Day 15#: Nanuqsaurus hoglundi
Today's animal of the day is Nanuqsaurus hoglundi!
Image credit: Nathan Rogers
This smaller cousin of the Tyrannosaurus rex lived during the Late Cretaceous period in what is now northern Alaska. Its genus name means "polar bear lizard" due to its fossils being found far up north in a very cold environment. While global temperatures were much higher in the Cretaceous than they are today, Alaska still would have been quite chilly and would have been covered in snow during the winter, so Nanuqsaurus was likely adapted to survive in colder temperatures.
Image credit: cisiopurple on Deviantart
While we don't have any direct evidence that Nanuqsaurus had feathers, we do know that other similarly sized tyrannosaurids, like Yutyrannus, had feathers. So, it's likely that Nanuqsaurus did as well to help keep it warm during the cold winter months of Cretaceous Alaska.
Image credit: David Armsby/Dead Sound (Dinosauria: Our Frozen Past)
Many depictions of Nanuqsaurus in popular media like to give them white feathers, which matches their name and helps them blend into the snow while stalking prey, however, this is just speculation. Personally, I like these depictions, but it should be noted that the environment that Nanuqsaurus lived in wouldn't have been snowy year-round, so having a pure white coat wouldn't be much of an advantage during the warmer seasons. Maybe its feathers would change color during different parts of the year, like the fur of arctic foxes. Again, that's just speculation.
Image credit: kepyle2055 on Deviantart
While not as large as Tyrannosaurus rex, only growing to about 16-20 ft long, Nanuqsaurus would still have been one of the apex predators of its environment. Not only would it have had to adapt to freezing cold temperatures, but it also would have needed to have good night vision to adapt to the 120-day-long darkness that would have shrouded its habitat during the winter. Luckily, contrary to what Jurassic Park would lead you to believe, tyrannosaurids had excellent eyesight, so it's likely that Nanuqsaurus used its superior eyesight and strong sense of smell to locate prey in the dark.
Image credit: BBC Studios (Prehistoric Planet season 1 episode 4: Ice Worlds)
These theropods would have lived alongside giant herbivores such as Edmontosaurus and Pachyrhinosaurus, so it's possible that they may have hunted in packs to take down larger prey. There is evidence that at least some species of tyrannosaurids, such as the closely related Albertosaurus, might have hunted in packs, so it's not out of the realm of possibilities for Nanuqsaurus to have as well.
Image credit: BBC Earth (Walking With Dinosaurs 3D)
Fun fact: the Gorgosaurus in Walking With Dinosaurs: 3D is actually Nanuqsaurus. When the first fossils of Nanuqsaurus were discovered it was originally thought that these fossils belonged to a new species of Gorgosaurus. Since Walking With Dinosaurs 3D takes place in the Prince Creek Formation, where these fossils were found, the film makers decided to make Gorgosaurus the main villain dinosaur. However, after the movie came out paleontologists discovered that Prince Creek Gorgosaurus fossils actually belonged to their own separate genus, which we now know as Nanuqsaurus. I think there are even some newer versions of the movie where they change the name to Nanuqsaurus. I haven't seen it since I was a kid, so I didn't know about this until relatively recently when I watched a Dino Guy video about it.
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