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DrScottHartman β€” Majungasaurus - redux

Published: 2008-06-06 22:39:01 +0000 UTC; Views: 36721; Favourites: 286; Downloads: 0
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Description Finally! After an eternity of revisions and attempts to reconcile the proportions of specimens of different ages that frequently didn't overlap, I feel confident I've nailed the general proportions.

With generous aid from several people ("credits" below) I figured out that the legs weren't actually too short in my original skeletal - in fact I ended up making them too long in my most recent attempt. Instead, the vertebrae and ribs based on UA 8678 (that would be the cervicals, dorsals, sacrals, and 5 anterior caudals) were scaled up too large.

That's an important distinction, as scaling them down had a chain-reaction on the relative size of the head, pelvic and pectoral girdles, etc.

It's still a strange and somewhat low-slung theropod, but nothing like my previous attempts. I should note that there weren't any mathematical scaling errors - rather, the way I chose to reconcile the axial series of UA 8678 to the larger tail and head of FMNH PR 2100 was wrong (the latter has proportionately taller neural spines, which is probably an ontogenetic feature).

Obviously newer data could require some nips or tucks, but I honestly think you are safe to illustrate Majungasaurus now. I know I plan to!

Special thanks (in alphabetical order) go out to Matt Carrano, David Krause, Adam Pritchard, and Scott Sampson, all of whom who provided excellent critiques and made this version possible (not to mention the research and publications the restoration is based on).

Now I'm going to go find a bottle of champagne to pop...
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Comments: 164

DrScottHartman In reply to ??? [2012-06-01 22:55:20 +0000 UTC]

Rub it against a tree I imagine.

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supergoji18 In reply to DrScottHartman [2012-06-02 11:21:11 +0000 UTC]

XD forgot they could do that.

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Dalenbourg1 [2012-06-01 12:23:10 +0000 UTC]

given enough time this fella may have descended into writhing on the ground like a snake!

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DrScottHartman In reply to Dalenbourg1 [2012-06-01 14:08:33 +0000 UTC]

Lol, that's a great image. Alas, the dorsal vertebrae of dinosaurs are too restrictive and the upright posture precludes such a path. That's why snake-like things evolve from lizards and amphibians (in the case of caecilians).

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pilsator [2012-05-31 13:28:49 +0000 UTC]

Wow, what a relief!

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DrScottHartman In reply to pilsator [2012-05-31 14:10:47 +0000 UTC]

I know I'm relieved!

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tmac1kobe8vc15 [2012-05-31 08:59:45 +0000 UTC]

Just curious, are abelisaurs generally proportioned like Majungasaurus or like Carnotaurus with much longer legs. I was wondering how the giant Ekrixinatosaurus will look like.
Is the low slung appearance just limited to its closer kin such as Rajasaurus?

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DrScottHartman In reply to tmac1kobe8vc15 [2012-05-31 14:09:56 +0000 UTC]

That's a great question, but I'm not sure anyone has the answer just yet. Looking at Ceratosaurus and Eoabelisaurus it appears that the ancestral condition is somewhere inbetween. Whether that indicates a clear later division among abelisaurs into "short-legged" and "long-legged" species, or whether abelisaurs have a diverse set of adaptations is something that will require the reconstruction of more skeletals (which itself will require the finding and description of more postcrania I'm afraid).

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Afrovenator In reply to ??? [2012-05-31 04:52:20 +0000 UTC]

You know, you change this thing all you want..but it is still crazy-looking!

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DrScottHartman In reply to Afrovenator [2012-05-31 04:59:08 +0000 UTC]

I agree, but at least it's crazy in an more accurate way

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Afrovenator In reply to DrScottHartman [2012-05-31 05:16:54 +0000 UTC]

Agreed! I wonder what the implications are of its supero-inferiorly shortened tibia for abelisaurids as Lametasaurus. Anyway, congrats on a wonderful skeletal reconstruction!

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RiotLizard In reply to ??? [2012-05-31 00:05:10 +0000 UTC]

just wondering, is it ok to call this thing majungaSAURUS AND majungaTHOLUS? or s only one right?

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DrScottHartman In reply to RiotLizard [2012-05-31 00:13:32 +0000 UTC]

Only Majungasaurus is correct. At one point it was thought that the name Majungasaurus applied to a pachycephalosaur (they had found the little horn on top and thought it was a pachy dome) and the theropod was named Majungatholus, and so all of the early papers for these new finds used that name. But with complete skulls came the evidence that "Majungasaurus" was actually the same theropod.

Majungasaurus was named first, so it has precedence. Same reason Brontosaurus can't win over Apatosaurus, regardless of how cool or popular the name is.

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RiotLizard In reply to DrScottHartman [2012-05-31 00:16:20 +0000 UTC]

ahh i understand
i just have seen dinosaur documentries saying majungatholas, and others saing majungasauras, i knew you had the answer
thanks

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ChrisBryer In reply to ??? [2012-05-18 21:38:45 +0000 UTC]

wow, im not use to seeing a theropod with short arms that not T.Rex

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HodariNundu In reply to ??? [2012-03-10 19:19:11 +0000 UTC]

Any news concerning Majungasaurus? As I think you said this current version would change yet again...

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DrScottHartman In reply to HodariNundu [2012-03-11 20:27:51 +0000 UTC]

Actually, the version up there (with the 2012 copyright) is a new version since last year. At this point I have no direct evidence that it will change more, although I wouldn't be shocked if it did - this is still a more tentative reconstruction than I would like, but it's as good as the data will allow me to get.

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HodariNundu In reply to DrScottHartman [2012-03-12 17:04:54 +0000 UTC]

That is already quite bizarre, though... great work btw :>

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eorhythm In reply to ??? [2012-01-24 22:25:21 +0000 UTC]

Feh, abelisaurs. I'd be alarmed if it wasn't full of befuddlingly twisted anatomical proportions. These are creepy creatures well suited to my nightmares.

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supergoji18 In reply to ??? [2012-01-24 20:19:08 +0000 UTC]

and people say T-rex's arms were useless!

Do you think Majungasaurus's neck evolved the way it did to make up for the small arms?

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DrScottHartman In reply to supergoji18 [2012-01-24 21:34:55 +0000 UTC]

That's a good question. More advanced abelisaurs don't have such a crazy-long neck (indeed, they simply aren't as long all the way around), but nothing else looks like Majungasaurus, so it's not known whether the long neck and puny arms evolved at the same time (in which case more advanced abelisaurs were simply stuck with them) or if the puny arms came first and Majungasaurus was just doing its own strange thing.

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supergoji18 In reply to DrScottHartman [2012-01-25 20:37:29 +0000 UTC]

i kinda think it did. the elongated neck could easily make up for the lack of arms in certain combat situations.

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Desmodeus In reply to ??? [2012-01-24 15:49:38 +0000 UTC]

This just reinforces my idea that had they not died out, certain dinosaur lineages would have totally lost external forelimbs.

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acepredator In reply to Desmodeus [2014-10-25 02:55:15 +0000 UTC]

Moa did lose forelimbs.

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Desmodeus In reply to acepredator [2014-10-28 22:04:18 +0000 UTC]

Well, that seals it then; one lineage did.
Cheers for the info'.

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acepredator In reply to Desmodeus [2014-10-29 01:33:48 +0000 UTC]

I bet kiwi are close to it as well.

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DrScottHartman In reply to Desmodeus [2012-01-24 16:50:55 +0000 UTC]

Actually I don't think they would. There were important muscles from the body and neck that either inserted or originated from the pectoral girdle and upper humerus.

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VimMemoriaeUniversum In reply to DrScottHartman [2019-02-15 16:20:31 +0000 UTC]

Exacto.
Fijesen en Hesperornis.
Solo un hΓΊmero, pero muy necesario.
Si dejamos de lado el hecho de su adaptaciΓ³n acuΓ‘tica, por supuesto.

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DrScottHartman In reply to VimMemoriaeUniversum [2019-02-25 23:02:32 +0000 UTC]


Β‘Convenido!

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Desmodeus In reply to DrScottHartman [2012-01-24 17:55:11 +0000 UTC]

True, but do the limbs need to be external?
Human tails and (some) whale legs still exist as supports, though they can't be seen.

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DrScottHartman In reply to Desmodeus [2012-01-24 19:16:43 +0000 UTC]

It's an interesting question. Because the forelimbs are stuck on the outside of the rib cage I don't think they could be internalized as easily, as there just isn't much volume outside of the ribs.

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Desmodeus In reply to DrScottHartman [2012-01-24 22:23:05 +0000 UTC]

Hmmm... I was thinking they may become something similar to scapulae or the collarbone, but I'm just speculating; you're probably correct.

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raven-amos [2012-01-24 08:24:39 +0000 UTC]

T-rex would totally spank this guy in an arm wrestling contest.

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DrScottHartman In reply to raven-amos [2012-01-24 16:50:19 +0000 UTC]

Sure, but mostly because T. rex could at least bend its elbow!

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theblazinggecko [2012-01-24 05:29:29 +0000 UTC]

Longer neck then I expected!

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DrScottHartman In reply to theblazinggecko [2012-01-24 17:00:54 +0000 UTC]

The neck and back are really well preserved (including those bizarre cervical ribs!) so that's definitely how long the neck is (unless it changed slightly as it got older).

Such a strange creature.

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theblazinggecko In reply to DrScottHartman [2012-01-25 03:09:07 +0000 UTC]

Agreed! Abelisaurids are such a unique group of dinosaurs.

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Green-Mamba In reply to ??? [2012-01-24 04:42:56 +0000 UTC]

i based my majungasaurus ([link] ) partially on your skeletal, which would make my drawing now humorously three days out of date. sort of.

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DrScottHartman In reply to Green-Mamba [2012-01-24 04:51:12 +0000 UTC]

It still looks good to me!

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amorousdino In reply to ??? [2012-01-22 10:25:18 +0000 UTC]

Wonder how this guy ever got around on that little island it lived in

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DrScottHartman In reply to amorousdino [2012-01-23 00:27:39 +0000 UTC]

It didn't have so far to go?

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mustardofdoom In reply to ??? [2012-01-22 07:05:22 +0000 UTC]

This guy seems to challenge everything I know about vertebrate body plans :/

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DrScottHartman In reply to mustardofdoom [2012-01-23 00:29:30 +0000 UTC]

Hold that thought, I'm making a bit of an update. Still weird, but perhaps a hair less so than in this current version...

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mustardofdoom In reply to DrScottHartman [2012-01-24 03:59:51 +0000 UTC]

Ok

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Mechatherium In reply to ??? [2012-01-05 03:35:37 +0000 UTC]

Uhh, are you certain those legs go to that body? I'm just saying, fossils usually come in pieces.

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DrScottHartman In reply to Mechatherium [2012-01-23 00:28:59 +0000 UTC]

The legs definitely go with this species, but unfortunately it's a composite of 3 different specimens. Still, it can't be too crazy far off.

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RiotLizard [2011-09-01 00:52:12 +0000 UTC]

wait...isn't it majungaTHOLUS? that's what i herd in a Jurassic Fight Club episode

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DrScottHartman In reply to RiotLizard [2011-09-01 19:34:47 +0000 UTC]

You heard right, but they were wrong (or rather, before their time). It's a case of two names being given to remains that turned out to be the same animal. When the newer material was found and described it was referred to as Majungatholus because it was clearly the same as the fragmentary theropod material that had been found a century earlier. Later, when they prepped the rest of their material and did a giant monograph they realized that it was also the same animal as the Majungasaurus material that had been found a century earlier. The name Majungasaurus was older than Majungatholus, so it has priority and they had to synonymize Majungatholus into Majungasaurus.

Make sense?

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Qilong In reply to DrScottHartman [2012-06-24 07:52:00 +0000 UTC]

Well, they didn't HAVE to; they WANTED to. The argument was that they had no evidence for two distinct animals, so presumed instead there was only one. The type remains are teeth, and this material is currently considered not useful to base a name on. Frankly, as I suggested to Sampson and Carrano, they should just keep MajungaTHOLUS and discard MajungaSAURUS. But ... my opinion doesn't count for much.

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RiotLizard In reply to DrScottHartman [2011-09-01 22:47:17 +0000 UTC]

yes, thanks so, it's like brontosauras and braciosauras? there the same, but different names?

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