Dino Fun for International Dinosaur Day 🦖
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Episode 84 Description
In today’s episode: 📢 Celebrate International Dinosaur Day with us! 🦕 Find out from guest Laine Farber (Nature Nerds podcast) what paleontologists learned from a Tyrannosaurus embryo. 🔬 Did you know that there were polar dinosaurs? Hear about this and more in our Five Fascinating Finds. 🦴Catch up on the latest headlines and see if you know the answer to the Trivia on the Ten.
Links
✍️ Visit our website for a list of sources used for this episode and a full episode transcript
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Sources for this episode:
https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/culture/story/nat-geo-kids-celebrates-international-dinosaur-day-dinomaynia-77511731
https://nhmu.utah.edu/blog/2019/top-dinosaur-discoveries
https://www.smh.com.au/national/we-re-not-running-out-of-dinosaurs-why-is-there-a-boom-in-finding-fossils-20200217-p541j2.html
https://www.npr.org/2021/04/10/985754644/newly-discovered-dinosaur-was-top-carnivorous-predator-in-argentina
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/03/31/dinosaur-discovery-new-species-the-one-who-causes-fear/4823612001/
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/feathered-dinosaur-tail-amber-theropod-myanmar-burma-cretaceous
https://www.sciencefriday.com/videos/discovering-the-past-through-dino-poop/
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/colors-dinosaurs-open-new-window-study-past-180972070/
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-dinosaurs-thrived-snow-180976435/
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/first-spinosaurus-tail-found-confirms-dinosaur-was-swimming
https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/brontosaurus-reinstating-a-prehistoric-icon.html
Headlines:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/13/health/cdc-masks-guidance.html
https://apnews.com/article/ohio-coronavirus-lottery-prize-7058159d2c71eabd19b541194a1e2d95
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/12/sports/basketball/wnba-season.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/10/science/buoys-birds-googly-eyes.html
TRANSCRIPT:
Various Voices 0:00
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Bethany Van Delft 0:06
It's May 18, I'm Bethany van Delft, and this is The Ten News where we get the lowdown on what's up in the world. Today, dino-maniacs everywhere are celebrating international dinosaur day. So let's kick off this prehistoric party and dig into The Ten.
If dinosaurs were still around, there'd be a pretty long guestlist for a dino party: Tyrannosaurus Rex, brachiosaurus, deinonychus, Cryolophosaurus, gallimimus, Archaeopteryx. Dinosaur scientists called paleontologists have discovered hundreds of species and are finding more all the time. In fact, they name a new dinosaur about every two weeks.
A Kid 0:58
That's incredible.
Bethany Van Delft 1:00
Why are we still finding so many new dinosaurs? Well, after the first Jurassic Park movie premiered in 1993, there was a big increase in people wanting to study dinosaurs and become paleontologists. And now technology has greatly helped the dino-search. Paleontologists are using drones, x-rays and 3D printers to assess their research. They're also able to collaborate around the world to compare notes, and more easily determine if they have a new find. Recently, paleontologists discovered a scary, meat-eating dinosaur from Argentina. It measured about 16 feet long and had very sharp teeth. All the ingredients are a perfect prehistoric predator. So it was given the name Llukalkan which translates to one who causes fear.
It's time for a creature feature. Here's Laine Farber from the Nature Nerds podcast.
Laine Farber 2:11
What's 40 feet long, weighs over 15,000 pounds, and has a mouth built with sharp, serrated teeth? If you guessed a Tyrannosaurus Rex, then give yourself a round of applause. That's right. Today we're talking about the king of the tyrant lizards. With their size and stature. It's no surprise that these ferocious beasts were top predators of the Cretaceous period. But did you know that their babies were fuzzy and cute? So here's the scoop. According to recent studies, freshly hatched T rex babies were roughly the size of dogs. Not only that, they were covered in little feathers like a baby duckling. They basically looked like a cross between a lizard and a baby Turkey. So cute. Up until recently, very little was known about little t Rexes. This discovery was made possible after paleontologists on earth discovered the first ever fossilized Tyrannosaurus embryo. The Tyrannosaurus is a close cousin of the T-Rex, so scientists can make inferences about the T-Rex, based on what they know about the Tyrannosaurus. Paleontologists have still not found fossils of a baby T-Rex, and they've been looking for a long time. The first T-rex fossil was discovered back in 1902. And the gigantic dinosaur has fascinated the world ever since. from books to movies to hundreds of scientific studies, the T-rex has seen it all. But it wasn't until very recently that we've finally understood what this massive monster actually looked like. For over 100 years, we believe that the T-rex resembled a scaly, big headed lizard with tiny arms and powerful legs. Scientists did the best they could using fossil evidence and they got a lot right. Big Head, check, little arms, check, powerful legs also check, rough scaly skin, not so much. In the last few decades, scientists have discovered that dinosaurs are more closely related to birds than lizards.
A Kid 4:31
No way.
Laine Farber 4:32
As a matter of fact, all birds that are alive today are classified as avian dinosaurs. Whoa, pretty neat, right? This means that many of the Dinos we once imagine with rough scaly skin actually had feathers, including the T-Rex. So the next time you see a chicken, just imagine what it would look like with sharp serrated teeth and a long tail.
Bethany Van Delft 5:01
From feathers to tails and bones to fossilized poop, paleontologists have uncovered tons of secrets about dinosaurs with so much science because go on for 65 million years, but for now, let's run down this list of five fascinating finds. Number one, a tale trapped in time. A paleontologist made dino history when he found a feathered dinosaur tail trapped in amber. Individual feathers had been found before but never attached to a skeleton. Well, this may sound like a scene from Jurassic Park. You won't find any dinosaur DNA here.
A Kid 6:52
Oh, man.
Bethany Van Delft 5:42
Number two, digging through dino dung sounds gross, but fossilized poop, called cover lights have taught us so much. Cover lights are actually pretty rare. But by examining the fossils that have been found, paleontologists have been able to discover way more about the ancient ecosystems that these prehistoric pooper's lived in. Number three, their true colors. Using high tech microscopes, paleontologists can now see teeny tiny details of dinosaur feathers and skin. And by comparing these structures with those and living animals, scientists have been able to tell what colors dinosaurs might have been. The first dinosaur to be recreated in full color was a chicken sized feathered dinosaur called anchiornus. It had black and white patterns and a big bright red head. Number four: snow days. Dinosaurs having a snowball fight seems pretty crazy, I know. But actually there were polar dinosaurs.
A Kid 6:51
No way.
Bethany Van Delft 6:52
Paleontologists have found all sorts of fossils recently that show that some dinosaurs stayed in the snow year round. Other suggests they may have made burrows during the coldest seasons. Smart. Number five, super swimmer. Nope, it's not a shark, it's a Spinosaurus the first semi aquatic dinosaur ever discovered Spinosaurus had a huge sail on its back, and a tail that looks like a giant oar. Paleontologists think they use it like a paddle to swim and chase down its prey. Who wants to dive in first? Okay, let's leave dinosaurs in the past and take a bite out of some current headlines. The CDC announced that people who are vaccinated can now go out in many public places both indoors and outdoors without a mask. Though there are some places like hospitals, planes and businesses where masks will still be required. No word on masks in school yet the agency is expected to announce more soon.
Sound Bit 8:45
Sounds good.
Bethany Van Delft 8:04
Speaking of the vaccine, get the vaccine and win a million dollars. It might sound straight out of a game show but to encourage people to get their COVID-19 shots, the state of Ohio is offering the chance to win a million dollars and even full ride scholarships to college to those that get their Fauci Ouchies. The WNBA just started its 25th season and teams plan on not only winning games, but making their voices heard. This season plays a rallying around social justice messages like advocating for LGBTQ issues, health care and voting rights. Sounds like a slam dunk. And to protect seabirds from getting caught and fishing nets, conservationists have developed an eye opening new device: buoys with googly eyes. These floating scarecrows have been shown to help keep up to 30% more seabirds away, protecting them in the process. And now for your:
Sound Bit 9:13
What, what, what's the big idea?
Bethany Van Delft 9:16
Trivia on The Ten. Which dinosaur was cancelled but it's now back on the paleontologists friends list? Is it A) the Tyrannosaurus Rex B) the Brontosaurus or C) apatosaurus?
Did you guess it? The answer is B! The Brontosaurus. While the gentle giant appeared for many years and cartoons like the Flintstones, paleontologists had claimed that the Brontosaurus hadn't actually existed in the fossils that have been found. Where actually the apatosaurus dinosaur and not a separate species.
A Kid 10:02
Are you kidding me?
Bethany Van Delft 10:04
This changed again in 2015 when a new study showed that the two dinosaurs showed enough differences in their skeletons to be classified as different animals. So yes, the Brontosaurus is back baby, life finds away. That's it for Dino day. And that's the end of The Ten news for today. You can catch new episodes on Tuesdays, Thursdays and extras on Saturdays. The Ten News is a co-production of Small but Mighty Media in collaboration with Next Chapter Podcasts and distributed by iHeart Radio. The Ten News creative team is crazy about the Cretaceous and includes Kate Hale, Tracey Crooks, Pete Musto, Jenner Pascua, Stephen Tompkins, and Sarah Olender. Laine Farber contributed to today's episode. Our production director is Jeremiah Tittle and our executive producers are Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan. If you have any questions about the show, a story idea or a fun fact you want to share, email us at hello@thetennews.com and don't forget to subscribe rate and review The Ten News on Apple podcasts, iHeart Radio, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your podcast. I'm Bethany Van Delft and thanks for listening to The Ten News.
