A new look for Typothorax
9:46 pm
Over the past year or so, I’ve been involved with reconstructing the aetosaur Typothorax coccinarum, based on two articulated skeletons found in eastern New Mexico. A paper describing these specimens and presenting the reconstruction has just been published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, and is freely available now through the Taylor and Francis JVP website. I’m happy to say that my color painting of this Triassic tank will be gracing the cover of the May issue of the journal:
Reconstruction of Typothorax coccinarum based on skeletons from eastern New Mexico
Image by Matt Celeskey
These skeletons allowed us to revise previously published reconstructions of this aetosaur. In particular, we now have good evidence of the total number of rows of armor, the arrangement of the scutes on the belly, new insight into the appendages (particularly the shoulder girdle and feet), a more domelike carapace based on extremely wide and gently curved paramedian scutes, and the very first aetosaur reconstruction to sport cloacal spikes.
This has been a fun project to be involved with, and I thank Dr. Andy Heckert (a former coworker at the NMMNH, now at Appalachian State University) for inviting me to assist in reconstructing this armor-plated Triassic reptile.
Update 5/21: At the request of commenter dmaas, I’m uploading a detail of the head of the reconstruction. Clicking on the thumbnail will bring it up at more than twice the size of the original painting.
- Reference: Heckert, A. B., Lucas, S. G., Rinehart, L. F., Celeskey, M. D., Spielmann, J. A., and Hunt, A. P. (2010) Articulated skeletons of the aetosaur Typothorax coccinarum Cope (Archosauria: Stagonolepididae) from the Upper Triassic Bull Canyon Formation (Revueltian: Early-Mid Norian), eastern New Mexico, USA. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 619–642.
- Elsewhere on the web:
- Society of Vertebrate Paleontology press release (also at Appalachian State University)
- Discovery News: Dino-Era Reptiles: Part Cow, Armadillo, Crocodile (lots of quotes from myself, the other authors & others)
- Critical review at Chinleana: I am so disappointed in the Typothorax description in the new issue of JVP
Looks fantastic! The body pose just feels right…
I’d love to see a detail of the head… the forward placement of the eyes makes it almost cartoonish in comparison.
The transistion of the dorsal eminence of the paramedian plates is quite striking and I assume based on the new specimens. This is interesting because this is similar to what is seen in Rioarribasuchus.
The lateral cervical spike is really cool as well but I was unclear on what evidence exists that clearly demonstates it is in the third position.
The ventral spikes are impressive.
Finally, are the dorsal eminences in the mid-dorsal paramedians really that far situated laterally? This would be an autapomorphy for Typothorax.
BTW…congrats on getting your artwork onto the cover of JVP. It’s a double bonus that it is an aetosaur.
dmass – Thanks for the comments & compliments on the pose – the eye angle was an attempt to show the angle between the wider back of the skull and the narrower snout, although I think it might have lost something when scaled down. I’ve put up a (roughly fullsize) detail of the painting above, linked to a 2x zoom from the painting.
Bill – Unfortunately the exact transition is based on some guesswork—the posterior dorsal and sacral paramedians are obscured or disarticulated in the two specimens. It looks to me like the dorsal eminences begin somewhere between rows 17 and 22 on Typothorax, and continue down the length of the tail (where the paramedians and laterals become very similar in size, shape and spikiness). Good catch about the positioning – in the painting, it looks like I’ve got the dorsal eminences on the sacral paramedians way too far to the outside.
Regarding the cervical spike – the best evidence for it being number 3 is on the right side of the Revuelto Creek specimen where there appears to be a longer scute three laterals down from the skull (the heavily shadowed element in fig 8C).
Congrats and thanks Matt!
Hello Matt,
I’d waited for this paper to be published.
I’ve wanted to try to sculpt Aetosaur, but I couldn’t get enough material.
But this paper is an enough help for me.
Of course, your reconstruction image will be a good help for me too.
I’m looking forward to receive the May issue of the journal.
Hello Hirokazu -
I very much admire your sculptures and would be excited to see what you come up with for Typothorax (or any aetosaur). If I can help in any way, or if you have any further questions feel free to contact me at deadanimaldesign@hmnh.org.
[...] more on this new research, see the posts by Matt Celeskey (one of the paper’s co-authors), Bill Parker, and Jeff [...]
Got my JVP today, Matt. The artwork and reconstructions look great – congratulations!
All,
Glad I was a part of this, it was really fun to dig it out. Although the dig was hard work, it hardly compares to the effort everyone else put it cleaning, documenting, researching, writing the article, and creating the artwork. Always glad to add one more piece to the paleontological puzzle!
I back in the blogshpere and happy to read the great post. Congrats on the article and fantastic cover artwork.
And my hubby complains about the armadillos that we have around the house now. He should be happy we do not have these around anymore.
Still alive out there, Matt?
If so, drop me a line. I have a few Xenopermian bits to share…:D