The right dentary of MOR 1125 in medial view, with labels of 31 of the 111 characters that I document for a single dentary bone. Abbreviation: Museum of the Rockies, Bozeman, MT. |
I also take 219 measurements from one dentary. That's a total of 330 items of information for a single dentary, and 660 items that I could obtain from a specimen such as the dueling tyrannosaurid or Russell the T. rex that has both jaws preserved. How much information does my database stand to be deprived by the sale of just one entire skull to a private individual? The answer makes my mind reel and my disposition deflate.
As an indication of the volume of data that I collect, the numbers given in the table below only pertain to bones; excluded are features and measurements of composite structures (composed of more than one bone) such as the skull, braincase, and lower jaw. The list also excludes the features and measurements of the dentition (although I do gather data from composite structures and dentition).
Bone
|
#
characters
|
#
measurements
|
total
|
Premaxilla
|
61
|
62
|
123
|
Nasals
|
109
|
76
|
185
|
Maxilla
|
256
|
327
|
583
|
Lacrimal
|
276
|
134
|
410
|
Jugal
|
201
|
85
|
286
|
Postorbital
|
171
|
52
|
223
|
Squamosal
|
118
|
55
|
173
|
Quadratojugal
|
60
|
35
|
95
|
Quadrate
|
79
|
28
|
107
|
Prefrontal
|
9
|
5
|
14
|
Frontal
|
128
|
85
|
213
|
Parietal
|
59
|
42
|
101
|
Supraoccipital
|
16
|
13
|
29
|
Otoccipital
|
40
|
41
|
81
|
Laterosphenoid
|
36
|
11
|
47
|
Baisphenoid
|
62
|
36
|
98
|
Prootic
|
14
|
15
|
29
|
Mesethmoid
|
2
|
11
|
13
|
Orbitosphenoid
|
0
|
5
|
5
|
Basioccipital
|
59
|
41
|
100
|
Vomer
|
16
|
23
|
39
|
Palatine
|
106
|
33
|
139
|
Pterygoid
|
20
|
26
|
46
|
Ectopterygoid
|
66
|
40
|
106
|
Epipterygoid
|
18
|
6
|
24
|
Articular
|
36
|
14
|
50
|
Surangular
|
57
|
47
|
104
|
Angular
|
16
|
13
|
29
|
Prearticular
|
9
|
19
|
28
|
Intercoronoid
|
7
|
2
|
9
|
Splenial
|
16
|
23
|
39
|
Dentary
|
111
|
219
|
330
|
Grand
total for half a skull
|
2,234
|
1,624
|
3,858
|
Grand
total for complete skull
|
4,468
|
3,248
|
7,716
|
That's quite interesting.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, can you post your opinion about recent Lythronax paper in the future?
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI will post my opinion on that paper in a couple of days!