Sauroposeidon: Beast of the Week

 This week we will be checking out a huge dinosaur with an equally impressive name.  Enter Sauroposeidon proteles!

Sauroposeidon was a sauropod dinosaur (long neck) that lived in what is now Oklahoma, Texas, and Wyoming, USA, during the early Cretaceous period, about 113 million years ago.  Its genus name translates to "Lizard Earthquake God" after the Greek god, Poseidon, who in addition to his more famous association with the ocean, was also the god of earthquakes in Greek mythology. Since not a full skeleton is known, it is difficult to tell exactly how long this dinosaur could get (because necks and tails vary so much in sauropods) but estimates range anywhere between 89 to 112 feet (27-34 m) long, making it one of the largest land animals to ever exist. 

Watercolor of two Sauroposeidon squaring up by Christopher DiPiazza.

Sauroposaidon was originally known from only a few neck vertebra.  That being said these neck vertebra were enormous, the longest of any dinosaur found in fact.  Just one vertebra alone measured 4.6 feet (1.4m)! Later on more bones, including limbs, more vertebra, and even parts of the skull, which were originally referred to as their own genus, Paluxysaurus, were found to actually the same as Sauroposeidon.  Probably the most interesting bit of information regarding this dinosaur's discovery is the fact that some of its limb bones were initially misidentified as fossilized tree trunks!

Photograph of three neck vertebra from Sauroposeidon. (Photo credit: Mathew Wedel)

Sauroposeidon's neck bones were hollow, like those of a bird, and therefore extremely light for their immense size.  This would allow the dinosaur to more easily move its head and neck around without exhausting itself.  This was likely an adaptation for being able to reach leaves at the tops of trees to eat, but also could have been a way for the dinosaur to access a wide range of food without moving its body, thus conserving energy.  Large sauropods, like Sauroposeidon, likely needed to be eating most of the time they were awake in order to fuel their bodies. 

As an adult, Sauroposeidon likely had not predators to worry about.  As a juvenile, however, it may have been preyed on by Acrocanthosaurus, and as babies, it would have needed to watch out for Deinonychus.  It also coexisted with the tiny ceratopsian, Aquilops, and the long-tailed ornithopod, Tenontosaurus.

References

Rose, Peter J. (2007). "A new titanosauriform sauropod (Dinosauria: Saurischia) from the Early Cretaceous of central Texas and its phylogenetic relationships" (web pages). Palaeontologia Electronica. 10 (2). 

Wedel, Mathew J.; Cifelli, R.L.; Sanders, R.K. (March 2000). "Sauroposeidon proteles, a new sauropod from the Early Cretaceous of Oklahoma" (PDF). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 20 (1): 109–114.

Wedel, Mathew J.; Cifelli, R. L.; Sanders, R.. K. (2000). "Osteology, paleobiology, and relationships of the sauropod dinosaur Sauroposeidon" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 45: 343–388.

Leptoceratops: Beast of the Week

 Today we will be looking at the small ceratopsian dinosaur, Leptoceratops gracilis!

Leptoceratops was a plant-eating ceratopsian dinosaur that lived in what is now Alberta, Canada, during the late Cretaceous period, between 68 and 66 million years ago.  From beak to tail it measured about 6.5 feet (about 2m) and would have been able to walk on four or two limbs when alive. The genus name translates to "small horned face". 

Leptoceratops life reconstruction in watercolors by Christopher DiPiazza.

Leptoceratops was a ceratopsian dinosaur, which means it possessed a strong parrot-like beak and a bony frill on the back of its skull.  Unlike a lot of its larger relatives it didn't have any horns on the nose or over the eyes, but it did have large pointed jugal (cheek) bones which likely supported horns of some kind in life on the tips.  Its lower jaw was extremely deep, implying there were huge muscles there in life, giving it a powerful bite.  In the jaws it sported leaf-shaped teeth which were proportionally the largest of any ceratopsian.  The wear on Leptoceratops' teeth is unique, suggesting its jaws would  have moved back and forth in a circular motion, similar to many herbivorous mammals, but unheard of in any other dinosaur. This unique feeding style, combined with the raw power of its jaws and the sharpness of the beak, may have allowed it exploit a wider range of plant foods since it did not have the height advantage of other larger plant-eaters it coexisted with.  

Diagram of the tooth ware and chewing motion of Leptoceratops from the paper by Varriale et al. referenced below.

Leptoceratops had proportionally shorter but powerful arms, each armed with five strong fingers, the first three of which had claws.  Its hind legs were longer and it was likely capable switching between quadrupedal and bipedal walking and running depending on what suited it.  The vertebra in its tail had long neural arches, forming a tall almost fin-like profile, which may have been an adaptation for display against rivals of the same species or possibly predators, distorting the animal's profile and making it look larger than it really was.  

Two Leptoceratops skeletons on display at the Canadian Museum of Nature

A paper published in 2019 suggests Leptoceratops may have lived underground, thanks to multiple skeletons of different aged individuals found in what appeared to have been a collapsed burrow.  This doesn't seem impossible since Leptoceratop's extremely short frill wouldn't have gotten in the way if it was moving around through tunnels in life.  Sleeping underground is also a great strategy for avoiding predators.  

Despite its size Leptoceratops may have been able to fend off predators by simply being a jerk.  (This is not backed up by any fossil evidence but behavior rarely is.)

When alive Leptoceratops would have shared its habitat with some of the most famous dinosaurs, like Edmontosaurus, Ankylosaurus, Pachycephalosaurus, and Triceratops. It would have needed to watch out for predators like Acheroraptor, Nanotyrannus, and Tyrannosaurus, plus all the crocodilians and large pterosaurs, like Quetzalcoatlus, that were around. (although Quetzalcoatlus may have only been able to prey on babies.)  At first it's easy to imagine little Leptoceratops as nothing more than fodder for these predators since it had no horns or armor, but keep in mind that beak backed up with all that jaw pressure was potentially a devastating weapon.  It's not supported by any true evidence, but I always imagined Leptoceratops as extremely foul tempered and aggressive, even towards animals that dwarfed it, as a defense strategy. Modern Honey Badgers, Wolverines, and even members of the pig family effectively exhibit this strategy today. Even mighty T. rex couldn't have wanted to endure a bite on the toe from a Leptoceratops beak! 

References

Brown, B. (1914). "Leptoceratops, a new genus of Ceratopsia from the Edmonton Cretaceous of Alberta". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 33 (36): 567–580.

Fowler, D.W.; Wilson, J.P.; Freedman Fowler, E.A.; Horner, J.R. (2019). "The Horned Dinosaur Leptoceratops (Ornithischia: Neoceratopsia) Raised its Young in Communal Nesting Burrows: Evidence from Three New Bonebeds in the Hell Creek Formation (Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous), Montana" (PDF). Presented Abstracts. Cretaceous and Beyond: Paleontology of the Western Interior. A Symposium Focusing on Cretaceous and Paleogene Vertebrate Paleontology of the Western Interior. 94. North Dakota Geological Survey. Miscellaneous Series: 20.

Maiorino, L.; Farke, A.A.; Kotsakis, T.; Raia, P.; Piras, P. (2018). "Who is the most stressed? Morphological disparity and mechanical behavior of the feeding apparatus of ceratopsian dinosaurs (Ornithischia, Marginocephalia)". Cretaceous Research.

Ryan, M.J.; Currie, P.J. (1998). "First report of protoceratopsians (Neoceratopsia) from the Late Cretaceous Judith River Group, Alberta, Canada". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 35 (7): 820–826.

Varriale, F.J. (2016). "Dental microwear reveals mammal-like chewing in the neoceratopsian dinosaur Leptoceratops gracilis". PeerJ. 4 e2132.

Geosternbergia: Beast of the Week

 This week we are looing at a famous pterosaur.  Check out Geosternbergia sterngergi!  

I'm going to start this post off with pointing out that Geosternbergia is considered simply a separate species within the genus, Pteranodon, by many experts, which would make its name Pteranodon sternbergi.  That being said, since I already did a post on Pteranodon longiceps, I'm choosing to refer to this pterosaur as Geosternbergia.  (taxonomy is complicated and also subject to change especially with fossils)

Geosternbergia was a large pterosaur that flew over the oceans that covered what is now central United States and southern Canada, during the late Cretaceous period, between 88 and 85 million years ago.  It was huge, the largest individuals sporting wingspans of 20 feet (6m) wide.  When alive they would have eaten meat, most likely primarily fish and other marine prey. The genus name is derived from the name of the paleontologist George Sternberg, who found the first fossils of this pterosaur in the early 1950s.  

Watercolor reconstruction of male and female Geosternbergia by Christopher DiPiazza.

Geosternbergia had a proportionally huge skull, which measured over four feet long in the largest specimens.  Most of this skull comprised of its long, toothless, roughly banana-shaped beak. It likely used this beak to dip into the surface of the ocean as it flew to grab prey.  The top jaw extended past the lower jaw, ending in a sharp point.  The eye sockets were actually proportionally tiny, but it still likely had sharp vision. 

Growing out the top of Geosternbergia's skull was a tall, somewhat triangular crest.  Since only the larger adult specimens possessed this crest, it is likely this pterosaur was sexually dimorphic. In addition the adults with the large crests, likely males, also were overall much larger and have narrower hips than the ones thought to be females.  Even more interesting is the fact that out of the many specimens of this pterosaur that have been found, the number of what are thought to be adult females is almost double the males.  This has led some experts to suggest that they may have exhibited polygynous mating behavior, where each male mates with multiple females.  This also aligns with males being larger and possessing elaborate display structures, since they'd be competing more aggressively with each other for mates. Modern examples of this are many, including lions, chicken, and sea lions, just to name a few. 

Skull of male Geosternbergia on display at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Kansas.

Geosternbergia's body is almost comically small, with the torso only a fraction of the skull length.  Like pretty much all pterosaurs, it would have been able to comfortably walk around on all fours, folding its extremely long fourth finger, which formed the wing, upwards while on the ground.  It is likely, however, that Geosternbergia spent most of its life at sea, possibly coming to land mostly just to mate and lay eggs.  Its proportionally huge wingspan also supports this idea, which would have allowed it to stay aloft with without expending too much energy, similar to modern sea birds.

Mostly complete skeleton of what is likely a male Geosternbergia, formerly thought to be a distinct genus, called Dawndraco.  (the short rounded crest is reconstructed)

  When alive, Geosternbergia, would have shared its habitat with many kinds of other pterosaurs and sea birds.  In the water below it would have likely hunted any small fish or mollusk it could snatch.  In turn Geosternbergia would have risked becoming food for larger predators, like sharks and the monstrous marine lizard, Tylosaurus, when it was near or in the water.  

References

Bennett, S.C. (1992). "Sexual dimorphism of Pteranodon and other pterosaurs, with comments on cranial crests". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 12 (4): 422–434.

Bennett, S.C. (1994). "Taxonomy and systematics of the Late Cretaceous pterosaur Pteranodon (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloida)". Occasional Papers of the Natural History Museum, University of Kansas. 169: 1–70.

Martin-Silverstone E., Glasier J., Acorn J., Mohr S., Currie P. (2017). "Reassesment [sic] of Dawndraco kanzai Kellner, 2010 and reassignment of the type specimen to Pteranodon sternbergi Harksen, 1966". Vertebrate Anatomy Morphology Palaeontology. 3: 47–59.

Miller, H. W. (1971). "A skull of Pteranodon (Longicepia) longiceps Marsh associated with wing and body parts". Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science. 74 (10): 20–33.

Sternberg, G. F.; Walker, M. V. (1958). "Observation of articulated limb bones of a recently discovered Pteranodon in the Niobrara Cretaceous of Kansas". Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science. 61 (1): 81–85.

Zimmerman, H., Preiss, B., and Sovak, J. (2001). Beyond the Dinosaurs!: sky dragons, sea monsters, mega-mammals, and other prehistoric beasts, Simon and Schuster.

Eocursor: Prehistoric Beast of the Week

This week we are going to check out a little dinosaur that gives us insight into the origins of some of the most iconic dinosaurs, Eocursor parvus!  

Eocursor translates to "Dawn Runner" because it was a very early dinosaur and its extremely long legs show us that it was probably a fast runner.  From snout to tail it only measured about 3 feet (roughly 1m) and was a plant-eater.  It lived about 210 million years ago in what is now South Africa and was discovered in the 1990s but wasn't formally described until 2007.

Watercolor life reconstruction of Eocursor by Christopher DiPiazza.

Eocursor was tiny and had no special armor, horns, spikes, large teeth or anything else that some other extinct dinosaurs had that would make it formidable but it is nonetheless an extremely important discovery.  This is because most other dinosaur we know of from the Triassic are either some sort of theropod, like Coelophysis or a prosauropod, like Plateosaurus.  Very rarely does anyone find a dinosaur like Eocursor which is in the same group as and likely the ancestor of the plant-eating, beaked dinosaurs like ceratopsians, thyreophorans and ornithopods.  We call this group the ornithischian dinosaurs or "bird hipped dinosaurs" (ironic because it's the other saurischian "lizard hipped" theropods that were actually directly related to birds).  It may not look like much, but Eocursor's lineage would evolve into some of the most successful and widespread dinosaurs of the Mesozoic!

Eocursor parvus bones

Like I said before, Eocursor had extremely long legs which would have come in handy(or leggy HA!) when avoiding all those hungry meat-eating theropods and crocodilomorphs of its time.  We can tell this because its tibia(lower leg bone right below the knee) was much longer than its femur (thigh bone) which is a characteristic of swift-runners.  It also would have had strong arms with five grasping fingers on each hand.  This might have aided it when foraging for plants to eat.  Its head was small and possessed small teeth that look like they would have been suitable for cutting leaves and other such plant material.  Even thought the top of its skull was never discovered, I would be willing to bet Eocursor also had large eyes, which is a trait common in small, fast-moving, plant-eating dinosaurs.

References

Butler, Richard J.; Roger M. H. Smith and David B. Norman (2007). "A primitive ornithischian dinosaur from the Late Triassic of South Africa, and the early evolution and diversification of Ornithischia". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 274 (1621): 2041. 

Gongshuilong: Beast of the Week

 Today we're checking out a recently described hadrosaur with a unique look, Gongshuilong fanwei!

Gongshuilong lived in what is now eastern China, during the late Cretaceous period, between 68 and 66 million years ago.  From beak to tail it measured about 23 feet (7m) long and would have been a plant-eater when alive.  The genus name translates from Mandarin to "Gong River Dragon" in reference to the Gong River near where its bones were discovered.

Gongshuilong life reconstruction in watercolors by Christopher DiPiazza.

Gongshuilong was a member of the hadrosaurid ("duck- billed") family of dinosaurs.  More specifically it was a saurolophine hadrosaur, which is the group that had broader bills and sometimes had crests made of solid bone structures on their heads.  Maiasaura and Probrachylophosaurus are two examples of close relatives.  Like its relatives, Gongshuilong would have been able to walk on all four legs or just its hind legs if it wanted to.  Its claws would have been hoof-like and the middle three fingers of each hand would have been fused together into a mitt, with one single hoof-like claw on the tip of them.  Like all members of its family it would have possessed a broad beak in the front of its jaws, backed up by rows of small teeth packed together to form what are referred to as "dental batteries".  These teeth were ideal for chewing up tough plants.

Photo of some of Gonghsuilong's bones, zooming in on the tall neural arches on the tail.  Image from the paper by Yao et al. listed below.

What makes Gongshuilong unusual for a hadrosaur is the fact that it had a display structure on its tail, in the form of a tall sail made up of elongated neural arches.  This would have given it a unique profile for a dinosaur, which makes me think of some living species of lizards which also sport similar structures on their tails for display within the species.  (Spinosaurus funnily enough independently had something similar)  It is likely Gongshuilong was doing something similar with its tail, possibly signaling to members of the same species for mating displays or to intimidate rivals.  Perhaps females possessed smaller sails than males?  We would need to find more fossils to have a better idea for sure.  

References

Ibrahim, Nizar; Maganuco, Simone; Dal Sasso, Cristiano; Fabbri, Matteo; Auditore, Marco; Bindellini, Gabriele; Martill, David M.; Zouhri, Samir; Mattarelli, Diego A.; Unwin, David M.; Wiemann, Jasmina; Bonadonna, Davide; Amane, Ayoub; Jakubczak, Juliana; Joger, Ulrich; Lauder, George V.; Pierce, Stephanie E. (May 7, 2020). "Tail-propelled aquatic locomotion in a theropod dinosaur". Nature. 581 (7806): 67–70.

Yao, Han; Qiu, Wenjiang; Yu, Juan; Yang, Ling; Wang, Huimin; Cao, Shenghua; Zhao, Kui; Xu, Mengyuan; Shi, Guo; Lou, Fasheng; Zeng, Cuimin; Lu, Pikun; Wu, Rui; Xu, Xing; Han, Fenglu (2026-03-30). "A new saurolophine hadrosaurid (Dinosauria: Ornithopoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of South China, providing further support for the possible Asian origin of Brachylophosaurini".

Mexidracon: Beast of the Week

 This week we will be taking a look at a unusual theropod.  Check out Mexidracon longimanus!

Mexidracon was a theropod dinosaur that lived in what is now Coahuila, Mexico, during the late Cretaceous period, about 72 million years ago.  From beak to tail it measured about 10 feet (3m) long.  Its genus name translates to "Mexican Dragon" and its species name to "long hand".  It may have been a plant-eater when alive or possibly eaten a mix of both plants and meat.  

Mexidracon life reconstruction in watercolor by Christopher DiPiazza.  This dinosaur may have been an omnivore, using its long hands to reach narrow places where prey might hide.

Mexidracon was a member of the ornithomimid family of dinosaurs, famous for resembling modern ostriches as a result of convergent evolution.  They had long necks with beaks with the later surviving forms lacking teeth.  The skull of Mexidracon was never found so it is difficult to know for sure if this was the case for it, but given its presence in the late Cretaceous and its close relationship to relatives we know were toothless, like Struthiomimus, it may have been as well.  Mexidracon is noted to have slightly shorter, more robust lower leg bones than other ornithomimids, but it was still likely a fast runner in life.  

Photograph of some of Mexidracon's bones with labels (in Spanish) (photo credit: Global Revista)

The most notable and unique feature about Mexidracon, however, is its hands.  The hand bones, called metacarpals (bones that make up our palms), were extremely long, which is where it earned its species name from.  It then also had three average length for an ornithomimid (but still relatively long) fingers, each tipped with a claw on each hand.  It is a total mystery why this dinosaur would evolve such an odd trait but there are a few ideas.  The first is the hands may have helped it get food, perhaps gathering vegetation or reaching into crevices or burrows of small creatures, more effectively.  The other possibility is the elongated hands may have been part of a display for members of the same species.  We know ornithomimids had feathers, so perhaps there were fancy display feathers growing there to impress mates or intimidate rivals?  We may never know.  

Mexidracon came from a habitat that paleontologists are still very much actively investigating and finding new exciting specimens from right now.  Other dinosaurs that have been found in the same area of Mexico include the hadrosaur, Velafrons, and the ceratopsian, Coahuilaceratops.

References

Serrano-Brañas, Claudia Inés; Espinosa-Chávez, Belinda; de León-Dávila, Claudio; Maccracken, S. Augusta; Barrera-Guevara, Daniela; Torres-Rodríguez, Esperanza; Prieto-Márquez, Albert (2025-01-28). "A long-handed new ornithomimid dinosaur from the Campanian (Upper Cretaceous) Cerro del Pueblo Formation, Coahuila, Mexico".

Peloroplites: Beast of the Week

 This week we will be checking out a large tank dinosaur.  Enter Peloroplites cedrimontanus!

Peloroplites was a plant-eating dinosaur that lived in what is now Utah, USA, during the Cretaceous period, between 98 and 93 million years ago.  From snout to tail it would have measured about 20 feet (6m) long.  It's genus name translates to "Giant Hoplite" in reference to hoplites, the ancient Greek soldiers who famously carried spears and large shields.  The species name translates to "Cedar Mountain" in reference of the geologic location in which its bones were found, the Cedar Mountain Formation.

Peloroplites life reconstruction in watercolor by Christopher DiPiazza.

Peloroplites was a member of the ankylosaur group of dinosaurs, famous for their heavy armored bodies.  More specifically within the ankylosaur group, it was in the nodosaur family, which are known for having spiky armor, especially around their necks.  Unlike more iconic ankylosaurs, nodosaurids lacked bony tail clubs.  Gargoyleosaurus and Priconodon are other examples of nodosaurs.

Peloroplites had a particularly boxy skull, with a snout that slopes down at the front.  The beak was broad and had a little notch in the center of it.  It also possessed blunt horns on its cheek bones in addition to thick bony armor on the top of its head. Only one tooth was found for Peloroplites, and it is typical for nodosaurs, proportionally small and leaf-shaped, for cutting plants.  Because of this dinosaur's noticeably wide face, it may have been a generalist feeder, hoovering up any plant material it could reach. 

Pelororoplites skeletal mount on display at the USU Eastern Prehistoric Museum, in Utah, USA.

A good amount of Peloroplites' skeleton is known, including much of its skull and many limb and other body bones, but sadly very little armor.  Because of this the skeletal ad life reconstructions of this dinosaur have the armor and spikes are based on other nodosaurs which we do have the armor of.  (Special thank you to Dr. Kenneth Carpenter, the paleontologist who originally described Peloroplites, for confirming this for me.)

When alive, Peloroplites' habitat would have been seasonally wet/flooded environment on the western shore of the shallow sea that used to be present down the middle of the United States during the Cretaceous.  It coexisted with many other dinosaurs, including the small tyrannosaur, Moros, and the larger theropod, Siats.  

References

 Carpenter, Kenneth; Bartlett, Jeff; Bird, John; Barrick, Reese (2008). "Ankylosaurs from the Price River Quarries, Cedar Mountain Formation (Lower Cretaceous), east-central Utah". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 28 (4): 1089–1101.