June, 2007 | Everything Dinosaur Blog

20 06, 2007

Launch of the Everything Dinosaur – Dino Hunt Service!

By Mike|2023-02-11T15:51:58+00:00June 20th, 2007|Everything Dinosaur News and Updates, Main Page|0 Comments

The Launch of Dino Hunt – find your favourite Dinosaurs

The team at Everything Dinosaur get sent e-mails from teachers, parents, children, collectors all sorts of people asking all sorts of questions about dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals. We respond to everyone and we try to provide the answers. This can be a bit of a challenge, but fortunately, our dinosaur experts have been up to the test – well at least so far.

We also get e-mails asking us for advice. Often a parent, grandparent, relative or dinosaur enthusiast is looking for a particular item or model. It can be difficult to find exactly what you are looking for, in many cases enquirers are unsure of the spelling of the animals name, or whether the item even exists. This can be a problem and looking for that certain, particular dinosaur can be very time consuming. Up and down the high street, at collectors fairs, surfing the net and so on.

In response to this Everything Dinosaur has launched Dino Hunt.

Dino Hunt Service

If you can’t find what you are looking for, why not let our team of experts track down this particular item for you? After all, this is what real palaeontologists do anyway – tracking down prehistoric animals.

We get some very unusual assignments, but using our contacts with manufacturers, scientists and museums we are usually able to help, advising on what is available, sourcing models and such like. If a customer is looking for a certain animal – say a favourite dinosaur, we can usually find it, or at least identify a suitable substitute using our knowledge to recommend a close relative as an alternative.

Our team have even been known to write personally to the enquirer providing additional information on the animal in question. Recently, we have found a Dodo for a fan, re-united a collector with a baby Apatosaurus, provided a Maiasaura and sent an Allosaurus model to Australia with a fact sheet changed to accommodate information on Australian Allosaurs (A. astragalus).

The best bit is that the Dino Hunt service is FREE!

You can drop an e-mail to us at the Everything Dinosaur contact page here:

Contact Us: Email – Contact Everything Dinosaur.

Or, try searching on our home page in the “DINO SEARCH” field which is found on the top left corner of our website pages. Simply type in what you are looking for (name of animal, product item and such like) and up will come what we have available. If the search engine on our site can’t find what you want, then don’t worry it takes you to a special page on our website that allows you to contact us and to launch our Dino Hunt service.

Everything Dinosaur home: Everything Dinosaur.

We promise to let you know how your hunt is progressing and we can assist with most enquiries, turning things round in as little as 24-hours.

19 06, 2007

Rare Petrified Wood Fossil – Future Fossil Material

By Mike|2024-03-09T18:57:21+00:00June 19th, 2007|Photos/Pictures of Fossils|0 Comments

Future Fossilised Wood?

At Everything Dinosaur we work on lots of fossils of vertebrates (and one or two fossils of invertebrates for the matter too), however, for the moment we are working on some very fine samples of fossilised (petrified) wood that have been sent into our offices. The wood dates from various geological periods of the Mesozoic Era.

Team members at Everything Dinosaur were working on some fossilised wood sent to us from the western United States. We discussed how the fossilisation of wood takes place, the various ways fossils of plant material can occur – carbonisation, petrification etc.

Petrified Wood Fossil

Team members at Everything Dinosaur spotted a spectacular example of a petrified wood fossil, when on a visit to a local museum (Liverpool World Museum). They took a photograph of the fossilised remains of a conifer tree trunk.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Prehistoric Trees

For much of the Mesozoic the flora on Earth was very different from the flowering plant dominated ecosystems of today. CollectA have produced a small range of highly detailed models of prehistoric plants including cycads and a model of a Ginkgo biloba tree.

To view these figures and the rest of the replicas in the CollectA Prehistoric Life range: CollectA Prehistoric Life Model Range.

18 06, 2007

Wonderful Gift of Fossilised Wood

By Mike|2024-03-09T18:58:09+00:00June 18th, 2007|Dinosaur Fans, Everything Dinosaur News and Updates, Main Page|0 Comments

What are friends for!

Everybody who knows us knows that we are really keen (mad) on dinosaur models, fossils and anything prehistoric. Our friend Ian has just got back from America, and knowing what we are like, bought us back a present.

He spent three weeks in Arizona, and went to see a weird place (only the Americans do weird properly) called Stewart’s Petrified Wood. We now have an actual piece of petrified wood from Arizona in our collection.

Petrified Wood

The wood comes from an area of forest outside Holbrook, Arizona. This wood is the most colourful petrified wood in the world. Around 225 million years ago, during the Triassic Era, the wood was covered up by either volcanic ash, volcanic mudflows, sediments in lakes or minerals washed up by violent floods. This prevented oxygen from reaching the wood and prevented decay. Silica dissolved in ground water got into the individual cells and chemically affected them, taking on a variety of forms: agate, jasper, chalcedony or opal. The beautiful colours are caused by other minerals that are mixed with the silica. Iron oxide stains the wood orange, rust, red or yellow. Manganese oxide produces blues, blacks or purple.

Dinosaur Models

This petrified forest is an important palaeontological site, the rocks in this region range from the Permian to the middle of the Triassic and a number of wonderful fossils of the animals that lived in this part of the world at the time have been unearthed. Arizonasaurus and Paratypothorax are examples of prehistoric animals from this region. Arizonasaurus was a fierce predator, one of the largest around at the time, whilst Paratypothorax was a plant-eater, relying on its thick armour plates to protect itself from attack.

Models of these strange animals are few and far between, but to view the Everything Dinosaur model range: Everything Dinosaur.

17 06, 2007

Dinosaurs for Schools with Everything Dinosaur

By Mike|2022-10-26T09:12:02+01:00June 17th, 2007|Everything Dinosaur News and Updates, Photos/Schools|0 Comments

Everything Dinosaur Prepares for Another Dinosaur Workshop in School

With the summer term drawing to a close, time to cement those facts about dinosaurs in the minds of children who have been studying prehistoric animals as part of their topics for the term. Everything Dinosaur team members are busy packing experiments, equipment and fossils for more visits to schools to teach about fossils, dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals.

Ready for Another School Visit

Ready for Business!

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

With lesson plans and teaching sessions aimed at children at Foundation Stage right up to Key Stage four and beyond, the Everything Dinosaur team members have been very busy over the last few months. All their dinosaur themed teaching work mirrors the National Curriculum and after a dinosaur workshop, staff are always keen to help out and advise on extension activities. Team members will be writing new lesson plans and schemes of work over the summer months in readiness for teaching about dinosaurs in school over the autumn term.

To visit Everything Dinosaur’s website: Everything Dinosaur.

16 06, 2007

New Chinese Dinosaur – Gigantoraptor

By Mike|2023-02-07T09:23:35+00:00June 16th, 2007|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Main Page|0 Comments

New Chinese Dinosaur – Introducing Gigantoraptor as tall as a Giraffe

Is it a bird, is it a plane, is it Superman..? no not quite; Dinosaurs are proving to be very surprising and the latest dinosaur to be described from China is no exception, as it may have resembled a gigantic bird, perhaps with feathers and most definitely with a short stumpy tail and a toothless beak.

Palaeontologists from Beijing’s Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology (IVPP) under the direction of Xing Xu have described a new giant Oviraptor-like dinosaur from the late Cretaceous. To date Oviraptors had been thought of being relatively small, no bigger than 3 metres, but Gigantoraptor would have weighed 1,400 kilgrams and stood over 5 metres tall.

Gigantoraptor erlianensis

This new dinosaur has been named Gigantoraptor erlianensis, (meaning giant bird from the Erlian province), the fossils were discovered by an IVPP expedition to the Erlian basin in north-central China. Over the last 30 years or so, teams of scientists from IVPP (often working closely with the Royal Tyrrell museum from Canada), have explored these remote areas of China, with dozens and dozens of new dinosaurs being found. The IVPP is rapidly building up the largest fossil vertebrate collection in the world with over 200,000 specimens, many the holotype or reference specimens for dinosaurs.

The fossil Gigantoraptor is not complete but limb bones and the all important beak indicate that it was a member of the Oviraptorosauria, a group of strange-looking theropod dinosaurs from the late Cretaceous. Up until now Oviraptors were depicted as being speedy, light-weight opportunists and good parents as fossils unearthed in the 1990s showed Oviraptor brooding its eggs in a nest – just like a bird. The discovery of Gigantoraptor throws our understanding of this bizarre group into chaos, as this animal was big enough to look Tyrannosaurus rex in the eye.

Huge oviraptorid.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The drawing above is based on a Gigantoraptor dinosaur model.

Was this Dinosaur Feathered?

Scientists have already begun speculating whether Gigantoraptor was feathered. Certainly, Oviraptors are normally depicted with feathers, as it is thought that warm-blooded, small dinosaurs would have needed feathers to keep them warm. Perhaps the young (or should I call them chicks?) of Gigantoraptor had feathers until they grew big enough not to have to worry about losing body heat too much.

The area where Gigantoraptor lived was very dry and arid. Palaeontologists are still unsure what Oviraptors ate. The beak, although toothless could be closed with tremendous force, in Gigantoraptor’s case the beak would have been powerful to have crushed seeds and nuts from the rapidly expanding flowering plants species. However, such a large and powerful beak would also have been able to crush bones, so perhaps Gigantoraptor was a carnivore, chasing down prey with its long legs. Everything Dinosaur team members are only aware of one model of Gigantoraptor.

A number of Oviraptor specimens show traits in their skeletons that link them closely to the evolution of birds. The femur (thighbone) of Gigantoraptor is very bird like, but much more sturdy (and many more fossils need to be found) before scientists can truly unravel the evolution of birds from theropod dinosaurs.

If Gigantoraptor does turn out to be feathered, it would be the biggest feathered animal yet discovered, dwarfing other Oviraptors and making “Big Bird” from Sesame Street look like a canary.

CollectA have introduced several feathered dinosaur figures, including a Gigantoraptor into their model range: CollectA Prehistoric Life Figures.

15 06, 2007

When is a bone not a bone? That’s a Great Question

By Mike|2024-03-09T18:58:33+00:00June 15th, 2007|Educational Activities, Everything Dinosaur News and Updates, Main Page|0 Comments

When is a bone not a bone?

Yesterday marked the start of our Summer schools event programme. We have built up quite a good reputation for adding something extra when we go out to support a school or other educational body at a fund raising event. Yesterday, we were guests of a school in Nantwich, Cheshire at their worm charming event (we do get invited to all sorts of things these days).

Dinosaur Workshops

The school concerned was what I refer to as a Junior School, with children aged between 5 and 10. This school covers both Key Stage 1 (5-7 years) and Key Stage 2 subjects (7-10). The parents have formed a committee to help raise funds to purchase extra equipment, to build a sense of togetherness for parents with children attending and to have some fun. The worm charming event proved to be a great success, despite the wonderful British weather, with the winning plot attracting 19 worms in half an hour.

We had a little stall, we make a contribution to the funds and then we put up a table in the hall with dinosaur pocket money items on it. There were a range of other stall holders selling plants, brick-a-brack, home made cakes and so on. Certainly the dinosaur items are quite popular. We come over in some of our palaeontology gear, with rucksacks and heavy boots – comfortable footwear being a blessing if you are on your feet all afternoon. The children were really excited to see the fossils, and the other exhibits that we use in our dinosaur workshops in schools.

A spacious Year 1 classroom ready for a dinosaur workshop.

Spacious classroom being made ready for a dinosaur workshop.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

For this event I brought over some flints from the new shingle beach at Lyme Regis that I found. These stones have been bleached and the fractures within them and the smooth abraided shape gives the impression of bone.

Using my hand lens I invite students to see if they can tell the difference between these flints and a real dinosaur fossil bone I have. The fossil bone I use has been heavily eroded by wave action and is very “pebble” shaped. This helps to confuse the children at this stage of the exercise as I introduce the objects – they genuinely expect the dinosaur bone to look like a “cartoon” bone. Still the eroded bone that I have shows the spongy nature of true fossil bone very effectively and I use this to compare to the flints, thus explaining and demonstrating how to tell fossil bones from other materials.

To see the range of dinosaur themed toys and gifts available from Everything Dinosaur: Dinosaur Themed Toys and Gifts for Children.

This is only a little exercise but it works quite well, even the headmistress had a go. Like most people she had never seen a dinosaur bone up close before, nor had she had the chance to hold one in her hand. It is great to see the way children react, they really do take an interest, for us it is fun to work with the children and to watch their faces when we show them real dinosaur bones – WOW!

To learn more about Everything Dinosaur’s outreach work: Contact Everything Dinosaur.

14 06, 2007

Dinosaurs in the News – Meet the ancestor of Stegosaurus etc…

By Mike|2023-02-11T15:38:34+00:00June 14th, 2007|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Main Page|0 Comments

New Fossil Sheds Light on the Origins of Triceratops, Stegosaurus and Iguanodon

Dinosaurs are divided up into two main groups, these are called saurischians (lizard-hipped) and ornithischians (bird-hipped). There are a number of different features that distinguish these two groups but put simply each group of dinosaurs had a different layout of their hip bones. In bird-hipped dinosaurs such as Stegosaurus and Triceratops, two hip bones – the ischium and the pubis point backwards. In lizard-hipped dinosaurs such as Allosaurus and Diplodocus these two bones point in different directions.

Triceratops, Stegosaurus and Iguanodon

This classification of dinosaurs was made in the 19th century, before scientists realised that birds are closely related to dinosaurs, it is the lizard-hipped dinos that gave rise to the birds, not the bird-hipped dinosaurs as you might suppose. The classification of dinosaurs is full of complications such as this, mainly because it is a bit of a “moveable feast”. Improvements in research and new techniques coupled with more fossils means that scientists are adding to their knowledge all the time and some of the old established science is now being re-thought and re-written.

Anyway, a number of radio, TV and newspapers covered the story yesterday of the discovery of a new dinosaur called Eocursor claiming that this animal was a breakthrough in our understanding of the evolution of the bird-hipped dinosaurs.

The fossil was unearthed in the Karoo basin region of South Africa in 1993. The Karoo basin is a very important part of the world for palaeontologists, this large area has a thick sequence of sedimentary rocks laid down between 260 million years ago (mya) and 190 mya, representing time from the mid Permian right through to the early Jurassic. Little is known about the origins of dinosaurs, the earliest fossils date back some 230 million years, this new fossil is around 210 million years old.

It is important because this single specimen (backbones, lower jaw, limb bones and most importantly of all – the pelvis) shows the backward pointing bones in the pelvic area of an ornithischian. This fossil will help shed some light on the early evolution of the Ornithischia.

Eocursor parvus

Eocursor, or to give it its proper species name Eocursor parvus (little, early runner), was a small, agile, plant-eater. It was about the size of a dog and had teeth suited to eating plants, relatively long arms and hands, perhaps indicating that it moved around on all fours, but the hands may have been useful for grasping foliage as it fed. The long hind legs and the light skeleton suggest that it was a swift runner, getting up onto its back legs and using its speed to avoid the slower predators such as the mammal-like cynodonts or the primitive crocodile-like archosaurs.

Although the remains were first uncovered in 1993, the skeleton has only recently studied and its significance had not been realised.

In a comment made by Dr Paul Barrett of the Natural History Museum he stated:

“The earliest dinosaurs we know are about 228 million years old, so this one is only just a bit younger than this”.

Dr Barrett added:

“The fossil record for early meat-eating dinosaurs is slightly better; and for some of the other plant-eaters, we also have not-too-bad a record. But for the ornithischians, we have almost nothing; so in that sense, this is a major find.”

Everything Dinosaur stocks a range of dinosaur models that were designed by Dr Paul Barrett: Natural History Museum Dinosaurs.

The assessment of the work carried out by Dr Richard Butler (Natural History Museum) and his co-researchers at the Iziko South African Museum in Cape Town and the University of the Cambridge (UK) is reported in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

Little Eocursor parvus may help palaeontologists shed some light onto the evolution of the ornithischians, the part of the dinosaur family tree that gave rise to the stegosaurs, Triceratops and Iguanodon.

When Eocursor roamed the earth, during the Triassic, all the continental plates were pushed together to form one super-sized land mass called Pangaea, but not a lot is known about the evolution of herbivorous dinosaurs, indeed perhaps the best known early ornithischian dinosaur is Fabrosaurus which lived during the Early Jurassic, a few million years after Eocursor.

13 06, 2007

Exciting Fossil Walks at Lyme Regis

By Mike|2024-02-22T12:43:58+00:00June 13th, 2007|Dinosaur Fans, Geology, Main Page|0 Comments

Fossil Walks at Lyme Regis

Getting time off these days is a rare event but occasionally our occupation takes us to some pretty amazing places, take for example, our work with the Lyme Regis Development Trust and the annual fossil festival. We are very fortunate to be able to travel down to Dorset at least once a year, on a bit of what you might say is a “bus man’s holiday”, but it is a nice break and usually the weather has been lovely.

Lyme Regis itself, is a beautiful, old English sea-side resort. There has been some controversy recently with the coastal defence work that has been undertaken, but I think the new shingle beach and redeveloped cliff-top gardens have been created in keeping with the overall character of the town. Lyme Regis is in West Dorset, it is on what is called the “Jurassic coast”, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Quite rightly this part of the world has been granted World Heritage status as the unique stratigraphy of the area exposes a succession of rock formations that cover much of the Mesozoic (Age of Reptiles 248mya – 65 mya). The rocks in and around Lyme Regis itself date from the Lower and Middle Jurassic periods, they are approximately 180 million years old. These sediments are rich in marine fossils and the constant erosion exposes new material all the time.

It is a beautiful part of the world, thankfully not too over developed, the absence of rail links to London has helped protect this area but in the last few years we have noticed a lot more people have been purchasing second homes in this area so they can use Lyme as a bit of a weekend retreat. Who can blame them, it is a lovely place to visit.

If you go beach-combing you are bound to pick up fossils, bullet shaped belemnites and pieces of ammonite are common. If you are lucky you might spot the black concave discs that are Ichthyosaur vertebrae. I would advise that it is best to go on a supervised fossil walk, the tides in the area can catch out unwary beach-combers and the adjacent cliffs are almost impossible to climb, if you are not careful you can become cut off by the tide.

Some of the best fossil ammonites can be found in large nodules, it is remarkable how many people I see bashing away at rocks in the hope of finding a fantastic specimen. Often many of the day trippers are using the wrong tools, and even cracking open the wrong types of rock. This can be a dangerous activity, splinters of rock can fly up and cut you, if you were unlucky to get hit in the eye it would be very painful and you could lose your sight (hence my trusty goggles that I wear). We have made the mistake once or twice of walking across the beach in bare feet. After all the excavation, the shoreline can resemble a quarry with sharp, shards of rock strewn all over the place, it can be a bit of a tricky exercise to pick our way through it all.

The best tools for fossil hunting are your own eyes. If I am out with a group of friends I take them over to west of Lyme Regis to Chippel Bay or occasionally over to the other side of the bay on the Black Fen. You don’t have to scurry around the base of the cliff to find fossils, I just get everybody to choose their own section of beach, preferably one with a couple of rock pools and a large rock which can act as a display table for them to put their finds on. There is nothing more frustrating than building up a nice collection of ammonite parts preserved as pyrite (fools gold) only to forget where you put them.

If you are determined to go out on a fossil hunt try going on a supervised fossil walk with one of the local guides. There are a number who offer guided walks, and as well as taking you to some of the best fossil finding areas, they can explain about the local geology and discuss your finds. What is more, they will know the tide tables and ensure that you arrive back safely without having to get your feet wet.

One such local expert is Brandon Lennon. He has been conducting guided fossil walks in the Lyme Regis area for many years. He has found many interesting specimens and his enthusiasm and local knowledge can turn even the most sceptical into an ardent amateur palaeontologist, for an afternoon at least.

A fossil hunting we will go.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

The beautiful coast ready for fossil hunters on one of Brandon’s supervised guided fossil walks.

You can find out more at Brandon Lennon’s website:

www.lymeregisfossilwalks.com

Of course you can always cheat, and purchase a fossil from one of the many specialist shops in the area. This area has become a haven for the amateur geologist/palaeontologist with lots and lots of fossil shops. Many selling specimens from all over the world not just those found on the Jurassic coast. You can get some fascinating and unusual items, they can be quite a conversation piece at a dinner party and could inspire old and young alike to take up fossil collecting as a hobby.

Brandon has his own fossil shop, it is well worth a visit:

www.lymeregisfossilsforsale.co.uk

13 06, 2007

A Successful Fossil Hunt from Lyme Regis

By Mike|2022-10-26T09:38:25+01:00June 13th, 2007|Photos/Pictures of Fossils|0 Comments

Fossil Hunting with Everything Dinosaur at Lyme Regis

Team members at Everything Dinosaur enjoyed a successful day of fossil hunting along Dorset’s coast. For a challenge, each team member was given just five minutes to find as many fossils as they could.

Some of the Fossils Collected

Lyme Regis full of fossils.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

A handful of fossils found on a quick visit to Monmouth beach to the west of Lyme Regis (Lower Jurassic Beds), ammonites, belemnites plus a small piece of fossilised bone, a fragment of an ichthyosaur perhaps? We had great fun fossil hunting on the beach and this is what one of our experts uncovered in just five minutes of fossil hunting.

Successful Fossil Hunt

A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented:

“We enjoy looking for fossils and Lyme Regis is a very beautiful part of the English coast. Once you get your eye in you can usually find some interesting specimens.”

Everything Dinosaur stocks a range of replicas of iconic animals from the fossil record including ammonites or belemnites. To view this range: Replicas of Iconic Fossils and Dinosaur Themed Gifts.

12 06, 2007

Fossil Festival Lyme Regis 2009 New Leaflet

By Mike|2024-02-08T08:47:31+00:00June 12th, 2007|Educational Activities, Photos|0 Comments

Helping to Promote a British Fossil Festival

Staff at Everything Dinosaur have been helping to promote a British fossil festival and to assist with the planning and organising of the event, which is to take place at Lyme Regis (Dorset). As part of the science based activities there is going to be a special schools day, which is the first day of the festival. Team members at Everything Dinosaur who deliver dinosaur workshops in schools have been providing advice and support so that more volunteers can help teach school children about fossils.

Promoting the Fossil Festival (Leaflet)

Lyme Regis Fossil Festival.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The festival is planned for next year and thanks to the contribution of all the volunteers and helpers, it looks like it is going to be a big success.

Visit Everything Dinosaur’s award-winning website: The Website of Everything Dinosaur.