Paleo Bites Matthew Donald

(image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrannasorus_rex)
Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Allen Brooks discuss Tyrannasorus rex, a real PUNK’d of an animal by being just a plain-ass beetle named after the most fearsome dinosaur ever. Paleontologists have too much fun sometimes. Someone should rein them in. From the Miocene epoch, this 1-inch beetle was, well, a beetle. You ever seen a beetle? Then you’ve seen Tyrannasorus rex. They’re all the same. You don’t make up over half of all species in the biosphere of the planet by being distinctive.
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(image source: https://jurassicpark.fandom.com/wiki/Sauroposeidon)
Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Stephen Curro discuss Sauroposeidon, an abso-giganto-freaking-mongus dinosaur and the state dinosaur of Texas, because they like everything big down there. They ain't compensatin' for nuthin’, those durn cowboys. From the Early Cretaceous, this 70-foot macronarian sauropod lived alongside some heavy hitters like Acrocanthosaurus, Deinonychus, and Sauropelta, all of which we’ve covered on this show before, so they must be famous, right? Right? This show’s good exposure for these critters, I know it.
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(image source: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/triassic-bites-and-a-carnivore-conundrum)
Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Ben O’Regan discuss Fasolasuchus, the biggest terrestrial non-dinosaur predator of all time. What a hyper-specific superlative. I bet I’m the biggest human named Matthew that wrote a dinosaur sci-fi series called Megazoic. Except probably not, there’s a lot of Matthews out there. From the Mid Triassic, this 35-foot rauisuchian got a big bit of cinema exposure as the climactic boss fight in the recent Adam Driver movie where he’s an alien who fights dinosaurs, which sounds like the most awesome movie ever, but alas, ‘twas mid at best. No shame if you liked it, though.
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(image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaskacephale)
Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Lawrence Mack discuss Alaskacephale, a northern dinosaur that somehow had enough minor differences to escape being lumped into the genus Pachycephalosaurus, but the wildly different and far more spiky Dracorex and Stygimoloch didn’t. Yeah, I’m never letting that go. From the Late Cretaceous, this 8-foot pachycephalosaurid lived alongside the other arctic dinosaurs like Pachyrhinosaurus and Nanuqsaurus, meaning they either had feathers to keep warm in the winter or they just used their inherent size as a form of gigantothermy. But that’s far too advanced of a topic for this dumb podcast, so who knows?
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(image source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/583708801714650808/)
Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Laura Owsley discuss Simosuchus, an adorable little burrowing critter that despite its herbivory and cuddly appearance was actually an ancient crocodylomorph. I bet its death rolls would be so cute. From the Late Cretaceous, this 3-foot notosuchian lived alongside some big frogs and mammals as well as dinosaurs in their Madagascar home, which sounds nice. I wager they all got along and there were no killings or predation at all. They just all snuggled each other. That’s my theory, I’ll publish a paper on it shortly.
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(image source: https://alphynix.tumblr.com)
Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Stephen Curro discuss Tenontosaurus, a poor schmuck of a dinosaur whose entire existence seems to be cannon fodder for packs of Deinonychus. Hence why I chose this picture for the episode image, because it’s funny seeing the tables turned. Mwuahahaha. From the Early Cretaceous, this 20-foot basal ornithopod was also notable in having a really long tail, which really would have been useful in fighting off those Deinonychus I reckon. But hey, who am I to judge? It seemed to work out for them. Oh wait, they’re extinct, so I guess not.
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