Dr Tamara Fletcher and I wrote an article for The Conversation on de-extinction - whether we can, and should, bring extinct species back to life. We believe that de-extinction needs to be considered on a case-by-case basis per species. The health and well-being of the individual animals, whether they can fill a currently vacant niche in an ecosystem, and what affect they have on their new ecosystem will vary widely between, say, a woolly mammoth versus the gastric brooding frog. Have a read of the article if you'd like to know more about the de-extinction debate.

We also spoke on ABC Radio and 2SER about whether de-extinction is a sensible idea. Have a listen to the interviews here:

As palaeontologists, we understand the desire to bring ancient animals back to life. It could answer so many questions about these enigmatic creatures: How did they behave? How did they grow? And what colour were they? Indeed, what could possibly go wrong? Surely if we kept these animals in a pen on an island without a scheming thief unlocking all the gates on a stormy night, we would all be safe.

Humans often seem to act with little regard for their environment. We have seen the consequences borne out in the rapid extinction of animals and plants in countries where humans are the newly introduced species – the exotic invaders. Even when humanity and their natural environment are apparently in harmony, new arrivals with different cultural practices can throw the whole system back into turmoil. We only seem to understand the consequences of our actions in hindsight, and sometimes not even then.

De-extinction could be seen as a path for redemption, to ease us of our guilt. We can finally bring back long-dead fauna and flora that we had a hand in wiping out. But to what end? It is our belief that we should only resurrect species that still have niches available to them in ecosystems that are struggling in their absence. This is not a new idea. With all the recent hype around resurrecting woolly mammoths, Beth Shapiro, author of How to Clone a Mammoth (Princeton University Press, 2015) was quoted as saying, “I probably should have called the book, How One Might Go About Cloning a Mammoth (Should It Become Technically Possible, And If It Were, In Fact, a Good Idea, Which It's Probably Not)” (Callaway, 2015). We agree, and wonder if these resources are likely better spent protecting the environment we do have, and repairing the environmental damage we’ve done, and are currently doing.

Drones and dinosaurs, the perfect partnership!

Our lab (UQ Vertebrate Palaeontology and Biomechanics) has teamed up with CSIRO, Airborne Research Australia (Flinders University), and the Goolarabooloo Traditional Custodians and Yawuru Native Title holders to map 130 million year old dinosaur footprints along the Broome coastline in Western Australia.

Find out more over at the news@CSIRO website: "Walking With Dinosaurs: Advanced science recreates ancient past."

There will be more updates about this exciting project over the coming months on this blog. And if you'd like to see regular updates about this project, you can follow Dr Steve Salisbury (@implexidens) and Dr Anthony Romilio (@a_romilio) on Twitter.

We are looking for motivated PhD and Honours students to help research the dinosaur tracks of the Broome Sandstone on the Dampier Peninsula, Western Australia.  The Kimberley’s ‘dinosaur coast’ preserves what is arguably one the largest and most significant stretches of dinosaur track-sites in the world. Despite recent National Heritage listing, the majority of these tracksites are largely undocumented, such that their full scientific significance is poorly understood.

As part of a three year ARC Discovery Project (2014­­–2016), our aim is to digitally map the dinosaur tracksites of the Dampier Peninsula, utilising high-resolution aerial photography with both manned and unmanned aircraft, airborne and hand-held LiDAR imaging, and digital photogrammetry. The results will allow us to construct high-resolution, 3D digital outcrop models of the tracksites, and bring the 130 million-year-old landscapes back to life.

Potential research areas for PhD and Honours projects include the following:

• Detailed analysis and interpretation of new dinosaur tracksites using 3D laser scanning and digital photogrammetry;
• Ichnotaxonomic, behavioural or biomechanical analysis of various types of dinosaur tracks (sauropods, thyreophorans, ornithopods, theropods);
• Palaeoenvironmental analysis and palaeoecology of the Broome Sandstone and its biota (facies analysis, stratigraphy and palaeobiodiversity).

All projects are expected to involve some amount of fieldwork, and funding is set aside to facilitate this. The ARC project will nominally involve three ~10 day field trips each year, with the timing contingent on tides and weather conditions.

Good spoken and written English is desirable. Applicants should ideally have a background in either palaeontology, ichnology, comparative anatomy, biomechanics, sedimentary geology, or digital 3D visualisation.

Please send expressions of interest, along with a CV and academic transcript, to Dr Steve Salisbury.

For more background information on the Dinosaur Coast and the recent battle to save it from large-scale industrial development, click here.

ABC Catalyst -- Kimberley Dinosaurs (video + transcript) YouTube

For more information about other potential Honours and PhD projects in the Vertebrate Palaeontology and Biomechanics Lab, click here.

UQ's Honours program
For more information about Honours in the School of Biological Sciences, click here.

UQ's PhD program
Acceptance into UQ's PhD program is contingent on a meeting the UQ entry requirements. Overseas applications are encouraged, as the School of Biological Sciences has made available a number of competitive international PhD scholarships.

• For general information about how to enroll in UQ’s Research Higher Degree program, click here 
• For more information on International PhD scholarships in School of Biological Sciences (UQ), click here
• For more information on International PhD scholarships offered at The University of Queensland, click here 
• For further information on PhD scholarships for Australian students offered at The University of Queensland, click here 

As palaeontologists, we spend quite a bit of time trawling the internet to keep up-to-date with new fossil discoveries and hypotheses. The UQ Palaeo Blog is a great place for us to let you know about the interesting and exciting ideas we've uncovered, such as this new study on the preservation and taphonomy of pachycephalosaur skulls.

Enjoy!

Pachycephalosaurids are a well know group of ornithischian dinosaurs from North America. If the name doesn't ring a bell, maybe these pictures will - apparently, the poor things were almost constantly butting heads with rivals, or charging off head-first for no apparent reason:

I always feel a sympathetic headache come on when looking at these pictures. Images from top left clockwise: rareresource.com; Maichol Quinto and Florian Stitz - Paizo Publishing; Ryan Steiskal; Wikimedia Commons.

While most debate has focussed on the function and behaviour of these dome-crested dinos, palaeontologists have also puzzled over why the dome-shaped skull is the most commonly preserved part of the pachycephalosaur skeleton. Researchers noticed that the domes were rounded and heavily worn, and presumed they had been bumped, scratched and scraped as they were carried along by rivers. From that, they inferred that pachycephalosaurs probably lived up-river from where their 'tough' skulls were eventually washed to and buried, and that the rest of the skeleton was broken down or lost on the down-river journey.

This hypothesis suggests that the domes are allochthonous – 'foreign' to the host rock, transported far from where the pachycephalosaurs lived, instead of autochthonous – 'native' to the host rock, fossilised near to where the pachycephalosaurs lived.

Jordan C. Mallon and David C. Evans refute this long-held view (what they call the 'Transport Hypothesis'). Instead, they propose in their new paper, "Taphonomy and habitat preference of North American pachycephalosaurids (Dinosauria, Ornithischia)", that (1) pachycephalosaur domes actually aren't actually that rounded, (2) roundness doesn't correlate with the distance a dome skull travelled anyway, and (3) pachycephalosaur fossils aren't more common in the up-river, intermontane areas that they supposedly habited. 

They suggest that the domes are actually autochthonous, or possibly parautochthonous  – that pachycephalosaurs lived in alluvial and coastal lowlands, closer to where their remains were fossilised than previously thought.

This new hypothesis may not be popular – the 'Transport Hypothesis' has been around since the 1930's. And unlike the 'Transport Hypothesis', it doesn't quite explain why there are many more dome skulls preserved than the rest of the skeleton. But just because an idea may not be popular, does not mean it is incorrect. I look forward to seeing how the rest of the scientific community responds to the hypothesis proposed in this paper.

Fossil pachycephalosaur domes, showing the 4 stages of dome wear as classified by Mallon et al., 2014. The ventral (underside) and left lateral (left side) of each dome is shown. The skulls belong to the following species: Stage 0 – Hanssuesia sternbergi (CMN9148), Stage 1 – Prenocephale brevis (CMN8819), Stage 2 and 3 – Sphaerotholus edmontonensis (CMN8830 and CMN8832 respectively). Image from Mallon et al (2014).

References

Mallon, J.C., Evans, D.C. 2014. Taphonomy and habitat preference of North American pachycephalosaurids (Dinosauria, Ornithischia). Lethaia, DOI: 10.1111/let.12082.

Moderator:  

Hi everybody, we're about to start so we'll just check that everything works first up. 

Comment From DakDak 

Hi everyone!

Comment From Guest 

Hi Steve, My Name is Sage from Katoomba. I have a question regarding the recently discovered sauropod at Argentina- Do you think it is just a large specimen of Argentinasauros? How is this find significant?

Steve Salisbury:

Hi Sage, At this stage, not a lot of information has been released about this dinosaur, other than its thighbone is about 2.4m long, which would probably make it bigger than Argentinasaurus. It looks to be much more complete (Argentinasaurus is known only from a few bones), so I suspect we will be able to distinguish it as a new species. We'll have to wait and see!

Steve Salisbury:

Hi Everyone! My team and I are here ready to go with all your dinosaur questions! Let's go.

Moderator: 

There's a question from Sage just above you there, Steve. :D

Moderator: 

Keep in mind it might take a minute for Steve to type his answers :)

Comment From Allie

Hi Steve, if all the dinosaurs that ever lived were brought to one particular time period, which would be the best time period for them climate wise?

Steve Salisbury:

Hi Allie, Dinosaurs lived for about 190 million years. That is more time than since dinosaurs went extinct! During that time the climate changed many times. There were periods that were ice ages, when the world was much colder, and times when the world was much warmer. So the dinosaurs were adapted to lots of different conditions. No time is going to suit all of them perfectly, but at times like now the equator is very warm and the poles very cold, so times like now might be great in terms of temperature.

Comment From Gorrinator

Hi Steve

Comment From Guest

Hey Steve! Thanks for being here. My first question is with regards to what we haven't found yet: on other continents where we get a giant sauropod there is almost always a giant theropod living alongside (Carcharodontosaurus-Paralititan, Andesaurus-Giganotosaurus, Argentinosaurus-Mapusaurus). We have giant sauropods here in Australia, so where are the giant (>10m) theropods? Do you think there is a large Allosaurid waiting to be found here in Australia?

Steve Salisbury:

So far there isn't any definitive evidence of big theropods in Australia. The biggest one known from bones is Australovenator, which was about 1.5-1.6m high at the hips (T.rex is about 3m high). The biggest that we thought we had was known from tracks at Lark Quarry. This animal was initially thought to be about 2.6 m high at the hips. But we now think it was most likely not a theropod. It seems more likely to have been a big ornithopod, probably similar to Muttaburrasaurus. So we're back to Australovenator. There are tracks from Broome suggestive of larger theropods (up to around 2m at the hips), but still none as big as T.rex or similar. I'm sure they're out there though, we just need to keep digging!

Comment From Gorrinator

Was there a species of dinosaur that was more dominant then the T-rex despite what books and films have shown us?

Steve Salisbury:

Hi Gorrinator, During the time that T.rex lived (around 67-66 million years ago in North America), it was the largest predator. There were a number of other tyrannosaurs known from time period, but T.rex was the biggest. In the giant predator stakes, Spinosaurus from Africa and Giganotosaurus from Argentina might have been bigger, but these lived at different times to T.rex.

Comment From Sage

Thanks Steve I have another question- I know you have been working in Antarctica and may have been in the team that discovered cryolophosauros, was it a juvenile?

Steve Salisbury:

I wasn't involved in that discovery (it comes from the Trans Antarctic Mountains and my team works in the Antarctic Peninsula). As far as we know, Crylophosaurus was a mature individual.

Comment From Mr. James - Osaka

Hi Steve! Some teachers and grade 1 & 2 students here from Osaka, Japan.

Comment From Gerry

Hi steve - i read somewhere that dinosaurs might have had feathers - true or false?

Steve Salisbury:

True!

Comment From Miley-Saurus

Hi Steve! I was wondering how we can tell what colour dinosaurs were from fossils? Could there have been a bright pink one!

Steve Salisbury:

We can, if the dinosaur was fossilised with feathers. Modern bird feathers have structures called 'melanosomes', which bend light and reflect different colours. So if those melanosome shapes are fossilised, we can predict what colour the feathers were! As for skin, there's no way to know what colours they were...yet. And yes, there could have been a bright pink one!

Comment From rockhampton school

What is the biggest dinosaur discovered in Australia? Does it have a name?

Steve Salisbury:

The biggest named dinosaur from Australia is so far is probably Wintonotitan (around 15-18 metres). There are bits of much larger ones (upper arm bones, thighbones, neck vertebrae etc), but none has been named scientifically.

Comment From cheryl from toowoomba

Hi mate - why do alot of dinosaur names end in "saurus"

Steve Salisbury:

'saurus' comes from a greek word that means lizard. Originally dinosaurs were thought to be more like lizards than they really are.

Comment From Mr Parmer

Why isn't anyone coming to my Dinosaur zoo?

Steve Salisbury:

Maybe you need to get some Aussie dinosaurs in it first or help fund some Australian dinosaur research!

Comment From Sage

there are some references to Mapusaurus and Giganotasaurus, both hunted the same prey, do you think they may have been the same genus?

Steve Salisbury:

So far the described bones suggest that they were different species, but yes, future research may show them to belong to the same genus. We'll have to wait and see!

Comment From Nathan

Do you know how complete, percentage wise, the Australovenator skeleton described in 2009 was?

Steve Salisbury:

About 40% was found and described in the 2009 paper, but a few more pieces have been found since.

Comment From Bundaberg Newsagent

Hi APN - people up here are loving these Dino cards - well done!

Steve Salisbury:

My two kids are now each just one card short of a complete collection!

Comment From Stuart

Hello Steven, Do you see any comparison with the Permian extinction and whats going on at the present?

Steve Salisbury:

The Permian extinction was likely caused by many events happening very close to each other, volcanic activity, coal and gas fires, a big meteor impact, and methane released from the ocean. Currently we have a very high rate of extinctions too. Like the Permian, these extinctions are cause by many problems at the same time. These include habitat loss to meet human needs, over hunting and now we are starting to see the first effects of human caused climate change too. In the future, we may see massive extinctions if we don't start to change the way we impact the environment.

Comment From don braithwaite

Dear Dr S - is the crocodile a relative/decendent of the dinosaur?

Steve Salisbury:

Dinosaurs, birds, crocs and pterosaurs all belong to a group of 'reptiles' known as archosaurs. The group that contain crocs split from the one that contains dinosaurs and birds about 240 million years ago, and both have been evolving separately ever since. So they are distantly related.

Comment From KIA G1&G2

How many species have you found?

Steve Salisbury:

I have named about 10 different types of fossil crocodiles, and we've found lots of new dinosaurs that we'll name soon!

Comment From KIA G1G2

What dinosaurs bones did you find in Australia?

Steve Salisbury:

I've found fossils of sauropod (long necked) and ornithopod (little plant-eating little) dinosaurs. And lots and lots of dinosaur footprints!

Comment From Mr. James -Kansai International School

Hi Dr. Salisbury, What kind of meat-eating dinosaurs, if any, have been found in Japan?

Steve Salisbury:

The only one found so far is Fukuiraptor.

Comment From KIA G1&G2

why does the triceratops have long horns?//

Steve Salisbury:

We don't know for sure, but probably to attract female Triceratops, or so that the different species of horned dinosaurs could recognise one another. But not to fight T-rex! The horns and frills were probably too weak!

Comment From KIA G1&G2

Where did you find the dinosaur bones?

Steve Salisbury:

Central-western Queensland, mostly near the town of Winton. Also around Isisford.

Comment From gerry

a follow up question to my feather question,.... so did all dinosaurs have feathers (even T-Rex)?

Steve Salisbury:

Lots of theropods had feathers, and many other dinosaurs had skin that may have had feathers, or similar structures. We don't have a T. rex with feathers preserved, but because the dinosaurs they evolved from did, T. rex probably also had them. It will be exciting when we get direct evidence!

Comment From Gorrinator

Hi Steve, did smaller dinosaurs ride/groom the larger dinosaurs similar to how birds today will ride/groom Elephants and Rhinos for mutual benefit?

Steve Salisbury:

Quite possibly! There's no direct evidence, but they most probably were!

Comment From Gympie School teacher

Where are the best places in QLD to take schoolkids for an excursion to learn more about dinosaurs? PS this dinosaur chat is excellent - the kids are loving it well done!

Steve Salisbury:

The Queensland Museum in Southbank has a great new exhibit on Queensland dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures from Australia.

Comment From Sage

since sinornithosaurus had feathers and was a rusty brown, mustard yellow, white and black do you think we would be able to measure the colour of Guanlong in the same way? what colour do you think it was?

Steve Salisbury:

Yes, if any feathers were preserved with it, and if the melanosome (structures that reflect light) were also preserved. I'm not sure what colour it was, it could have been any colour!

Comment From KIA G1G2

Why does the apatosaurus have a long tail

Steve Salisbury:

Sauropods like Apatosaurus probably had a long tail to help counter-balance their long body and neck. They may also have used their tails for defence.

Comment From KIA G1&G2

What is the smallest dinosaur?

Steve Salisbury:

The smallest dinosaurs were probably the bird-like dromeaosaurids, many of which were not much bigger than chickens. [The more primitive theropod] Compsognathus was also pretty small.

Comment From KIA G1&G2

Where did you find the dinosaur bones?

Steve Salisbury:

Central-western Queensland, mostly near the town of Winton.

Comment From KIA G1&G2

Which food does the triceratops eat?

Steve Salisbury:

Triceratops was a herbivourous animal, meaning it ate plants. They used their beaks for plucking and biting. They had lots of teeth, but from their jaws we know they couldn’t grind up food. They were better for slicing. They may have fermented food in their stomachs like cows. The lived at the very end of the era of the dinosaurs. By this time the first flowering plants were very common so they may have eaten early flowering plants, early flowers and leaves. Ferns may have also been important. They would not have eaten grass because grass did not exist yet.

Comment From KIA G1G2

How do baby dinosaurs come out of their mommies? stomach or bottom?

Steve Salisbury:

Baby dinosaurs came from an egg that came out of a single, shared opening called a 'cloaca'

Comment From Miley-Saurus

Oh wow thanks! I've heard you need very special circumstances to form fossils like falling in a stream and covered in mud. Does this mean many dinosaurs may yet to be or may never be discovered as they lived in different environments like snow or deserts?

Steve Salisbury:

Yes you do! And you are absolutely correct. If dinosaurs were living in an environment that didn't allow for their remains to be buried and not decay before fossilisation, then they are lost forever to us. The best ecosystems actually recycle all biological material, including carcasses, so they are completely broken down. So you kind of need an environment that isn't recycling nutrients properly to preserve carcasses!

Comment From Gorrinator

Hi Steve, Which dinosaur ate the most?

Steve Salisbury:

It is hard to know for sure, but probably the biggest sauropods. They would have needed to eat lots and lots of plant matter, not only because they were so big, but also because the plants weren't very nutritious!

Comment From Sage

Early "abelisaurs" have been found in Australia, were they true Abelisaurs? Were/are you involved with the Winton digs, we are planning to go there in July, is this the best place to go for serious dinosaur enthusiasts (from NSW)?

Steve Salisbury:

It is very debatable whether we had abelisaurs in Australia. There is ankle bone from Victoria that might be from a abelisaur, and another (also from Victoria) that could be from a ceratosaur (the bigger group that contains abelisaurs), but neither is very clear cut. We'll have to keep looking. Dinosaur digs are likely to happen some time soon at Lightning Ridge, and you can also participate in digs at Eromanga (SW Qld)

Comment From Cloe

Did dinosaurs die out becuas they were poor at evolving?

Steve Salisbury:

No. Dinosaurs were amazingly diverse and lived for 190 million years. Birds evolved from dinosaurs and live on today. All non-avian Dinosaurs died out because they were not well adapted to the changes at the end of the Cretaceous.

Comment From Cloe

Also a quick question about TREX - why does everyone say it was the most dangerous?

Steve Salisbury:

T. rex was big and famous, but there isn't really a good reason to say it was the most dangerous.

Comment From Allie

Hi Steve, I've been told the dark coprolite comes from carnivores while light coloured coprolite comes from herbivores. Is this true?

Steve Salisbury:

The initial colour comes from what is excreted, but what it is exposed to afterwards (temperature, light, rain etc) can change the colour, so it isn't a fool-proof rule.

Comment From Tickersaurus

Why can't the next expansion team admitted into the NRL be called the Dinosaurs? They could bring back all the great old dinosaurs from the dark ages. I would follow them!!

Steve Salisbury:

That is a great idea, why don't you put it to them ;)

Comment From KIA G1&G2

Which dinosaur do you like?

Steve Salisbury:

Minmi - it looks like an armoured sheep!

Comment From KIA G1&G2

Do you like Australia?

Steve Salisbury:

Yes I do. Also Australia is an awesome place to look for dinosaurs!

Comment From Nathan

I'm a current palaeontology student at the moment and am very interested in doing postgraduate work with you up at UQ, is chemistry and advanced math a necessary requirement?

Steve Salisbury:

It may be very useful depending on what you want to specialise in. A good knowledge of geology and zoology would suit our team. Ecology might be good too, but it depends what you are interested in.

Comment From ted kite

Dear Dr Salisbury what does the word dinosaur actually mean?

Steve Salisbury:

Dinosaur means 'terrible lizard'

Comment From KIA G1G2

Why did you become a dinosaur expert?

Steve Salisbury:

Because dinosaurs are awesome!

Comment From Mackay Grade 6

Is there anywhere in Qld we can go digging for dinosaur bones?

Steve Salisbury:

The Australian Age of Dinosaurs and Kronosaurus Korner both do digs.

Comment From Mackay Grade 6

What is the biggest dinosaur found in Australia (name & height)? And what is the biggest dinosaur discovered in the world?

Steve Salisbury:

The biggest named dinosaur from Australia is so far is probably Wintanotitan (around 15-18 metres). There are bits of much larger ones (thighbones, neck vertebrae etc), but none has been named scientifically. The biggest named dinosaur in the world (that we know of) is Argentinosaurus, with a lower leg (ankle to knee) that was over 2m high!

Comment From KIA G1G2

Which dinosaur has the most teeth?

Steve Salisbury:

Nigerosaurus, a small sauropod from Africa, had over 500 teeth!

Comment From Gary Ballentine

Why did Trex have such small arms?

Steve Salisbury:

The skull was so big and heavy it may have needed to reduce weight to balance. It probably didn't need to use its arms because of the way it used its strong jaws and massive teeth to process food.

Comment From Billy-Ray Saurus

G'day Steve, I was wondering if there was any evidence of dinosaurs living with disease? I suppose everything evolved from bacteria but when did viruses evolve?

Steve Salisbury:

Yes there is! One example is 'Sue' the T. rex from the US: it had a parasitic infection in it's jaw. Here's a link with a picture: http://www.livescience.com/...With dinosaurs, there is lots of evidence for disease, but its harder to find evidence for viruses. The specialists that look into viral evolution are called paleovirologists.

Comment From KIA G1&G2

Which dinosaur has a longest teeth?

Steve Salisbury:

Probably Spinosaurus

Comment From Tickersaurus

If you had to relate your own character and personality to that of a dinosaur what dinosaur do you think you would be? I would be an Ouranosaurus I think.

Steve Salisbury:

Probably Stegosaurus. I'm a bit slow sometimes. I'm also pretty friendly, but can defend myself well if needed!

Comment From Gary Ballentine

Why were dinosaurs so big?

Steve Salisbury:

Some dinosaurs were very big, but some were also very small. There was a huge diversity of shapes and sizes.

Comment From KIA G1G2

where did dinosaurs live?

Steve Salisbury:

On every continent! They were a very successful group of animals. But they didn't live in the ocean, or fly through the air.

Comment From Sage

what do you think acrocanthosaurus used its elongated vertebrae for?

Steve Salisbury:

I suspect these vertebrae help reinforce the muscles that run down the backbone. They have also have helped with thermoregulation. Alternatively they may just have been for display. It could also be a combination of all these things.

Comment From KIA G1&G2

what is the most danjres dinosaur

Steve Salisbury:

It depends: either a big theropod dinosaur that could eat you, or a sauropod (long necked) dinosaur that might tread on you!

Comment From Nathan

Thanks, I am doing pretty much all biology and geology units with a bit of chemistry and stats on the side. I want to focus on the evolution of Australian Theropods. Hope to join your team in the coming years!

Steve Salisbury:

Excellent to hear!

Comment From KIA G1G2

Which is your favourite fossils of dinosaur ?

Steve Salisbury:

Definitely Minmi!

Comment From Steve Portasaurus

Q. How can you tell if a Stegosaurus is in the Fridge? A. You can't shut the door?

Steve Salisbury:

Haha!

Comment From KIA G1G2

Do you have a dinosaur bone?

Steve Salisbury:

We have lots of dinosaur bones in our lab.

Comment From Mackay Grade 6

Thanks Dr S - Where is the Australian Age of Dinosuars & Korner?

Steve Salisbury:

Australian Age of Dinosaurs is near Winton and Kronosaurus Korner is near Richmond, both in Queensland.

Comment From KIA G1&G2

What do dinosaur babies eat?

Steve Salisbury:

Probably similar food to their parents. Some of them ate plants and some ate meat, others might have eaten insects.

Comment From KIA G1&G2

what kind of dinosaur does the t-rex eat?

Steve Salisbury:

T. rex only lived at the very end of the age of the Dinosaurs, so it could only have eaten dinosaurs that lived at the same time. Other dinosaurs that lived at the very end of the age of dinosaurs included Edmontosaurus and Triceratops

Comment From Sage

the Li-ou-ning fossil site has spectacularly complete dino-birds have there been any new fossils of potarcheopteryx?

Steve Salisbury:

There are many specimens of Protarchaepteryx from Liaoning, but only a few have been figured in scientific papers.

Comment From KIA G1&G2

what is your job? what do you do?

Steve Salisbury:

I teach biology at the University of Queensland and I do research on Australian ancient animals, like dinosaurs and early crocodiles.

Comment From Billy-Ray Saurus

Thanks!

Comment From Chloe

What is the Cretaceous?

Steve Salisbury:

Its the latest of the three main time periods in which dinosaurs lived.

Comment From KIA G1G2

How many kind of dinosaur do you know of?

Steve Salisbury:

So many it is hard to count them all!

Steve Salisbury:

Lots! But there are plenty that I don't know about. Almost every week there is a new one discovered!

Comment From Sage

how do we get involved in the Eromanga or/and lightning ridge digs if i'm only in yr7?

Steve Salisbury:

Contact The Outback Gondwana Foundation: http://ogf.org.au/

Comment From KIA G1&G2

Which dinosaurs teeth is biggest?

Steve Salisbury:

We think the teeth of some Spinosaurus are likely to have been the biggest.

Comment From Nathan

As for Jurassic dinosaurs, why is our record of them in Australia so shabby? I can only think of two named genera, Ozraptor and Rhoetosaurus. Where are the Jurassic dinos all hiding?

Steve Salisbury:

Because we don't have many rocks of the right type, of that age exposed in Australia.

Comment From Rocky Dino lover

what is the biggest myth (that is wrong) about dinosaurs in your opinion?

Steve Salisbury:

That they went extinct...

Comment From Sage

it has been thought that dracorex,sygimoloch and pachycephalosaurus are different growth stages of the same animals, i disagree what do you think?

Steve Salisbury:

It seems likely that they were the same species, but we need more fossils to be sure! It is weird that the domes are the most commonly preserved fossil, which makes it really hard to know whether they were the same species!

Comment From Rocky Dino lover

what is the most interesting fact about dinosaurs in your opinion?

Steve Salisbury:

That they were very, very successful! They were amazingly diverse and lived for an incredibly long time [they are still very successful; there are more birds (~9000 species) than mammals (~6000 species), so really we are still in the 'Age of Dinosaurs'!]

Comment From Rocky Dino lover

Were dinosaurs considered intelligent - if so what evidence?

Steve Salisbury:

Measuring intelligence is never easy, especially for extinct animals. From fossils, we are able to reconstruct the size and shape of the brain of a dinosaur using Computed Tomographic scans. Where this has been done is shows that most dinosaurs had brains that were similar to those of living birds and crocodilians. This isn’t surprising given that these are their two closest living relatives. So we can probably assume that many dinosaurs were about as intelligent as a bird. Some birds, like crows and parrots seem pretty smart. Combine the intelligence of a crow with a predator like T. rex and you have pretty formidable animal!

Comment From Jill G

is the rhino a relative of the dinosaur?

Steve Salisbury:

A very, very, very, very distant relative. The group that includes rhinos (synapsids) split from one that contains dinosaurs more than 300 million years ago.

Comment From KIA G1G2

What dinosaur is the smallest?

Steve Salisbury:

Microraptor!

Comment From KIA G1G2

What dinosaur is most cutest?

Steve Salisbury:

Baby sauropods, very small and cute!

Comment From brendon Cox

Q: What do you call a paleontologist who sleeps all the time? A. Lazy Bones

Steve Salisbury:

Haha very funny!

Comment From Nathan

Last question: Since Australia and Antarctica were joined throughout the Mesozoic, do you think it is likely that we will one day find fossils of Antarctic dinosaurs (like Cryolophosaurus and Antarctopelta) in Australia?

Steve Salisbury:

Absolutely.

Comment From jg_rat

I'm intrigued: you say they are not extinct?

Steve Salisbury:

That is right. Birds evolved from dinosaurs, so in a way, dinosaurs still walk the earth!

Comment From Mrs Q

Q: Why did the Archaeopteryx catch the worm? A. Becuase it was an early worm

John Grey:

Groan

Moderator: 

Best comment yet

Comment From Miley-Saurus

If you find a new dinosaur do you get to name it? I want my very own Mileysaurus :)

Steve Salisbury:

Yes, but most importantly, you can't name it after yourself!

Comment From KIA G1&G2

What is the smallest dinsaur?

Steve Salisbury:

Microraptor!

Comment From Sage

wasn't ozraptor an abelisaur and have there been any possible fossils of spinosaurs in australia?

Steve Salisbury:

Maybe... again it is debatable. We need more of it!

Steve Salisbury:

For a while we thought that Megaraptor and its relatives (which now include Australovenator) was a spinosaurid, but this seems unlikely based on the most recent analyses. There is also a vertebra from Victoria that looks like a spinosaur, but as with many of the other isolated bones from Victoria its hard to be sure. We need more bones!!

Comment From KIA Mr. James

Dr. Salisbury, thank you for answering our questions! It was super fun and we could learn a lot about dinosaurs!

Steve Salisbury:

No worries! Glad to help out, it's been lots of fun!

Comment From Guest

What happened to my favourite childhood dinosaur - Brontosaurus?

Steve Salisbury:

What you think of as Bronotosaurus is called Apatosaurus. This is because Apatosaurus was the name given first. Brontosaurus was a name given to a dinosaur that already had a name, so it isn't officially known as Brontosaurus.

Comment From Miley-Saurus

Thank you Steve! The whole family loved getting involved and getting their question answered!

Steve Salisbury:

Thanks for your questions!

Moderator: 

I have a question Steve: What would you say to a kid who wanted to study Dinosaurs?

Steve Salisbury:

Keep up with your maths and science. Learning to write well is really important too because lots of people want to know about dinosaurs. You will need to go to university to study. In the mean time have fun and don't give up!

Comment From Nathan

Ok last Q I promise: What is your opinion of so called 'Paleocene dinosaurs'. For instance a hadrosaur bone was found above the K-Pg boundary and dated to around 64 million years ago I think it was. Are they just re-worked fossils? And thankyou for diligently answering all of our questions.

Steve Salisbury:

If it is in the Paleocene it may have been reworked. The boundary is not always well resolved so there may be error around the date as well. I don't the specific one you are talking about, so I can't comment in too much detail.

Moderator: 

Thanks Dr Salisbury! We might make this one the last question: Is it known whether modern birds are dinosaurs which, unlike other dinosaurs, never became extinct?

Steve Salisbury:

There is now a lot of fossil evidence indicating that modern birds descended from carnivorous theropod dinosaurs. Numerous fossils of feathered dinosaurs are known from China, and a few have recently been found in Germany and Canada. So technically, birds are living dinosaurs! Palaeontologists often refer to the theropods as ‘non-avian dinosaurs’, and birds as ‘avian dinosaurs’. The first avian dinosaur is still regarded as Archaeopteryx lithographica, which lived about 150 million years ago in what is now southern Germany.

Steve Salisbury:

Thanks everyone! It's been lots of fun. Please have a look at our webiste if you want know more about the research we do here at UQ:

www.uq.edu.au/dinosaurs

Moderator: 

Cheers! On behalf of everyone here I'd like to thank you and your team for your blistering effort answering all of our questions :D

I hope your kids are able to get their hands on those last two cards too!

Comment From Cloe

THANKS dOC

Comment From Mackay School

Thank you Mr Salisbury

Comment From Mrs Q

Thank You APN

I say 'dinosaur', because the 40 cards you can collect feature not only dinosaurs, but also flying reptiles (including Dorygnathus and Anhanguera), an ancient marine reptile (Mesosaurus), and one therapsid (Estemmenosuchus), giving you more bang for your palaeo-buck!

If you visit the Prehistoric Playtime website (here's the link via The Northern Star), you can also play some dinosaur themed games online, including one where you hurl meteors at some hapless dinos! There is also a chance to win some dinosaur figurines, a link to an online quiz which will be made available during Dino Week (Monday, June 2 to Saturday, June 8), and some fun facts on the homepage.

If you want to learn more about these ancient animals, Dr Steve Salisbury from The University of Queensland (the head of the UQ Palaeontology Lab) will be hosting an online palaeontology Q&A session on Tuesday, June 3 from 11am to 12 noon. You can ask him questions during the session, or email your questions before the session begins to marketing@apn.com.au. Be sure to visit your favourite newspaper website and sign up for a reminder email so you don't miss out!

These cards are available to collect between the 17th May to the 21st June. So, get collecting!