Post by dinosauria101 on May 12, 2019 18:39:40 GMT 5
Borealopelta markmitchelli
© @ Jacob Baardse
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, Aptian
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Order: †Ornithischia
Family: †Nodosauridae
Genus: †Borealopelta
Species: †Borealopelta markmitchelli
Borealopelta (meaning "Northern shield") is a genus of nodosaurid ankylosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Alberta, Canada. It contains a single species, B. markmitchelli, named in 2017 by Caleb Brown and colleagues from a well-preserved specimen known as the Suncor nodosaur. Discovered a mine owned by the Suncor Energy company in Alberta, Canada, the Suncor specimen is remarkable for being among the best preserved dinosaur fossils of its size ever found. It preserved not only the armor (osteoderms) in their life positions, but also remains of their keratin sheaths and overlying skin. Melanosomes were also found that indicate a countershaded reddish skin tone. At the time of its discovery, it was described as the best preserved fossil of its kind ever found.
Description
The Suncor specimen of Borealopelta is remarkable for its three-dimensional preservation of a large, articulated dinosaur complete with soft tissue. While many small dinosaurs have been preserved with traces of soft tissues and skin, these are usually flattened and compressed during fossilization. Similar-looking hadrosaurid "mummies" have a shriveled, desiccated appearance due to their partial mummification prior to fossilization. The Suncor specimen, however, appears to have sunk upside-down onto the sea floor shortly after its death, causing the top half of the body to be quickly buried with minimal distortion. The result is a specimen that preserves the animal almost as it would have looked in life, without flattening or shriveling.
The Suncor specimen preserved numerous closely spaced rows of small armor plates, or osteoderms, lining the top and sides of its broad body. From the shoulders protruded a pair of long spines, shaped like the horns of a bull. Study of the pigments present in remnants of skin and scales suggest that it might have had a reddish-brown coloration in life, with a countershaded pattern that was used for camouflage.
Discovery and history
The fossil of the Suncor Borealopelta specimen was uncovered at the Millennium Mine, 30 kilometres (19 mi) north of Fort McMurray. This oil sands mine was owned by Suncor Energy, which processes the oil into synthetic crude. The oil in these deposits comes from the remains of ancient plankton and other marine life, and during the Cretaceous period, the site was an inland sea. The fossil was uncovered during excavation in the mine by Suncor employee Shawn Funk at about 1:30pm local time on March 21, 2011. The unusual nature of the pieces of the specimen was immediately recognized by Funk and his supervisor Mike Gratton, notified the Royal Tyrell Museum. In accordance with Suncor's mining permit, the specimen became the property of the Canadian government. On March 23rd, Royal Tyrrell Museum scientist Donald Henderson and senior technician Darren Tanke were brought to the mine on a Suncor jet to examine the specimen, which, based on photographs, they expected to be a plesiosaur or other marine reptile, as no land animals had ever been discovered in the oil sands previously. Henderson was astonished to find upon a correct identification made on site by Tanke that it was an ankylosaur dinosaur and not a marine reptile. After three days of mine safety training, museum staff and Suncor employees began working to remove all pieces of the fossil from the hillside, process which took fourteen days in total. Aside from the several pieces broken free by Funk's excavator, the bulk of the specimen was still embedded 8 metres (26 ft) up a 12 metres (39 ft) cliffside.
As the major piece of rock containing the fossil was being lifted out, it broke under its own weight into several pieces. Museum staff attempted to salvage the specimen by wrapping and stabilizing the pieces in plaster, and were able to successfully transport the specimen to the Royal Tyrell Museum, where technician Mark Mitchell spent five years preparing the fossil for study, which was sponsored by the National Geographic Society. It was put on public exhibit on May 12, 2017, as part of the Royal Tyrrell Museum's "Grounds for Discovery" exhibition, along with other specimens discovered via industrial activity.
Despite heavy armor, new dinosaur used camouflage to hide from predators
Date: August 3, 2017
Source: Cell Press
Summary:
Researchers have named a new genus and species of armored dinosaur. The 110-million-year-old Borealopelta markmitchelli discovered in Alberta, Canada belongs to the nodosaur family. Now, an analysis of the 18-foot-long (5.5 m) specimen's exquisitely well-preserved form, complete with fully armored skin, suggests that the nodosaur had predators, despite the fact that it was the 'dinosaur equivalent of a tank.'
Share:
These are photographs of the Holotype of Borealopelta markmitchelli. Top: anterodorsolateral view; bottom: anterodorsal view. Scale bar, 10 cm.
Credit: Courtesy of the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, Drumheller, Canada.
Researchers reporting in Current Biology on August 3 have named a new genus and species of armored dinosaur. The 110-million-year-old Borealopelta markmitchelli discovered in Alberta, Canada, on view at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, belongs to the nodosaur family. Now, an analysis of the 18-foot-long (5.5 m) specimen's exquisitely well-preserved form, complete with fully armored skin, suggests that the nodosaur had predators, despite the fact that it was the "dinosaur equivalent of a tank," weighing in at more than 2,800 pounds (1,300 kg).
The researchers came to that conclusion based on studies of the dinosaur's skin, showing that Borealopelta exhibited countershading, a common form of camouflage in which an animal's underside is lighter than its back. The scientists say the discovery suggests that the nodosaur faced predation stress from meat-eating dinosaurs.
"Strong predation on a massive, heavily-armored dinosaur illustrates just how dangerous the dinosaur predators of the Cretaceous must have been," says Caleb Brown, a scientist at the Royal Tyrrell Museum.
The specimen was found by accident on March 21, 2011, by mining machine operator Shawn Funk at the Suncor Millennium Mine in Alberta. He noticed that there was something unusual about some of the rock formations. The Royal Tyrrell Museum was notified and sent a crew, including Curator of Dinosaurs Donald Henderson, to take a look. They soon realized that the rocks contained an armored dinosaur.
"Finding the remains of an armored dinosaur that was washed far out to sea was huge surprise," Henderson says. "The fact that it was so well preserved was an even bigger surprise."
The real work began when the specimen arrived back at the museum. Over the last five and a half years, museum technician Mark Mitchell spent more than 7,000 hours slowly and gently removing rock from around the specimen to reveal the exceptional, fossilized dinosaur inside. The new species is named in Mitchell's honor.
The specimen now represents the best-preserved armored dinosaur ever found, and one of the best dinosaur specimens in the world, the researchers say.
"This nodosaur is truly remarkable in that it is completely covered in preserved scaly skin, yet is also preserved in three dimensions, retaining the original shape of the animal," says Brown. "The result is that the animal looks almost the same today as it did back in the Early Cretaceous. You don't need to use much imagination to reconstruct it; if you just squint your eyes a bit, you could almost believe it was sleeping... It will go down in science history as one of the most beautiful and best preserved dinosaur specimens -- the Mona Lisa of dinosaurs."
The condition of the specimen made it possible for Brown, Henderson, and an international team of colleagues to document the pattern and shape of scales and armor across the body. They also used chemical analysis of organic compounds in the scales to infer the dinosaur's pigmentation pattern.
Those studies revealed that the dinosaur had reddish-brown-pigmented skin with countershading across its the body. Although countershading is common, the findings come as surprise because Borealopelta's size far exceeds that of countershaded animals alive today. It suggests the dinosaur was under enough pressure from predators to select for concealment.
The remarkable specimen is sure to inspire many more studies by Brown's team and others. For instance, researchers are examining the dinosaur's preserved gut contents to find out the nature of its last meal, and working to characterize the body armor in even greater detail.
"This remarkable specimen illustrates just how unique and important the fossil record of Alberta is, and highlights the mandate of the Museum in the research, preservation, and education of these amazing resources," said Andrew Neuman, executive director at the Royal Tyrrell Museum.
Story Source: Cell Press. "Despite heavy armor, new dinosaur used camouflage to hide from predators." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/08/170803122725.htm (accessed August 4, 2017).
Journal Reference:
Brown et al. An Exceptionally Preserved Three-Dimensional Armored Dinosaur Reveals Insights into Coloration and Cretaceous Predator-Prey Dynamics. Current Biology, 2017 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.06.071
Highlights
•A new armored dinosaur is described based on an exceptionally preserved specimen
•Abundant in situ osteoderms with keratinous sheaths and scales are preserved
•Reddish-brown coloration and crypsis in the form of countershading are indicated
•Crypsis indicates strong predation pressure on this large, heavily armored dinosaur
Summary
Predator-prey dynamics are an important evolutionary driver of escalating predation mode and efficiency, and commensurate responses of prey. Among these strategies, camouflage is important for visual concealment, with countershading the most universally observed [4, 5, 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. Despite thyreophoran dinosaurs’ possessing extensive dermal armor, some of the most extreme examples of anti-predator structures, 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, which preserves integumentary structures as organic layers, including continuous fields of epidermal scales and intact horn sheaths capping the body armor. We identify melanin in the organic residues through mass spectroscopic analyses and observe lighter pigmentation of the large parascapular spines, consistent with display, 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.
An_Exceptionally_Preserved_Three_Dimensional_Armored_Dinosaur_Reveals_Insights_into_Coloration_and_Cretaceous_Predator_Prey_Dynamics.pdf (4.45 MiB)
© @ Jacob Baardse
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, Aptian
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Order: †Ornithischia
Family: †Nodosauridae
Genus: †Borealopelta
Species: †Borealopelta markmitchelli
Borealopelta (meaning "Northern shield") is a genus of nodosaurid ankylosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Alberta, Canada. It contains a single species, B. markmitchelli, named in 2017 by Caleb Brown and colleagues from a well-preserved specimen known as the Suncor nodosaur. Discovered a mine owned by the Suncor Energy company in Alberta, Canada, the Suncor specimen is remarkable for being among the best preserved dinosaur fossils of its size ever found. It preserved not only the armor (osteoderms) in their life positions, but also remains of their keratin sheaths and overlying skin. Melanosomes were also found that indicate a countershaded reddish skin tone. At the time of its discovery, it was described as the best preserved fossil of its kind ever found.
Description
The Suncor specimen of Borealopelta is remarkable for its three-dimensional preservation of a large, articulated dinosaur complete with soft tissue. While many small dinosaurs have been preserved with traces of soft tissues and skin, these are usually flattened and compressed during fossilization. Similar-looking hadrosaurid "mummies" have a shriveled, desiccated appearance due to their partial mummification prior to fossilization. The Suncor specimen, however, appears to have sunk upside-down onto the sea floor shortly after its death, causing the top half of the body to be quickly buried with minimal distortion. The result is a specimen that preserves the animal almost as it would have looked in life, without flattening or shriveling.
The Suncor specimen preserved numerous closely spaced rows of small armor plates, or osteoderms, lining the top and sides of its broad body. From the shoulders protruded a pair of long spines, shaped like the horns of a bull. Study of the pigments present in remnants of skin and scales suggest that it might have had a reddish-brown coloration in life, with a countershaded pattern that was used for camouflage.
Discovery and history
The fossil of the Suncor Borealopelta specimen was uncovered at the Millennium Mine, 30 kilometres (19 mi) north of Fort McMurray. This oil sands mine was owned by Suncor Energy, which processes the oil into synthetic crude. The oil in these deposits comes from the remains of ancient plankton and other marine life, and during the Cretaceous period, the site was an inland sea. The fossil was uncovered during excavation in the mine by Suncor employee Shawn Funk at about 1:30pm local time on March 21, 2011. The unusual nature of the pieces of the specimen was immediately recognized by Funk and his supervisor Mike Gratton, notified the Royal Tyrell Museum. In accordance with Suncor's mining permit, the specimen became the property of the Canadian government. On March 23rd, Royal Tyrrell Museum scientist Donald Henderson and senior technician Darren Tanke were brought to the mine on a Suncor jet to examine the specimen, which, based on photographs, they expected to be a plesiosaur or other marine reptile, as no land animals had ever been discovered in the oil sands previously. Henderson was astonished to find upon a correct identification made on site by Tanke that it was an ankylosaur dinosaur and not a marine reptile. After three days of mine safety training, museum staff and Suncor employees began working to remove all pieces of the fossil from the hillside, process which took fourteen days in total. Aside from the several pieces broken free by Funk's excavator, the bulk of the specimen was still embedded 8 metres (26 ft) up a 12 metres (39 ft) cliffside.
As the major piece of rock containing the fossil was being lifted out, it broke under its own weight into several pieces. Museum staff attempted to salvage the specimen by wrapping and stabilizing the pieces in plaster, and were able to successfully transport the specimen to the Royal Tyrell Museum, where technician Mark Mitchell spent five years preparing the fossil for study, which was sponsored by the National Geographic Society. It was put on public exhibit on May 12, 2017, as part of the Royal Tyrrell Museum's "Grounds for Discovery" exhibition, along with other specimens discovered via industrial activity.
Despite heavy armor, new dinosaur used camouflage to hide from predators
Date: August 3, 2017
Source: Cell Press
Summary:
Researchers have named a new genus and species of armored dinosaur. The 110-million-year-old Borealopelta markmitchelli discovered in Alberta, Canada belongs to the nodosaur family. Now, an analysis of the 18-foot-long (5.5 m) specimen's exquisitely well-preserved form, complete with fully armored skin, suggests that the nodosaur had predators, despite the fact that it was the 'dinosaur equivalent of a tank.'
Share:
These are photographs of the Holotype of Borealopelta markmitchelli. Top: anterodorsolateral view; bottom: anterodorsal view. Scale bar, 10 cm.
Credit: Courtesy of the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, Drumheller, Canada.
Researchers reporting in Current Biology on August 3 have named a new genus and species of armored dinosaur. The 110-million-year-old Borealopelta markmitchelli discovered in Alberta, Canada, on view at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, belongs to the nodosaur family. Now, an analysis of the 18-foot-long (5.5 m) specimen's exquisitely well-preserved form, complete with fully armored skin, suggests that the nodosaur had predators, despite the fact that it was the "dinosaur equivalent of a tank," weighing in at more than 2,800 pounds (1,300 kg).
The researchers came to that conclusion based on studies of the dinosaur's skin, showing that Borealopelta exhibited countershading, a common form of camouflage in which an animal's underside is lighter than its back. The scientists say the discovery suggests that the nodosaur faced predation stress from meat-eating dinosaurs.
"Strong predation on a massive, heavily-armored dinosaur illustrates just how dangerous the dinosaur predators of the Cretaceous must have been," says Caleb Brown, a scientist at the Royal Tyrrell Museum.
The specimen was found by accident on March 21, 2011, by mining machine operator Shawn Funk at the Suncor Millennium Mine in Alberta. He noticed that there was something unusual about some of the rock formations. The Royal Tyrrell Museum was notified and sent a crew, including Curator of Dinosaurs Donald Henderson, to take a look. They soon realized that the rocks contained an armored dinosaur.
"Finding the remains of an armored dinosaur that was washed far out to sea was huge surprise," Henderson says. "The fact that it was so well preserved was an even bigger surprise."
The real work began when the specimen arrived back at the museum. Over the last five and a half years, museum technician Mark Mitchell spent more than 7,000 hours slowly and gently removing rock from around the specimen to reveal the exceptional, fossilized dinosaur inside. The new species is named in Mitchell's honor.
The specimen now represents the best-preserved armored dinosaur ever found, and one of the best dinosaur specimens in the world, the researchers say.
"This nodosaur is truly remarkable in that it is completely covered in preserved scaly skin, yet is also preserved in three dimensions, retaining the original shape of the animal," says Brown. "The result is that the animal looks almost the same today as it did back in the Early Cretaceous. You don't need to use much imagination to reconstruct it; if you just squint your eyes a bit, you could almost believe it was sleeping... It will go down in science history as one of the most beautiful and best preserved dinosaur specimens -- the Mona Lisa of dinosaurs."
The condition of the specimen made it possible for Brown, Henderson, and an international team of colleagues to document the pattern and shape of scales and armor across the body. They also used chemical analysis of organic compounds in the scales to infer the dinosaur's pigmentation pattern.
Those studies revealed that the dinosaur had reddish-brown-pigmented skin with countershading across its the body. Although countershading is common, the findings come as surprise because Borealopelta's size far exceeds that of countershaded animals alive today. It suggests the dinosaur was under enough pressure from predators to select for concealment.
The remarkable specimen is sure to inspire many more studies by Brown's team and others. For instance, researchers are examining the dinosaur's preserved gut contents to find out the nature of its last meal, and working to characterize the body armor in even greater detail.
"This remarkable specimen illustrates just how unique and important the fossil record of Alberta is, and highlights the mandate of the Museum in the research, preservation, and education of these amazing resources," said Andrew Neuman, executive director at the Royal Tyrrell Museum.
Story Source: Cell Press. "Despite heavy armor, new dinosaur used camouflage to hide from predators." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/08/170803122725.htm (accessed August 4, 2017).
Journal Reference:
Brown et al. An Exceptionally Preserved Three-Dimensional Armored Dinosaur Reveals Insights into Coloration and Cretaceous Predator-Prey Dynamics. Current Biology, 2017 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.06.071
Highlights
•A new armored dinosaur is described based on an exceptionally preserved specimen
•Abundant in situ osteoderms with keratinous sheaths and scales are preserved
•Reddish-brown coloration and crypsis in the form of countershading are indicated
•Crypsis indicates strong predation pressure on this large, heavily armored dinosaur
Summary
Predator-prey dynamics are an important evolutionary driver of escalating predation mode and efficiency, and commensurate responses of prey. Among these strategies, camouflage is important for visual concealment, with countershading the most universally observed [4, 5, 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. Despite thyreophoran dinosaurs’ possessing extensive dermal armor, some of the most extreme examples of anti-predator structures, 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, which preserves integumentary structures as organic layers, including continuous fields of epidermal scales and intact horn sheaths capping the body armor. We identify melanin in the organic residues through mass spectroscopic analyses and observe lighter pigmentation of the large parascapular spines, consistent with display, 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.
An_Exceptionally_Preserved_Three_Dimensional_Armored_Dinosaur_Reveals_Insights_into_Coloration_and_Cretaceous_Predator_Prey_Dynamics.pdf (4.45 MiB)
