Big oviraptorosaur from Montana and other news

[Ben Creisler <bcreisler@gmail.com>]

From: Ben Creisler
bcreisler@gmail.com

A number of recent news and blog items that may be of interest:


Caenagnathid oviraptorosaur from Montana


Information about the discovery of a large caenagnathid oviraptorosaur
in Montana has been out on the Web for a few days. Here are some links
with the details. I have not been able to find the official news
releases from the Burpee Museum and from the Montana Bureau of Land
Management online as yet.

http://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/skeleton-of-feathered-meat-eating-dinosaur-found-in-montana/article_7813cd0e-59e6-11e3-a5f3-001a4bcf887a.html

http://www.dunncountyextra.com/rare-egg-thief-lizard-discovered-montana-public-land/

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/11/27/pearl-the-mystery-dinosaur/

http://www.wrex.com/story/24083936/2013/11/27/burpee-museum-archaeologists-find-rare-oviraptorosaur

Note: The reconstruction in video and article above were later
corrected on Facebook to show longer feathers on the forelimbs after
input from Tom Holtz:

https://pt-br.facebook.com/Burpee.Museum?v=feed&story_fbid=167515103704&filter=3

===

Paleontology staff cutbacks at Australian Museum at the same time a
big exhibit about tyrannosaurs is on display

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/australian-museum-left-with-a-skeleton-staff-as-tyrannosaurus-exhibition-opens-20131129-2yh6v.html

Info on the exhibit
http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tyrannosaurs-meet-the-family-exhibition-at-the-australian-museum-20131119-2xt7c.html

==
Crocodile tool use

This new article about tool use in crocodiles and alligators was
discussed on the blog Tetrapod Zoology.

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/2013/11/30/tool-use-in-crocs-and-gators/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tetrapod-zoology%2Ffeed+%28Blog%3A+Tetrapod+Zoology%29

Here's the full ref with abstract and link.

Dinets, V., Brueggen, J. C. & Brueggen, J. D. 2013.
Crocodilians use tools for hunting.
Ethology Ecology & Evolution in press
DOI: 10.1080/03949370.2013.858276
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03949370.2013.858276#.UppgPcRDv8s

Using objects as hunting lures is very rare in nature, having been
observed in just a handful of species. We report the use of twigs and
sticks as bird lures by two crocodilian species. At least one of them
uses this method predominantly during the nest-building season of its
prey. This is the first known case of a predator not just using
objects as lures, but also taking into account the seasonality of prey
behavior. It provides a surprising insight into previously
unrecognized complexity of archosaurian behavior.

====

French paleontologist Eric Buffetaut has written a short popular book
in French entitled: "À quoi servent les dinosaures?"

The title can translate as "What are dinosaurs good for?" or  maybe
more accurately as "What's the point of studying dinosaurs?"

The book is a response to a question to the author at a recent press
conference in France: "Mais Monsieur, à quoi cela sert, ce que vous
faites?" [But sir, what's the practical use of what you do?]


Radio interviews and podcasts in French with Buffetaut (and excerpt
with Philippe Taquet):

part 1:
http://www.rfi.fr/emission/20131118-1-servent-dinosaures
part 2:
http://www.rfi.fr/emission/20131118-2-servent-dinosaures

Another radio interview:

http://www.franceinfo.fr/societe/votre-france-info/le-metier-de-paleontologue-1203739-2013-11-06

Publisher link:
http://www.editions-belin.com/ewb_pages/f/fiche-article-quoi-servent-les-dinosaures-22046.php


==
Not Mesozoic but may be of interest. A new specimen of the enigmatic
lizard Ornatocephalus has been found in the 47-million-year-old middle
Eocene Messel pit near Darmstadt, in Germany. Press release and news
stories in German with photos:


http://idw-online.de/pages/de/news562522

http://www.krone.at/Wissen/Fossile_Grosskopfechse_nahe_Darmstadt_entdeckt-47_Mio._Jahre_alt-Story-383782

https://www.op-online.de/lokales/hessen/grube-messel-fossile-grosskopfechse-entdeckt-3232798.html

http://www.hr-online.de/website/rubriken/kultur/index.jsp?rubrik=5984&key=standard_document_50148643&msg=5984

==

New Cretaceous ankylosaur from China displayed with casts in public in Japan

The fossils were excavated near Lishui  City in Zhejiang Province in
China by a joint team from the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum from
Japan and the Zhejiang Museum of Natural History. It may be a new
taxon, estimated at 7 to 8 meters in length. The tail end displayed is
about 90 cm long, with club 40 centimeters wide.

In Chinese with photo of original fossil

http://www.uua.cn/news/show-15983-1.html

In Japanese with photo of casts

http://www.fukuishimbun.co.jp/localnews/society/47146.html

This would appear to be the same find announced in China back in July:

http://www.xiandu.gov.cn/mtbd/849.jhtml
http://n.cztv.com/zhejiang/2013/07/2013-07-063937712.htm