Well that took a lot longer than expected. It appears my computer is on its last legs. The guys at the shop were unable to fix it, suggesting that the logic board was at fault and this would basically be a good time to buy a new computer. In frustration I thumped the thing and wouldn't you know it started working again, but it is prone to frequent crashes. Anyway to give all three (possibly four) of my readers something to look at while I get my workload sorted out here is an old (2000)reconstruction of mine. The quality is bad because it is a scan of a photocopy of a bromide of the original. It shows the chigutisaurid temnospondyl Siderops pulling the theropod Cryolophosaurus to its death in a frigid pool in the Early Jurassic of Antarctica (Siderops is known from similar aged sediments in Australia and South Africa so it is no big deal to put it in between in Antarctica). Next week - a bunch of posts on peer reviewed science - I hope.
10 comments:
Four readers? At least five, surely. Good to see that pic at last (you mentioned it at SVPCA 2000). Sorry to hear about your computer, these things are meant to try us.
I had no idea some temnospondyls were that large. And yes, it's good to see you're back and with all data recoverable I hope.
Hi Mickey,
You have to assume that the temno is at the top of the size range while the theropod is a bit of a tiddler (say a four metre individual) but yes this could have happened. The largest recorded piece of temno that I know of is a probable chigutisaur from the Elliot Formation, see:
Steyer, J. S., Damiani, R. (2005) A giant brachyopoid temnospondyl from the Upper Triassic or Lower Jurassic of Lesotho. Bulletin de la Societe Geologique de France 176: 243-248; DOI: 10.2113/176.3.243
That is a really cool picture. Especially given I'm in the middle of building 3D critters to rebuild Jurassic Gondwanaland. Hadn't thought about the inhabitants of the waterways yet.
Oh and I guess I'm reader #3
Feels like I'm reader #4!
Yours is one of my favourite science blogs (others are Tetrapod zoology by Naish, Theropoda by Andrea Cau and Laelaps by B. Switek, just to name a few titles)...
Temnospondyls that large? Amazing.
I knew it before, but to see such an illustration (with a theropod being eaten) is just above the kind of imagination you get while looking at papers descriptions or skeletal reconstruction.
Leonardo
(i'm just "opening" a new blog about geomythology, history of religions and palaeontology out here! just the beginning and I'm in medias res with the writing of at least 3 posts!...)
Interesting take on Cryolophosaurus. I usually see it drawn more robustly. Perhaps it's a juvenile?
Traumador and Leo, Thanks and I'll add your sites to my blogroll. If you are interested in Early Jurassic aquatic critters there were also freshwater plesiosaurs preserved with the original Siderops find.
Zach, the cryolophosaurus was drawn with coelophysoids, rather than allosauroids, in mind. Rather a lucky guess considering Nate Smith's postcranial work was 7 years away:-)
Wait. Really? Cryolophosaurus is a coelophysoid now? Is there a paper about this? I must SEE! :-)
Zach, Check out my early blog posts "the story of Dracovenator parts I & II (and Mickey's comments in particular). Short story is Cryolophosaurus appears to be a close relative of Dilophosaurus (see Smith et al. 2007a). Are the the 'dilophosaurids'part of Coelophysoidea? Maybe, maybe not, but they are 'coelophysoid' in grade of organisation.
cheers
Adam
There's definitely more than four of us reading.
I love the reconstruction, fwiw, and I hope you don't mind that I linked to it.
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