WonderQuest:  On the web since 1997...      

Dinosaurs roamed Antarctica; American woman shoe size; First sidesaddles

Q: I've heard Antarctica had dinosaurs at one time. Is that true? Was Antarctica once warm?

Cryolophosaurus ellioti, a dinosaur whose fossiled bones were found in Antarctica.  Illustration courtesty of Brian Franczak, copyright, used by permission.

A: Yes, Antarctica once had dinosaurs and yes, Antarctica once was warm--and so was the rest of the world. Antarctica's story begins 250 million years ago when all continents were one: a pole-to-pole continent, Pangaea. The proto Antarctica dwelled in the southern half of Pangaea. Here, four-foot long amphibians slid into ponds and eyed dragonflies as big as parrots flitting overhead.

The land was turbulent. Earth's mantle always seethes like thick soup in a pot; great convection currents bulge against the crust. Sometimes the crust cracks between tectonic plates. Pangaea felt such forces. Faults zigzagged through northern mountains. A long narrow sea poked into Pangaea's east coast. Rifts crisscrossed the land. Lava oozed up from the mantle and spilled into the rifts. Barely formed, the giant continent broke into smaller ones.

By 200 million years ago, Pangaea had split into two parts: a northern Laurasia and a southern Gondwana (named after an ancient Indian tribe, the Gonds, and wana, meaning land). Antarctica formed Gondwana's southland. At this time, warm shallow seas lapped Gondwana's southern shores. She basked in Florida-warm moist climate, as did the rest of the world.

By 175 million years ago, the Antarctica part of Gondwana was at 65° S latitude--much farther north than now. Large and small meat-eating dinosaurs, long-necked plant-eating dinosaurs with small heads, and beaver-size reptile-like mammals walked her land. Pterosaurs flew her skies. The mammal-like reptiles (called therapsids) left 2-inch tracks in the mud.

In the summer of 1991, an Illinois paleontology professor, William R. Hammer, and an Ohio geologist, David Elliot, worked different outcrops in the Transantarctic Mountains near Beardmore Glacier. Each pursued separate goals but shared logistic expenses. Work in Antarctica is so expensive that scientific projects organize schedules to pool resources. At 13,000 feet (4,000 m) and 400 miles (640 km) from the South Pole, Elliot finds bones eroded out of a small outcrop. Fossils! He grabs his radio and calls Hammer, who races over.

Hammer's team spent the next three weeks of the field season (January 1991) excavating 5,000 pounds (2300 kg) of the fossil-bearing rock with a gasoline-powered jackhammer. They recovered over 100 fossil bones, including those of the large meat-eating dinosaur, Cryolophosaurus ("frozen crested reptile") ellioti. Hammer named the previously unknown dinosaur species after Elliot.

This strange animal fits no evolutionary family well. It was a primitive meat eater--the first found in Antarctica. It fits most closely into the stem group (called Tetanurae) that includes birds.

The animal stood 8 feet high (2.4 m) and was 26 feet long (8 m). He darted after prey on two hind legs and tore his victim apart with massive jaws. His unusual 8-inch crest, wrote Hammer in the DinoFest Symposium 1997 Proceedings, apparently was a display feature perhaps used in mating.

Further Surfing:

WonderQuest: Plate tectonics, continental drift, and the widening Atlantic

International institute for aerospace survey and earth sciences: Gondwana animation

Indiana U-Purdu U at Indianapolis: Cryolophosaurus ellioti

Q: What is the average height and shoe size for American women and men? --Sonia, Rochester, New York

Middeck of Atlantis Orbiter Vehicle: airlock hatch with tennis shoes.  Photo courtesy of NASA.

A: You thought you had me stumped? The shoe question did give me pause. It happens, though, that the United States Government is interested in such information (for solving human engineering problems or goodness knows what). Our government has published an amazing variety of body-size measurements (MIL-STD-1472D), including: height above ground to top of head, shoulder, nipple... ear length, palm length, head breadth...

Here are the statistics:

• American women, on the average, wear a size 8 wide shoe (American men: size 10.5). Approximately 68 % of American women wear shoes between the sizes of 6.5 and 9.5.
   
• Average height for women: 5 feet, 4 inches; 163 cm. About 68 % are between 5 ft 2 in and 5 ft 7 in.
   
• Average height for men: 5 feet, 9 inches; 174 cm. About 68 % are between 5 ft 6 in and 5 ft 11 in.

Further Surfing:

WonderQuest: Average American woman height

Gender Web Project: Average bodies

YourWomenMagazine.com: Shoe shopping made easier

Ethnic Dance Chicago: Why no comfortable shoes?

Q: When and where were side saddles first used? Irene S, Houston, Texas

15^th century sidesaddle with planchette (footrest).  Illustration courtesy of Side Saddle Lady Museum.

A: The earliest known use was 9^th century AD. A Celtic sculptured stone shows a woman riding aggressively on a side saddle in full control of her horse and not just being led. Women, no doubt, rode side saddle well before then.

Scythians invented the saddle in 2^nd century BC. These fierce warriors of Central Asia swooped down upon their enemies from horseback. Their mobility shocked their neighbors.

Further Surfing:

Side Saddle Lady Museum: The history of side saddles

Side Saddle Australia: History of the side saddles

(Answered Dec. 27, 2002)