The Ornithopod Thread- Hadrosaurs, iguanodonts and kin

Cute lil' bugger according to the restorations.

http://www.ibtimes.com/dinosaur-joe-might-be-most-complete-parasaurolophus-ever-discovered-he-was-found-teenager-1434892#.UmaOBET0n0Q.facebook

http://blog.peerj.com/post/64765520135/dr-farke-and-joe-the-baby-hadrosaur

Dunno about you but I'm happy to hear about this classic dino :B

Ann Grey53

Fantastic fossil photo would love to be helping on that dig and find out some more information. well done on the photo has made my evening.

In Alberta, Canada.

The dino was said to be 30 meters long at first! However, other articles say its 12-15 meters long which is a lot more likely.

http://science.time.com/2013/10/03/pipeline-worker-finds-huge-dinosaur-fossil/

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/technology/Beautiful+dinosaur+fossil+unearthed+near+Spirit+River/8989782/story.html

Rubecula

Good find Adam.

http://www.ploscollections.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0069835;jsessionid=54B6A5D569F1E06D8BA9273CC8C8C38A

journal.pone.0069835.g020&representation=PNG_M

Galvasean wrote: »

Oh boy oh boy oh boy!!!!!!
How long do we have to wait?

I don´t know but if its tomorrow it will still be too long! :eek::pac:

Oh boy oh boy oh boy!!!!!!
How long do we have to wait?

http://phys.org/news/2013-04-scientists-rare-dinosaur-skin-fossil.html

It's a small ornithopod, similar to Gasparinisaura and Talenkauen.

It was about 1.5 meters long and was found in Antarctica:

http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.science.dinosaurs.general/56156

Chances are high it was fuzzy even tho it appears naked here:

Article in English with an illustration:

http://news.discovery.com/animals/big-nosed-dinosaur-discovered-in-mexico-121206.html

Adam Khor wrote: »

Then again, he tends to approve of everything...

I have a friend who broke her thumb recently. We all call her 'Iggy' now

Galvasean wrote: »

Iguanodon approves.

Then again, he tends to approve of everything...

Iguanodon approves.

kingiguanadon.jpg?w=584

It seems to be some sort of iguanodont but the name has not been revealed yet.

00000000A1%20ANuevo%20dino%20Teruel.jpg

Article is in Spanish. Here's the important stuff:

... at least six specimens of an eight-meter long herbivore whose main trait is the beak, very sharp and divergent (?), very different from the flat beak of other dinosaurs.
The remains of the new dinosaur, an ornithopod, were revealed yesterday before the press by the director of the Fundación Dinópolis, Luis Alcalá, who explained that during the last two years and a half, 348 bones from six specimens of different sizes and probably both genders have been identified. Worth mentioning are three skulls, two of them fairly complete, teeth, bones from the scapula and pelvis, and limbs, vertebrae and ribs.
Alcalá didn´t want to reveal the name of the new species for the time being, for its analysis has yet to be published in scientific journals. He did say that its age is estimated to be about 113 and 110 million years and is a relative to Iguanodon, another common dinosaur in the area.
Alcalá also noted the importance of the fossil site, for it dates back to the Albian, the last stage of the Early Cretaceous, an age of which there are very few fossil remains in Europe.
Besides the dinosaurs, the site has yielded numerous remains of crocodiles, turtles, fish and other known species of dinosaurs, as well as diverse plants and invertebrates- a total of about 5.000 bones

I think this guy is condemned to be forever mixed up with Altirhinus, even though it is a true duckbilled dino, not an iguanodont.

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08912963.2012.671311#preview

Not a lot of free access info to this moment, and no images. It was long known as the "Sabinas saurolophine", it had a very broad and arched snout, and that's about it.

This is the skull of a "Sabinosaurus" which I'm not sure if its the same as Latirhinus, or just a regular Kritosaurus. Seems this sort of dino was very common in southern North America back then.

Cr%C3%A1neo%20de%20Sabinosaurus.JPG

A hadrosaur forerunner that coexisted with Utahraptor:

http://www.ploscollections.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0045712;jsessionid=86B786E2E9D209DAA937A5EB3FCE374E

journal.pone.0045712.g001&representation=PNG_I

journal.pone.0045712.g001&representation=PNG_I

Ziphius

Adam Khor wrote: »

Maybe Iguanodon and similar dinosaurs such as Ouranosaurus and Lurdusaurus used their spikes in similar ways- meaning, not only as defensive weapons but to fight same species rivals and perhaps even targeting the most vulnerable spots of their opponents. Going for the eyes and stuff. Scary.

Interesting. I'd never thought of the Iguanadon thumb spike as being a sexually selected trait. I had a quick look at the literature (well, wikipedia) and there doesn't seem to be much evidence for sexual dimorphism in this species.

EoghanIRL

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

let's not forget ye olde platypus

it's so much that it's poison is very toxic but that the pain it causes is not eased by morphine because it behaves in a different way to things like snake venom.

not sure if you could call platypus venom convergent because it is so different

The platypus is my favourite mammal

Adam Khor wrote: »

Well all evidence seems to indicate that big crocs and giant monitor lizards were not rarities

salties are ocean going and komodo dragons have no problem swimming between islands.

our ancestors have faced/wiped out some nasty critters all right

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

Also turns out that megalania is more of a monitor lizard than a Komodo dragon.

Well, Komodo dragons ARE monitor lizards. And monitor lizards are probably all venomous, so megalania would still be if not the largest, then one of the largest venomous animals of all time.

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

When you consider the animals humans faced when they got to Oz you'd wonder why they stayed

Well all evidence seems to indicate that big crocs and giant monitor lizards were not rarities that evolved in islands, but rather common thing all over Asia and Oceania (and I think they found giant monitor lizard remains in Africa as well) and that Komodos are just the last remnants of said linneages. Plus in other continents the marsupial lions would be replaced by actual lions and tigers, bears, hyenas... I think the situation was just as bad everywhere. :cool:

Also turns out that megalania is more of a monitor lizard than a Komodo dragon.

So perhaps the denizens of Oz weren't fighting the largest venomous creature that ever lived 40,000 years ago.

It can't have been fun with two ton salties waiting in / near water and two ton lizards wandering around elsewhere

When you consider the animals humans faced when they got to Oz you'd wonder why they stayed

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

was iguanodon bigger than megalania ?

Yes, by far.

Nowadays it is believed that a 7 meter long megalania would weigh a bit less than two tons, and not everyone thinks it got that large, whereas Iguanodon was 3-5 tons, and perhaps even more since there's evidence of T-Rex sized individuals (and they were very robust animals).

Adam Khor wrote: »

I think it has been suggested that Iguanodon's thumb spike had venom too, like the platypus', although I think there's no evidence of it found thus far. But wouldn´t it be cool?

was iguanodon bigger than megalania ?

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

let's not forget ye olde platypus

it's so much that it's poison is very toxic but that the pain it causes is not eased by morphine because it behaves in a different way to things like snake venom.

not sure if you could call platypus venom convergent because it is so different

I think it has been suggested that Iguanodon's thumb spike had venom too, like the platypus', although I think there's no evidence of it found thus far. But wouldn´t it be cool?

let's not forget ye olde platypus

it's so much that it's poison is very toxic but that the pain it causes is not eased by morphine because it behaves in a different way to things like snake venom.

not sure if you could call platypus venom convergent because it is so different

Not paleontology, I know, but I bet you immediatly thought of Iguanodon?

This Japanese frog uses a bony spike on its "thumb" to stab its rivals, usually leaving scars, and also to secure the female during mating (also leaving her scarred). As if that wasn´t enough, the article mentions another species (a tree frog) that also has thumb spikes but specifically targets the eyes and ear drums of its rivals often with fatal consequences.

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2012/10/19/more-wolverine-frogs-japanese-species-uses-bony-thumb-spikes-to-fight-and-hold-onto-mates/

Maybe Iguanodon and similar dinosaurs such as Ouranosaurus and Lurdusaurus used their spikes in similar ways- meaning, not only as defensive weapons but to fight same species rivals and perhaps even targeting the most vulnerable spots of their opponents. Going for the eyes and stuff. Scary.

images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT2ORjKyEXpAUsHAxYRzST1Tx3A9_45owxnLNPcHd9umdjxag2hkA