The dinosaur’s undersea burial preserved its armor in exquisite detail.
February 2, 2018 6:00 PM Subscribe
The more I look at it, the more mind-boggling it becomes. Fossilized remnants of skin still cover the bumpy armor plates dotting the animal’s skull. Its right forefoot lies by its side, its five digits splayed upward. I can count the scales on its sole. Caleb Brown, a postdoctoral researcher at the museum, grins at my astonishment. “We don’t just have a skeleton,” he tells me later. “We have a dinosaur as it would have been.”
Holy heck!
posted by Artw at 6:27 PM on February 2, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Artw at 6:27 PM on February 2, 2018 [1 favorite]
Nature. *kisses fingers*
posted by dogstoevski at 6:28 PM on February 2, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by dogstoevski at 6:28 PM on February 2, 2018 [1 favorite]
I'm always sort of amused how mining-related discoveries such as this inevitably note that half the find was destroyed. Capitalism! Science!
posted by mwhybark at 6:38 PM on February 2, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by mwhybark at 6:38 PM on February 2, 2018 [6 favorites]
Makes you wonder how many of these fossils have been missed by inattentive excavator operators and ended up in some waste rock dump to be ground up to extract every tiny bit of mineral content. What if his foreman just said "Fuck it, keep going, I don't want to do that paperwork?"
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 6:48 PM on February 2, 2018 [13 favorites]
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 6:48 PM on February 2, 2018 [13 favorites]
I'm always sort of amused how mining-related discoveries such as this inevitably note that half the find was destroyed. Capitalism! Science!
Eh. The oil company flew recovery scientists to the site on their jet. Then a combined corporate/science team lifting the thing out of the ground had it fall into a few pieces on them. I'm all for vilifying oil companies where it seems warranted but they seem to have done 100% the right thing in this case.
posted by killdevil at 6:56 PM on February 2, 2018 [31 favorites]
Eh. The oil company flew recovery scientists to the site on their jet. Then a combined corporate/science team lifting the thing out of the ground had it fall into a few pieces on them. I'm all for vilifying oil companies where it seems warranted but they seem to have done 100% the right thing in this case.
posted by killdevil at 6:56 PM on February 2, 2018 [31 favorites]
Nodosaur? OR A GIANT PREHISTORIC PANGOLIN? Just sayin.
posted by pangolin party at 7:12 PM on February 2, 2018 [10 favorites]
posted by pangolin party at 7:12 PM on February 2, 2018 [10 favorites]
Oooo nice! But still not the best dinosaur.
posted by lazaruslong at 7:20 PM on February 2, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by lazaruslong at 7:20 PM on February 2, 2018 [2 favorites]
...museum staff were finalizing the creature’s scientific description and hadn’t yet settled on a common name for it. (“Mrs. Prickley,” a reference to a Canadian sketch comedy character, didn’t stick.)
Call it "Edith", for God's sake! ("Canadian sketch comedy"? No. The immortal SCTV!)
posted by CCBC at 7:51 PM on February 2, 2018 [6 favorites]
Call it "Edith", for God's sake! ("Canadian sketch comedy"? No. The immortal SCTV!)
posted by CCBC at 7:51 PM on February 2, 2018 [6 favorites]
they seem to have done 100% the right thing in this case.
A 110% right thing, imho: don't mine these deposits and sites. Maybe more than 110%.
posted by mwhybark at 8:07 PM on February 2, 2018 [2 favorites]
A 110% right thing, imho: don't mine these deposits and sites. Maybe more than 110%.
posted by mwhybark at 8:07 PM on February 2, 2018 [2 favorites]
I have been reading with delight about this find for years now. As a kid, I was dinosaur-crazy but now I keep my hand in just enough to talk with my seven-year-old nephew about how cool dinosaurs are. I envy him, because he actually gets to have this around during his own dinosaur-crazy years.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:18 PM on February 2, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:18 PM on February 2, 2018 [5 favorites]
Previously in this thread, but yeah, deserves it's own thread, because it's a really awesome find!
posted by ODiV at 9:57 PM on February 2, 2018
posted by ODiV at 9:57 PM on February 2, 2018
I feel like when this was broadly announced last year the excitement over it was all but snuffed out by the horrifying nature of the current news cycle. It's so wonderful to have a moment of reprieve from all our human affairs and squabbles to contemplate the immenseness of time and how truly astonishing our little planet is.
posted by giizhik at 9:59 PM on February 2, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by giizhik at 9:59 PM on February 2, 2018 [5 favorites]
Wow... it looks like an illustration out of a book. Scientists really did an amazing job of predicting what dinosaurs would look like, it's nice to see some of this confirmed. Great post!
posted by ®@ at 10:54 PM on February 2, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by ®@ at 10:54 PM on February 2, 2018 [1 favorite]
Ok, so, it's fresh. What does it taste like?
posted by sexyrobot at 11:24 PM on February 2, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by sexyrobot at 11:24 PM on February 2, 2018 [2 favorites]
Evidentally, mammalian predators are pikers compared to dinosaur predators--thankfully. This is the abstract of an article about counter-shading on the nodosaur and the shivery implications.
Predator-prey dynamics are an important evolutionary driver of escalating predation mode and efficiency, and commensurate responses of prey [ 1–3 ]. Among these strategies, camouflage is important for visual concealment, with countershading the most universally observed [ 4–6 ]. Extant terrestrial herbivores free of significant predation pressure, due to large size or isolation, do not exhibit countershading. Modern predator-prey dynamics may not be directly applicable to those of the Mesozoic due to the dominance of very large, visually oriented theropod dinosaurs [ 7 ]. Despite thyreophoran dinosaurs’ possessing extensive dermal armor, some of the most extreme examples of anti-predator structures [ 8, 9 ], little direct evidence of predation on these and other dinosaur megaherbivores has been documented. Here we describe a new, exquisitely three-dimensionally preserved nodosaurid ankylosaur, Borealopelta markmitchelli gen. et sp. nov., from the Early Cretaceous of Alberta ... and a pattern of countershading across the body. With an estimated body mass exceeding 1,300 kg, B. markmitchelli was much larger than modern terrestrial mammals that either are countershaded or experience significant predation pressure as adults. Presence of countershading suggests predation pressure strong enough to select for concealment in this megaherbivore despite possession of massive dorsal and lateral armor, illustrating a significant dichotomy between Mesozoic predator-prey dynamics and those of modern terrestrial systems.
The entire article is here
posted by Transl3y at 1:13 AM on February 3, 2018 [10 favorites]
Predator-prey dynamics are an important evolutionary driver of escalating predation mode and efficiency, and commensurate responses of prey [ 1–3 ]. Among these strategies, camouflage is important for visual concealment, with countershading the most universally observed [ 4–6 ]. Extant terrestrial herbivores free of significant predation pressure, due to large size or isolation, do not exhibit countershading. Modern predator-prey dynamics may not be directly applicable to those of the Mesozoic due to the dominance of very large, visually oriented theropod dinosaurs [ 7 ]. Despite thyreophoran dinosaurs’ possessing extensive dermal armor, some of the most extreme examples of anti-predator structures [ 8, 9 ], little direct evidence of predation on these and other dinosaur megaherbivores has been documented. Here we describe a new, exquisitely three-dimensionally preserved nodosaurid ankylosaur, Borealopelta markmitchelli gen. et sp. nov., from the Early Cretaceous of Alberta ... and a pattern of countershading across the body. With an estimated body mass exceeding 1,300 kg, B. markmitchelli was much larger than modern terrestrial mammals that either are countershaded or experience significant predation pressure as adults. Presence of countershading suggests predation pressure strong enough to select for concealment in this megaherbivore despite possession of massive dorsal and lateral armor, illustrating a significant dichotomy between Mesozoic predator-prey dynamics and those of modern terrestrial systems.
The entire article is here
posted by Transl3y at 1:13 AM on February 3, 2018 [10 favorites]
Makes you wonder how many of these fossils have been missed by inattentive excavator operators and ended up in some waste rock dump to be ground up to extract every tiny bit of mineral content. What if his foreman just said "Fuck it, keep going, I don't want to do that paperwork?"
I saw on a documentary once that quarry / mining workers got a bonus for finding fossils so its' worth their while to report them
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 2:48 AM on February 3, 2018 [3 favorites]
I saw on a documentary once that quarry / mining workers got a bonus for finding fossils so its' worth their while to report them
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 2:48 AM on February 3, 2018 [3 favorites]
I saw on a documentary once that quarry / mining workers got a bonus for finding fossils so its' worth their while to report them
Also, oil companies are full of scientists, more so than other industries. Geologists and geophysicists mostly, but still I have to imagine they'd seriously pissed if their company fucked up a significant discovery.
and who doesn't love freaking Dinosaurs?!
posted by leotrotsky at 4:39 AM on February 3, 2018 [3 favorites]
Also, oil companies are full of scientists, more so than other industries. Geologists and geophysicists mostly, but still I have to imagine they'd seriously pissed if their company fucked up a significant discovery.
and who doesn't love freaking Dinosaurs?!
posted by leotrotsky at 4:39 AM on February 3, 2018 [3 favorites]
...besides Donald Gennaro, that is.
posted by leotrotsky at 4:40 AM on February 3, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by leotrotsky at 4:40 AM on February 3, 2018 [3 favorites]
Ok, so, it's fresh. What does it taste like?
Chicken.
posted by mikelieman at 5:24 AM on February 3, 2018 [2 favorites]
Chicken.
posted by mikelieman at 5:24 AM on February 3, 2018 [2 favorites]
Ok, so, it's fresh. What does it taste like?
Chicken.
But it is tough and muddy tasting.
Bag it and sous vide it next time.
posted by rough ashlar at 5:29 AM on February 3, 2018
Chicken.
But it is tough and muddy tasting.
Bag it and sous vide it next time.
posted by rough ashlar at 5:29 AM on February 3, 2018
I still want to pet its sleepy head
posted by Mouse Army at 6:18 AM on February 3, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by Mouse Army at 6:18 AM on February 3, 2018 [7 favorites]
Well I just discovered something about myself. Apparently I tear up and cry at amazing pictures and a video of a dead dino. I think it must be because it actually looks like like a real alive creature with little need to imagine on top of a skeleton. There it is. Proof. Right in front of you. You can actually see a face!
How utterly special and amazing this is.
Thanks for posting I completely missed this happening last year.
posted by Jalliah at 7:33 AM on February 3, 2018 [5 favorites]
How utterly special and amazing this is.
Thanks for posting I completely missed this happening last year.
posted by Jalliah at 7:33 AM on February 3, 2018 [5 favorites]
> Bag it and sous vide it next time.
Poacher!
The images are amazing. I can only imagine how thrilled the scientists must be!
posted by Westringia F. at 7:53 AM on February 3, 2018 [2 favorites]
Poacher!
The images are amazing. I can only imagine how thrilled the scientists must be!
posted by Westringia F. at 7:53 AM on February 3, 2018 [2 favorites]
and who doesn't love freaking Dinosaurs?!
posted by leotrotsky at 7:39 AM on February 3
[+] [!]
...besides Donald Gennaro, that is.
posted by leotrotsky at 7:40 AM on February 3
Deep cut.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:03 AM on February 3, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by leotrotsky at 7:39 AM on February 3
[+] [!]
...besides Donald Gennaro, that is.
posted by leotrotsky at 7:40 AM on February 3
Deep cut.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:03 AM on February 3, 2018 [2 favorites]
> I'm always sort of amused how mining-related discoveries such as this inevitably note that half the find was destroyed. Capitalism! Science!
You realize, I hope, comrade, that 1) these terrible capitalists did everything they could to preserve it, and 2) mining takes place under socialist regimes as well? In fact, in the Motherland of World Socialism (RIP), mining was carried out on a vast scale with zero regard for environmental consequences, let alone the fossil record. But carry on lambasting the Man!
posted by languagehat at 9:06 AM on February 3, 2018 [4 favorites]
You realize, I hope, comrade, that 1) these terrible capitalists did everything they could to preserve it, and 2) mining takes place under socialist regimes as well? In fact, in the Motherland of World Socialism (RIP), mining was carried out on a vast scale with zero regard for environmental consequences, let alone the fossil record. But carry on lambasting the Man!
posted by languagehat at 9:06 AM on February 3, 2018 [4 favorites]
90%* of people who go into paleontology do so because they love dinosaurs, but 90% of those end up working in the oil and gas industry interpreting microfossils. So yeah, the oil industry is full of frustrated dinosaur scientists.
*numbers pulled out of my tar pit
posted by Rumple at 12:37 PM on February 3, 2018 [8 favorites]
*numbers pulled out of my tar pit
posted by Rumple at 12:37 PM on February 3, 2018 [8 favorites]
wow, the 3d portion is amazingly rendered. Thank you for sharing this!
posted by anitanita at 1:23 PM on February 3, 2018
posted by anitanita at 1:23 PM on February 3, 2018
Some previous discussion of this fossil.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 2:24 PM on February 3, 2018
posted by vibratory manner of working at 2:24 PM on February 3, 2018
So I'm wondering -- how do they know it didn't have a tail club, when they only have the front part of the body? Are they just assuming that because it seems to be closer to the branch of Ankylosauria that don't? Or is there something about the anatomy of the hips that says it wouldn't have a club?
posted by tavella at 8:46 PM on February 3, 2018
posted by tavella at 8:46 PM on February 3, 2018
these terrible capitalists did everything they could to preserve it,
Oh, certainly, certainly. It was neccesary to destroy the fossil in order to preserve it, without question, fellow-shareholder-citizen!
posted by mwhybark at 9:10 PM on February 3, 2018
Oh, certainly, certainly. It was neccesary to destroy the fossil in order to preserve it, without question, fellow-shareholder-citizen!
posted by mwhybark at 9:10 PM on February 3, 2018
I want to show this thing to me in 1968.
posted by lagomorphius at 9:09 AM on February 4, 2018
posted by lagomorphius at 9:09 AM on February 4, 2018
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posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 6:05 PM on February 2, 2018 [8 favorites]