Top 10 Favorite Dinosaurs by Zack Neher (Part 2)

Part two of my Top Ten Favorite Dinosaurs list.  Enjoy!

6. Pachycephalosaurus

The largest of the pachycephalosaurs, the name Pachycephalosaurus translates to "thick-headed lizard."  A large orbital socket indicates good vision, and, according to my "Prehistoric Life" book, the small teeth in its mouth indicates either herbivory or omnivory.  I have never heard anyone ever say anything about the pachycephalosaurs being omnivorous, so I have doubts about the authenticity of the statement.  Jack Horner suggested that Pachycephalosaurus and the other two pachycephalosaurs that lived in North America at the same time, Dracorex and Stygimoloch, were actually the same dinosaur and just represented different ontogenetic stages in their growth development, but that hypothesis has been almost completely refuted.  Due to the extremely tough-looking and thick skull, many paleontologists also have suggested that the pachycephalosaurs would clash heads much like the extant bighorn sheep, but studies of the necks of these animals indicate that these animals were likely not able to do this without breaking their necks.  Needless to say, this behavior was probably not something that they would attempt to do more than once.  Remains of Pachycephalosaurus have been found in the United States in the states of Wyoming, South Dakota, and Montana.

5. Amargasaurus

A fairly small sauropod, Amargasaurus is certainly quite unusual, as you can see in the pictures below!  On each of its twelve neck, or cervical vertebrae, a pair of spikes project out.  The functions of these spikes are unknown, but many theories have been put forth, from defense, to a sail being attached between each of the spikes to make the animal look bigger, even for heat control.  If a sail was not attached to the spikes, it is likely that they were covered in a layer of horn.  Whatever was on those spikes, it doesn't look like Amargasaurus had a very wide range of vertical mobility in its neck, so it seems likely that the small sauropod would have been mostly a ground-level feeder.  Amargasaurus has been found in Argentina in South America.

4. Utahraptor

While making Jurassic Park, Steven Spielberg decided that the real-life Velociraptor wasn't scary enough for his movie.  Not only was Velociraptor actually pretty small (see the size comparison chart below), it was feathered!  But while they were making the movie, remains of the creature that would one day be known as Utahraptor were uncovered, and Spielberg had his monster.  (If you want to read more about this interesting happenstance, check out the introduction to Robert T. Bakker's FANTASTIC novel, Raptor Red, one of my top five favorite books of all time).  Utahraptor remains have been discovered in (can you guess?  I hope you can!) Utah. 

TO BE CONCLUDED IN PART 2

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

Cal Orck'o: Not A Place for the Acrophobic

In 1994, Klaus Schütt discovered an enormous slab of dinosaur tracks.  You're probably thinking enormous like Jabba the Hutt enormous or my cat enormous.  (She's a big kitty).  But no, I mean ENORMOUS enormous.  And by ENORMOUS enormous, I mean a mile wide and 500 feet tall.  Yeah, that big.  Another thing about Cal Orck'o: its on a 70 degree incline.

Real fast, let me include a brief disclaimer: I have looked at probably 25 different books and websites that mention this place, and half of them spell it "Cal Orco," and the other half spell it "Cal Orko," while a few even spell it "Cal Orcko."  The UNESCO website calls it "Cal Orck'o," so that's the one that I went with on the blog.  So yeah, I really don't know which way is which, but nevertheless, this place is quite an interesting fossil site!

It wasn't until 1998 that Christian Meyer, a Swiss paleontologist, lead a team of scientists to investigate the site, which is near a concrete factory in Sucre, Bolivia.  They found that the enormous trackway is from the Late Cretaceous Period, dated at around 68 million years ago (MYA).  They learned that, at the time that the rocks and footprints were formed, the area was a lakeside where animals from all over would come to drink.  They also determined that Cal Orck'o was the "largest site of dinosaur tracks found so far," possessing the largest number of dinosaur footprints of anywhere in the world.

Cal Orck'o has over 5,000 dinosaur tracks made by at least six identified dinosaurs in around 250 trackways, some of which extend for hundreds of feet in a single direction.

Due to the extremely steep face of the fossil site, erosion is a constant threat to the dinosaur footprints.  The Bolivian government combats this by spending a whopping $30 million every year.  Despite this, a large chunk broke off in February of 2010, destroying around 300 footprints.   

Information on Cal Orck'o is extremely spotty, and the website for the site doesn't seem to have an "English" option.  My Spanish skills are pretty rudimentary at best, but I think I was able to come up with a list of the dinosaurs whose tracks are preserved at Cal Orck'o.  Now, keep in mind, very rarely do you definitively know what animal made a fossilized footprint, and most of the time these are simply good guesses.  For the picture below, I used ones taken from the garden area thing at the Cal Orck'o museum.  So if you are going to blame someone for inaccurate data, make sure you blame them and not me!

An abelisaur, a type of carnivorous dinosaur like Abelisaurus or Carnotaurus.

An iguanodont, a type of herbivorous dinosaur like Iguanodon.

A ceratopsian, a type of dinosaur like Triceratops or Protoceratops.

An ankylosaur, a type of dinosaur like Ankylosaurus.

A titanosaur, a type of sauropod dinosaur like Saltasaurus.

A dromaeosaur, a type of carnivorous dinosaur like Velociraptor.

A ceratosaur, a type of carnivorous dinosaur like Ceratosaurus.

A hadrosaur, a type of herbivorous dinosaur like Parasaurolophus.

A tyrannosaur, a type of carnivorous dinosaur like Tyrannosaurus.

Again, keep in mind that I have next to no idea which of these, if any, were found at Cal Orck'o.  I plan on doing a little bit of digging within the next few weeks, so hopefully I will be able to get back to you sometime soon!

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Upcoming Lecture: Animal Adventures With Zack Neher Part 1

Hey everyone!  So I just wanted to let you know that I am going to be having a trio of lectures next calendar year, and the first one is rapidly approaching!  It is on Thursday, January 10th from 4:00 PM to around 5:15 PM.  It will be held in the main auditorium at Fairview High School in Boulder, Colorado, and the address is 1515 Greenbriar Boulevard.  Admission will be free, but 90% of the proceeds will be going towards the Morrison Natural History Museum where I volunteer, while the other 10% will be going towards funding the Fairview Knowledge Bowl Team.  HERE IS THE LINK TO THE ZACK NEHER'S LECTURES PAGE ON FACEBOOK, WHICH YOU ALL SHOULD LIKE!

What will be at the lecture?  Well, just like last time, we will have a fossil table down in front, with tons of fossils, ranging from whale and bison bones to spiders preserved in amber, red fox skulls to mosasaur jaws, and much, much more! 

And, most importantly, what will we be talking about at the lecture?  Well, I am just so glad you asked!  This lecture is going to be covering a very wide variety of seemingly-unrelated topics.  But never fear, for I have artfully woven them into an intricate tapestry of fun.  Here are some of the topics and animals that we will be learning about!

• Creatures of Madagascar, including lemurs, chameleons, moths, and the fossa
• Animal names in Harry Potter
• Triceratops and its relatives
• Showy and beautiful birds, including hummingbirds and birds of paradise
• Gigantic carnivorous dinosaurs, including Tyrannosaurus, Carcharodontosaurus, Acrocanthosaurus, Spinosaurus, and Giganotosaurus
• Bird mimics, including the lyrebird, myna bird, mockingbird and catbird
• Even-Toed Ungulates (Artiodactyls), including entelodonts, camels, hippos, pronghorn, and cows
• Odd-Toed Ungulates (Perissodactyls), including horses, tapirs, and rhinos
• Why Does My Cat Do That?
• Intelligence in birds, including the African gray parrot, shrike, and crows
• And much, much more!

I guarantee that it will be a fun-filled and entertaining evening chock-full of awesome animals, amazing video, and more than a fair share of Psych references!  So please, join us if you can!  Hope to see you all there!

And please, if you like what you're reading, make sure you click the subscribe button off to the right!  

The Animals of Estes and Rocky Mountain National Park

As I mentioned earlier today, my family and I stayed at Estes Park a few nights ago.  During the day, we hit up the nearby Rocky Mountain National Park.  We saw a few different animals, a few of which I unfortunately was unable to get pictures of!  Here I will tell you all about the animals that we saw there!

First off, we went over to Lake Estes.  Despite the cold and the wind, probably a hundred or so geese, ducks, crows, and ravens were all scavenging around in the shallow water and the muddy areas.  We also saw a bald eagle, but unfortunately it was too far away for us to get any pictures.  Right before that, though, we spotted a muskrat (a little, water-loving rodent) swimming through the water!  It was really super cool, as it was an incredibly powerful swimmer!  We were walking along next to it, taking a ton of pictures and videos, but the muskrat was easily keeping pace with us!  It was swimming against the current, as well as against the wind, but somehow this rat-sized creature was able to forge ahead!

The muskrat swimming!

This is how far the muskrat swam!  It was certainly more than 100 yards, all keeping up with us!  CRAZINESS!

When I ran out in front of the muskrat to get pictures of it up close, it ducked into its burrow.  We were able to pinpoint the entrance because right out in front was a whole pile of what looked like chewed off crayfish pincers! 

The pile of chewed crayfish parts outside of the muskrat burrow

Some chewed parts on top of a rock

Here is a video of the muskrat swimming:

Muskrat Swimming Against The Current

We also saw a lot of elk, as we have talked about before.  Here are some more pictures that my mother took in the morning, around the same time that my Primos Truth Cam was picking them up, too!

The elk drinking on our first morning there!

An elk drinking on the first morning

 

When we first saw the elk right next to our cabin, a male mule deer walked right next to my mother and I, no more than ten feet from us while we were next to the river!  It was really cool, but a little sad to see how comfortable these animals are around humans.  Made for a good photo op, though!

The mule deer

That's our cabin, right there!

A male elk on the first night there, around the time that we saw the mule deer from above.  It was eating from a bird feeder!

While we were on our walk around Lake Estes, we passed by a male elk with a harem of four females on the golf course.  Here are some of those pictures!

The harem of female elk off to the left, while the male is grazing on the right

The male elk

The female elk

Another shot with the female elk off to the left and the male elk off to the right

And finally, a herd of elk in Rocky Mountain National Park!

Finally, although no one but my father saw it and we got no pictures of it, while we were driving in Rocky Mountain National Park at around 4:00 or so in the afternoon/evening, we almost ran over an ermine (also known as a stoat or a short-tailed weasel)!  Apparently it was adorned in its winter fur which, much like the arctic fox, changes with the seasons to blend in with its environment!  The ermine, along with otters, badgers, other weasels, and the wolverine, is a member of the family Mustelidae, colloquially referred to as the "mustelids."  The mustelids, in turn, are members of the superfamily Musteloidea, which we have discussed in the past.  It is within this superfamily that you will find coatis, raccoons, skunks, and red pandas. 

Estes Park on Dwellable

Animal of the Day: Addax

The Addax (Addax nasomaculatus) sometime called the screwhorn antelope, is a "Critically Endangered" member of the group of animals known collectively as the antelope.  The addax is found in the Sahara desert.  The Addax has been extirpated, or made regionally extinct, in the countries of Egypt, Algeria, Western Sahara, and Sudan.  Nowadays, the Addax can only be naturally found in the countries of Chad,  Niger, Mauritania, and has been reintroduced into Morocco and Tunisia.  The Addax has earned its "Critically Endangered" status due to the immense and very frequent hunting of its horns, and is still often hunted on game reserves in the United States.  The meat and leather obtained from the Addax are also highly prized.  Their diet consists of primarily grass, as well as the leaves of various shrubs.  Rarely drinking, they instead gain most of their moisture through the plants that they eat.  The Addax is a slow moving animal, leaving it vulnerable to attacks from cheetahs, leopards, lions, African wild dogs, and humans.  The calves can also be killed by servals, caracals and hyenas.

There is also a Spanish motorsport team named the Barwa Addax Team, but I was unable to ascertain whether this team was named after the animal or not!
 

Elk in Estes Park: Up Close and Personal With Primos!

Recently, my family and I went up to Estes Park for the night.  I set up my Primos Truth Cam at our hotel, and didn't actually get any hits that night, but we got some most excellent pictures of elk, one of those members of the family Cervidae (like deer), from the very next morning!  Here are some of the best pictures from the Primos Truth Cam!

 

 

Check out that massive rack of antlers!

 

 

That was pretty exciting!  Those elk, or wapiti (the Native American term for elk, meaning "white rump") were no more than ten feet from us on our balcony!  I can upload more pictures later, but here is one final picture of the elk that we took at our cabin thingy!

I also wanted to let ya'll know that some of our polls closed the other day!  We had four polls about different things that you all wanted to featured on the blog, and three of them closed!  Here are the three different polls, what all of the voting options were, and who won!

Poll #1:  Animal You Would Most Like To See Featured

Corythosaurus: 5 Votes
Inkayacu: 6 Votes
Pallas's Cat: 7 Votes
AND OUR WINNER IS:
Bear-Dog: 8 Votes

For those of you who aren't entirely sure what these animals are, Corythosaurus is a Hadrosaur, a type of dinosaur, and Inkayacu is a fossil penguin found in South America.  The Pallas's cat is, of course, a cat.  And the bear-dog....well, we will learn more about this dude soon enough!

Poll #2:  Baby Animal That You Would Like To Be Featured

Sitatunga: 1 Vote
Geoffroy's Cat: 3 Votes
Aardvark: 4 Votes
Gentoo Penguin: 4 Votes
Tenrec: 4 Votes
Sifaka: 4 Votes
Stingray: 5 Votes
AND OUR WINNER IS:  A THREE-WAY TIE.  We will have to have a post with three baby animals in it!
Tasmanian Devil: 6 Votes
Sand Cat: 6 Votes
Aye-Aye: 6 Votes

Breakdown of the animals whose names do not make it clear what they are: Sitatunga is an antelope, aardvark is an animal that is featured HERE, tenrec is a hedgehog-looking creature from Madagascar, and the Sifaka is a lemur from Madagascar.

Poll #3:  Extinct Animal You Would Like To Hear More About

Megalania: 3 Votes
Opabinia: 4 Votes
Dire Wolf: 4 Votes
Dwarf Malagasy Hippo: 4 Votes
Cotylorhynchus: 5 Votes
AND OUR WINNER IS:
Thylacine: 7 Votes

Megalania is a gigantic relative of the Komodo dragon, Opabinia is a little creature that we will talk about later, the dire wolf was a larger relative of the gray wolf, the dwarf Malagasy hippo was just that: a dwarf hippo that lived on Madagascar, and Cotylorhynchus is also something that we will talk about later!

I will get more polls up hopefully sometime today, but in the meantime, keep in mind that we have a fourth poll open: the "Important Scientist Whose Discoveries You Would Like To Hear More About" poll.  Choose either Robert T. Bakker, David Attenborough, Matthew Mossbrucker, or Thomas R. Holtz!  Make your voice heard!

And since today is Thanksgiving, let's all take a moment to say what we are grateful for!  I'll start: I am thankful for raccoons.  Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!

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