Theropod Thursday 3: Run, even if you can’t!

Quite a while ago I promised to write some posts on the MFN‘s exhibition. Here’s one more snippet.

This is little Dysalotosaurus lettowvorbecki chased by big bad Elaphrosaurus bambergi.

Both animals are a bit… hum, special. For example, D. lettowvorbecki is, to my knowledge, the only dinosaur species named after a general. Also, there recently was a cool paper by an author team including my colleagues at the MFN, Florian Witzmann, Oliver Hampe and ex-MFN sauropod guy Kristian Remes (now with the German Science Foundation) about pathological vertebrae of D., which may well be the first record of Pageant’s disease of bone. It is caused by viral infection, which unsurprisingly confirm that dinosaurs weren’t immune from them.

This is the most dynamic mount at the MFN, sadly set up so that 90% of people will only see a fully lateral view. That takes away part of the drama. But with a hall full of dinosaurs, all of which need to be protected from grubby fingers, you sometimes have to compromise regarding visual effects.

More on the unequal pair later.