wishing a very happy birthday to the man, the myth, the legend – sir david attenborough. to celebrate the occasion, i would like to discuss attenborosaurus, an early jurassic pliosaurid named in the man’s honour (art by mark witton) - ThreadSky

cascoclauda.bsky.social • 22 days ago

wishing a very happy birthday to the man, the myth, the legend – sir david attenborough. to celebrate the occasion, i would like to discuss attenborosaurus, an early jurassic pliosaurid named in the man’s honour
(art by mark witton)

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basaltweaver.bsky.social•22 days ago

Going to see his new Ocean film in few min:)

Long live the king!

cascoclauda.bsky.social•22 days ago

charles? idk him, attenborough is the king of england to me

basaltweaver.bsky.social•22 days ago

Thats who I meant xD

cascoclauda.bsky.social•22 days ago

(i was playing along with the joke lol but enjoy the film)

cascoclauda.bsky.social•22 days ago

although the holotype of attenborosaurus was discovered in dorset in the year 1880, it wouldn’t be until 1993 that it would be recognised as being distinct from plesiosaurus, whereupon it was named attenborosaurus by palaeontologist robert t. bakker

cascoclauda.bsky.social•22 days ago

however, this description was based on a cast rather than the original specimen, because of a small problem – the holotype itself was destroyed in WWII during the nazi bombing campaign in bristol in 1940. fortunately, a cast had been made by geologist william sollas in 1888

cascoclauda.bsky.social•22 days ago

the holotype’s size is estimated at around 4.3 metres, and like its plesiosaur relatives, its interlocking teeth indicate a diet of fish. furthermore, the animal’s morphology suggests a basal position within the clade pliosauridae

cascoclauda.bsky.social•22 days ago

derived pliosaurs such as liopleurodon and kronosaurus are characterised by their short necks and large heads, but basal members of the clade are superficially very similar to plesiosaurs, albeit somewhat more robust
(art by @mariolanzas.bsky.social)

literallymiguel.bsky.social•22 days ago

biggest heartbreak of 15yo me was learning plesiosaurs weren't neatly divided in small-head big-head groups but actually the body plans are completely shuffled throughout the entire tree 💔

cascoclauda.bsky.social•22 days ago

thalassophonea is a clade within pliosauridae that encompasses the big heads; it's a stem-based clade that includes taxa more closely related to pliosaurus than to marmornectes

cascoclauda.bsky.social•22 days ago

back to the man of the hour – in 2016, attenborough presented a show on the discovery and research conducted about patagotitan, a titanosaurian sauropod from argentina that was one of the largest land animals to ever live
(art by gabriel ugueto)

cascoclauda.bsky.social•22 days ago

in 2018 and 2024, respectively, he also presented programmes for the bbc about the ichthyosaur temnodontosaurus and a giant pliosaur (not attenborosaurus)

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