Not Enough Bacteria, Too Many Allergies

If you were to hear someone say "by making our world more sterile, we're actually making ourselves sicker," you might think they were full of it: initially, it sure doesn't sound like it makes any sense. Interestingly, however, it seems as if this may, in fact, be true: our attempts to make our world a cleaner place, we are slowly and steadily weakening our own immune systems!

It all started yesterday as I was working at the Morrison Natural History Museum, watering and destroying the angiosperms from the Jurassic Garden with "extreme prejudice," as angiosperms do not appear to have inhabited Colorado during the Jurassic Period. I started wondering why there was so much dead plant material around the base of the plants in the garden, and, for lack of a better conclusion, decided that it was probably because the bacteria that would normally digest these plants didn't actually live here. (I still don't know whether that is true or not). The topic of bacteria triggered my brain to start thinking about digestive bacteria: I was quite hungry, you see. It had been brought to my attention in the past that, even if humans were somehow able to miraculously clone a dinosaur, we almost certainly couldn't keep them alive. Each animal on the planet has its own, unique set of bacteria that helps it to digest its food. With the extinction of the dinosaurs, it is almost certain that the bacteria that constantly accompanied them in their digest tracts went extinct, as well.

This line of thought made me think about the passing of bacteria from the parents to their offspring. How is it done? I assumed that they weren't born with it, but I wasn't sure. I ended up thinking that perhaps, in animals that regurgitate food into the mouths of their young (like penguins), perhaps this was how the bacteria was passed. With perfect timing, out came Matt Mossbrucker, the director and curator at the Morrison Museum. I asked him whether it was, indeed, regurgitation that passed the bacteria on, and he said yes: partially. You know how many animals (such as your dog and cat at home) will eat poop? That's at least part of the reason: they're trying to get bacteria from the poop to help them digest their food!

After thinking about it for a few seconds, I realized that humans (most of us, anyways) neither regurgitate our food for our young 'uns, nor do we eat each others poop. So I asked Matt whether humans get this bacteria through breast milk: turns out, we don't. So how do we get the bacteria?

According to recent research, humans aren't getting enough bacteria to digest their food. Much of this research seems to indicate that perhaps this is the reason why so many humans have digestive issues, allergies, and the like. Matt also said that, just like I said in the introduction, "by making our world more sterile, we're actually making ourselves sicker." Still sound paradoxical? Well, ultimately, humans are trying so dang hard to sterilize their world with hand sanitizer, bleach, alcohol, and soap, that we aren't being exposed to as many pathogens. While in some cases this is a good thing, in other cases, our immune systems, just like the six-pack of someone who doesn't exercise, slowly weaken.  And, of course, a weak immune system is good for no one!

So is the moral of the story to stop washing your hands?  No, of course not.  It's to go out there and eat poop.  See you later, everyone!

When Is A Turtle Not A Turtle?

When it's a placodont!  All right, so they're technically not turtles.  Instead, they are a classic example of the fascinating phenomenon known as "convergent evolution," as we shall soon see!

Placodonts were a fascinating group of marine reptiles that lived during the Triassic Period in the Mesozoic Era, between around 235 and 200 million years ago (MYA), and thought to have a common ancestor with the long-necked plesiosaurs and the long-necked nothosaurs, all of which are in the large group called the saruopterygians.  As a group, the placodonts are sometimes referred to as "walrus turtles," due to their diet of molluscs and other shelled invertebrates and, of course, their general appearance.

Like the turtles and tortoises of today, the placodonts would not have been all that quick and nimble.  Their weight would have made them negatively buoyant, akin to the manatees and sea cows of today, meaning that they would have had no trouble swimming along the bottom of the ocean, snapping up molluscs and other shelled invertebrates, and using their large, flattened cheek and palatal teeth to crush them down.  It's also possible that they scraped algae off of marine rocks and swallowed it whole, letting it slowly digest in their massive guts!  Like modern sea turtles, the placodonts are thought to have been amphibious, spending most of  their time (sleeping, chillaxing, and other activities) on land, but dipping into the water to feed, akin to the extant marine iguana of the Galápagos Islands.

Although younger placodonts would have been especially vulnerable to predation from many different types of animals, many paleontologists puzzle over why the ponderous adult placodonts would have needed this armor, as there don't seem to be any marine predators capable of making a meal out of them that lived at the same time.  Of course, as we mentioned before, they probably spent much of their time on land and, as we also mentioned before, their awkward build would have left them particularly vulnerable to attack.  So to counter this, some of the placodonts started to evolve in a very turtle-like appearance. 

Placodus, the animal whose name is lent to the entire group, displays a single row of dermal ossifications above its neural spines down its back.  This dermal armor (a fancy way of saying "skin armor," in which the skin hardens into an armor like structure, as seen in the armadillo) would have helped to protect the animal from attack.  Earlier, more primitive genera, such as Paraplacodus, lack this dermal ossification.  However, other, more derived placodonts take this ossification of the dermals to a whole new level.

Remember Henodus, the first picture in this post? Henodus is one of those dermal armorers (I don't think that's actually a word) that took the ossification of the dermals to a whole new level.  Outwardly similar to the turtle shell, the placodont armor was composed of a number of polygonal ossicles, while the shells of turtles are composed of large plates.  Two other placodonts that were extremely well armored include Cyamodus, as well as the VERY turtle-looking creature, Placochelys. 

Like many other animals, the placodonts became extinct at the end of the Triassic Period.  Many groups did survive, however, and one of those groups that survived through to the Jurassic Period was actually the turtles!  220 MYA, the placodonts were sharing the seas with what would one day become the hard-shelled reptiles adored by so many people! 

This is the birthday post of Darlene Neher!  Happy birthday, Auntie Dar!  If you like what you are reading, please feel free to follow us here or via Facebook!  And remember, if you have a birthday coming up, just email me the date at cuyvaldar123946@gmail.com with the date and your favorite animal, and I will do my best to get a post in!

Stegosaurus at the Morrison Natural History Museum (Stegosaurus Week)

So as you probably know (at least if you've been following us here for Stegosaurus Week), the whole point of the special week was to celebrate Stegosaurus Day at the Morrison Natural History Museum in Morrison, Colorado!  But what Stegosaurus-related exhibits does the Morrison Natural History Museum even have?  Well.  I am so glad you asked.  Let's dive on in!  

The first Stegosaurus-related thing that you will see is just a small exhibit, whose size is not a good representation of its importance.  The four groups of bones that you see here are part of the holotype specimen of Stegosaurus!  It was with these bones, as well as the rest of the specimen (part of which is at the Morrison Museum, the rest in the collections at Yale in Connecticut)  that paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh first named and described the genus Stegosaurus in 1877, during the famous (or rather, infamous) Bone Wars.  Below, we have a picture with the four different groups of bones highlighted in red. 

The first bone that we see below is part of one of the plates of Stegosaurus!  The entire specimen actually extends back several inches, but the fossil part of the specimen is only on the very top layer.

Next, we have part of the femur of Stegosaurus!

Here we have two different types of vertebrae of Stegosaurus, lumbar and caudal (back and tail) vertebrae.

The next picture is an illustration by paleoartist Fabio Pastori of what this animal would have looked like.  Meet Stegosaurus armatus, one of four species of Stegosaurus that are currently considered to be valid!

Next, we have some more VERY interesting Stegosaurus fossils, as well as a cute little baby Stegosaurus model!  This little guy below is about a foot long, and is a life-size representation of the animal that would have made that footprint.  Besides being the very first baby Stegosaurus footprint discovered anywhere in the world, this footprint is especially interesting because it shows that the baby Stegosaurus was walking on its back legs, without its front legs touching the ground!

Here we have another Stegosaurus footprint: or rather, a trio of footprints!  The main footprint on this slab of Jurassic-aged rock contains what is largely considered to be the best adult Stegosaurus hind foot track in the world!

This footprint-containing slab is of particular importance to the paleontological community for another reason other than preservation quality: not only does the slab contain a very well preserved hindfoot track of an adult Stegosaurus, it also contains a forefoot track, probably from the same individual, as well as a partially crushed juvenile Stegosaurus track.  This partially crushed juvenile Stegosaurus track is of particular importance, as it seems to be pretty strong evidence that the adult and the juvenile were traveling together! 

Next, we have a cast of a skull of Stegosaurus, next to a cast of the foot of the animal, as well as a reconstruction of the foot itself! 

Next, we have a VERY interesting block of fossil-containing rock!

It all started when the block was brought into the museum because of the dinosaur bones, like the rib bone you can see below from an unidentified dinosaur....

....and these bones, on the back of the block.  It wasn't until the block was brought inside the museum that researchers noticed something that they hadn't been able to see outside: some tiny dinosaur footprints!

Here are two of the footprints, below.  The one on the left, about the size of the palm of my hand, is thought to belong to a mid-sized ornithopod, likely a hypsilophodont or a heterodontosaur, we don't really know.  The much smaller one on the right (which isn't much larger than a house cats) is even harder to identify, and could belong to a wide variety of dinosaurs.

  

Here is another picture by Fabio Pastori, depicting the small ornithopod that might have made the tracks.

The other tracks on the slab are by and large considered to be much more interesting.  What you are looking at below are some more baby Stegosaurus footprints!  Remember the baby Stegosaurus footprint that we discussed below, and remember the model of the animal that was thought to have made it?  The model is about the size of the animal that is thought to have made the little tracks on the left in the picture below!  What's particularly interesting about these footprints, however, is that they show the footprints of at least two individual Stegosaurus, each probably just a few months old, superimposed on each other!  This seems like pretty good evidence that these guys were also moving in groups, just like the other slab of Stegosaurus footprints shows us with older individuals!  The smaller footprint on the right (again, around the size of a domestic cat's footprint) is from a much smaller individual, probably just a hatchling!  It is also possible that this hatchling was moving with the other juveniles, as well!  

This is a model of the hatchling Stegosaurus that made the footprint on the right in the three pictures that we have above.

Finally, we have a size comparison of footprints of Stegosaurus at different ages!  The bottom one is from an infant Stegosaurus, maybe an inch and a half or so in diameter.  The top one is from an adult, larger than your average dinner plate!

Want to learn more about Stegosaurus and it's relatives? Well, check out the Homebase for Stegosaurus Week HERE to partake in more of the festivities!

The Stegosaur Song (Stegosaurus Week)

The second of a pair of songs that I made especially for Stegosaurus Week!  "The Stegosaur Song" to the tune of "The Mexican Hat Dance."  Below is the link to the song:

Here are the lyrics to the song:

Full Lyrics:

Primitive stegosaurs they are all found in China, England, France, and Tibet
Lexovisaurus and Regnosaurus and a stegosaur not named quite yet
Chialingosaurus and Craterosaurus and Jiangjunosaurus too
Next we have the huayangosaurs from China and so far they number but two

[Chorus:]
Oh, the plates and the spikes like the head of a trike with them you definitely don't want to mess
The stegosaurs lived in the Jurassic but some lived to the dawn of the Cretaceous

Chungkingosaurus and Huayangosaurus and now we move on to the set
Gigantspinosaurus and then Kentrosaurus and Loricatosaurus you bet
Those last three were all primitive stegosaurids but still thought to be more advanced
There are two more still Paranthodon and Tuojiangosaurus I bet you're entranced

[Chorus]

The dacentrurines are the second to last of all the groups of stegosaurus
Dacentrurus who gives name to the group Miragaia and then there are no more
The stegosaurines are the last of the bunch Stegosaurus most notorious
Hesperosaurus and Wuerhosaurus and last of all Hypsirophus

[Chorus]

Are you diggin' the songs?  Well, then check out our playlist below!

CLICK HERE TO BE DIRECTED TO A FUN-FILLED PLAYLIST OF AMAZING SONGS.

Want to learn more about Stegosaurus and it's relatives?  Well, check out the Homebase for Stegosaurus Week HERE to partake in more of the festivities! 

The Morrison Biota

Stegosaurus lived in western North America during the Late Jurassic Period, about 150 million years ago (MYA). Today, we find its remains in the Morrison Formation, named after the tiny town of Morrison in Colorado. What was going on in Colorado at that time? What was the depositional environment like, the environment that laid down the sediment that would one day become the famed Morrison Formation?

Well, according to paleontologist Dr. Robert Bakker in an article about the re-discovery in 2002 of some old paleontological quarries (CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE) in the Smithsonian Magazine, the environment was very much like the kind of environment seen in Uganda today: a “hot tropical woodland that was dry for most of the year.”

What about the animals, though? Dr. Bakker also said in the article that to “understand the Late Jurassic, you need to understand the common animals, which means Apatosaurus.” Most people are familiar with this massive animal: about 100 feet long (around the length of three school buses put end to end to end), and weighing around as much as eight African elephants, Apatosaurus was definitely a heavyweight of the Morrison biota!

What other animals were running around though? There are a great many dinosaurs, as well as many other animals, that were living in this area at that time, but in this post we are only going to look at one more: Camptosaurus and Allosaurus. All right, I lied. We’ll look at two more.

First off, we have Camptosaurus. To be honest, Camptosaurus doesn’t really look all that special. A small- to mid-sized ornithopod, Camptosaurus was only about fifteen feet long, and didn’t really appear to have any obvious defenses. However, discoveries of articulated Camptosaurus skeletons (indicating that the bones were fossilized were they were deposited, i.e. where the animal died, and weren’t washed together in a big mumble-jumble like at Dinosaur National Monument) in close conjunction with articulated Stegosaurus skeletons seems to indicate that these two herbivores liked to hang out together. But why? Why would they open themselves up to competition and potential conflict like that? Well, analysis of the brains and skulls of these two animals suggests that perhaps by hanging out together, the dinosaurian duo could avoid much deadlier conflict. Studies have shown that the sensory organs of Camptosaurus and Stegosaurus would have differed in very critical ways. The sense of Stegosaurus would have been akin to a rhinoceros, or perhaps myself as well (at least without my contacts), in that it would have had a pretty good sense of smell, but not very good vision. Camptosaurus, on the other hand, appears to have had quite acute vision, which has led to an interesting proposition by researchers: that Camptosaurus acted as a lookout for herds of Camptosaurus and Stegosaurus. If a predator was spotted (say, an Allosaurus or a Ceratosaurus), then Camptosaurus would have been able to alert the herd, and Stegosaurus would have been able to move to the forefront to defend them all against attack.

The last dinosaur that we are going to look at today is Allosaurus, a large, meat-eating theropod dinosaur. It occurs to me as I type this that I have done a very thorough job on Allosaurus before, so instead of typing this all again, I am going to be lazy and redirect you to another post that I did awhile back, entitled “23-Fact Tueday: Allosaurus.” Hidden within the post (but not too hard to find) are 23 Facts about Allosaurus. Yeah. Pretty much says it in the title. Anyways, check out that post to learn more about Allosaurus, as well as the rest of the Morrison ecosystem! And make sure to check back tomorrow, as we learn about stegosaurs from the rest of the world!

Want to learn more about Stegosaurus?  Well, check out the Homebase for Stegosaurus Week HERE to partake in more of the festivities!  

Animal Spotlight: Gasparinisaura

Gasparinisaura is just one of those many dinosaurs that are not very famous at all, and not very well known.  In fact, I hadn't even heard of it until this morning, when my episode of Dr. Who made the computer momentarily freeze, so I picked up my Jurassic Park Institue: Dinosaur Field Guide by Dr. Thomas R. Holtz and Dr. Michael Brett-Surman that was sitting next to me on the computer table and turned to page 74.  Learn something new every day!

Gasparinisaura is considered to be a part of the basal, or primitive, ornithopods.  Ornithopods are different from other ornithischian dinosaurs in that they have a premaxilla bone that reaches further than their maxilla bone, and that their jaw joint is further down than in other dinosaurs.  Most of the basal ornithopods were around during the Jurassic Period, such as the Late Jurassic Othnielia rex, who inhabited what would become the rocks of the Morrison Formation of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming.  Most of the rest of the basal ornithopods didn't survive past the Early Cretaceous Period, but Gasparinisaura has been found in rocks dating from around 80-90 MYA, right smack-dab in the Middle Cretaceous Period of Argentina.  According to the Jurassic Park Institute, "Remains of dinosaurs from this time span are so extremely rare, all the specimens in the world would fit in one small exhibit hall!"

Let's take a brief look at what we know about the evolution and the dispersal of the basal ornithopods, shall we?  According to my massive, 861 page book called The Dinosauria, every member of the clade Ornithopoda (which includes the iguanodonts and the duck-billed hadrosaurs, as well as the basal ornithopods) had a common ancestor that came from Asia.  This is interesting to note, because two other major clades of dinosaurs, the Marginocephalians (which includes the ceratopsians like Triceratops and the Pachycephalosaurs like Pachycephalosaurus and Stygimoloch) and the Thyreophorans (which includes stegosaurs like Stegosaurus and ankylosaurs like Ankylosaurus [yes, I know, that sounded incredibly redundant]) are hypothesized to have originally evolved in Asia, before spreading out to other parts of the world.  Whew, that would have been a mouth-full if I had had to say that out loud.

Anyways, paleontologists believe that this common ancestor would have inhabited Asia during the Early Jurassic Period, or perhaps even before that.  According to the book, prior to the Late Jurassic, a "major dispersal to North America took place."  Following this dispersal to North America, two "subsequent dispersals from North America" followed, one to Europe, and the other to South America.  (Keep in mind that, at this time in Earth's history, the continents were intermittently connected, allowing for the over-land dispersal of animals that would be entirely unable to do the same thing today.)  The European dispersal contained ornithopods of the lineage that would one day lead to the relatively famous dinosaur known as Hypsilophodon.  This dispersal is thought to have occurred before or during the Early Cretaceous.  Meanwhile, the South American dispersal "took place (at the latest) during the early Late Cretaceous," and was composed of members of the lineage that would one day lead to our home-dawg, Gasparinisaura.  Boy, am I the only one who just skimmed those last two paragraphs?

Gasparinisaura, like many of the basal-most members of the ornithopods, was just a little guy, only around two feet long, and probably weighing about as much as a chicken.  Remains of Gasparinisaura are found in the Río Colorado Formation.  With further digging (oh so witty) in The Dinosauria, I have been able to come up with other dinosaurs found in this formation. Here is a list of all of the dinosaurs mentioned in the book. 

Alvarezsaurus, a member of the group of dinosaurs known as the alvarezsaurids, a group of Maniraptoran dinosaurs thought to be fairly closely related to the ornithomimosaurs.  

Patagopteryx, a flightless bird that probably weighed around as much as a turkey.  

Neuquenornis, a small, pigeon-sized bird.  Apparently, paleontologists have not only discovered a partial skeleton of this animal, but also some eggs with embryos!  Pretty neat!  

Velocisaurus, a four or so foot long ceratosaur, not very well known.  A noasaurid, and, as you can see in the pictures below (all four of the pictures are of Velocisaurus), looks a lot like its close relative, Masiakasaurus, whose picture you can see if you click on the word "Masiakasaurus" where it is yellow. 

Aucasaurus, a thirteen or fourteen foot long abelisaur, thought to be a close relative of Carnotaurus.  Known from a skeleton that is quite complete, but not yet fully described.  

Neuquenosaurus and Titanosaurus, a pair of sauropod dinosaurs. 

23-Fact Tuesday: All About Allosaurus!

Today we are going to do yet another 23-Fact Tuesday, and this time it is all about a particularly interesting dinosaur known as Allosaurus.  But this 23-Fact Tuesday is particularly special, as it is also the birthday post of one of my personal heroes and one of the people who inspired me to take this dinosaur- and animal-oriented path, Mr. "Dino" George Blasing!  Happy birthday, Mr. Blasing!  Here we go!

Allosaurus Vs. Stegosaurus at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science

1.  On Halloween in 1879, Arthur Lakes discovered a tooth from a dinosaur that was later identified as Allosaurus in Wyoming.

2.  In the United States, Allosaurus is found in the Morrison Formation, and lived alongside other animals such as Stegosaurus, Apatosaurus, Ceratosaurus, Camptosaurus, Gargoyleosaurus, and many others. 

A skeleton of Gargoyleosaurus from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science

Allosaurus Vs. Camptosaurus that I saw at a traveling exhibit at the San Antonio River Walk in Texas

Ceratosaurus at the Smithsonian

Stegosaurus at the Utah Field House

3. The claws on the hand of Allosaurus could reportedly grow up to 10 inches long.

The arm and the claws of Allosaurus, mounted at the Morrison Natural History Museum

4.  Some scientists believe that Allosaurus had a very weak bite, around the strength of a leopard.  Regardless of exactly how weak of a bite it had, Allosaurus was definitely not a heavy-biter champion, and many paleontologists hypothesize that it instead used its skull sort of like a hatchet to kill its prey, using its razor-sharp teeth to critically injure its prey.

5.  The first fossils of Allosaurus that were ever discovered were originally thought to be petrified horse hooves.

6.  Allosaurus is the state dinosaur of Utah.

A reconstructed skeleton of Allosaurus at the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry in Utah

7.  Allosaurus certainly didn't sit on its rump and enjoy hamburgers and tea, as their skeletons show that they suffered many injuries throughout their lives.  As a matter of fact, the Allosaurus specimen that is on display at the Smithsonian Institution has a number of broken ribs, a smashed shoulder blade, and a damaged lower jaw.

A crushed femur belonging to Allosaurus from the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry

8.  The lower jaw of the specimen at the Smithsonian was so damaged, in fact, that it took scientists more than 100 years to figure out that it was, in fact, an Allosaurus jaw!

9.  A predator-prey relationship between Allosaurus and Stegosaurus was all but confirmed with the discovery of a specimen of Allosaurus with a hole in one of its tail vertebrae that perfectly matched the shape and size of the thagomizer on the tail of Stegosaurus.

Allosaurus Vs. Stegosaurus at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science

The "thagomizer" of Stegosaurus, mounted at the DMNS.  Check out THIS post to learn about how this particular part of the Stegosaurus got its name!

10.  "Allosaurus" spelled backwards is "Suruasolla," which means absolutely nothing.

11.  The small horns above the eyes of Allosaurus are mostly thought to have been for display, as most scientists believe them to be too weak to withstand much stress resulting from conflict with prey or other Allosaurus.

12.  Allosaurus gives its name to the group Allosauroidea, which includes the Chinese theropods Yangchuanosaurus and Sinraptor, and the carcharodontosaurids, which includes one of the largest carnivorous dinosaurs of all time, Carcharodontosaurus, amongst other dinosaurs.

13.  Some of the other scientific names that Allosaurus fragilis has had over the years are Allosaurus lucaris, Allosaurus ferox, Labrosaurus ferox, Labrosaurus lucaris, Antrodemus, Poicilopleuron valens, Laelaps trihedrodon, Epanterias amplexus, Hypsirhophus discurus, Hypsirhophus partim, and Creosaurus atrox, with a few other names under debate right now.  Specifically, some scientists think that the dinosaur known as Saurophaganax is the same animal as Allosaurus.  However, I have talked with a few people, including Matthew Mossbrucker, curator of the Morrison Natural History Museum, and he says that he has seen the remains of Saurophaganax and believes them to be distinct from Allosaurus. 

A reconstructed skeleton of Saurophaganax that I saw at a traveling exhibit at the San Antonio River Walk in Texas

14.  Besides Saurophaganax, Allosaurus was much larger than the other known theropods from Late Jurassic Morrison, such as Ceratosaurus and Torvosaurus.

A reconstructed skull of Saurophaganax that I saw at a traveling exhibit at the San Antonio River Walk in Texas

15.  We humans actually live closer in time to the famous Tyrannosaurus rex, Triceratops, and other dinosaurs from that time period than they do to Allosaurus!

A Triceratops skull at the Morrison Natural History Museum

16.  Allosaurus fragilis was first named by famous paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh in 1877.

17.  The scientific name of Allosaurus fragilis translates to "fragile different lizard," named such due to the fact that Marsh believed that the vertebrae of Allosaurus would have been quite weak, and were different  from those of other, previously discovered dinosaurs.  Now we know that vertebrae of this kind were quite common.

18.  One of the most famous specimens of Allosaurus is the approximately 95% complete specimen nicknamed "Big Al."  Estimated to be only a teenager at his TOD, he is about 26 feet long, which probably helps to explain why so many of my dinosaur books list the estimated length of Allosaurus at around 26 feet.

19.  Allosaurus lived during the Late Jurassic Period, around 155.7-150.8 MYA in the United States (Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Oklahoma, and South Dakota), Portugal, and possibly the Tendaguru Beds of Tanzania, although many people believe that this is African animal is an entirely different animal from Allosaurus.

20.  Work began at the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry in 1960, and over 40 individual specimens of Allosaurus have been uncovered there since then.

Unarticulated bones of Allosaurus from the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry

21.  Due to the vast number of Allosaurus specimens discovered in all different stages of its growth development (especially from Cleveland-Lloyd), paleontologists have been able to estimate that Allosaurus reached full-size at around 15 years of age, and lived to around 22-28 years old.

A whole bunch of Allosaurus leg bones all put next to each other to show the growth of the animal, largely based upon bones found at the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry, which is where this picture was taken

22.  Fossils of Allosaurus are still being discovered to this day, a fact which I can personally attest to.  Blocks of stone are still being excavated at the Morrison Natural History Museum, and bones of Allosaurus, as well as its teeth, are currently being cleaned. 

23.  Allosaurus is the favorite dinosaur of the famous dinosaur educator, "Dino" George Blasing.

And remember, if you have a birthday coming up, just email me the date at cuyvaldar123946@gmail.com with the date and your favorite animal, and I will do my best to get a post in!  And remember, if you like what you're reading, make sure you LIKE US ON FACEBOOK, follow us (if you have a google or gmail account), or hit the subscribe button off to the right if you don't!

Top 10 Favorite Dinosaurs by Zack Neher (Part 1)

Just a few days ago, we had our first ever guest blog post by David Church.  Mr. Church did his top ten favorite dinosaurs, which got me thinking about what my favorite dinosaurs were, and inspired me to do this post!  So here is my top ten favorite dinosaur list!

10. Argentinosaurus

Inhabiting South America during the Late Cretaceous Period, the enormous sauropod Argentinosaurus is the heaviest known terrestrial animal and, according to BBC, also has the record for being the longest land animal.  It was, of course, discovered in Argentina, and would have been a contemporary of Giganotosaurus.  

A picture of Argentinosaurus (background) under assault from a Giganotosaurus (foreground) with my parents off to the left at the Fernbank Museum in Atlanta, Georgia, United States

Another shot of the Argentinosaurus at Fernbank

9. Allosaurus

Allosaurus was a thirty or so foot long carnivorous dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Period.  Discovered in the Morrison Formation of Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming, this dinosaur (or one quite like it) was also likely found in the Tendaguru Beds of Tanzania.  The Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry near Price, Utah holds the remains of more than forty individual Allosaurus bones.

Assorted Allosaurus bones from our visit to the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry

8. Spinosaurus

Spinosaurus is an enormous carnivorous dinosaur that we have talked about on multiple occasions, both in our "Biggest Carnivorous Dinosaur" trilogy of posts awhile back, but also in Mr. Church's Top Ten list.  Spinosaurus, despite the fact that it is easily the largest known carnivorous dinosaur, with an estimated length of almost sixty feet, did not eat meat like the other enormous dinosaurs: instead, Spinosaurus was a piscivore, or a fish eater.  This giant creature lived in Africa during the Cretaceous Period.

 7. Parasaurolophus

Parasaurolophus is another one of those dinosaurs that overlaps from Mr. Church's list to my own.  Parasaurolophus is certainly an interesting creature!  A member of the hadrosaurs, or duck-billed dinosaurs, Parasaurolophus, as Mr. Church discussed, is the only dinosaur I know of where paleontologists know with a high degree of accuracy what they sounded like.  The large crest on the back of the head of Parasaurolophus is full of hollow tubing, similar in shape and structure to the trombone, as well as similar in sound, too.  Unfortunately, I could not find a sound file or video of the call, so if anyone has access to a scientifically reconstructed call, let me know!

TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 2