Thanksgiving 2015: Respect Your Dinosaur

As you should know, birds are dinosaurs.  Therefore the turkey you may be eating at Thanksgiving dinner is...a dinosaur.

Because of this, back in 2012, I decided to doodle a little cartoon of this and post it on my facebook page.  Here it is below.

Well I never would have guessed, this thing actually went viral as soon as a certain popular science-themed facebook group caught wind of it and posted it to their page.  I had people all over the world sharing this cartoon and laughing at it.  I started getting texts from people I know telling me they saw it on their newsfeed...but not from me! (If I remember correctly the group did credit me as the artist, as they should have.)

In case you were wondering the nonavian dinosaurs pictured are from left yo right: Dakotaraptor, Tyrannosaurus, and Dryptosaurus.  All three members of the coelurosaur group, which also includes birds.

Well this year I decided to do that cartoon again with a bit more care put in.  (a bit...its still a sketch basically with paint on it.)  Enjoy!

As you enjoy your meal this Thanksgiving, remember to respect your bird because millions of years ago, its relatives were eating ours!

Therizinosaurus: Beast of the Week

This week we will be checking out an increasingly popular, unique dinosaur.  Enter Therizinosaurus cheloniformis!  Therizinosaurus was a large plant-eating dinosaur that lived in what is now Mongolia, during the Late Cretaceous, 70 million years ago.  From beak to tail it is estimated to have measured about thirty three feet long and would have had feathers when alive.  The name, Therizinosaurus, translates to "scythe lizard" in reference to its long, scythe-shaped claws.  The species name, cheloniformes, translates to "turtle form" because its remains were originally believed to have belonged to a large turtle when they were discovered in the 1950s. (specifically the claws)

A lazy Therizinosaurus falls asleep while feeding.  I based this scene loosely after a sloth I worked with who I observed doing something similar, dozing off with a piece of food still in his claws.

Therizinosaurus is sadly only known from fragmentary remains, including claws, and arms, and parts of the legs.  Most of what we know about it is based on more complete remains from related dinosaurs from the same family.  Therizinosaurus, along with its family, called therizinosauroidea, all were probably plant eaters, which is unusual for nonavian theropods.  Although the ornithomimosaurs were likely at least plan-eaters part of the time, possibly along with oviraptorosaurs, too.  If Therizinosaurus was like its closest relatives, it would have had a long, thin neck, and a relatively small skull, with a small beak at the tip and small teeth in the back, for shredding plants.

Therizinosaurus hand tipped with gigantic claws on display at the Sauriermuseum Aathal in Switzerland.

The arms and claws were probably Therizinosaurus' most impressive traits.  The arms themselves were relatively long, but would have had a limited range of motion, especially when it comes for reaching upwards.  Each hand ended in three fingers, each tipped with an enormous, scythe-shaped claw.  Each of these claws were about or just over three feet long!  They also were laterally compressed, and blade-like, and at first glance appear to have been really nasty weapons.  However, it is unlikely this was their primary function. (Although I'm sure if you ticked a Therizinosaurus off enough it wouldn't hesitate to use them to hurt you.)  It is more likely they aided Therizinosaurus in either feeding, or mating.  When it comes to feeding, these claws could have played a part in better manipulating branches and chutes towards the dinosaur's mouth to eat the leaves.  Despite the fact that Therizinosaurus could reach higher up with its neck than with its arms, they still could have been useful for bending plant limbs that started growing low and had edible foliage up high, towards, the dinosaur's mouth.  These claws also may have played a role in mate selection and display.  Who knows what kind of behavior Therizinosaurus may have exhibited when it wanted to impress a potential mate with those claws?  Birds today incorporate all sorts of body adaptations in mating displays and dances.  There is a strong chance many prehistoric dinosaurs were the same.  Since the fossil material from this dinosaur is also extremely limited right now, for all we know the extremely long claws may have been a display adaptation only present in mature males, for instance.  Only new discoveries made in the future could ever tell us that, however.

Quick sketch I did of a male Therizinosaurus using his claws in an attempt to woo a female. There is no fossil evidence that suggests there was a difference in claw size between the sexes.

Therizinosaurus would have had a relatively wide body, with a low center of gravity.  It's pubis bone, which usually is facing forward in most nonavian theropods, would have been angled backwards.  These are adaptations for a plant-eating lifestyle.  Since they likely evolved from meat-eating ancestors, therizinosauroids needed to change their internal anatomy, specifically their digestive tract, drastically in order to make the change to an herbivorous diet.  This requires a bigger gut, since plants are more work to digest, and therefore need more space to ferment inside.  For modern examples, look to large plant-eating animals today, like cows.  These animals have wide stomachs, with multiple chambers to slowly break down the plants that they eat.  Other herbivores, like horses, have enlarged cecums, the section between the small and large intestines, for the same purpose.  Think of Therizinosaurus' gut as a huge, living, fermentation chamber.

If Therizinosaurus did use its claws to help it forage, this is how it could have done it.  The arms couldn't reach above the head.

Therizinosaurus' feet were wide, and each had four toes touching the ground, for extra stability.  In most theropods, the first digit is greatly reduced and doesn't touch the ground, like a dewclaw.  This stability was important since Therizinosaurus was probably extremely heavy for a bipedal dinosaur. Other heavy-bodied dinosaurs could walk on all fours to better spread their weight.  In life Therizinosaurus was almost certainly feathered, since a beautifully preserved close relative, named Beipiaosaurus was discovered with the remains of a layer of shaggy feathers preserved still intact.  Since therizinosauroids obviously weren't flying, it is likely these feathers were more for display or temperature regulation.

That is all for this week!  As always feel free to comment below or on our facebook page!

References

Barsbold, R. (1976c). "New data on Therizinosaurus (Therizinosauridae, Theropoda) [in Russian]." In Devâtkin, E.V. and N.M. Ânovskaâ (eds.), Paleontologiâ i biostratigrafiâ Mongolii.Trudy, Sovmestnaâ Sovetsko−Mongol’skaâ paleontologičeskaâ kspediciâ, 3: 76–92.

Lautenschlager, S. "Morphological and Functional Diversity in Therizinosaur Claws and the Implications for Theropod Claw Evolution." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 281.1785 (2014): 20140497. Web.

Maleev, E.A. (1954). "New turtle−like reptile in Mongolia [in Russian]." Priroda, 1954(3): 106–108.

Perle, A., 1982, "On a new finding of the hindlimb of Therizinosaurus sp. from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia", Problems on the Geology of Mongolia, 5: 94–98

Lurdusaurus: Beast of the Week

This week, as result of a request, we will be checking out Lurdusaurus arenatus.  Lurdusaurus was a plant-eating dinosaur that lived in what is now Niger, Africa, during the Early Cretaceous Period, between 121 and 112 million years ago.  The genus name, Lurdusaurus, translates to "Heavy Lizard" because of its unusually robust skeleton.

Pair of Lurdosaurus life reconstruction by Christopher DiPiazza.

Lurdusaurus was closely related to the more famous dinosaur, Iguanodon, and shared a number of telltale characteristics with it, such as the broad beak and thumb spike.  The thumb spike on Lurdusaurus was huge and wide, and may have been a weapon against members of its own species when fighting for dominance, or perhaps for defending against potential predators, when necessary.  Lurdusaurus, however was much more heavily-built than its relatives, possessing a very much barrel-shaped body.  Its legs were particularly short, especially below the knee, for an ornithopod, and likely was most comfortable on all fours, although it probably could still rear up on its hind legs if it needed to.  Lurdusaurus also had an long neck for an ornithopod.

Front limb bones form Lurdosaurus on display at the Belgian institute of Natural Sciences.  Note how thick they are.

Because of its unusual body plan, it is believed that Lurdusaurus must have been adapted for a slightly different lifestyle than most other ornithopods.  The most popular idea is that Lurdusaurus was spending a lot of its time in the water, where its immense bulk would be more easily supported and it probably would have even been able to move more quickly with its short legs, similarly to how modern hippos do.  It may have used its long neck to reach underwater plants to eat, or to allow it to breathe at the surface when in deeper water.

The idea of Lurdusaurus having been comfortable in the water makes more sense when its environment is taken into account.  According to what can be told about the rocks its bones were found in, which contained an abundance of fish and crocodile fossils, the environment during the Cretaceous there would have been dominated by freshwater marshes, lakes and rivers.

That is all for this week!  As always feel free to comment below or on our facebook page.

References

Taquet, P.; Russell, D. A. (1999). "A massively-constructed iguanodont from Gadoufaoua, Lower Cretaceous of Niger". Annales de Paléontologie 85 (1): 85–96.

Halloween 2015: Thirteen More Monsters

Last year one of the most popular posts I wrote was for Halloween that featured a cartoon I sketched and painted featuring thirteen prehistoric animals that have names inspired by monsters from mythology or horror...as those monsters or horror characters.  If you still have not done so already, you can see it here.  This year, I have put together another drawing for you of thirteen more prehistoric creatures as the monsters they were named after.  Not going to lie, it was tougher this time around because there are only so many fossils named after this sort of stuff!  Because of that some of them may be a bit on the obscure side.(depending on how much you know)  See how many you can name without cheating!  When you think you have identified as many as you can, scroll down for the answers! (HINT: If you want a few cheats...check out my twitter @ChrisDiPiazza.  I've been putting up sketches of individual monsters all month.)

How many can you guess?  Click on the picture for a bigger view!

Think you got them all?  Are you suuuuuuure?  Scroll down for the answers!  Some of the names are clickable, which will lead you to their own page on this site with much more information about them.

Harpymimus

Harpymimus was an ornithomimid theropod, related to the more well-known Struthiomimus.  It was named after the harpy, a monster from Greek Mythology with the body of a bird.  Harpies are said to be unclean, loud, and generally unpleasant to be around.

Diplacodon gigan

Diplacodon was a prehistoric mammal related to rhinos and horses that belonged to a family called brontotheridae, which are characterized by having wide, sometimes double-forked horns on their snouts.  The species part of this creature's name, gigan, is in reference to the Japanese kaiju, Gigan, which was an enemy of Godzilla.  This brings us to...

Gojirasaurus

Gojirasaurus was named after the Japanese name for Godzilla, Gojira.  The dinosaur itself wasn't actually that big (by dinosaur standards), being very similar to the more well-known, Coelophysis, but Ken Carpenter, the paleontologist who named it was a huge Godzilla fan, and really wanted to name it after his childhood hero.

Gamerabaena

Gamerabaena was a prehistoric turtle, named after the Japanese kaiju, Gamera, which was essentially a giant turtle...with tusks, and can fly like a rocket from the back leg openings of his shell.

Grendelius

Grendelius was the name of an ichthyosaur, named after the monster from the famous Old English epic poem, Beowolf, named Grendel.  In the story, Grendel has his arm ripped off by the protagonist, Beowolf.  Grendelius, has actually been determined to be the same as another kind of ichthyosaur, called Brachypterygius.

Anzu

Anzu was an oviraptorosaur dinosaur named after the monster from Mesopotamian mythology, Anzu, which had the head of a lion, and the wings, legs, and tail of an eagle.

Gorgonops

Gorgonops was a synapsid, an extinct kind of animal that was related to both reptiles and mammals.  Members of the gorgonopsid family typically had robust, almost dog-like snouts with sabre canines.  Because of their scary appearances, they were named after the monster from Greek mythology, the gorgon, which had snakes for hair and could turn you to stone if you looked at it.

Quetzalcoatlus

Quetzalcoatlus was one of the largest pterosaurs known to science.  It was named after Quetzalcoatl, an Aztec God who manifested himself in a few forms, the most famous of which, was a feathered serpent.

Achelousaurus

Achelousaurus was a ceratopsian dinosaur that had a low, flat boss on its nose instead of a horn, unlike many of its relatives.  It is named in reference to Achelous, an ancient Greek river god who had one of his horns broken off during a fight with the hero, Hercules.

Tarascosaurus

Tarascosaurus was a meat-eating dinosaur that was named after the Tarasque, a dragon from French biblical folklore that had a turtle-like shell and six legs.

Ichabodcraniosaurus

This was the nickname given to a small, meat-eating dinosaur that was discovered missing its skull.  Because of this, it was named after the character Ichabod Crain from the famous story of the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow.  In the story Ichabod Crain is chased by the Headless Horseman ghost, who wants to chop off his head.  Ichabodcraniosaurus was likely really a Velociraptor.

Bradycneme draculae

Bradycneme was a dinosaur, likely a kind of troodontid, that lived in what is now Transylvania.  Its species name is in reference to the famous vampire, Dracula, because of where it was found.

Chupacabrachelys

Chupacabrachelys was a prehistoric turtle, named after the cryptid monster, the Chupecabra.  Chupecabras are said to inhabit areas around Texas and Mexico, where Chupacabrachelys was discovered, and according to legend, suck the blood out of goats at night.  The name, Chupecabra, actually translates to "goat sucker".

I hope you enjoyed my second addition to my monster-dinosaur fusion.  In case you didn't notice, this latest cartoon I made to fit right alongside last year's.  Here is the full version below.  Happy Halloween!

Click for larger view.

Return to Backyard Terrors and Dinosaur Park

Around this time of year back in 2013, I interviewed my friend, Chris Kastner, who builds life-sized dinosaur models in his backyard!  If you haven't read that yet, go and do so now!  Well, since there, Chris has not stopped working and his dinosaur park has grown immensely.  Let's check back in on him and see how things have changed!

Chris with one of the park's Velociraptors.  Chris' park is one of the few outdoor dinosaur parks that has figured out how to present realistic feathers where necessary and still have them be weather-durable.  Other parks take note.  No excuses!

My name is Chris Kastner.  I think I've always been into art of some form. I believe I started drawing from a desire to capture what I saw on TV, movies and other places. Dinosaurs entered my art and mind at a pretty young age. I was totally hooked on the prehistoric beasts! However it was quite awhile before I was able to express my love of them and share it with many others. I think at some point we all want a life size dinosaur. I had toys, models, books..but I really finally decided the big critters were best enjoyed in 1:1 scale. I tried saving to buy one but the best were too far out of this artist's reach. So I learned to build my own. That was in 2007. It's been many trials and difficulties but now we have an established Dinosaur Park here with 38 different species!

 

Two of Chris' guests break up a fight between the park's Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus.

Question 1: It has been two years since we last had you on! Have there been many changes to Backyard Terrors since then?

CK: Wow..2 years already? Let's see..did we have the full size Triceratops then? lol We've grown a bit all with the support of everyone who believes in our work here and what we are doing. We did move our haunted house, The Funhouse here this year and have added other events throughout the year like Dino Park in the Dark and Trick or Treat with the Dinosaurs. 

Life-size adult Triceratops in Chris' dinosaur park.

Question 2: What models have been added?

CK: I believe we have added our 25' Triceratops, we did our Apatosaurus this past winter. " Kathy" named for my mother is 67' along with two 10' juveniles. Our Terrors of the Deep exhibit which features a Nothosaurus, Plesiosaurus duo and a large animated Mosasaurus. Then we also went ahead and opened our Mesozoic Nature Trail that has Dimetrodon, Oviraptors, Minmi, Ceratosaurus, Nothronychus, Quetzalcoatlus, Edmontosaurus, Deinonychus and..whew..we are working on a 30' Stegosaurus!  Man I'm tired! lol

Life-size, animated Mosasaurus in the marine-themed section of dinosaur park.

Question 3: Have any of the models been Improved or tweaked? Do they need any sort of maintenance or upkeep?

CK: We have continued to add the taxidermy eyes to older models, some need repainting or touchups. The feathered ones that stay outdoors in particular keep losing paint on the feathers. We've had a few guests want a tooth here there I've resculpted too.

Close-up of one of Chris' Plesiosaurus, which he used taxidermy eyes intended for crocodilians to give a realistic appearance to.

Question 4: How do you fund building all these new models? Some of them are HUGE and others implement special effects now!

CK: Donations. This place and everything in it couldn't continue without the help from all those that appreciate what we doing here and support us. Not just local friends either, we have help from all over the world, people that never have even been here support us as best they can..it really touches my heart to bring fans of dinosaurs together to accomplish something for everyone to enjoy like this. 

Ceratosaurus, on the park's nature trail.

 

Question 5: When we last spoke you said your largest dinosaur in the park was either Big Al, the Allosaurus, or the Carnotaurus. Who is the biggest now and how big is he/she?

CK: Wow I guess it was a awhile back! lol We started with our 45' T. rex..but even he won't mess with our new 67' Apatosaurus! She is based on A. ajax and is around 15' tall at the top of her head.

Chris' sixty seven foot long Apatosaurus.

Question 6: Do you find Backyard Terrors has gained a lot more popularity and fame since two years

 ago? How do you advertise?

CK: It has! Jurassic World really boosted us this year, bringing dinosaurs into focus for kids again. Advertising is something we don't get to do a lot of..usually due to cost. A billboard is around 4,000.00 for a 3 month lease for example. Social media like Facebook is our biggest advertising tool, letting us keep fans updated and connect with them. 

The park's Nothronychus.  Many of the dinosaurs that Chris has built are appropriately feathered.

Question 7: What is the farthest people have traveled to see your park?

CK: Hmm..well as far as the states go we guests from just about every state. I do believe I saw Hawaii in our guestbook and I certainly saw Japan. Though I think that guest was here locally for other reasons ( family) and came to see us while here.. heh. 

Quetzalcoatlus on the nature trail.

Question 8: You also do an awesome horror-theme park with killer clowns. Do you favor one over the other? Are they open at the same time?

CK: Ah yes we do! My mom got me into Halloween big time, making costumes for us, decorating, encouraging us to be creative this time of year. In some ways it even beat out Christmas. We've done many haunt themes, Pirates, werewolves, but clowns..well clowns really let you let the crazy out..lol It's really great being able to turn that aspect loose..if only one time a year. The Funhouse actually supports the Dinosaur Park. Giving something to the older kids and adults to do. Proceeds from it are funneled back into the Park helping through the winter months when attendance all but stops. In the past our haunt had a few different venues, this year we brought it home to the Dinosaur Park, creating it's 1700 sq foot structure in one month ( Sep). The haunt is open Fri-Sat in October from 8-12am after the Dinosaur Park closes.

 A zombified elephant that Chris made for his haunted attraction, which is haunted circus-themed.

Question 9: Is Big Al still your favorite?

CK: Oh yeah! Allosaurus will always be my favorite, though every dinosaur here is special to me in some way. Many are nicknamed for friends and family. "Conrad" our Mosasaur is named after a good friend, reporter Jim Conrad who first came out and talked to me before we had gone anywhere near this far. He believe in us then and was truly interested in our efforts here. Sadly he passed away last December.

Big Al, the Allosaurus, sneaks up on an unsuspecting guest.

Question 10: Do you get inspiration from other dinosaur parks? How do you think yours hold up? Have you seen any that are more scientifically accurate than yours? (I can’t think of any off the top of my head to be honest)

CK: Things are always changing, our older/first pieces are often surpassed by newer ones. I'm always still learning and trying new things as well. A new process I've used relies on a plywood frame instead of just 2x4, it gives us a much more accurate guide to work from. Oh yeah for sure. There is at least one in Europe that has some great pieces and a few scattered about the U.S. too...never having been able to visit them myself I rely on images online..some look AWESOME! but I'm even a fan of the retro dinos too..they can show us a lot about our changing view of these magnificent animals.

Apatosaurus model being built using plywood.

If you're ever in Tennessee and feel like getting the crap scared out of you by cannibalistic clowns, or maybe you just want to take a stroll through a nature trail and see some dinosaurs, be sure to give Chris Kastner's Backyard Terrors a visit!  Check them out on facebook, too!