Episode 532: An oviraptorosaurian lovebird. A pair of Yuanyanglong were found together in the summer of 2021 after fossilizing together for 100 million years. Plus our Dino Duels continue

News:

• There’s a new oviraptorosaurian dinosaur, Yuanyanglong bainian, the “lovebird dragon” source

Sponsors:

This episode is brought to you by the Colorado Northwestern Community College. Join them for two weeks digging up dinosaur bones from the Jurassic Period in Northwest Colorado this summer. For details go to CNCC.edu/dinodig

The dinosaur of the day: Phuwiangosaurus

• Titanosaur that lived in the Early Cretaceous in what is now Thailand (Sao Khua Formation)
• Looked like a typical sauropod, walked on all fours, had a long neck and tail, and columnar legs, and a small head
• Medium sized for a sauropod, at about 49 to 66 ft (15 to 20 m) long
• Estimated to weigh 17 metric tons
• Had slender, peg-like teeth (height of the teeth was about four times larger than the width at the base of the tooth)
• Had 13 neck vertebrae
• Fossils first found in Phu Wiang National Park in 1982, and took several years to excavate and prepare
• Multiple specimens found
• Holotype is a partial skeleton that includes neck bones, back bones, ribs, a tail bone, parts of the shoulder and left arm, hips, thigh bones, and left shinbone
• Holotype was only about 10 percent of the skeleton
• Later fossils found helped fill in the gaps
• Found in a Thai-French expedition
• In 1993 the site where the fossils were found was reopened and two more vertebrae found (from the back and tail)
• In 1998 a team found a partial skeleton with part of the skull bones
• More partial skeletons and bones were found, so about 65% of the skeleton is known
• The most complete skeleton is half-grown, and about 60% complete, and includes a partial skull. Skeleton is a subadult, based on having some unfused bones, compared to the same bones that are larger and fused in the holotype
• No fully grown individuals found (none found with evidence that their growth stopped, so none found that reached their maximum body size)
• Baby Phuwiangosaurus bones have been found
• One study did histology on a number of arm and leg bones (humeri and femora) to study a growth series
• Means they cut into the bone on a number of arm and leg bones of different sizes and ages to see how fast the sauropod grew
• Hatchlings grew fast, up to one third to one quarter of their adult size, and then as juveniles they grew more slowly. Kept growing even after reaching sexual maturity
• Estimated to reach sexual maturity between ages 10 and 15
• A 2023 study of the skull (endocast) and found similarities with early-branching titanosaurs
• Type species is Phuwiangosaurus sirindhornae
• Described in 1993 by Valérie Martin, Eric Buffetaut, and Varavudh Suteethorn in a press release (formally named in 1994)
• Species name is in honor of Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand, who had an interest in the geology and paleontology of Thailand
• Genus name refers to the Phu Wiang District, where the fossils were found
• Genus name means “Phu Wiang lizard”
• First sauropod named from Thailand
• Lived in a humid, subtropical climate with two distinct seasons
• Other dinosaurs that lived around the same time and place include unidentified sauropods, carcharodontosaurids, the ornithomimosaur Kinnareemimus, spinosaurs, and the megaraptorans Phuwiangvenator and Vayuraptor
• Other animals that lived around the same time and place include crocodilians, turtles, fish, and sharks

Fun Fact:

Dinosaurs (especially sauropods) shaped the forests of the Mesozoic and impacted fruit evolution.

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