A team of dinosaur researchers, led by University of Utah paleontologist Scott Sampson, have recently named a new dinosaur after Dire Straits guitarist and songwriter Mark Knopfler.
The dinosaur, christened Masiakasaurus knopfleri and described in a recent issue of the journal Nature, was a German shepherd-sized carnivorous dinosaur that lived during the Cretaceous period in what is now Madagascar. In life this dinosaur was likely 5-6 feet long, most if it neck and tail, and probably weighted about 80 pounds. Sampson believes that it was probably as fast as a dog, but ran on its hind legs like other carnivorous dinosaurs.
However, the most amazing feature of Masiakasaurus' anatomy may be its strange teeth, which were long and conical with hooked tips. These teeth protruded straight forward, possibly an adaptation that made it easier to catch fish. However, Sampson also believes that these teeth may have also be evidence of a broad diet, one which consisted of insects, lizards, and small mammals, in addition to fish.
"We know it had strange and bizarre teeth, the strangest of any dinosaur," Sampson said.
In addition to implications on diet, Masiakasaurus may also help disprove a conventional theory relating to plate tectonics. Masiakasaurus appears to be related to other fossils found in Argentina and India, suggesting that Madagascar was connected to the supercontinent of Gondwana for longer than previously believed.
"This really supports the whole Gondwana concept, that Madagascar drifted away from India and also from Africa," Sankar Chatterjee, a paleontologist at Texas Tech University, said.
According to Sampson, his team had an inclination that Madagascar may have been attached to Gondwana for longer than previously thought, and went into the field looking for evidence.
"We had hopes of finding new species because we knew that not much had been known from this area, but we had no idea what we were going to find," he said.
In addition to this new dinosaur, the bird-like Rahonavis and the strange-looking theropod Majungatholus have also been found in Cretaceous sediments in Madagascar, in addition to early prosauropods found in Triasssic sediments.
Sampson's team decided to name their new dinosaur in honor of Knopfler because they were listening to his music in the field, and seemed to find new specimens only when Dire Straits music was on.
"As a result of that we decided what better way to honor Knopfler than to name a dinosaur after him. If it weren't for his music we might not have found the animal in the first place," Sampson told an AP reporter in a telephone interview.
According to a different AP article, Knopfler was apparently pleased with the Sampson's dinosaur.
"I'm really delighted. The fact that it's a dinosaur is certainly apt, but I'm happy to report that I'm not in the least bit vicious," Knopfler said.
Sampson will soon be heading back into the field, and says he will bring his Dire Straits CD collection along. In addition, a more detailed study of the new dinosaur is expected within the next few years.
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