Intro to Dino 101: The Dinosaur Trips Dinosaur Species
Intro to Dino 101 is where we get back to the dinosaur basics. Or, for many of us, get to the basics for the first time.
You don’t need to know anything at all about dinosaurs to enjoy a Dinosaur Trips experience, our trips and holidays are all about discovery and comfort, and that idea goes for this blog as well. We’re just here to point to some of the basics.
In this edition, we’re doing a little Dinosaur Trips 101, too. We’ve had a number of people asking about our logo and destination poster. Namely they’re asking “what kinda dinosaurs are we looking at here?”
Our Paleoart Dinosaur Species
Our logo, designed by the talented Grace Varnham at PaleoZoo, is based on the Gorgosaurus fossil from the Royal Tyrrell Museum. The Gorgosaurus is a theropod (see our previous edition of Intro to Dino 101 for the basics on the dino family tree) that lived in western North America during the late Cretaceous period (see our first Intro to Dino 101 for that).
The Gorgosaurus measured some 8-9 metres in length and weighed between 2 to 3 metric tons! Dozens of large, sharp teeth lined its jaws, while its two-fingered forelimbs were comparatively small. Gorgosaurus was most closely related to Albertosaurus, and more distantly related to the larger Tyrannosaurus.
And as for the theropod in our Badlands • Alberta destination poster, illustrated by paleoartist and blog post Q&A star Rob Soto, that would be the aforementioned Albertosaurus, of course.
Like the Gorgosaurus, the Albertosaurus lived in western North America during the late Cretaceous period, and was about the same size as the Gorgosaurus as well. It’s also remarkable for its tiny, two-fingered hands and a massive head that had dozens of large, sharp teeth. Since the first Gorgosaurus discovery in 1884, fossils of more than 30 individuals have been recovered, providing scientists with a more detailed knowledge of Albertosaurus anatomy than is available for most other tyrannosaurids.
Dr. Philip Currie found 12 specimens of Albertosaurus from various age groups at a site in Alberta, which was a huge find in supporting his theory that these giant carnivores did in fact cooperate in packs. Prior to his exploration of the Albertosaurus site, we had no circumstantial evidence that these big meat-eaters might not have been the solitary beasts we had long believed them to be.
