To protect dinosaur fossils, paleontologists sued the Trump administration!
There is a national monument in Utah, USA, which is the Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument. The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is famous for its unique geological landforms and beautiful natural environment, but in the eyes of paleontologists, this national monument has a unique attraction, that is, the rich paleontological fossil resources. Not long ago, paleontologists named the newly discovered ankylosaurs here, while also suing the Trump administration.
Caption: Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument, image from the web
Located in the southern part of Utah, the Grand Staircase-Escalant National Monument is the largest national monument in the United States at 1.88 million acres. A large number of paleontological fossils have been found in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, especially Cretaceous dinosaur fossils. Not long ago, paleontologists named a new dinosaur found here, the nail-headed dragon.
Note: Dinosaur fossil excavation site, image from the Utah Museum of Natural History
The fossil of a crucifix was discovered in 2008 by Scott Richardson, an employee of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Land Management. Paleontologist Ermis (r. The excavation team led by irmis.) began formal excavations of the fossils in 2009.
When the fossils were sent to the Utah Museum of Natural History, randy Johnson, a volunteer at the museum, spent a full four years repairing the fossils, more than a thousand hours into it! As a result of Johnson's efforts, the fossil skull was displayed before the researchers' eyes, and the skull was scanned using computed tomography.
Randy Johnson repairing fossils, image from National Geographic
On July 19, 2018, the research team published an article in Peer J titled "A new southern laramidian ankylosaurid, akainacephalus johnsoni gen. et sp. nov., from the upper campanian kaiparowits formation of southern utah, usa" paper, officially named akainacephalus.
The genus name " ἄκαινα " ( meaning " nail " ) and " κεφαλή " ( meaning " head " ) derives from the Greek " ἄκαινα " ( meaning " head " ) , because of the bony protrusions on its head , like nails. The model species name of the nail-headed dragon is akainacephalus Johnsoni, and the species name was dedicated to Randy Johnson in recognition of his efforts in the fossil restoration process.
The fossil of the nail-headed dragon, numbered umnh vp 20202, has preserved 45% of the fossils, and the integrity is already quite high. Based on the fossils, it can be determined that The Stachyosaurus was a typical ankylosaur dinosaur, with a body length of 4-5 meters and a weight of about 1 ton.
Illustration: The part of the fossil discovery of the nail-headed dragon, picture from the paper
Like other ankylosaurs, the nail-headed dragon resembled a walking "armored vehicle" covered with thick bone fragments and sharp bone spurs that protected the body of the nail-headed dragon. At the end of the tail of the nail-headed dragon is a tail hammer consisting of three oval-shaped solid bone hammers, which are the weapons of the nail-headed dragon to attack enemies.
Illustration: Museum staff are installing bone spines on the tail of a nail-headed dragon, picture from the internet
Image note: Skull of a nail-headed dragon, picture from the internet
The most unique thing about the nail-headed dragon can be seen from the name, that is, the skull structure. Like other ankylosaurs, the head of the stigmatosaurus has been completely ossified, but there is a more unique place on the head, that is, there are many bony protrusions above the mouth and the top of the head, like miniature pyramids. In addition to the unique structure on the head, there are a pair of symmetrical lateral growth of bony protrusions above the mouth of the nail-headed dragon, similar bone protrusions above the nose, and ridged bone protrusions above the eyes. It was because of so many unique features on the head that paleontologists determined that The nail-headed dinosaur was a brand new dinosaur.
Image note: The head of the nail-headed dragon is restored, and the picture comes from the network
Fossils of crucifix were found in the Kaiparowits formation and date back to the Late Cretaceous 75.97 million years ago. North America in the Late Cretaceous period was very different from today, when a shallow sea called the Western Inland Sea divided North America in two, called Laramite in the west and Appalachian Continent in the east, and Utah where the nail-headed dragon lived was in the southern part of laramia.
Image note: North America when the nailhead dragon lived, the picture comes from the Internet
Illustration: Restoration of the scene of the life era of the nail-headed dragon, the picture comes from the network
Utah in the late Cretaceous period was not as desolate as it is now, with no grass. The climate was warm and humid, typical of subtropical, similar to today's Florida.
Despite living in southern North America, paleontologists have found that stigmatosaurs are more closely related to the Asian ankylosaurs in terms of blood relations, that is, the ancestors of the stigmatosaur migrated from Asia through the northern land bridge, and then they lived with the ankylosaurs of North America. On the Continent of Lalamite in North America, there used to be ankylosaurs with different populations of ancestors from different continents, something that paleontologists had not previously thought of.
Photo note: Trump announced the reduction of the scope of the Grand Ladder - Escalante National Monument, image from the Internet
Note: Dinosaur fossils exposed in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, image from the Internet
In recent decades, new dinosaurs have been discovered and received more and more attention in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. But on December 4, 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump announced in a speech in Salt Lake City, the capital of Utah, that he would reduce the size of the Grand Ladder- Escalante National Monument and return the control and use of land to the state government and local residents. "After my actions today, we will not only return your right to speak about this land, but also restore your right to acquire and enjoy this land, and public land will be used by the public again," Trump said. ”
The reduced Escalante National Monument is only 45 percent of its size, and a large amount of land is "returned" to the state government and people, which may be a correction in interest, because there are 62 billion tons of coal mines under the ground in Utah, which is an endless wealth for mining groups.
The site where the nail-headed dragon fossil was found was fortunately kept within the Grand Ladder-Escalante National Monument, but many paleontological fossil excavation sites were outside the scope of the memorial area, which has aroused strong opposition from the Paleovertebrate Society, and paleontologists and local environmental groups have filed lawsuits to sue the Trump administration for this short-sighted behavior, and the case is still pending.
PS: List of dinosaur discoveries in the Keparowitz Formation:
The Keparowitz group represents the biome of the southwestern North American continent of the Late Cretaceous period 76 to 74 million years ago, and the dinosaurs found here include gryposaurus, parasaurolophus, kosmoceratops, nasutoceratops, and utahceratops. Hagryphus, paronychodon, Richard Eastersaurus, talos, teratophoneus, troodon, and so on.
Strange dragon hunter
Gorgeous horned dragon
Utah horned dragon
Resources:
jelle p. wiersma; randall b. irmis (2018). "a new southern laramidian ankylosaurid, akainacephalus johnsoni gen. et sp. nov., from the upper campanian kaiparowits formation of southern utah, usa". peerj. 6: e5016. doi:10.7717/peerj.5016.