citizen science

The Complete Dinosaur!

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Hello blog friends! Today I’m excited to announce an exciting new project with Tom Holtz and Lindsay Zanno that we want YOU to be part of! We’re editing a new edition of the excellent pop sci book The Complete Dinosaur, published by Indiana University Press. Like the previous two editions, this book will feature the latest and greatest in dinosaur palaeontology in a format that should be accessible to nonspecialists. This time around, we’re seeking input from future readers on what you would really love to know about dinosaurs! We’re bringing a little bit of citizen science and crowdsourcing to this edition, and we hope you’ll join us in making this one of the most exciting dinosaur books out there.

Head on over to the Complete Dinosaur, 3rd Edition website and take our short survey! We’ll be posting updates on the book’s progress as we go, so you can also follow the #completedino3 hashtag on Twitter and follow myself, Lindsay Zanno, and Tom Holtz for more. If you’d like to help us spread the news on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, in classes or presentations, feel free to download and share our social media images at this Google Drive link.

Save Mongolia’s Dinosaurs!

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Hello blog friends! Today I’d like to highlight an important funding campaign that needs your help: Save Mongolia’s Dinosaurs! This campaign is organized by Bolortsetseg Minjin and Thea Boodhoo through the Institute for the Study of Mongolian Dinosaurs; you may have encountered Bolor’s name during the episode involving the Tarbosaurus auction in New York a few years ago, as she was the palaeontologist who initiated the investigation around the provenance of that specimen. Her actions helped lead to the repatriation of that specimen back to Mongolia. She does important work and is a palaeontologist you should know and support!

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Ankylosaur Fight Club

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Pseudoplocephalus has a new home! WELCOME!

Over the many years I’ve spent thinking about ankylosaurs, I’ve amassed a not insubstantial collection of ankylosaur stuff. And one of the things that I’ve noticed is that when ankylosaurids are shown wielding their tail clubs as weapons, they are almost always fighting some kind of tyrannosaur (but usually Tyrannosaurus, of course). Are there any illustrations that show ankylosaurids fighting anything different?

Back in January I asked my Facebook friends and Twitter followers to look in their homes for ankylosaurs fighting things and to let me know what they found, and now, blog readers, I am asking the same of you! Find some ankylosaurs fighting something and either tweet it to me (@VictoriaArbour) or leave a comment below!

Here’s what the preliminary results from my January request look like! (And yes, there was one example of an ankylosaurid tail clubbing a human.) The data I get from all of you will help me develop hypotheses for better understanding the selective pressures that led to the evolution of tail weaponry in ankylosaurs. Have at it!

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