Discovering Dinosaurs

Hi folks.

It would be nice to think that someone other than me will be reading this post but at the time of starting this draft my last post is sadly still awaiting its first view!

So what to do, am I wasting my time or is it worth persevering. I would ask for advice but that will not come if no ones reading in the first place. Still I suppose we write these things as much for ourselves as others and who knows perhaps I will get a following some day!

I wrote last time (“Dinsaur Bones”) of our Valdosaurus femur find and mentioned another fragment of bone which came out of the same red muddy clump. This piece was also cleaned and prepared at the Dinosaur Farm Museum on the Military Rd, Isle of Wight (thanks to Oliver). He believed it to be a fragment of tibia but not from our Valdosaur, this piece was from a theropod. This bone is not from a large animal as you may be able to see from the pictures it would have come from a dinosaur perhaps similar in size to our Valdosaur and may have even seen it as potential prey. Although again it is only a fragment it does have one unusual thing preserved on it. The bone has been partially crushed but it does have what may well be a tooth impression (or scratch mark) running longitudinally along one side. Hopefully the pictures will show this. It’s not unheard of but quite rare to find bone with tooth marks preserved and the orientation of this one may imply that this animal was either predated or perhaps scavenged after death by one or more carnivorous animals. So it appears our predatory theropod ended up as a meal for other meat eaters!

Small to medium sized theropods are poorly known from the UK and mostly only recorded from isolated bones, teeth and footprints etc. Perhaps the best example is the recently discovered Eotyrannus Lengi which is believed to be an ancestor of the Tyrannosaurs. This was found at least partially articulated and with many bones present is one of the best known.

Picture from  (The Dinosaur Database)

 

Tibia fragment showing groove or scratch starting narrow and shallow becoming deeper and wide.

Top down view

The b side

End view

End view

It’s not really possible to identify which species our tibia belonged to but we can imagine that it would be not too disimilar to the above picture of Eotyrannus in both looks and size (ours perhaps slightly smaller). It roamed the Cretaceous landscape about 130mya alongside our Valdosaur and all the other animals alive at the time which are no longer with us. Makes you think!

Thanks for stopping by on my site (even if it was by accident!!!).

Please give a like to let me know I’m not alone here,

Keith

 

Dinosaur Bones

Hi,

One of my interests is fossil hunting. Like a big kid I can be fascinated with the distant past. Those long lost dinosaurs (with the exception of birds) strange and wonderous animals, record breakers for size and weight amongst land dwellers. Brought to life in movies over the years and animated in museum displays we can see them as never before these days.

Our understanding of extinct animals moves on with each scientific paper published. In the early days all dinosaurs were portrayed as slow lumbering reptiles until new finds and subsequent research revealed diverse and varid species from small to very large. It appears that these animals were far more active with many being social, living in groups and moving in herds. Evidence now points to possible hunting cooperation amongst even large predators and with more finds of feathered dinosaurs cropping up we may be able to tell some colour schemes something which was so long believed an impossible dream!

My own paleontalogical interest is strictly amateur. I have read quite a bit on the subject and keep an eye out for new books and articles. It seems to me that the “new wave” of dinosaur discovery/ research of recent times can only be a good thing helping to inspire future generations to take an interest. My own humble efforts have turned up a few bits and pieces over the years so I thought it could be something to feature in blog posts.

Sadly any photographs I use may not be of the best quality, limited by our camera but hopefully people may find these pages of interest. Living as we do in one of the best areas to search for early Cretaceous fossils with some fresh water deposits there is always the chance that something of interest may turn up.

And so to today’s subject Valdosaurus meaning “Weald lizard”. First discovered in early Cretaceous deposits by the Reverend William D. Fox on the Isle of Wight,  England in the nineteenth century when he came across a pair femurs. A new genus was eventually erected and named as Valdosaurus Canaliculatus and the simularity with a late Jurassic American dinosaur Dryosaurus was noted. Valdosaurus is classed as an Ornithopod of the family Dryosauridae and is thought to have been an agile potentially fast moving bipedal herbivore growing to around 4 or 5m in lenght. Over the years more material has been discovered and is credited as belonging to Valdosaurus. So a more complete picture of the animal exists today although the skull has so far proved elusive. However it is thought that it may be very similar to the skull of Dryosaurus which is relatively short and tall. A representation of Valdosaurus is pictured below from the NHM London.

Natural History Museum

With fossil animals some body parts seem to be found more readily and with Valdosaurus it appears that femurs are one of the most common bones that are discovered although even they are still a rarity. Because Valdosaurus femurs are quite well known it was not too difficult to identify our own fragmented thighbone after my partner made the discovery on a trip to the beach just east of Chilton Chine during one of our many holidays on the island. What she found was the upper or proximal end of a femur incomplete but in quite good condition otherwise.

Along with another bone fragment from the same muddy clump our find was prepared by a guy (Oliver I think) at the “Dinosaur Farm” museum on the Military road IOW who helpfully cleaned and coated the most of the fossils surface for preservation purposes. He pointed out some patches on the bones surface which seemed to show post mortem activity of some small creature which appears to have laid its eggs on the bone. Suggesting it could be worth further investigation he said we might like to have the find examined at the Natural History Museum which eventually  I did.

It was determined by the Natural History Museum that the eggs probably belong to a gastropod and although other examples have been found it is very unusual. We believe at least part of the animal must have spent time in a stream, river or lake were the bone surface was exposed allowing our aquatic snail suspect to come along and lay its eggs. Eventually the femur was buried and the fossilisation process began. Then around 130 million years later give or take a few, it slid down a small cliff for us to stumble over on our fossil hunt. Amazing really when you think about it!

The other piece of bone we discovered at the same time was also of interest but we’ll save that for another blog perhaps.

Arrows indicating gastropod eggs

 

Size is approx 7.5 cm long by 6.5 cm at its widest

Side lit for relief

Hope these shots are not to blurred and that you like this post

Please drop by again,

Keith

Dinosaur Discoveries

 

 

 

Hi there,

I managed to take a trip to the beach today, something that happens a little to infrequently for my liking these days. Fossil hunting is one of my hobbies.

One of the main reasons for first visiting what was to become our adoptive home was the search for dinosaurs. The realisation that they were not just movie monsters or museum mounts from far flung places, that they could actually be found right here in the UK was a lure I could not ignore.

Dinosaur remains have been unearthed in many areas of Britain where the rocks are of the right age, the Mesozoic era. However the flood of fossil discoveries previously made due to quarrying and mining activities has become a trickle in recent times with the decline of these industries. Most finds these days therefore come as a result of natural erosion and were better for this than at the coast.

The Isle of Wight is an island off the south coast of England around 19 miles east / west and 11 miles north / south and it is one of the best places in Europe to search for dinosaurs.

And so that first family camping expedition to the island in the summer holidays  inspired by my dinosaur hunting set in motion a chain of events that would eventually lead to us relocating to the island! We discovered then and in subsequent visits how nice the place was with spectacular scenery and a seemingly slower pace of life. We found ourselves going to the island at least a couple of times every year, for many years, after that first visit either camping, using our caravan or hiring a static.

So to today’s trip to the beach, nice weather and an ebb tide if still slightly high. Most fossil finds it has to be said are usually fragmentary and therefore unidentifiable bits of bone and today’s meagre hall was no exception. But that’s not enough to stop you going back for another look. You never know what may turn up. The dream of finding that ultra rare tooth sticking out of the mud or a boulder containing a carnivorous dinosaurs skull (both of which have happened recently here, sadly not to me) just keep you coming back.

Anyway an hour or two whiled away strolling along the beach when the weather allows is good for the soul I’ve found, let the world melt away and dream of other things.

Today’s best find, the end of a small limb bone. The pictures taken on my tablet are not the clearest. Sorry

 

Who knows perhaps our partial limb bone belonged to a dinosaur similar to this?

Replica of Hypsilophodon at Brussels museum. Public domain

 

Thanks for stopping by

Keith