Edmontosaurs updated... again (Patreon)
Published:
2018-04-24 09:25:50
Imported:
2023-01
Content
As explained on the new ep of the podcats (ep 66, to be released later today [24-4-2018]), I screwed up in my interpretation of the hadrosaur bill (discussed here at Tet Zoo: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/enough-with-the-duck-billed-dinosaurs/). The vertically striated, gnarly surface I was so impressed with on LACM 23502 does not represent the outer surface of the actual rhamphotheca, but an internal mould of it... meaning that the rhamphotheca on that specimen is not known. BUT it is known in other specimens (like the mummies at the AMNH and Senckenberg), and these show that the external surface was smoother and more 'beak-like'. Here it is in AMNH 5060 (photo by Robert Katz)...
I'm still a bit confused by the laterally projecting edge of the premaxilla there but have absorbed it into the soft tissues. Anyway, as you can see from the montage above, I've modified my reconstructions in view of all this.
This means that I'll be producing an update article on Tet Zoo at some time. The improved reconstructions are also being used in my Brian Ford talk.