The 'Thunder-Thighs' sauropod- Brontomerus mcintoshi
Two dinosaur bones were unearthed in Utah,USA in the late 1990's, and
were rather left unnoticed for many years, until they caught the eyes of
Matthew Wedel and Ray Wilhite, of the Oklahoma Natural History Museum.
On closer at one of the bones- the ilium, the hip-bone, Wedel observed
that the bones had a highly unusual shape and size, and he t
eamed
up with Michael Taylor, a paleontologist at University College London,
and they spent a week just closely examining the bones.
What they
found was that in addition to the peculiar ilium, there was also an
unusual shoulder bone that appeared to be from a much larger animal.
After careful analysis and reconstruction, they concluded that the bones
were most likely from two different individuals, possibly an adult and a
juvenile, of a single new sauropod genus and species.
So, now they
had an adult and a juvenile of a new species, and they named it
Brontomerus mcintoshi (Brontomerus= Thunder thighs, 'Mcintosh' after a
retired sauropod guru). It was thus named because the ilium had a large
projection that suggests more muscles, possibly the biggest thigh
muscles among sauropods, and the sauropod might have required such
kicking skills during mating rituals or even while protecting itself
from predators.
"If predators came after it, it would have been
able to boot them out of the way," said Dr Mike Taylor, from University
College London, UK. (Source 3)
It's shoulder blade also
suggested a very powerful forelimb, which must have made the sauropod
quite athletic and well suited to clamber through its hilly Cretaceous
habitat.
Here's a video with Taylor explaining the whole journey of their discovery in 3 minutes:
http://www.youtube.com/
Source:
1) http://www.app.pan.pl/archive/
2)http://www.the-scientist.com/
3) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/
Image credit:
An artist’s rendition of Brontomerus mcintoshi delivering a powerful kick to a Utahraptor, Francisco Gascó
http://www.the-scientist.com/
The 'Thunder-Thighs' sauropod- Brontomerus mcintoshi
Two dinosaur bones were unearthed in Utah,USA in the late 1990's, and were rather left unnoticed for many years, until they caught the eyes of Matthew Wedel and Ray Wilhite, of the Oklahoma Natural History Museum.
On closer at one of the bones- the ilium, the hip-bone, Wedel observed that the bones had a highly unusual shape and size, and he t
Two dinosaur bones were unearthed in Utah,USA in the late 1990's, and were rather left unnoticed for many years, until they caught the eyes of Matthew Wedel and Ray Wilhite, of the Oklahoma Natural History Museum.
On closer at one of the bones- the ilium, the hip-bone, Wedel observed that the bones had a highly unusual shape and size, and he t
eamed
up with Michael Taylor, a paleontologist at University College London,
and they spent a week just closely examining the bones.
What they found was that in addition to the peculiar ilium, there was also an unusual shoulder bone that appeared to be from a much larger animal. After careful analysis and reconstruction, they concluded that the bones were most likely from two different individuals, possibly an adult and a juvenile, of a single new sauropod genus and species.
So, now they had an adult and a juvenile of a new species, and they named it Brontomerus mcintoshi (Brontomerus= Thunder thighs, 'Mcintosh' after a retired sauropod guru). It was thus named because the ilium had a large projection that suggests more muscles, possibly the biggest thigh muscles among sauropods, and the sauropod might have required such kicking skills during mating rituals or even while protecting itself from predators.
"If predators came after it, it would have been able to boot them out of the way," said Dr Mike Taylor, from University College London, UK. (Source 3)
It's shoulder blade also suggested a very powerful forelimb, which must have made the sauropod quite athletic and well suited to clamber through its hilly Cretaceous habitat.
Here's a video with Taylor explaining the whole journey of their discovery in 3 minutes:
http://www.youtube.com/
Source:
1) http://www.app.pan.pl/archive/
2)http://www.the-scientist.com/
3) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/
Image credit:
An artist’s rendition of Brontomerus mcintoshi delivering a powerful kick to a Utahraptor, Francisco Gascó
http://www.the-scientist.com/
What they found was that in addition to the peculiar ilium, there was also an unusual shoulder bone that appeared to be from a much larger animal. After careful analysis and reconstruction, they concluded that the bones were most likely from two different individuals, possibly an adult and a juvenile, of a single new sauropod genus and species.
So, now they had an adult and a juvenile of a new species, and they named it Brontomerus mcintoshi (Brontomerus= Thunder thighs, 'Mcintosh' after a retired sauropod guru). It was thus named because the ilium had a large projection that suggests more muscles, possibly the biggest thigh muscles among sauropods, and the sauropod might have required such kicking skills during mating rituals or even while protecting itself from predators.
"If predators came after it, it would have been able to boot them out of the way," said Dr Mike Taylor, from University College London, UK. (Source 3)
It's shoulder blade also suggested a very powerful forelimb, which must have made the sauropod quite athletic and well suited to clamber through its hilly Cretaceous habitat.
Here's a video with Taylor explaining the whole journey of their discovery in 3 minutes:
http://www.youtube.com/
Source:
1) http://www.app.pan.pl/archive/
2)http://www.the-scientist.com/
3) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/
Image credit:
An artist’s rendition of Brontomerus mcintoshi delivering a powerful kick to a Utahraptor, Francisco Gascó
http://www.the-scientist.com/
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