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Obscure Dinosaur of the Week: Lophorhothon atopus

6/12/2012

11 Comments

 
Name: Lophorhothon atopus
Etymology: From the Greek 'lopho' (crest) and 'thon' (snout); and the Greek 'atopus' (strange/out of place)
Distribution: Late Cretaceous (Campanian) of North America
Type Specimen: Disarticulated skull and postcranial skeleton - juvenile
Estimated size: Approximately 4.5 metres in length (for juvenile)
First described by: Langston, Jr. (1960)
Picture
Image courtesy NHM
Picture
Interesting fact: L. atopus went for a swim, then a sink
Although Lophorhothon atopus was a terrestrial hadrosaurid, its remains were found in a marine chalk deposit (the Mooreville Chalk Formation). Various taphonomic scenarios have been suggested for how it ended up in the middle of the ocean,  including the bloat-and-float model. This model suggests that:
  • As a carcass undergoes initial decay, internal bacteria in the digestive tract produce gases which cause the carcass to swell up and  'bloat'. 
  • If the carcass is laying at the bottom of a lake, river, or ocean, the gases causing bloating overcome the carcass's weight and negative buoyancy in water, and will therefore allow it to 'float' to the surface. 
  • The carcass may then drift for some time until decay advances enough for the internal gases to escape, resulting in the carcass sinking. 

So the idea behind the location of L. atopus in marine sediment is that after it died, it was washed into the ocean, floated for a period of time, and then sank onto, and was buried by, marine chalk sediments. It would be difficult to tell whether it was washed out to sea while still alive, or whether it had already died. Although modern experiments involving carcasses lying on the ocean floor suggest that if had died at sea, it would likely be completely obliterated before it had a chance to float! (As per this pig decay experiment - WARNING - some may find these images disturbing). And the paucity of fossil material recovered from this specimen and others preserved in the eastern United States marine formations suggests that these oceans were very taphonomically active zones (TAZ),  with lots of micro- and macro-scavengers consuming soft and hard tissue.

Picture
Representation of L. atopus floating in the taphonomically active zone (TAZ) of the eastern United States Cretaceous oceans. Courtesy of James T. Hays, copyright 2009, and the Encyclopedia of Alabama
This float-and-bloat model is exactly what I've been testing for my PhD: looking at the buoyancy of juvenile salt-water crocodiles and native fish in fresh water. This will help add to the body of knowledge regarding what sort of time frame different animals bloat-and-float over, and the potential distances they could travel in that time, including floating into the middle of an ocean! 
Picture
Simplified cladogram of all non-avian dinosaurs. L. atopus was a hadrosaurid, within ornithopoda.
References
Langston, W. Jr. 1960. The vertebrate fauna of the Selma Formation of Alabama. Part VI. The dinosaurs . Fieldiana: Geology Memoirs  3(6): 315-361

Schwimmer, D. R.,  Dent Williams, G., Dobie, J. L., and Siesser, W. G., 1993. Late Cretaceous Dinosaurs from the Blufftown Formation in Western Georgia and Eastern Alabama. Journal of Paleontology  67(2): 288-296

Schwimmer, D. R. 2010. Lophorhothon. The Encyclopedia of Alabama TM & © 2012, accessed 7 December 2012.
11 Comments
Achim
15/12/2012 07:59:30 am

Very interesting, Caitlin! Maybe you'll like this one:
Reisdorf, A.G.; Bux, R.; Wyler, D.; Benecke, M.; Klug, C.; Maisch, M.W.; Fornaro, P. & Wetzel, A. (2012): Float, explode or sink: post-mortem fate of lung-breathing marine vertebrates. – In: Wuttke, M. & Reisdorf, A.G. (eds): Taphonomic processes in terrestrial and marine environments. – Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments, 92(1): 67-81.

Reply
Caitlin Syme link
15/12/2012 09:14:40 am

Thanks Achim! I've been waiting to be able to compare my experimental results to what you and your co-authors have described in this paper. That said, I'm going to re-read it today,because I had forgotten just how extensively you review buoyancy in tetrapods!

Reply
Achim
15/12/2012 10:09:23 am

You're welcome! Please let me know if you need more details. Maybe the following publications are of interest for your research:

Nelder, M.P.; McCreadie, J.W. & Major, C.S. (2009): Blow Flies Visiting Decaying Alligators: Is Succession Synchronous or Asynchronous? – Psyche, Volume 2009, Article ID 575362, 7 pp., doi:10.1155/2009/575362.

Parker, G.H. (1925): The time of submergence necessary to drawn alligators and turtles. – Occ. Pap. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., 5: 157-159.

Smith, G.R. & Elder, R.L. (1985): Environmental interpretation of burial and preservation of Clarkia fishes. – In: Smiley, C.J. (ed.): Late Cenozoic History of the Pacific Northwest. – American Association for the Advancement of Science, pp.: 85-93; San Francisco.

Elder, R.L. (1985): Principles of Aquatic Taphonomy with Examples from the Fossil Record (Biostratinomy, Lake Sedimentation, Paleolimnology, Paleoichthyology, Vertebrate Paleontology). – PhD thesis, University of Michigan, 336 pp.

Elder, R.L. & Smith, G.R. (1988): Fish taphonomy and environmental inference in paleolimnology. – Palaeogeogr., Palaeoclimatol., Palaeoecol., 62: 577-592.

Elder, R.L. & Smith, G.R. (1984): Fish taphonomy and paleoecology. – Geobios, Mém. Spec. No. 8: 287-291.

Reply
Achim
15/12/2012 10:27:11 am

Buffetaut, E. (1994): The significance of dinosaur remains in marine sediments: an investigation based on the French record. – Berliner geowissenschaftliche Abhandlungen, E, 13: 125-133.

Giertsen, J.C. & Morild, I. (1989): Seafaring bodies. – Am. J. Forensic Med. Pathol., 10: 25-27.

Blanco Pampin, J. & Lopez-Abajo Rodriguez, B.A. (2001): Surprising drifting of bodies along the coast of Portugal and Spain. – Legal Med. (Tokyo), 3: 177-182.

Carniel, S.; Umgiesser, G.; Sclavo, M.; Kantha, L.H. & Monti, S. (2002): Tracking the drift of a human body in the coastal ocean using numerical prediction models of the oceanic, atmospheric and wave conditions. – Science & Justice, 42(3): 143-151.

Reply
Achim
15/12/2012 10:27:46 am

Buffetaut, E. (1994): The significance of dinosaur remains in marine sediments: an investigation based on the French record. – Berliner geowissenschaftliche Abhandlungen, E, 13: 125-133.

Giertsen, J.C. & Morild, I. (1989): Seafaring bodies. – Am. J. Forensic Med. Pathol., 10: 25-27.

Blanco Pampin, J. & Lopez-Abajo Rodriguez, B.A. (2001): Surprising drifting of bodies along the coast of Portugal and Spain. – Legal Med. (Tokyo), 3: 177-182.

Carniel, S.; Umgiesser, G.; Sclavo, M.; Kantha, L.H. & Monti, S. (2002): Tracking the drift of a human body in the coastal ocean using numerical prediction models of the oceanic, atmospheric and wave conditions. – Science & Justice, 42(3): 143-151.

Reply
Achim
15/12/2012 10:28:15 am

Buffetaut, E. (1994): The significance of dinosaur remains in marine sediments: an investigation based on the French record. – Berliner geowissenschaftliche Abhandlungen, E, 13: 125-133.

Giertsen, J.C. & Morild, I. (1989): Seafaring bodies. – Am. J. Forensic Med. Pathol., 10: 25-27.

Blanco Pampin, J. & Lopez-Abajo Rodriguez, B.A. (2001): Surprising drifting of bodies along the coast of Portugal and Spain. – Legal Med. (Tokyo), 3: 177-182.

Carniel, S.; Umgiesser, G.; Sclavo, M.; Kantha, L.H. & Monti, S. (2002): Tracking the drift of a human body in the coastal ocean using numerical prediction models of the oceanic, atmospheric and wave conditions. – Science & Justice, 42(3): 143-151.

Reply
Achim
15/12/2012 10:28:38 am

Buffetaut, E. (1994): The significance of dinosaur remains in marine sediments: an investigation based on the French record. – Berliner geowissenschaftliche Abhandlungen, E, 13: 125-133.

Giertsen, J.C. & Morild, I. (1989): Seafaring bodies. – Am. J. Forensic Med. Pathol., 10: 25-27.

Blanco Pampin, J. & Lopez-Abajo Rodriguez, B.A. (2001): Surprising drifting of bodies along the coast of Portugal and Spain. – Legal Med. (Tokyo), 3: 177-182.

Carniel, S.; Umgiesser, G.; Sclavo, M.; Kantha, L.H. & Monti, S. (2002): Tracking the drift of a human body in the coastal ocean using numerical prediction models of the oceanic, atmospheric and wave conditions. – Science & Justice, 42(3): 143-151.

Reply
Achim
15/12/2012 10:29:20 am

Buffetaut, E. (1994): The significance of dinosaur remains in marine sediments: an investigation based on the French record. – Berliner geowissenschaftliche Abhandlungen, E, 13: 125-133.

Giertsen, J.C. & Morild, I. (1989): Seafaring bodies. – Am. J. Forensic Med. Pathol., 10: 25-27.

Blanco Pampin, J. & Lopez-Abajo Rodriguez, B.A. (2001): Surprising drifting of bodies along the coast of Portugal and Spain. – Legal Med. (Tokyo), 3: 177-182.

Carniel, S.; Umgiesser, G.; Sclavo, M.; Kantha, L.H. & Monti, S. (2002): Tracking the drift of a human body in the coastal ocean using numerical prediction models of the oceanic, atmospheric and wave conditions. – Science & Justice, 42(3): 143-151.

Reply
Caitlin Syme link
15/12/2012 12:44:35 pm

Wow! That's an extensive list, thank you very much! I'll get straight into reading those

Reply
Achim
16/12/2012 12:46:48 am

You're welcome! ;-)

Reply
James Hays
14/2/2019 11:17:00 am

Hey guys please be sure and credit the "bloat and float" pic as copyright FMNH.

Thanks!

-JTH

Reply



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    About the author

    Dr Caitlin Syme is a palaeontologist studying the taphonomy (preservation state) of fossil non-avian dinosaurs, crocodiles and fish from the Winton Formation, Queensland, Australia. Think forensic science or CSI for fossils, and you're on the right track!

    Posts on this blog focus mainly on vertebrate palaeontology and taphonomy, as well early career researcher (ERC) productivity tips and insights.


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