Dinosaur Puke Fossil Mystery Deepens

.discovery.com ^ | Alyssa Danigelis

[BenLurkin]

When researchers came across a unique fossil in Northern Italy in 1989, they concluded it was dinosaur vomit roughly 220 million years old. The fossil lacked the mineralization that would have put it in the dinosaur poop category — that’s “coprolite” if you want to be technical.

They also identified the bones captured for eternity inside the puke as a tiny winged pterosaur. These reptilian dinosaur cousins evolved into dozens of species, and were the first animals after insects to evolve powered flight, according to the American Museum of Natural History.

Vomit like this, usually from a predator regurgitating indigestible animal parts, is called a “gastric pellet” containing “ejecta.” Owl pellets are basically the same thing, PLOS blogger Andrew Farke pointed out.

Although pterosaurs could range in size from a sparrow to an F-16 fighter jet, the one in Northern Italy was small. And rare. For decades it was “one of the very few cases of gastric ejecta containing pterosaur bones,” the researchers wrote in their recent PLOS ONE journal article. The group included paleontologist Fabio Marco Dalla Vecchia, who worked on the 1989 study.

But closer examination prompted the group to doubt there was a winged pterosaur in the vom. Using an X-ray microCT, they compared the bones with basal pterosaurs and concluded it had to be a different animal. The bones seem like they belonged to a lizard-like protorosaur, only not the same species found in the same rock formation where the puke was discovered.

[rdl6989]

Dinosaur puke ping.

[blueunicorn6]

“So, Bob, what’s that son of yours doing these days?”

“He analyzes dinosaur crap and vomit.”

“Oh, look at the time. Got to be going.”

[ETL]

Is this related to the recent dino snot find?

:)

[rdl6989]

That would be a conversation killer.

[publius911]

As Mark Twain wrote, "Such large returns of conjecture, from such small investment in fact..."

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks rdl6989.

[ETL]

“So, Bob, what’s that unmarried 40-year-old virgin son of yours doing these days?”

“He’s a proctologist”

“Oh, look at the time. Got to be going.”

[Tucker39]

He’s probably in a joint practice I heard about. A psychiatrist and a proctologist in a joint practice. Their shingle out front says, “ODDS & ENDS”.

[DaxtonBrown]

Paleoanthropology Division
Smithsonian Institute
207 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20078

Dear Sir:

Thank you for your latest submission to the Institute, labeled “211-D, layer seven, next to the clothesline post. Hominid skull.” We have given this specimen a careful and detailed examination, and regret to inform you that we disagree with your theory that it represents “conclusive proof of the presence of Early Man in Charleston County two million years ago.” Rather, it appears that what you have found is the head of a Barbie doll, of the variety one of our staff, who has small children, believes to be the “Malibu Barbie”. It is evident that you have given a great deal of thought to the analysis of this specimen, and you may be quite certain that those of us who are familiar with your prior work in the field were loathe to come to contradiction with your findings. However, we do feel that there are a number of physical attributes of the specimen which might have tipped you off to it’s modern origin:

1. The material is molded plastic. Ancient hominid remains are typically fossilized bone.

2. The cranial capacity of the specimen is approximately 9 cubic centimeters, well below the threshold of even the earliest identified proto-hominids.

3. The dentition pattern evident on the “skull” is more consistent with the common domesticated dog than it is with the “ravenous man-eating Pliocene clams” you speculate roamed the wetlands during that time. This latter finding is certainly one of the most intriguing hypotheses you have submitted in your history with this institution, but the evidence seems to weigh rather heavily against it. Without going into too much detail, let us say that:

A. The specimen looks like the head of a Barbie doll that a dog has chewed on.

B. Clams don’t have teeth.

It is with feelings tinged with melancholy that we must deny your request to have the specimen carbon dated. This is partially due to the heavy load our lab must bear in it’s normal operation, and partly due to carbon dating’s notorious inaccuracy in fossils of recent geologic record. To the best of our knowledge, no Barbie dolls were produced prior to 1956 AD, and carbon dating is likely to produce wildly inaccurate results. Sadly, we must also deny your request that we approach the National Science Foundation’s Phylogeny Department with the concept of assigning your specimen the scientific name “Australopithecus spiff-arino.” Speaking personally, I, for one, fought tenaciously for the acceptance of your proposed taxonomy, but was ultimately voted down because the species name you selected was hyphenated, and didn’t really sound like it might be Latin.

However, we gladly accept your generous donation of this fascinating specimen to the museum. While it is undoubtedly not a hominid fossil, it is, nonetheless, yet another riveting example of the great body of work you seem to accumulate here so effortlessly. You should know that our Director has reserved a special shelf in his own office for the display of the specimens you have previously submitted to the Institution, and the entire staff speculates daily on what you will happen upon next in your digs at the site you have discovered in your back yard. We eagerly anticipate your trip to our nation’s capital that you proposed in your last letter, and several of us are pressing the Director to pay for it. We are particularly interested in hearing you expand on your theories surrounding the “trans-positating fillifitation of ferrous ions in a structural matrix” that makes the excellent juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex femur you recently discovered take on the deceptive appearance of a rusty 9-mm Sears Craftsman automotive crescent wrench.

Yours in Science,

Harvey Rowe
Curator, Antiquities

[Eaker]

Although pterosaurs could range in size from a sparrow to an F-16 fighter jet

I call BS as F-16's are huge.

In terms of length, the size of the F-16 Fighting Falcon is 49 ft 5 in (14.8 m). The wing span is 32 ft 8 in (9.8 m).

[Eaker]

That is hilarious!

[r_barton]

Clean up on aisle 23. Better bring a BIG bucket. ;-)

[ETL]

I call BS as F-16's are huge. In terms of length, the size of the F-16 Fighting Falcon is 49 ft 5 in (14.8 m). The wing span is 32 ft, 8 in (9.8 m).

"Pterosaurs spanned a wide range of adult sizes, from the very small Nemicolopterus to the largest known flying creatures of all time, including Quetzalcoatlus and Hatzegopteryx.[4][5][6]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pterosaur
______________________________

Hatzegopteryx thambema
Wingspan: 10-11 m (33-36 ft) [2]

Quetzalcoatlus northropi
Wingspan: 10-11 m (33-36 ft) [2][3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pterosaur_size

[Eaker]

You should post this as a thread of its own.

[DaxtonBrown]

It’s an oldie but goodie, one of my favorites. Glad to introduce new eyes to old fashioned Internet humor.

[GreenHornet]

Dinosaur Puke Fossil Mystery Deepens

The poor thing must have gotten a good look at Helen Thomas.

[Monkey Face]

Musta been a tiny Ovomit that the dinosaur ate, and it was trying to return to life...

[Monkey Face]

Ping to #18

[BenLurkin]

“So, Bob, what’s that unmarried 40-year-old virgin son of yours doing these days?”

“He’s a proctologist”

“Well then, things are looking up.”