~65% original bone!
Tenontosaurus, “sinew lizard,” was named in 1970 by Ostrom but had been known of for almost 70 years, with many partial specimens having been excavated before Ostrom found lots more in the 1960s in Montana and took the time to name them. Perhaps it is a testament to the general disregard of #iguanodontid #ornithopods that it took so long for it to be named.
At over 25’ and well over a ton in weight, this #Cretaceous cow is extremely common in areas it is found, far outstripping other animals in number of individuals, and individual bones, present.
As you can hear in my video, I can’t help but mention this animal without invoking #Deinonychus, putative scourge of #Tenontosaurus. Why? Because nearly all Tenonto skeletons are seemingly found with Deino teeth and sometimes bones.
The frequency and quantity of the otherwise elusive Deinonychus led Ostrom and others to attribute pack hunting to Deino, and that led a certain author to write a compelling story about bringing #dinosaurs back, which led to our visual-loving society to embrace the movie version with “raptors” as intelligent, clever ;-), cooperative pack hunters.
The reason Ostrom proposed it was not only the amount of Deino teeth and bones but also the massive size disparity. A 60 lb predator is unlikely to take on something 20x+ its own weight solo. Thus packhunting was suggested.
Today it isn’t as well accepted. Essentially no birds or crocs routinely pack hunt. Post-kill predation, say from an #Acrocanthosaurus, may have led the Deino’s to fight like Komodo dragons do today, killing smaller individuals that try to eat deer today.
This ~65% complete skeleton was for sale at the Tucson show, hoping for a museum to purchase it for study and display. Most museums buy their original fossils from commercial collectors, usually through a Foundation or wealthy friend of the museum that actually buys and donates it. That way museums can say they don’t buy original material, they simply receive it. Yet quite often they are directing which bones to buy. Fossils are complex! :-)
I love its tail! Those tall neural spines and chevrons gave it a deep, beautiful tail!
#FossilCrates #dinosaur #paleontology #dinosaurbones #dinosaurskeleton #dinosaurs #dinosaur🦖🦕 #dinosaurs🦖🦕
