Episode 1755
Duriavenator
Wed, 2022-Feb-23 00:40 UTC
Length - 3:18
Direct Link
Welcome to featured Wiki of the Day where we read the summary of the featured Wikipedia article every day.
The featured article for Wednesday, 23 February 2022 is Duriavenator.
Duriavenator is a genus of theropod dinosaur that lived in what is now England during the Middle Jurassic, about 168 million years ago. In 1882, upper and lower jaw bones of a dinosaur were collected near Sherborne in Dorset, and Richard Owen considered the fossils to belong to the species Megalosaurus bucklandii, the first named non-bird dinosaur. By 1964, the specimen was recognised as belonging to a different species, and in 1974 it was moved to a new species of Megalosaurus, M. hesperis; the specific name means "the West" or "western". Later researchers questioned whether the species belonged in Megalosaurus, in which many fragmentary theropods from around the world had historically been placed. After examining the taxonomic issues surrounding Megalosaurus, Roger B. J. Benson moved M. hesperis to its own genus in 2008, Duriavenator; this name means "Dorset hunter".
Estimated to have been 5–7 m (16–23 ft) long and weighed 1 t (2,200 lb), Duriavenator has been described as a medium-sized theropod. Duriavenator is distinct in features of the maxilla, the main bone of the upper jaw; it has a deep groove on the upper surface of the jugal process with numerous pneumatic (air-filled) foramina (openings), and small foramina on the lower part of the surface that connected with the premaxilla, the front bone of the upper jaw. It had about four teeth in the premaxilla, about 14–16 in the maxilla behind, and about 14–15 in the dentary of the lower jaw. While its classification was long uncertain, phylogenetic analyses in 2010 and onwards have shown it to be among the oldest tetanuran theropods (a diverse group that includes modern birds), and to belong in the family Megalosauridae. The long teeth at the front of the lower jaw may have been used for plucking and grasping during feeding. Duriavenator is known from the Upper Inferior Oolite Formation which is Bajocian in age, a stage in the Middle Jurassic.
This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:40 UTC on Wednesday, 23 February 2022.
For the full current version of the article, see Duriavenator on Wikipedia.
This podcast is produced by Abulsme Productions based on Wikipedia content and is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
Visit wikioftheday.com for our archives, sister podcasts, and swag. Please subscribe to never miss an episode. You can also follow @WotDpod on Twitter.
Abulsme Productions produces the current events podcast Curmudgeon's Corner as well. Check it out in your podcast player of choice.
This has been Kendra Neural. Thank you for listening to featured Wiki of the Day.
|
|
Buy WotD Stuff!!
