Halloween 2014: Thirteen Monsters

Since today is Halloween I feel it would be appropriate to focus on something spooky...like monsters.  Monsters are cool since they can pretty much look like anything your imagination wants them to.  Many dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals are names after famous monsters, or have horror-themed aspects to their names.  Some are pretty obvious, others need to be translated in order to be understood.  Some of these names are featured in my post from 2013 about interesting dinosaur names.  I have illustrated a fun little painting of thirteen prehistoric animals all taking the physical forms of whichever monster or horror aspect they are named after.  Can you name them all?

Once you think you have been able to identify as many as you can I put the answers below, starting with the monsters at the top of the page, working down from left to right.

Dracorex hogwartsia 

This plant-eating dinosaur's name means "dragon king from Hogwarts" because its skull resembles that of what a dragon from the Harry Potter universe's could look like.

Gryphoceratops

This small ceratopid's name translates to "gryphon horn face".  Gryphons were creatures from folklore of various ancient Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cultures which were half eagle and half lion.  The first ceratopid fossils found by people thousands of years ago are believed to have sparked the myth of the gryphon. 

Gargoyleosaurus 

Name means "gargoyle reptile".  This was an armored dinosaur that reminded the paleontologists who named it of a stone gargoyle. 

Anthracosuchus balrogus 

This crocodile's genus and species name translates to coal crocodile balrog.  A balrog is a demon, often associated with fire that wields a whip made of flames, from the Lord of the Rings universe.  The character, Gandalf, the grey wizard, battles one in The Fellowship of the Ring.   

Diabloceratops 

Name means "devil horn face" because this ceratopian's horns bear a resemblance to those of demons in pop culture.

Beelzebufo 

Name means "devil frog".  This prehistoric amphibian was the largest frog known to science.

Terataphoneus 

Name means "monstrous murderer".  This was a tyrannosaurid and therefore was likely survived by killing other animals for food...therefore it was a murderer and a monster.  The name is really cool-sounding, okay?

Lythronax 

Name means "gore king".  This was another tyrannosaurid predator that, since it also ate meat, was probably exposed to some gore now and again.  Is the name obvious?  Yes.  Is it cool enough to make this fact excusable?  I'd say so.

Minotaurosaurus 

Name means "minotaur reptile" this was an armored dinosaur which was named after the minotaur, a monster from Greek Mythology with the head of a bull and body of a human, because of it's horns.

Medusaceratops 

Name means "Medusa horn face".  This ceratopsian dinosaur was named after Medusa, a monster from Greek mythology called a Gorgon.  Gorgons had snakes for hair, the source of inspiration for this dinosaur's name since its horns were particularly curved and almost wavy like snakes.

Styxosaurus

Name means "Styx reptile".  This plesiosaur was named in honor of the River Styx from Greek mythology, which separates the land of the living from the underworld.

Charonosaurus 

Name means "Charon reptile".  This duck-billed dinosaur was named after Charon, the being from Greek mythology who carries the dead across the Styx to the underworld.

Stygimoloch 

Name means "demon from the river Styx".  Named because its impressive horn arrangement makes it resemble a demon that might lurk in the river of death in a Greek myth.

Hope you enjoyed my little monster-dinosaur fusion!  Happy Halloween!

Disney Princesses Reimagined as Dinosaurs

One of the most popular Halloween costumes you will no doubt see every year is Disney princess.  They are everywhere.  (FYI: This year get ready for enough kids in Frozen costumes to literally invade a country.) If you happen to use the internet on a fairly regular basis you might notice that there is this creative fad going around where an artist will illustrate Disney princesses as...something different.  It's really popular actually.  They change their race, sex, costumes, they show them as superheros, villains, high school students, steampunk...the list goes on.  It started off as "wow that's clever!" and now its been going on for a while and I am starting to get really annoyed.  I'm annoyed because NOT ONCE HAS A DISNEY PRINCESS BEEN REIMAGINED AS A DINOSAUR.  Well this artist got out his handy dandy sketch pad and did something about it.  I shall now share with you a few doodles I did of Disney princesses if they suddenly poofed into a dinosaur (or other prehistoric beast) right in the middle or during the climax of each of their movies.  You're welcome.

First up we have Cinderella as a Sauropod.

You can't know for sure it won't fit until you try.  Go ahead...try.

 Then we have Ariel, from The Little Mermaid, if she were a Liopleurodon. 

More like the Lio Mermaid!  Get it?  ...Yeah you do.

It's Princess Jasmine, from Alladin, if she were a beautiful titanosaur! 

C'mon, carpet!  She want's to be shown the world!

Here is Mulan as a Yutyrannus!

I'll make a tyrannosauroid out of you.

You didn't honestly think I was going to leave out Frozen, did you?  Finally, here is Queen Elsa as a wooly mammoth. 

I wonder if that ice staircase she used would need to be reinforced a bit now...

There now Disney Princesses as dinosaurs (and other prehistoric beasts) is a real thing.  It exists.  I feel better now.  Maybe next year I will do even more, who knows?  Hope you all enjoyed this little Halloween-themed post.  Stay tuned, though!  I have one more much spookier Halloween-themed post up my sleeve for Friday! 

Diabloceratops: Prehistoric Animal of the Week

Halloween is almost upon us!  Let's continue the theme from last week by checking out another dinosaur with a truly devilish flavor.  Enter Diabloceratops eatoni!  Diabloceratops was a centrosaurine ceratopid dinosaur, related to Styracosaurus, Nasutoceratops, and Pachyrhinosaurus, that lived in what is now Utah, USA, about 79 million years ago.  It measured about fifteen feet long from beak to tail (we don't know EXACTLY for sure since only the skull was ever found) and would have eaten plants.  The genus name, Diabloceratops, translates to "Devil Horn Face" in reference to this dinosaur's amazing horn arrangement, similar to those of depictions of devils in pop culture.  When alive, Diabloceratops shared it's habitat with the tyrannosaurid, Lythronax. (Which may have been an enemy in life!)

Life reconstruction of Diabloceratops eatoni by Christopher DiPiazza.

Diabloceratops is one of the the oldest large ceratopid found to date.  All ceratopids that have been found from older times are much smaller, like Protoceratops.  Not surprisingly, paleontologists suspect that despite it being classified as a centrosaurine ceratopid (large variety with thick noses) it also shared some characteristics with, and likely had a closer family history with its smaller relatives, like Protoceratops amongst its larger centrosaurine peers.  

Diabloceratops skull on display at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

Diabloceratops' horn arrangement is truly amazing and nothing like it exists on any other dinosaur.  Most prominent were the two upturned horns above its eyes which are relatively short on the fossilized skull but in life would have had a layer of keratin covering them, making them significantly longer.  On either side of its tall, harp-shaped frill, sat another pair of long, curved horns.  Diabloceratops also had small, almost unnoticeable horns on its nose.  It is likely these horns were a form of communication, or possibly sexual display, amongst Diabloceratops.  Diabloceratops' snout was particularly short, and down-turned, even amongst the other members of its family, of which short, deep snouts are a defining characteristic.

Hope you enjoyed our devilishly dark dinosaur for this week!  The Halloween fun isn't over yet, though!  Stay tuned all this week up through Friday for a few more scary treats from Jersey Boys Hunt Dinosaurs!

References

Kirkland, J.I. and DeBlieux, D.D. (2010). "New basal centrosaurine ceratopsian skulls from the Wahweap Formation (Middle Campanian), Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument, southern Utah", In: Ryan, M.J., Chinnery-Allgeier, B.J., and Eberth, D.A. (eds.) New Perspectives on Horned Dinosaurs: The Royal Tyrrell Museum Ceratopsian Symposium. Bloomington, Indiana University Press, pp. 117–140

J. I. Kirkland and D. D. DeBlieux. 2007. New horned dinosaurs from the Wahweap Formation, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, southern Utah. Utah Geological Survey Notes 39(3):4-5

Breast Cancer Awareness Month 2014: Ancient Mother Goes Pink

As you should know, October is national breast cancer awareness month.  The official color for breast cancer awareness is pink so for the past three years, in its honor, I have illustrated a different prehistoric animal in pink.  You may remember in 2012 Pachycephalosaurus was the first to rock the look and in 2013 Deinotherium was adorned in pink.  This year, I decided to paint a powerful meat eater which also shows evidence of being a mother according to a recent discovery of eggs in Europe.  I give you Torvosaurus in pink!

As always, make sure to check out this site to learn how you can actually make a difference in the fight against breast cancer.  Simply liking a painting won't make cancer go away. 

Stygimoloch: Prehistoric Beast of the Week

Halloween is so close!  In honor of my favorite holiday let's check out a dinosaur with a truly horrifying name.  Enter Stygimoloch spinifer!  The genus name, Stygimoloch, translates to "Demon from the River of Death". (called "Styx" in Greek mythology.)  The name is in reference to this dinosaur's rather demonic-looking horns, which covered a lot of its head.  Despite the name and appearance, Stygimoloch was a plant-eater, not a soul-eating beast from the underworld.  Stygimoloch measured about ten feet long from beak to tail and lived during the very end of the Mesozoic in what is now the United States, between 67 and 66 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period.  When alive, it lived alongside Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops, Troodon, Anzu, Anatotitan, Ankylosaurus, Pachycephalosaurus, Dracorex, and Quetzalcoatlus.

Stygimoloch spinifer life reconstruction by Christopher DiPiazza.

 Stygimoloch is obviously most noted for it's head, which was practically covered in horns.  Many of the horns, especially on the snout and around the eyes, were small.  On the back of the head were two sets of long horns growing from either side of the rear of the skull.  On the top of the head, Stygimoloch was armed with a small oval-shaped mass of solid bone.  Paleontologists debate as to what exactly all of this interesting ornamentation was for.  Many believe they were weapons, and that Stygimolochs would have rammed or pushed each other for dominance, or possibly defended themselves against predators with their heads.  Others believe they were only for display.

Stygimoloch skull on display at the Museum fur Naturkunde in Berlin.

Stygimoloch also had a relatively long snout, tipped with a short beak.  This beak was probably good for clipping soft vegetation, which would have then been shredded up in the back of the mouth with its small teeth.  Some suggest Stygimoloch and its relatives would have actually eaten meat in addition to plants in the form of small animals or possibly carrion, but currently know actual evidence supports this idea.  Stygimoloch also had large eye sockets and likely had good vision, which is common to members of its family, the pachycephalosaurids. 

Relatively recently, some paleontologists have suggested that Stygimoloch was actually the same species as Dracorex and Pachycephalosaurus.  According to this hypothesis, Dracorex was a juvenile Pachycephalosaurus, having not developed a dome in its young age, Stygimoloch would have been a young adult, having developed a small dome, and Pachycephalosaurus was the mature adult, with a full dome but shorter horns.  Despite this idea's popularity, it is highly debatable and challenged by many other paleontologists.  The idea of long horns being absorbed into a thickening skull needs to be looked into more since nothing like it can be observed in any other large vertebrate. 

References

Carpenter, Kenneth (1997). "Agonistic behavior in pachycephalosaurs (Ornithischia:Dinosauria): a new look at head-butting behavior". Contributions to Geology 32 (1): 19–25.

Galton, P. M. and H. D. Sues (1983). "New data on pachycephalosaurid dinosaurs (Reptilia: Ornithischia) from North America." Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 20: 462-472.

Goodwin, M. B., E. A. Buchholtz, et al. (1998). "Cranial anatomy and diagnosis of Stygimoloch spinifer." Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 18(2): 363-375.

Horner J.R. and Goodwin, M.B. (2009). "Extreme cranial ontogeny in the Upper Cretaceous Dinosaur Pachycephalosaurus." PLoS ONE, 4(10): e7626.

Maryańska, Teresa; Chapman, Ralph E.; Weishampel, David B. (2004). "Pachycephalosauria". In Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.). The Dinosauria (2nd ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 464–477. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.

National Fossil Day 2014

Happy National Fossil Day!  This year I would like to share with you some videos Gary and I took this past summer, while doing fieldwork in New Mexico, that we feel give you a little taste of what it is like to prep fossils.  We have already shown you videos of excavating the amazing finds out in the field, but that's only half the battle.  (If you haven't seen those posts yet be sure to check out what we did back in 2013, this past summer in 2014, and definitely check out Gary's step-by-step story on excavating a Typothorax rib from the earth to the display case!)  A huge part of working in paleontology requires prepping fossils in a lab setting.  This work isn't so much strenuous, but it is tedious at times.  Ever wonder why new fossil species sometimes take years to be published after they are discovered?  It's because sometimes it takes that long for them to be prepped! 

We can use a variety of different tools to help us prep fossils.  One great piece of equipment we use to remove large amounts of rock from around the fossils is called an air scribe.  This device is essentially a pen-sized jackhammer.  Below is a video of Gary using one of these air scribes to get through a rather large rock for the sake of a rather small (but important) fossil. 

Using an air scribe takes some practice to get comfortable with.  Once mastered, however, it makes prepping fossils a lot easier!  It still can take many hours to get the prize out of the rock, however.  Imagine how long it must have taken paleontologists to prep fossils before they had air scribes!

Once out of the rock, the fossils still need some attention before they are museum/publication ready.  These tools are for more detailed work than an air scribe and take just as much patience to use properly.  In the lab, we use everything from dental tools, toothbrushes, paintbrushes, and of course, Q-tips.  Many times, unfortunately, the fossil will break while being cleaned.  This is pretty common and happens to the best of us.  Luckily we have plenty of adhesives in the lab to put them back together.  Sometimes, unfortunately, the particularly small fossils can splinter apart to the point of no repair.  The best one can do in this situation is just chalk it up to a learning experience and be even more careful on the next one!  Check out this video of me as I clean off some of these tiny, yet awesome, fossils from the Triassic! 

Hope you enjoyed a taste of fossil prepping!  On a slightly different note, I was given the opportunity to run the Bergen County Zoo's first annual fossil day!  It's no Smithsonian, but I did my best to make the education center as full of fossil education as possible.  This temporary exhibit featured real fossils, fossil replicas, a (small) portion of my dinosaur toy model collection, and plenty of my original artwork.  Some illustrations I created special for this event.  I even got to use the zoo's brand new touch board device!  Below are some photos I took of the room after the zoo closed and the masses had left.  Enjoy!

Some of those Redondasaurus teeth in the case were in the video you just watched.

Same goes for some of those Typothorax bits.

Fossil Day at the Zoo

Sunday, October 12th, 2014, I am running the Bergen County Zoo's first ever Fossil Day event!  Come on down and see some real fossils and hear about Gary and I's experiences hunting for them!  Did I also mention it's at a zoo...with animals?  COME ON GO GO GO GO!