DINO PRESS 4, Mokelemubembeformes

[darren.naish@port.ac.uk]

I had time to read through the new ish (vol. 4) of Dino Press the other 
day (while on the train to and from the NHM). Is fantastic, with loads 
of interesting stuff in there. Includes...

-- Article by Henry Galiano and Carl Mehling on a new 
pachycephalosaur specimen from the same South Dakota site that 
yielded 'Sue'. Appears to be a new genus (nice photos and 
restorations): a sort of spiky-headed homalocephalid.

-- George's articles on _Isanosaurus_ and BCF (both include further 
elaboration of George's thoughts on pedal morphology as indicators of 
dinosaur phylogeny). Nice 'dino-bird' drawings by Luis.

-- Beri Krzic's article on _Spinosaurus_ - nice historical review with 
interesting comparative drawings. Somewhat misquotes me (makes it 
sound as if I argue for the presence of serrations on _Spinosaurus_ 
teeth); also the reconstruction of _Irritator_ does not look like the 
newly prepped skull (sorry Beri).

-- Nice review article on theropod cranial ornaments and their possible 
roles by Ralph Molnar (= popular version of paper in _Mesozoic 
Vertebrate Life_?).

-- Article about giant pliosaurs (including 'Megapleurodon') by yours 
truly, Les Noe and Dave Martill. Not the last word on the specimens 
involved as we are working on them now.

-- Peter Galton article on the skull of _Hypsilophodon_.

There are also exhibition reviews, symposium reports, interviews, 
articles on museum displays, fossil shows and model kits. Dino Press 
is a must-buy if you are a Mesozoic nerd like me. 

MOKELE-MUBEMBEFORMES

And now for a peculiar case of serendipity.. Ryuichi Kaneko has an 
article in the issue entitled 'Following dinosaur tracks in England'. The 
article recounts Ryuichi's adventures in the world of British 
palaeontology as he visits famous sites and museums, attends 
conferences and meets well-known British palaeontologists. The 
article should not of course be called 'Following dinosaur tracks in 
England' because most of what he relates in this article concerns his 
visit to Scotland... but never mind. 

During his travels, Ryuichi visited Inverness, locale of the Loch Ness 
Visitor Centre. He writes (I have made slight alterations for easier 
reading): 'I  believe many people among the readers of DinoPress are 
fans of so-called 'hidden animals'. Among the people I know, Dr Paul 
Sereno must be a prime example, otherwise he would never have 
created such a taxonomic name as 'Mokele-mubembeformes [sic]').

Hmm. I suspect this is a reference to....

Sereno, P. C. 2000. Rationality and restraint in the phylogeny of the
Dinosauria (Archosauria, Cladomania, Hyposauria, 
Bentonosuchiamorpha, Gauthieriforms, Ornithdira), with subdivision 
of the thylacosaurine congocranian ammosauroid mokelembembeform 
Prosauropoda and the hypermaniraptoran tyranniform 
wickedimanimorph Coelurosauria. _Neves Jahrbuch Fur Geology und 
Palaontologie, Abhandlungen_ 215: 37-60.

This paper, which does not exist, was announced on April 1st 2000. It 
is a spoof. Sadly I didn't have access to email that day and got my wife 
to type the reference list out (hence the typos). Now one of my pretend 
clades has entered the canon of dinosaurological literature.. George: 
will it be listed in MM? :)

And yes, I do know that Mokele-mbembe is the correct spelling.

Tinamous are emphatically excluded from the Ratitae.

DARREN NAISH 
PALAEOBIOLOGY RESEARCH GROUP
School of Earth & Environmental Sciences
UNIVERSITY OF PORTSMOUTH
Burnaby Building
Burnaby Road                           email: darren.naish@port.ac.uk
Portsmouth UK                          tel (mobile): 0776 1372651     
P01 3QL                                tel (office): 023 92842244
                                       www.palaeobiology.co.uk