“unusual horrible hand”
October 22, 2014 12:29 PM Subscribe
It's been a big couple of months for very large (and very strange) theropod dinosaurs. The eight-foot-long arms of Deinocheirus mirificus were discovered in the Gobi in 1965 and the animal has remained a source of speculation since then. Now a team of paleontologists from the Korea Institute of Geoscience & Mineral Resources has discovered two well-preserved specimens, and it seems that Deinocheirus was even weirder than we thought. Here's the Nature link.
I just want to say how grateful I am for the recent string of excellent paleontology posts. With an 8 year old aspiring paleontologist at home I become a hero every time I can point out another cool article like this to him.
posted by anastasiav at 12:39 PM on October 22, 2014 [7 favorites]
posted by anastasiav at 12:39 PM on October 22, 2014 [7 favorites]
What's with the hairdo?
posted by Sys Rq at 12:40 PM on October 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Sys Rq at 12:40 PM on October 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
Seriously? That NatGeo illustration? I'm in no way a paleontologist, but are we sure about this one, guys?
posted by The Bellman at 12:50 PM on October 22, 2014
posted by The Bellman at 12:50 PM on October 22, 2014
Seriously? That NatGeo illustration? I'm in no way a paleontologist, but are we sure about this one, guys?
How (not) to Draw Feathered Dinosaurs
posted by anastasiav at 12:53 PM on October 22, 2014 [12 favorites]
How (not) to Draw Feathered Dinosaurs
posted by anastasiav at 12:53 PM on October 22, 2014 [12 favorites]
What's with all the Weirdosauruses getting discovered recently? Is this stuff always happening and normally just flies under the radar, or is there more to it?
posted by Omnomnom at 12:54 PM on October 22, 2014
posted by Omnomnom at 12:54 PM on October 22, 2014
oh god look at grandpasaurus with his hunchback and balding head
i want to fetch him the new yorker and his worn slippers and maybe a blanket
posted by Foci for Analysis at 1:07 PM on October 22, 2014 [7 favorites]
i want to fetch him the new yorker and his worn slippers and maybe a blanket
posted by Foci for Analysis at 1:07 PM on October 22, 2014 [7 favorites]
Oh, yeah, I'll bet all those scientists' hands look really great.
posted by ernielundquist at 1:43 PM on October 22, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by ernielundquist at 1:43 PM on October 22, 2014 [2 favorites]
You can understand why the scientists who discovered this beast called it Deinocheirus mirificus, from the Greek for “terrible hand, which is unusual”.Oh yeah. I think I have a name for a new RPG character here.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 1:46 PM on October 22, 2014 [2 favorites]
What's with all the Weirdosauruses getting discovered recently? Is this stuff always happening and normally just flies under the radar, or is there more to it?
I would be interested to see how rates of dinosaur discovery have changed in different regions over time. There are certain famous dinosaurs that we consider "normal" that were all found in North America (mostly by the same two guys). The classics like T. rex, Stegosaurus and so on.
Lately I've been noticing more and more discoveries coming out of Africa and Asia. If there's actually been an uptick in those regions, maybe we're seeing "weird" stuff because it's a different set of animals. Does that make sense? In the same way that a giraffe would like bizarre to someone who's only aware of North American fauna.
posted by brundlefly at 1:50 PM on October 22, 2014 [3 favorites]
I would be interested to see how rates of dinosaur discovery have changed in different regions over time. There are certain famous dinosaurs that we consider "normal" that were all found in North America (mostly by the same two guys). The classics like T. rex, Stegosaurus and so on.
Lately I've been noticing more and more discoveries coming out of Africa and Asia. If there's actually been an uptick in those regions, maybe we're seeing "weird" stuff because it's a different set of animals. Does that make sense? In the same way that a giraffe would like bizarre to someone who's only aware of North American fauna.
posted by brundlefly at 1:50 PM on October 22, 2014 [3 favorites]
with the growing evidence that feathers were common on dinosaurs, i imagine all of the dinosaur illustrations are essentially like drawings of plucked chickens gamboling about... which would look pretty weird.
posted by ennui.bz at 1:57 PM on October 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by ennui.bz at 1:57 PM on October 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
I think part of why so many really cool dinosaur discoveries are coming out now is that there happen to be some extremely good fossil deposits in China (and Mongolia, here!) that really started to get much more extensive study starting in the 1990s--mostly for political reasons having to do with the ease of working there, international relations, and training and investment in palaeontology by Chinese scientists. A lot of the discoveries coming out now seem to be building on that, and there are some really extraordinary deposits there.
(I occasionally hang out with palaeontologists for work, and the sense I get from them is that there are several unusually good deposits in China for really well preserved fossils, and that combined with more investment in Chinese universities means that China is quickly becoming a big national center in the field of dinosaur palaeontology. I am not a palaeontologist though and all of this could be pretty off base.)
posted by sciatrix at 2:02 PM on October 22, 2014 [3 favorites]
(I occasionally hang out with palaeontologists for work, and the sense I get from them is that there are several unusually good deposits in China for really well preserved fossils, and that combined with more investment in Chinese universities means that China is quickly becoming a big national center in the field of dinosaur palaeontology. I am not a palaeontologist though and all of this could be pretty off base.)
posted by sciatrix at 2:02 PM on October 22, 2014 [3 favorites]
It's fine, I guess, but it's no Therizinosaurus
posted by blahblahblah at 2:04 PM on October 22, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by blahblahblah at 2:04 PM on October 22, 2014 [2 favorites]
Therizinosaurus is my favorite. It and Baryonyx.
posted by brundlefly at 2:21 PM on October 22, 2014
posted by brundlefly at 2:21 PM on October 22, 2014
Why is Therizinosaurus colored like Spiderman?
posted by oinopaponton at 3:18 PM on October 22, 2014
posted by oinopaponton at 3:18 PM on October 22, 2014
oinopaponton: "Why is Therizinosaurus colored like Spiderman?"
Umm, I think that's Wolverine
posted by symbioid at 4:23 PM on October 22, 2014 [2 favorites]
Umm, I think that's Wolverine
posted by symbioid at 4:23 PM on October 22, 2014 [2 favorites]
This is my favorite depiction of Therizinosaurus, by John Conway.
posted by brundlefly at 4:28 PM on October 22, 2014 [5 favorites]
posted by brundlefly at 4:28 PM on October 22, 2014 [5 favorites]
That last Therizinosaurus looks like Edward Gorey's Doubtful Guest, so now that's my favorite dinosaur.
posted by ernielundquist at 6:39 PM on October 22, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by ernielundquist at 6:39 PM on October 22, 2014 [3 favorites]
More and more, my favourite dinosaur is the latest John Conway illustration.
posted by sneebler at 7:20 PM on October 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by sneebler at 7:20 PM on October 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
Exactly!
posted by brundlefly at 8:00 PM on October 22, 2014
posted by brundlefly at 8:00 PM on October 22, 2014
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posted by DigDoug at 12:30 PM on October 22, 2014 [1 favorite]