That insane nodosaurid specimen finally has a name!

[Halichoeres]

Borealopelta markmitchelli

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-08/cp-dha072717.php

[suspsy]

I like it.

[acro-man]

looks like a certain kind of tropical fruit

[Neosodon]

I read an article about an extremely well preserved nodosaur a while ago but the article never mentioned the name. And now I know why.

The counter shading is pretty neat. I've heard people say that dinosaurs were solid and bland colored like modern elephants, rhino's and hippos. I'm still waiting for the day someone finds a green dinosaur.

[Faelrin]

I'm so glad this nodosaurid has a name now. Good choice too. I really want a figure of this one now. Its fossil was just so amazing. The coloration find is neat too. Would this be the second after Psittacosaurus for a non-feathered dinosaur to have its coloration preserved?

[Dinoguy2]

I read an article about an extremely well preserved nodosaur a while ago but the article never mentioned the name. And now I know why.

The counter shading is pretty neat. I've heard people say that dinosaurs were solid and bland colored like modern elephants, rhino's and hippos. I'm still waiting for the day someone finds a green dinosaur.

The cool thing in the paper is that they were able to quantify counter shading based on whether it was common for predators to attack adults. Most large mammals are counter shaded. The ones that aren't, are all the ones that are just large enough compared to their predators that they don't really have to worry about attacks as adults (and presumably are just defending their young).

This means Borealopelta adults were probably being targeted by predators, even at rhino size.

[WarrenJB]

Gotta be honest, it doesn't trip off the tongue, no matter which syllables I try to stress. (Translates to something like 'northern forest shield', I assume? Would Boreapelta radically change that?)

Not a massive fan of awkward photoshop-collage palaeoart, either.

Nice dino tho.

I've heard people say that dinosaurs were solid and bland colored like modern elephants, rhino's and hippos.

Where!?

[Patrx]

Fantastic! And evidence for reddish coloration with countershading. Hmm. The (relative) abundance of those reddish pigments identified in fossil animals makes me wonder what exactly might have been going on. Could they have sometimes been blended with other pigments that haven't been preserved? Or, maybe, there have just been a lot of rufous-colored dinosaurs.

[Reptilia]

I think the fossil is impressive to say the least:

[BlueKrono]

looks like a certain kind of tropical fruit

A lychee. 

[Reptilia]

I wonder if the fighting dinosaurs that were mentioned in another thread are in the same state of conservation. It would be amazing to see a tyrannosaurid and a ceratopsian so well preserved.

[Neosodon]

Gotta be honest, it doesn't trip off the tongue, no matter which syllables I try to stress. (Translates to something like 'northern forest shield', I assume? Would Boreapelta radically change that?)

Not a massive fan of awkward photoshop-collage palaeoart, either.

Nice dino tho.

I've heard people say that dinosaurs were solid and bland colored like modern elephants, rhino's and hippos.

Where!?

Family.

[alexeratops]

Gotta be honest, it doesn't trip off the tongue, no matter which syllables I try to stress. (Translates to something like 'northern forest shield', I assume? Would Boreapelta radically change that?)

Bo-ree-al-oh-pelta. Like the aurora borealis.

[Halichoeres]

Fantastic! And evidence for reddish coloration with countershading. Hmm. The (relative) abundance of those reddish pigments identified in fossil animals makes me wonder what exactly might have been going on. Could they have sometimes been blended with other pigments that haven't been preserved? Or, maybe, there have just been a lot of rufous-colored dinosaurs.

I've thought about that too. I think mammoths were thought to be reddish for a long time, because that's the color they are when they come out of the permafrost, but the color we see seems likely to be bleaching of a blackish coat. That's in an animal where we can sequence DNA and have close relatives and close analogues to compare. For dinosaurs I think it's pretty hard to know what pigments we might be missing. Add in structural colors and it gets even more difficult.

[Newt]

Fantastic! And evidence for reddish coloration with countershading. Hmm. The (relative) abundance of those reddish pigments identified in fossil animals makes me wonder what exactly might have been going on. Could they have sometimes been blended with other pigments that haven't been preserved? Or, maybe, there have just been a lot of rufous-colored dinosaurs.

There are big differences in longevity of animal pigments. Melanin and some of the structural colors (as many blues, silvers, and iridescent colors) are pretty stable; yellow pteridines fade almost immediately upon death (this is why dead reptiles and amphibians that were green in life often appear blue after death). Other pigments, like the red, orange, and yellow carotenoids, lie in between. If you spend much time around preserved animals you can definitely see these differential patterns (altered, in some cases, by exposure to preservatives or light).

I think this is behind the prevalence of black and reddish pigments found in fossil animals. Those weren't necessarily the only pigments present, just the only ones preserved.

[Sim]

An interesting article: http://www.palaeocast.com/evidence-of-intense-predation-pressures-on-ancient-megafauna/

It argues...  Pressure to have countershading in Borealopelta is unlikely to come from giant predators like Acrocanthosaurus which would be seeing the nodosaurid mainly in dorsal view, and possessed poor binocular vision and consequently poor depth perception.  Pressure to have countershading in Borealopelta could've come from smaller predators like Deinonychus which would be seeing the nodosaurid in lateral view, and possessed good binocular vision and good depth perception.

[amargasaurus cazaui]

I'm so glad this nodosaurid has a name now. Good choice too. I really want a figure of this one now. Its fossil was just so amazing. The coloration find is neat too. Would this be the second after Psittacosaurus for a non-feathered dinosaur to have its coloration preserved?

This would be the second dinosaur that is non feathered to have indicators for color present...behind psittacosaurus. A third could be argued for I believe either Leonardo or Dakota forget which for certain, which seemed to have evidence of lighter and darker patterning in one book I read, but the colors were not established, only the pattern of darker and lighter, if I remember correctly. Someone that follows those two finds better might be able to add more....but  I seem to remember reading something regarding this

[Halichoeres]

An interesting article: http://www.palaeocast.com/evidence-of-intense-predation-pressures-on-ancient-megafauna/

It argues...  Pressure to have countershading in Borealopelta is unlikely to come from giant predators like Acrocanthosaurus which would be seeing the nodosaurid mainly in dorsal view, and possessed poor binocular vision and consequently poor depth perception.  Pressure to have countershading in Borealopelta could've come from smaller predators like Deinonychus which would be seeing the nodosaurid in lateral view, and possessed good binocular vision and good depth perception.

That's an interesting argument. I don't know if it has to be one or the other, however. I take Parker's point that Acrocanthosaurus would have seen Borealopelta in dorsal view, but that's also how birds see fishes and how fishes sometimes see each other. Countershading works in all kinds of environments against all kinds of predators along a broad spectrum of visual acuity. I admit I have an easier time seeing how a pack of Deinonychus could take on an ankylosaur than Acrocanthosaurus, though. I feel like an Acro would almost have to flip it, which sounds...difficult.

[Faelrin]

I thought it was found in Alberta? Did Acrocanthosaurus and Deinonychus live that high north?

[Lusotitan]

It was found in marine deposits indeed farther north than Acrocanthosaurus, but from the same time. Ichnites suggest theropods of similar size were living far enough north to have encountered Borealopelta. That said, I've seen people suggest the coloration could be a trait evolved to protect younger individuals, retained in adulthood. At twice the size and four times the weight Acrocanthosaurus might well have been capable of killing adults, but with their armor it seems there would be easier prey to go after more regularly.



This reconstruction better shows the coloration suggested than the one at the top of the thread; the lightened colour of the parascalpular spines is missed in the latter one. This coloration is thought to be indicative these particular spines evolved for sociosexual intraspecific interactions rather than for protection from predators.

The paper itself is rather disappointing to me. We had already heard a bit about the coloration, the phylogenetic analysis gives a topology they say isn't particularly well supported, great photos already existed, and the description is a mere three pages (and doesn't cover all of the specimen; I'm pretty sure it's not been fully prepared and studied). It seems like another case where we're gonna have to wait for the monograph.