Newsletter 8

[plesio...@gmail.com]

THE PLESIOSAUR DIRECTORY NEWSLETTER. ISSUE 8
(December 2007)

Greetings! After a far longer than intended hiatus, The Plesiosaur
Directory Newsletter is back. In personal news, and in way of
explanation, I submitted my PhD on rhomaleosaurid plesiosaurs in
November. Moreover I have moved up the road to Trinity College Dublin,
where I am now producing educational Earth Science material for Irish
school children.

I intend to make the newsletter monthly, although I may be forced to
skip a month or two if news gets a little thin - lets hope that 2008
is a great year for plesiosaur discoveries! If you have any comments
or recommendations on how I can improve this newsletter, if you want
to recommend a link, image or PDF to feature in a future issue of the
newsletter, if you have any corrections, or if you think you are the
first to find Paddy, please contact me at plesio...@gmail.com.
Thanks! Adam

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NEWS

--- Plesiosaur bone, close to home

A plesiosaur bone has been discovered in Ireland, reported the BBC in
October. The single bone represents a large plesiosaur vertebral
centrum, but cannot be identified in any detail. It was discovered by
Park Ranger Paul Bennet in the Colin River in Colin Glen, on the West
edge of Belfast, Northern Ireland. Marine reptile fossils are
exceedingly rare in Ireland and this find represents one of only a
handful discovered to date.

More here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7035202.stm

--- Arctic pliosaur is new species

Another giant pliosauroid plesiosaur fossil from Arctic Svalbard
Islands appears to represent a new species. The specimen was
discovered and initial excavations took place in Summer 2007. The
treasure trove of marine reptile fossils were first discovered in 2006
by a team from the University of Oslo, Natural History Museum, led by
Dr. Jørn Hurum and Hans Arne Nakrem; they discovered ichthyosaurs and
a large pliosaur, which became known as the 'Monster' in the popular
press. (for original story visit http://www.plesiosauria.com/news3.html#10).
The new pliosaur was uncovered when the team returned to the locality
- it seems to be the same species as the original 'Monster'. The
collected parts of the fossil include teeth, skull fragments and
vertebrae, but the specimen is only partly uncovered and so the dig
will continue next year. A more detailed review of the findings will
also be presented next year.

More Here:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22097625/

--- 'Sea Monsters' Released

Back in October, the newest film offering from National Geographic
opened to 78 IMAX theaters across the United States, the largest ever
opening for an IMAX movie. 'Sea Monsters' is set in the Late
Cretaceous Western Interior Sea, and follows the journey of a growing
Dolichorhynchops. The official website is now complete and up and
running:
http://www.dpbolvw.net/click-2358380-10274093?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnationalgeographic.com/seamonsters
I am planning to see this over the Winter holiday - I will post the
review here.

--- 'Sea Monsters' Book Review

I recently read and reviewed Mike Everhart's new book for the online
Journal Palaeontologica Electronica, I reproduce it here:

Sea Monsters - Prehistoric Creatures of the Deep
By Michael J. Everhart

Sea Monsters - Prehistoric Creatures of the Deep, is the official
companion to the recently released IMAX movie of the same name. As
Everhart explains in the preface to this book (and in the final
chapter), both the movie and this book have their roots in the 'Sea
Monsters' cover story featured in the December 2005 issue of National
Geographic Magazine. The story introduced readers to Mesozoic marine
reptiles, presenting information on a wide range of species throughout
the Mesozoic Era, and from fossil locations all around the world. For
the purposes of the movie, it was necessary to select a single
geographical location and point in time. As scientific consultant to
the Movie, Everhart sold the 'Oceans of Kansas' as the perfect setting
for the movie; after all, Late Cretaceous seas were "probably the most
dangerous seas ever on this planet". And so it was that The Western
Interior Seaway and many of its ferocious inhabitants were resurrected
on the (very!) big screen. Sea Monsters, the book, allows readers to
dig a little deeper into the history and science behind the movie.

Sea Monsters is a large format and highly visual volume. As one would
expect from a National Geographic publication and official companion
to a 3D movie, the selling point of this book is the imagery. Each of
the 191 glossy pages in this book feature stills from the movie,
numerous computer-generated artworks (including reproductions of those
presented in the 2006 National Geographic Magazine cover story),
historical photographs and photographs/illustrations of fossils and
skeletons. For the most exciting visuals, however, don the
complimentary pair of 3D glasses (to be found in a pouch on the inside
back cover) and open up the 3D sections: between each chapter is a
selection of three-dimensional stills from the movie, many of which
occupy double-page spreads.

Chapter one asks: "what is a sea monster?" The question isn't really
answered (there is no meaningful answer), but allows Everhart to
divulge into the diversity of prehistoric marine reptiles, with short
sections on the origins and habits of ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs,
turtles, and mosasaurs; and to outline their place in prehistory. The
end of this chapter focuses on the Western Interior Seaway, setting
the scene for some of the following chapters, which will describe the
environment and food webs of the Late Cretaceous period. Chapter two
looks at the historical context of marine reptiles, and in particular,
the major scientists and 'fossil finders' involved in the discovery of
the many creatures preserved in the deposits of the Western Interior
Seaway. Chapter three reviews the fauna - all of the key 'characters'
in the movie are outlined and illustrated. Chapter five provides an
overview of the extinction theories proposed to explain the
disappearance of many of the groups 65 million years ago. The last
chapter comprises a 'making of' section. Much like Sternberg's famous
fossil fish within a fish, nestled amongst each chapter are short self-
contained sections; these 'Close Up' and 'Album' sections provide a
little more detail, or a 'case study', on some aspect mentioned in
passing in the main text.

The scientific content is basic and aimed towards a popular adult
audience. Although a separate children's book is also available (Sea
Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure
by Marfe Delano Ferguson), the style and depth of text in Sea
Monsters- Prehistoric Creatures of the Deep, is certainly accessible
to older children. The tone of the book is in keeping with the aims of
the movie, to simultaneously entertain and educate. Marine reptiles
have long been overlooked and overshadowed by dinosaurs in vertebrate
palaeontology books and children's books on prehistoric life, but this
is slowly changing: look out dinosaurs, here come the sea monsters!

The book is available from Amazon for a very reasonable price:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1426200854/?tag=theplesdire-20

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UPDATES

New Page - The Crystal Palace plesiosaurs:
http://www.plesiosauria.com/crystalpalace.html

Chap Mei Liopleurodon added to toy page
http://www.plesiosauria.com/toys.html

General updates to the following pages
http://www.plesiosauria.com/index.html
http://www.plesiosauria.com/me.html

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PDF-CORNER

A paper describing a juvenile pliosauroid from Australia, by Benjamin
Kear
http://www.plesiosauria.com/pdf/kear_2007_leptocleidus.pdf
Full reference: Kear, B, P. 2007. A juvenile pliosauroid plesiosaur
(Reptilia: Sauropterygia) from the Lower Cretaceous of South
Australia. Journal of Paleontology, 81, 154-162.

Please note that PDFs featured in 'PDF-Corner' will only be available
temporarily.

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FEATURED IMAGE

Due to the kind contributions of Chris Crump who has provided me with
a bounty of plesiosaur images for the Plesioaur Directory, scanned
from various volumes, the images page of the site is currently
undergoing a great overhaul. As a taster for the sort of stuff to
come, here is a painting by Zdenek Burian:

http://www.plesiosauria.com/elasmosaurus_group_burian.jpg

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PICK OF THE WEB

The Plesiosaur Forum is _the_ place for plesiosaur-related
discussions, and the best stop if you have any questions. It has been
quite quiet there recently so I thought it could do with a plug.

http://www.plesiosaur.com/forum

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WHERE'S PADDY?

Paddy the Plesiosaur is a cartoon plesiosaur with a letter 'P' on his
back - and he is usually hiding somewhere on the Plesiosaur Directory
Website! However, this Winter Paddy has migrated to warmer waters, he
may be back soon though...

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ADS

Super Sea Monsters T-shirts and 2008 calendars are among the goodies
available from the National Geographic Sea Monsters Store:

http://www.dpbolvw.net/click-2358380-10274093?url=http%3A%2F%2Fshop.nationalgeographic.com/product/4131.html

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Produced by Adam Stuart Smith 5/12/07