Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center

From the Education Desk

Hello autumn! What wonderful colors surround us and how lucky we are to be able to see them. November is a terrific month for being family centered. It is Family Stories Month, November 1^st is National Family Literacy Day and Children’s Book Week is November 13th-19^th. What a great time to sit down as a family, read a book or story together and perhaps make it a weekly event for the whole family to take turns reading to each other. Some other events taking place in November are: Daylight Savings Time ends November 2^nd, Election Day is November 4^th, Veterans Day is November 11^th and Thanksgiving is November 27^th.

Busy but fun month! A new predatory dinosaur with a birdlike breathing system has been found in Argentina and it may help scientists better understand the evolution of birds’ lung systems. The elephant size dinosaur Aerosteon riocoloradensis which lived during the Cretaceous period provides the first evidence of dinosaur air sacs, which pump air into the lungs and are used by modern day birds said Paul Sereno, a paleontologist at the University of Chicago. Scientists have known dinosaurs used the pump like apparatus to breathe, but the new find cements the connection between dinosaur and avian evolution. “This leaves little discussion that air sacs existed and that meat-eaters really do have lung structures that resemble birds”, Sereno said. In 1996, Sereno’s team found the wishbone, hipbone, and stomach ribs of this dinosaur hollowed out which is a telltale sign of air sacs. Up to now it had been difficult to verify that dinosaurs had bird like breathing systems because lungs do not fossilize. Despite their birdlike breathing systems, Aerosteon lacked the large sternum of birds, a specialized rib arrangement, and birdlike hips necessary for flight. Aerosteon’s closest relative was Allosaurus. Sereno suggests that this dinosaur probably had feathers which were for insulation, and that the air sacs played a role in cooling off the animal. Sereno’s research team also suggests that air sacs could have been used to help balance the weight of the dinosaur’s top heavy, two legged body. The specimen found by Sereno’s team measures about 33 feet. They also found crocodiles, among other animals, at the site, where the climate 85 million years ago resembled a lush, forested area.

Signing off for November, I wish all of you a Happy, Happy Thanksgiving Day!

Regards,

Geri LeBold
Education Director
geri@rmdrc.com