Dinosaurs of Utah: Nothronychus

Posted on by ichabodpain

Standing about 3.5 meters tall and roughly 4.5 to 6 meters long, Nothronychus was a common sight in the late Cretaceous forests. Nothronychus was a member of the Therizinosaur family, notable for the massive sickle-shaped claws on their forearms, which could grow to be around 30 centimeters long.  Despite what one might think, these are not the claws of a predator. They are, instead, the tools of a one-ton herbivore. Nothronychus had a beak with leaf-shaped teeth, which was attached to a long neck, a potbellied torso, and fairly short tail.

Nothronychus is a relatively recent discovery. The first skeleton to be identified as a new species first came to light in 2001, described by James Kirkland and Douglas Douglas G. Wolfe during a dig in the Zuni Basin of New Mexico.  During the dig, a section of the ischium (the rear portion of the pelvis) was uncovered and thought to be part of the frill of a nearby Zuniceratops. Further investigation revealed the truth, and more pieces were quickly discovered and dubbed Nothronychus mckinleyi, Slothful Claw. While we don’t have an entire skeleton yet, a more complete example was recovered at the Big Water site in Southern Utah a year before, in 2000. It wasn’t determined to be a therizinosaurid until later, . This one lacks a skull, is larger and more robust creature than N. mckinleyi, but clearly related. It wasn’t until 2009 that is was given the name Nothronychus gaffami. Up until these discoveries, no therizinosaurids had been discovered outside of Mongolia and China.

We haven’t discovered a great deal about Therezinosauroid behaviors yet, but have made some inferences on their behavior and the purpose behind their massive claws based on animals with similar tools, such as ground sloths and giant pandas. Most paleontologists believe that the claws were used to either sever or pull branches down to nosh on tasty leaves. Other members of the Therezinosaurid family have provided a few more details on these bizarre creatures. Skin impressions found on Beipiaosaurus indicate that they were covered with a coat of down-like early feathers, giving them a shaggy appearance in most modern reconstructions.  Further discoveries suggest a social order, with a  large batch of fossilized eggs being discovered in the Gobi Desert in 2011. These eggs appeared to have all hatched, suggesting that there was a communal nesting site.

No doubt we’ll find more and more information about these fascinating creatures as time goes on, and discover more of their lifecycle, habits, and build.

 

Dinosaurs of Utah: Allosaurus Fragilis

Posted on by Luke

Welcome back everyone! In this installment of Dinosaurs of Utah we are going to cover probably the most famous carnivore of the Jurassic period. Allosaurus Fragilis was named by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1877. The name means ‘Different Lizard‘ and was found in Utah’s Cleveland-Lloyd Quarry, a site containing the densest concentration of Jurassic dinosaur bones in the world. Of the at least 74 individual dinosaurs found at the quarry, about 46 of them are Allosaurus specimens, according to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

Allosaurus ranged from about 28 to 43 feet (8.5 to 13 meters) long, and any where between 10 to 16 feet ( 3 to 5 meters) tall and weighed around 1.6 tons (1700 kg). Allosaurus had 10 inch razor sharp claws on their three digit hands, they also had a mouth full of serrated razor sharp teeth (between 14 and 17) and their jaw could open to roughly to a 79 degree angle. This may have given them an advantage in taking down some of their largest prey including the giant sauropod Apatosaurus.

Speaking of Allosaurus’ prey number one on their list seems to have been the armored dinosaur Stegosaurus. There is proof of this found in the fossil record. There way an Allosaurus vertebra found with a puncture wound inflicted from the tail spike (Thagomizer) of a Stegosaurus, along with this there have been Stegosaurus fossils found with bite wounds that line up with that of an Allosaurus. The way that Allosaurus’ teeth were indicated that instead of the crushing through skin and bone, like the T-Rex, it stripped the flesh from its food. Evidence of this can be found in many sauropod fossil remains.

Allosaurus became the Utah state fossil in 1988 and can be seen in pretty much and dinosaur museum in Utah. At Dinosaur National Monument outside of Vernal, Utah you can see a real Allosaurus skull at the Carnegie Quarry wall. If you have been there or anywhere else that has an Allosaurus please send us your pictures in the comments!

Dinosaurs of Utah: Utahceratops Gettyi

Posted on by Luke

This is the first post in a series of articles discussing all of the wonderful dinosaurs found in the state of Utah. If you are like me then you love the idea that dinosaurs at some point in time walked exactly where live! Personally I find it utterly astounding that these animals lived over 66 Million Years Ago, and some how they are still able to capture our imagination, whether young or old or where you hail from.

The first dinosaur I would like to talk about is the fairly recently named Utahceratops Gettyi. It was discovered in 2010 in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument near Kanab, Utah, and named by Dr. Scott Sampson. Pictured below is a Utahceratops specimen that The Jurassic Files took on their recent visit to the Natural History Museum of Utah. 20170504_152550.jpg

The Utahceratops belongs to group of dinosaurs called the Ceratopsians. These dinosaurs are usually fairly easy to spot, with their giant bony neck frills and their long horns that protrude from above their eyes and on their nose. The most famous Ceratopsian would have to be the Triceratops made famous over the years in its duels with the Tyrannosaurus Rex. Utahceratops is estimated to be about 6.6 feet tall and around 23 ft. long. So basically it was around the size of a small to medium sized Elephant.

Utah in the Cretaceous period was very green and lush swampy area on the western continent of Laramidia. Laramidia stretched from modern day Alaska down to Mexico, this is why there are an abundance of fossils in Utah, the conditions were almost perfect Utahceratops-609x800to cause these animals to fossilize after they died.

The Utahceratops was not discovered alone, the dinosaur Kosmoceratops Richardsoni was discovered and named at the same time. Kosmoceratops actually garnered more attention than Utahceratops due to the amazing ornamentation that adorned its skull.

If you would like to see an amazing specimen of Utahceratops I would highly suggest a trip to the Natural History Museum of Utah. Here you will be able to see many Ceratopsians including Kosmoceratops and Utahceratops.