STL Science Center

STL Science Center

23 August 2011

A Rare Occurrence

Today I am very pleased and proud to bring to you, thanks to The Theropod Archives, Henry Fairfield Osborn's original paper in which he names Tyrannosaurus Rex and Albertosaurus. The scholarly paper describes T. Rex and then goes on to describe Albertosaurus in very concise details. Osborn states that Albertosaurus was originally thought to be a Dryptosaurus based on its skulls but was a "somewhat more primitive character" overall. The description relies heavily on Canadian paleontologist Lawrence Lambe's original description of  the remains of Albertosaurus. A detailed account of where the remains are most often found was also included in the paper.

Additionally, Philip Currie has written a paper, back in 1998, that describes gregarious behaviors found in tyrannosaurids as a group. The paper goes into specifics of finds of many different tyrannosaurids in what appear to be species specific groups that are not engaged in fighting one another or otherwise harming one another and thus imply gregarious intentions. He states that a lack of herbivorous dinosaurs also rule out the idea of predator trap, such as the one found in Utah at the Cleveland-Lloyd Quarry. Currie presents a vivid and detailed account of major evidence for pack hunting and socialization in tyrannosaurids and, in our day and age, Currie's voice on theropods is well respected because of detailed, in depth, hard science papers like this.

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