Horniman bonus dinosaurs

As an addendum to my previous post, it's worth mentioning that there's some dinosaur material on permanent display at the Horniman...just not very much. Perhaps the most noteworthy dinosaur display consists of a series of very dated scale models. They're most definitely of the pre-Renaissance, cold-blooded old school, but very charming with it. Here's a selection.

Monster Families at the Horniman

While everyone knows the few 'big name' museums in London (the NHM among them), the city also boasts a surprisingly large number of more low-key institutions, some of which are well worth seeking out for the nuttier natural history enthusiast. One of these would be the Horniman Museum, located a stone's throw from Forest Hill station in south-east London. Currently the Horniman is home to the travelling exhibition 'Dinosaurs: Monster Families', which is naturally what drew Niroot and I in (for the second and first visit, respectively). Here's the skinny, y'all.

The Cretaceous Tortoise and Hare

Once upon a time, in the autumn of 2011, I submitted an artwork requested by one Scott Persons of the University of Alberta via Art Evolved...

Three years later, the resulting set of three illustrations -- a race between an Olorotitan and a Tarbosaurus -- was finally published in the press release for a study of hadrosaur locomotion by Dr. Phil Currie and Scott Persons, which I expect a number of our readers are already familiar with, either independently or via the Chasmosaurs Facebook page. There is also a podcast about the research. Here, for your delectation and privilege (or indeed indifference and ennui, so please you) are the illustrations at a much larger size, which can be opened out in a new tab/window for full-view if you wish. Much of the comic expression in the dinosaurs' eyes are missed in reduction -- something which I hadn't accounted for when I drew them.

The Aesop analogy subsequently repeated in the article was one which had actually occurred to Scott as a result of my original submission, as quoted in my linked Himmapaanensis post above: '...this is a charming twist (and one I had not anticipated). I like it very much!' I readily confess that my simple little ego was considerably flattered by this.

There is also a story behind the flag-waving Protoceratops, who was originally accompanied by a much more incongruous figure (again, for the sake of this post's conciseness, please see the first link for this). I don't know, you'd think I had a penchant for such a thing...

Prints of the illustrations were donated to the silent auction at the Alberta Dinosaur Research Institute fundraising dinner this past weekend. Sean Willett of the Dragon Tongues podcast (whom Marc and I had the great pleasure of meeting and speaking to at the first TetZooCon, and for whom David recently completed a new logo) had very kindly placed a bid on them. He informs me that the prints finally sold for over $100.

Photograph by Sean Willett

Of course, given that it has been three years since their creation, there are several things I would do differently now. So consider this the appropriate disclaimer/apology for any obvious shortcomings. I do know, however, that I would relish more such opportunities for playful pictures accompanying serious research in formal publications. Can we make this A Thing, please?

It's official: T. rex to be renamed

It's been looming in the background for some time, unbeknownst to the great unwashed masses. It's been an open secret among paleontologists and science enthusiasts, a dirty truth none would dare speak in public. That most famous of dinosaurs, a veritable symbol of nature's majesty and the wonders of the ancient world, was given the wrong name.

Tyrannosaurus rex is no more. Get used to saying Pseudodichotomasaurus inanis.

Just kidding. But it would be a fitting name for the tyrant king, with silly passages like this popping up in the media:

Tooth marks found on the humerus of a plant-eating dinosaur found in Mongolia have revealed that Tyrannosaurs were actually scavengers and not predators, as is widely believed [emphasis mine].

Ugh, DNA India. Is this the only way to lead this story? Are stark black-and-white dichotomies the only way to make nature interesting? Another meme that will not die. It makes you wonder if griping on blogs may not be the best way to affect change in the world.

Anyway, this is actually a cool story. It doesn't deal with T. rex itself, but with its fellow pseudodichotomasaur from Asia, Tarbosaurus. Paleontologists Dave Hone and Mahito Watabe recently published a study in Acta Palaeontologica Polonica which analyzed bite marks on the humerus of a remarkably well preserved skeleton of a hadrosaur called Saurolophus. Based on the spacing of the teeth and the strength of some of the bites, it was clear that Tarbosaurus, was the most likely suspect, as it was the only large tyrannosaur known from the area and time. This is one of those rare fossils that has a a story to tell beyond the structure of the animal itself.

Based on the lack of damage to the rest of the skeleton, the scientists determined that what had probably happened was that the Saurolophus was quickly buried after death, and when our fortunate Tarbosaurus happened across the carcass, all that was accessible was the left arm. The distinct patterns of tooth marks indicate that the Tarbosaurus bit into the ends of the bone, as well as delicately scraping at whatever meat was left on the middle portion. This clearly indicates scavenging behavior, as this is hardly the choicest cut on the animal, and had it been a fresh kill, the legs, ribs, and other spots containing nice hunks of meat would certainly show evidence of predation.


Feeding strategy one: scraping. By Matt Van Rooijen, used with his permission.


Feeding strategy two: biting and dragging. By Matt Van Rooijen, used with his permission.

Especially interesting here is that a large tyrannosaur like Tarbosaurus was quite capable of delivering a bite that could crush bone, and tyrannosaurs have been found with substantial amounts of crushed bone in their guts. This Tarbosaurus, however, shows that the teeth of the front of the jaw could be used with some finesse, as a kind of comb to remove muscle from flat surfaces of bone. Combined with the deeper bites and drag marks at the bone's ends - which Hone and Watabe believe may have been used to remove cartilage or dissemble the bones at the joints - the overall picture is of a giant theropod with a surgeon's touch. Then as now, predators employ various methods to get the sustenance they need in varying conditions.

"The argument over ‘was Tyrannosaurus (or big tyrannosaurs) a predator or scavenger’ has been going on for far too long and is, I think, not only dull, but largely pointless. It rather assumes that they were one or the other, when pretty much no carnivore is, what they are, is both," Hone writes, setting things straight as usual at Archosaur Musings.

More: Matt Van Rooijen's post about his Tarbosaurus reconstructions, LiveScience.

UPDATE 7-14-10: Fixed some of the wording of the opening based on a comment left by Jay below. I love me some constructive criticism!