverage).
Self-taught tracker hits big find
AP has a nice story on Ray Stanford a UFO enthusiast who seems to have a talent for finding dinosaur tracks.
When was the first dinosaur found?
Press Connects has an interesting answer to this question.
Image: Emily Rayfield holding a gharial skull / copyright NHM