Triassic Mystery Dragon (Smok wawelski)

[@Chewbaccafruit]

Smok Wawelski sounds like a D&D character

[@Qu4rdon]

Race: Dragonborn

[@seanmckelvey6618]

I think Smok is kind of the prefect example of just how muddy the line between early dinosaur and some of the more "primitive" archosaurs really was. Whatever it turns out to actually be, there was clearly a lot of convergent evolution going on within the archosaurs of the triassic, which is something that really gets my brain ticking. That sense of a mystery that we may never truly solve or understand is part of what makes prehistory so fascinating.

[@MrShanester117]

It’s not convergent evolution. Dinosaurs are archosaurs

[@canis2020]

You said "muddy" when speaking about fossils. That makes me laugh because of how they are made. Total nerd out. Sorry.

[@seanmckelvey6618]

@@canis2020 hahaha I never even noticed that, nice

[@tonytaskforce3465]

@@wickedwhispers595 'probably' not prolly. Comon mistake. No shame. 🙂

[@safeysmith6720]

Yeah. Well said!

[@Warrior-Of-Virtue]

This could be the last remnant of a third line from when the ancestors of the dinosaurs and archosaurs first broke off from each other that carried traits from both of its more specialized cousins before ultimately being outcompeted by them.

[@wyvern723]

This is absolutely fascinating. Just love it. My husband walked in as you said "Smok" and he asked if I was watching a LotR video. Lol.

[@jacquelineking5783]

I kinda wonder if Smok was were Tolkien got the name Smaug from though. It wouldn't surprise me anyways.

[@gearwhizz]

Everyone agrees the Triassic was home to all sorts of weird, but what about the early days of mammals when rhinos tried to be giraffes, horses tried to be gorillas and elephants experimented with exotic dentistry?

[@PaleoAnalysis]

We'll get there.

[@exalt2674]

I'm steal dealing with what I learned a day or two ago, in that brontotheres are closer to horses than Rhinos.

[@opeltheartist]

Paraceratherium, chalicotherium, and platybelodon ❤

[@GreenPoint_one]

I agree, some mammals are stranger than many triassic creatures xD

[@alexanderkonczal3908]

Similar to its neighbors, but individualistic, highly adaptive, and has caused a lot of headaches? Yeah, fits Poland pretty darn well. Describes my family, at the very least.

[@radosaworman7628]

At least we are not Germans. We need to be thankful for even smallest of blessings. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@akumaking1]

Can you do a video about “fossils that inspired legends of dragons”? That would be fun

[@SB-qm5wg]

I think PBS Eons did that

[@robertw31968]

@Josh I'd love to see a video about that. That would be cool.

[@eleeth5292]

Real dragons kzbin.info/www/bejne/rKeoo6CVjbmSg5o

[@eleeth5292]

@@robertw31968 real dragon kzbin.info/www/bejne/rKeoo6CVjbmSg5o

[@SHDUStudios]

I need this!

[@jamesredmond7001]

Hmm... The thing that really confuses me here is Smok's hips. The skull attachment could be shown as an adaptation, possibly towards the kind of bone crushing that is implied by its coprolites (That would of course depend on how that attachment affected the skull's structure). But the hips? I would be curious as to whether we know how the raisuchid-style adaptations of the upper hip would have impacted it's locomotion - if it gave some tangible benefit, it might be a case of convergent evolution, but if there isn't, it might be that it was just a holdover from a raisuchid ancestry. And it would be a similar case for the ilium's position too. Either way, great video and yeah, it's always a treat to learn about less well known prehistoric life.

[@papakarrbear3767]

Imagine if it is a raissuchid and its the one that survived too the jurassic, that would huge implications

[@apexnext]

Hips don't lie. 😁

[@lukyshot248]

Could it have possibly affected Smok's ability to maneuver around water? The coprolites show that it ate fish and Temnospondyls, so that implies it would spend a decent amount of time in and around the water. Would the more Rauisuchid-like hip giving it a wider stance affect its ability to wade in the water? I know that Rauisuchids had different hip structure to what we would consider the standard crocodilian, but it would have been wider and stockier than the Dinosaurs' typical configuration.

[@2degucitas]

It's hips seem very narrow and it's legs position very close together. A narrow stance like this can lead to easy tip overs and could inhibit how fast it could run.

[@thelaughinghyenas8465]

Thanks! There is so much weird from the Triassic and Jurassic of Poland.

[@caseyleichter2309]

Sounds like Smok was the very opposite of "highly specialized": a collection of hybrid traits that would enable it to adapt and expand in (almost) any environment. What and who else was around then, who may have been its ancestors or even its cohort? How much did different species interbreed, and did they have viable offspring or just "mules"? How long was Smok around? Since it sounds like not too many specimens have been found, I have this image of two separate species, closely related enough to interbreed, doing so frequently enough to create a pocket subspecies (i.e., Smok) - but one that reproduced infrequently, in fewer numbers, with a higher incidence of lethal mutations.

[@robertw31968]

After a day of stressful work. I was so glad to see you put a new video today when I got home. Thank you sir.

[@tridentflavor7557]

So as "Smok" means Dragon in polish, I bet LOTRs "Smaug" is in a derivative from that. Nice to know.

[@ToothlessWizard]

Deriving from the same Old English and Germanic roots as smial and Smeagol, the name Smaug is "the past tense of the primitive Germanic verb Smugan, to squeeze through a hole". It has been suggested that Tolkien likely thought of Old English smeag, a word used to describe a "worm".

[@apexnext]

Oh yeah I feel the worm thing. Makes sense the way he described it.

[@Enkaptaton]

Smok, teh dragen oh teh Hobit

[@tridentflavor7557]

@@Enkaptaton XD

[@rursus8354]

@@ToothlessWizard Swedish etymologies does not quite support (nor contradicts) this hypothetical Proto-Germanic reconstruction, but instead pinpoints a similar Church Slavonic word "smykati". Could be a loan either way, but could also be a common inherited pre-Germanic word (either PIE or perhaps paleo-European).

[@talkietoaster2585]

Thanks for this great episode. My 7 year old son is very interested in this animal. I actually thought he was just being funny talking about the Smok (sometimes Smoke) dinosaur. A great shared learning experience.

[@radosaworman7628]

That’s cute

[@jackalbayushi5801]

I’m SO glad you did a video on this! I love the legend of the Smok Wawel and I had no idea this existed! Thank you!

[@tazzyhyena6369]

Some of these fossils are fun to think about from an artist's perspective. To extrapolate what sorts of beauty or mundanity could have covered these bones

[@cerberaodollam]

Durophagy is a thing in birbs too. Now I wanna watch you cover how vultures became a thing.

[@Exquailibur]

I cant believe ive never heard of this, this is such a fascinating creature.

[@maciejgronowski]

Smok means Dragon in Polish. "SMOK WAWELSKI" means Dragon from Wawel. Wawel is a hill in the city of Kraków, where the Royal Castle of Polish kings used to be. According to the legend there once lived a Dragon in a Cave underneath the Wawel hill. Read up the rest 🤣

[@jannowak7502]

Thats where my family lived that country. :)

[@shaneyaw4542]

I am fascinated by different cultures mythology regarding dragons. Where I am from, Hawaii, the mo'o was a water dragon that was in a continual battle with Pele the goddess of the volcano and their battles created the islands. But to this day, there exists a cliff side mountain in the shape of a giant lizard on the island of O'ahu.

[@piotrkarp9562]

@@shaneyaw4542 Yeah... so I'll spoil the joke for those who don't want to seek it. It's also probably hard to find in english. You see... there were brothels in these caves. :D

[@ouroboros2727]

Smog Wawelski even breathes fire: kzbin.inforon2i2HvxtY?feature=share

[@bethanysmith5856]

Always happy to listen to a new video from this channel

[@hinskiemaso9198]

Damn, it was the best Polish I've heard from a foreigner so far.

[@theprehistoricconnection]

Underrated animal! Thanks for talking about Smok :D

[@koczisek]

Your pronunciation of "Smok" is perfect, but Lyso-Wise in the southern Poland almost made my day! Almost, because it's 25 min. after midnight, and anyways I shall be lying already. ;D Smok has peculiar teeth because it's adapted to eat maidens. If it isn't eating maidens - it isn't a Smok! It didn't die out, but went to Cracow and settled under the Wawel Castle.

[@billkallas1762]

I can remember getting a few laughs while on Geology field trips, by calling coprolites, craprolites. I never pass up a chance for a little humor.

[@africacorpse8010]

The Dragon is here YEEEESS

[@Polloles]

Loved it!!! Thank you for the videos!!!

[@blackmage471]

Fascinating!

[@nairathomsen4039]

I love your content, I have always been fascinated with extinct animals and your chanal really hits the right spot. Keep on being awesome!

[@Teeziel]

Finally someone covered Smok wawelski, now we just need an episode devoted to covering the other famous polish dinosaur Mike Wazowski the one eyed therapod.

[@jibrilles]

We really enjoyed this video! As a suggestion: would you please list the museums you show in your videos? We want to add them to our lists of places to visit! :)

[@apexnext]

I was curious too. If you check the earliest videos in the channel, you can see his trips to some museums. I wonder if he is using his own clips at times?

[@Rexington]

Imagine if Smok becomes the ancestors to Spinosaurids? It's a unlikely through but just something I want to think

[@EMRLDPRTO]

Spinosaurids are in megalosauroidia, so if your guess is true, it would be the ancestor to the megalosaurids and spinosaurids.

[@quakethedoombringer]

@@EMRLDPRTO i mean if Smok is confirmed to be a basal dinosaur and ancestor to later carnivores, your theory wouldn't be too far off

[@gtbkts]

Thanks for the awesome content and great video!!

[@chubibi06]

scientist : Smok, what the f*** are you ? Smok : i don't know, i'm confused

[@mbvoelker8448]

Remarkable creature! Thanks for profiling it.

[@enyajungle]

Last time I smok wawelski I also ended up in the triassic period

[@rhoff523]

Great job! Smok looks like a nice example of an evolutionary mosaic! Hope more comes to light soon.

[@fizzplease6742]

haha wow, my kid has a book of folks tales and one of em is about Smok Wawelski! He was defeated by a cobbler or something.

[@calessel3139]

With its oddball hip structure, could Smok be an example of a third dinosaur branch (ie Saurischia, Ornthischia, and this) that ended up going extinct early in the Mesozoic?

[@seanmckelvey6618]

In theory that's possible, but it's probably more likely that it's a more distant relative of the dinosaurs that was converging on a very similar hip structure, which would probably make some sense if it was a biped, or at least capable of running on it's hind legs. It could also just be that the very early saurischians hadn't exactly "settled" on a specific structure of the hips yet. Raises a lot of questions regardless.

[@crinsombone5380]

That or even a third branch of archosaur

[@brynadoodle]

Love your vids! Another banger king 👑

[@SSJ22Terris]

Though I'm sure you'll be covering them in your Permian episode, I'd love to see a Deep Dive on the Gorgonopsids. They've always seemed just really cool. And they also remind me a bit of the Odogaron from Monster Hunter, so I'm kind of curious how similar they actually are.

[@barrybarlowe5640]

I appreciate it when the authority admits there is still a lot to discover. That's Science!!

[@petersmythe6462]

I see Smok on Wikipedia and then within a few hours you post this video. The timing.

[@theorigamiking8783]

Could you do a video on the last dicynodont? Aparentley some dicynodont fossils were found in Australia that dated from 100 mya

[@alioramus1637]

I think that particular fossil was found not to be a dicynodont a couple of years ago.

[@beastmaster0934]

Yeah, as it turns out, those fossils were of a diprotodont mammal from the Cenozoic.

[@theorigamiking8783]

@@beastmaster0934 ah ok

[@sampagano205]

I'm going to make a called shot that Smok will turn out to be a really important transition point for the evolution of tetanuran theropods.

[@oleandreasjensen5263]

In my opinion,I think Smok is an example of "missing links" between Archosaurs / Rausuchians, and early Carnivorus dinosaur. This also shows the best exampel of successful adapted evolution if you look at the similarities between them. - At one point the dinosaurs have evolved into dinosaurs from creatures lilke the "SMOK" from Poland, Europe and probably relatives around the earth from these periods of time in the Triassic. - Its an awesome and very important discovery !!

[@elliewallace6370]

The feeling I'm getting is that Smok may be the Triassic equivalent of a modern day monotreme - a descendant of a (by then) largely replaced transitional group (stem mammals and mammals in the case of monotremes and early archosaurs and dinosaurs in the case of Smok) which would explain the mix of features (and also the fact that it has weirdnesses all of its own). Remember just because a species is a member of ab older group than its competitors does not automatically mean its going to come off worse - possums do just fine in the Americas for example.

[@MrPapamaci88]

New video! Yay! 😄

[@WAMTAT]

Brilliant video

[@chunkykong01]

This was the first video I caught live and it was awesome

[@charlesjmouse]

Very good, thank you. FWIW: I suspect this creature could well be an example of it's own thing rather than directly related to the usual suspects - it often seems that where you have a radiation you get a 'bush' of similar lineages all doing much the same thing, most being cousins of the familiar 'winners' rather than close family. ie Smok could have easily been at the base of the 'dinosaurs' but it's line died out, that 'honour' went to a similar line instead.

[@petersmythe6462]

Keep in mind that it's entirely possible this thing is from some completely unknown lineage of archosaurs that didn't survive the triassic extinction event.

[@fizzmaister]

Pronunciation guide for Lisowice: Lee-so-VEE-tse Stress is on the second to last syllable. All the vowels are shorter compared to how you'd want to read that in English.

[@lgbtqfloof3784]

Ja kocham Smok Wawelski! Smok Wawelski to mój ulubiony dinozaur! dziękuję za zrobienie o tym filmiku! przepraszam, moja angielska pisownia nie jest dobra, jestem w stanie zrozumieć, co mówisz, dopiero uczę się pisowni.

[@larryl43]

THANK YOU

[@Sabatuar]

Smok. What an excellent name. I approve. Wonder if it's etymologically related to "Smog"? Tolkien was a linguist after all.

[@radosaworman7628]

He famously gave up on learning Polish. Sooooo…. No.

[@jacquelineking5783]

Just because he gave up on it doesn't mean he didn't remember a word or two.

[@TheFreakedoutduck]

I very much enjoy your videos. Keep up the great work.

[@sauraplay2095]

I really enjoyed this video!👍

[@MaryAnnNytowl]

A potentially different line of Archosaurs, altogether? Fascinating - and such an amazing mix of phenotypes, too! But it's really cool to me that it was named after a legendary Polish dragon, too! Thank you for all you do - these can't be terribly easy to make, but they're always interesting. ❤️❤️

[@alioramus1637]

The phylogeny of Smok is very interesting. Despite being known from fairly decent remains it's still hard to figure out what type of Archosaur it is. The holotype and paratypes are going to get a re-description soon along with a new specimen. So maybe a conclusion will be reached. The fact that it has traits of both theropods and pseudosuchians make it blurry.

[@laurachapple6795]

Fun name to say. Smok. Smok smok smok.

[@Karol_generic_nick_ending]

Great material!

[@peterszeug308]

Finally! Feel hugged for uploading this #nohomo

[@myapopova]

Very fascinating stuff! Would you please make a video about how bones turn into fossils and how DNA analysis informs our understanding of bones vs. fossils? Thank you so much for creating your entertaining educational content! :)

[@BayBerry1337]

The first 3 times I read the title, I read it as "Triassic Mystery Dungeon" and was super confused 😕

[@Shigeru0508]

I assume Smaug´s name has it´s origin in the polish Smok.

[@eybaza6018]

It's actually derived from a Norse mythology dragon named Snaga.

[@Shigeru0508]

@@eybaza6018 then I assume further they're the same mythical beast under different names

[@eybaza6018]

@@Shigeru0508 Yeah, similar words can spread across countries that's for sure.

[@hauntingmachine]

Greetings from Poland!

[@HereticalKitsune]

Fascinating species!

[@thegreatjay1245]

Can you talk about the history of the Canidaes?

[@qwellen7521]

Smok honestly reminds me of Cretaceous megarators. (Obviously its just convergent evolution)

[@jensphiliphohmann1876]

I think it would be great to see a video about animals which were presented as dinosaurs back in the 1970s or so but later found to be some more distant relatives. Like Ornithosuchus, for example.

[@BobBob-tr7wi]

If we ever somehow find a "dragon" (six limbed creature thats not instectoid or crustacean in nature) fossil, paleontology is gonna go mad for a bit XD

[@beastmaster0934]

It wouldn’t have to be hexapodal. Wyverns are a thing. Imagine if we found a Triassic wyvern-like reptile or something. (That isn’t a pterosaur)

[@BobBob-tr7wi]

@@beastmaster0934 Oh my god you're right- IMAGINE A BEE SITUATION WHERE IT HAS WINGS THAT SHOULD BE TOO SMALL FOR IT

[@BobBob-eb4io]

@@BobBob-tr7wi a fellow person whos not very creative at coming up with names

[@paulwallis7586]

That head looks unavoidably familiar, and a large naris as well. Maybe the dual mode of locomotion was just more practical for the time, but it was an ancestral theropod? Diet seems very efficient, anything and everything.

[@GODEYE270115]

Imagine if more fossils of smok are found, and it turns out it had wings….. T.Rex vs prehistoric dragon might actually come to reality 🤩😂

[@takenname8053]

Super NICE

[@Kabelczerwony]

Wow, greetings from Kraków! (The city the legend of Smok Wawelski originates from) Well, it was obvious that a giant lizard found in Southern Poland would be named that, haha. It was also awfully close to the region of Jura (yeah, like in Jurassic) to add up to the theory of its survival onto that period. And just one thing - I love your videos, the oblivious topics you cover and the passion you share, but please next time ask some native speaker how to pronounce the toponyms appearing in your content, it'll be appreciated more than you wish to admit. Cheers!

[@Carnidoom]

it truely is weird it was like the archosaur and dinosaurs had an litteral arms race with being bipedal

[@alioramus1637]

Bipedal locomotion was actually pretty common in archosaurs during the triassic. But they avemetatarsalians (bird-line archosaurs) and pseudosuchians (crocodile-line archosaurs) differed in their ankle bones.

[@GlassDragon21]

Please do a video on the permian animals found I the Karoo South Africa

[@africacorpse8010]

One thought to sum up Smok: convergent evolution is a bitch 😁 Quick note to @PaleoAnalysis : the W in Lisowicia is a hard one, just like you read in "Wawelski" 👍 it's because you read the village's name as "Lisovitzia".

[@jensphiliphohmann1876]

'Smok Wawelski' sounds like a great nickname.

[@spinosauruspoland]

Polski Smok 💪

[@rileyernst9086]

Great video, Smok is certainly an interesting and seems to be a complete curved ball when it comes to timing and phylogenetic traits. Perhaps the brain is convergent and it just had a very similar lifestyle to allosaurus? Really good video, only had one minor gripe and that is listed below.

[@teddy4548]

One question that randomly popped up in my head while watching this is, why are basically all herbivorous reptiles extinct? All modern reptiles I can think of are carnivores or insectivores

[@PaleoAnalysis]

Green Iguanas, marine iguanas, and pretty much every land tortoise are all herbivores. And that's just off the top of my head without going to Google. And I would actually say that there are more lizards that are omnivores than devote carnivores.

[@daultonhuskey2804]

thanks!

[@aresaurelian]

The Triassic is an amazing time that covers a long period, with plenty of survival evolution battling it out over millions of years, creating plenty of yet to discover niches that logically would have ended in convergent evolutionary patterns. Nevertheless magical, as these beings are the ancestors of life today. I can see white sands blistering in the scorching sun, almost to a contrast of black an blue white. Where these beings roamed to find anything to eat, and shade to rest. No spoken stories, but images of life in its most primal forms, so different yet beginning to look like what we know of the Jurassic much later. The deserts, and the heat, with the droughts and exotic types of plant and animal life must have been something else.

[@teawrecks1243]

SMOK SMOK SMOK

[@twitterpaited]

So what's the difference between a dinosaur and an archosaur? Are Dino's a subclass of archosaur or are they different clarifications altogether?

[@PaleoAnalysis]

Dinosaurs are a branch of the Archosaurs along with Pterosaurs and Crocodiles and all the different relatives that we have talked about previously

[@twitterpaited]

@@PaleoAnalysis thank you!

[@kornchaiwongkiat7218]

awesome

[@risel56]

"Okay so basically I'm very Smok"

[@christianhunt7382]

I think when imagining evolution in earth's history, mainly the triassic, we should switch our view from clades and orders with species to a more based idea of life's consciousness and awakening. Life had literally crawled out of the water from a few orders we managed to track, but I feel that alot of these species were so similar genetically that the early triassic -suchids -saurs were able to pass genetics somewhat interspecied leading to animals like Smok. Showing alot of traits from different clades because these populations of creatures were successfully socializing in a diversifying world so features were being gained/retained not just for survivalist gains but from species coexisting mutually among a broadening tropical climate.

[@HandsomeLad69]

Smok actually sounds like video game villain

[@19megamustaine85]

Related to Fasolasuchus ?

[@GojiraChief]

Say if the land crocs never went extinct in South America what do you think they would look like and what niches would they fill?

[@tomaszmalenczyk5792]

Dinosaur or dinosauromorph called after dragon from legend cool🐉

[@shibolinemress8913]

At first I thought you were saying Smaug 😊

[@safeysmith6720]

Perhaps Smok is part of its own branch that separated from the same common ancestor(or near to) of the crocodile-line and bird-line archosaurs, as they were separating.

[@jonwashburn7999]

I suspect it was an early Theropod.

[@maozilla9149]

nice

[@SXMaarten01]

Can you explain why there are 3 toed and 5 toed animals

[@Labocania]

What if, and hear me out, it's an early theropod that adapted similar traits to cocodrylomorphs to survive, I mean there has been a lot of species that have similar traits to others of their time or ancient ones that the traits were so good it came back in different animals (and there are tons of examples of it).

[@buitreraptor635]

🐉🐲🐲

[@CanaleAV]

2:30 I didn't know Mike Stoklasa was also a paleontologist. What a hack.