All about dinosaurs, fossils and prehistoric animals by Everything Dinosaur team members.
13 04, 2017

The Dinosaurian Body Plan Alan Charig Remembered

By |2023-06-15T07:43:18+01:00April 13th, 2017|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Dinosaur Fans, Main Page, Photos/Pictures of Fossils|2 Comments

Teleocrater rhadinus and Dr Alan Charig

There’s a book on our office shelves, its dust jacket is faded and torn and the pages are yellowed with age, not surprising really as it was printed in 1973.  Although many of the passages, diagrams and ideas contained within it, have long since been superseded, it is treated with great reverence as it is one of the first dinosaur books I ever owned.  Entitled “Before the Ark” it accompanied a ten-part television series on vertebrate palaeontology produced by the BBC.

Written by Alan Charig and Brenda Horsfield, (Dr Charig wrote and presented the television series too), it remains a treasured possession and today, with the publication of a scientific paper in the journal “Nature”, we remember Dr Charig, a man who is still having an influence on science, even though he passed away some twenty years ago.

“Before the Ark” and Teleocrater – Tribute to Dr Alan Charig

"Before the Ark" and Teleocrater.

“Before the Ark” and Teleocrater (before the dinosaurs).

Picture credit: BBC with T. rhadinus artwork by Gabriel Lio (Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales)

Early Dinosaur Counsin with “Crocodile-like” Appearance

Writing in the journal “Nature”, the researchers which include Sterling Nesbitt, assistant professor of geosciences at Virginia Tech, Roger Smith (University of Witwatersrand) and Paul Barrett of the Natural History Museum (London), describe more complete fossil material relating to Teleocrater rhadinus and formally establish this genus which helps to fill a critical gap in the fossil record leading to the evolution of the dinosaurs.

Teleocrater (the name means “slender complete basin” in reference to the reptile’s light build and the fully closed hip socket), was first proposed by Alan Charig back in the 1950s.  He was a PhD student at Cambridge University writing a doctoral thesis on Triassic reptiles of Tanganyika (now Tanzania).  Alan was being supervised by Francis Rex Parrington, a vertebrate palaeontologist who had uncovered the very first fossils of what we now refer to as Teleocrater rhadinus, during fieldwork in Tanganyika in 1933.

Fieldwork undertaken in 2015, led to the discovery of more fossil material and crucially limb elements and ankle bones which have helped determine where amongst the Archosaurs Teleocrater should be placed.

Team Members Extracting Fossil Material

Excavating the fossils of Teleocrater and other Triassic animals.

Excavating the remains of Teleocrater rhadinus and other animals in southern Tanzania in 2015.

Picture credit: Roger Smith

Published photographs show authors Christian Sidor (left), Sterling Nesbitt, Kenneth Angielczyk (in the purple top and white floppy hat), along with Michelle Stocker (right), looking for Triassic vertebrates in exposures of the Manda Beds (Anisian faunal stage of the Middle Triassic) of southern Tanzania.

All Fossil Material from the Manda Beds

Francis R. Parrington collected the first fossil specimens from the Manda Beds in the Ruhuhu Basin of southern Tanzania.  These fossils were studied by Alan Charig for his doctorate, but much of Alan’s work on Teleocrater was never published.  Dr Charig went to Tanzania to search for more fossils in 1963, but it was not until the expedition of 2015, that the crucially important limb and ankle bones were recovered that demonstrated where on the Archosauria family tree Teleocrater should sit.

The ankle bones and other skeletal elements demonstrate that Teleocrater is more closely related to dinosaurs and birds than it is to crocodiles. It sits on the family tree of the archosaurs at the base of the Avemetatarsalian branch, the “bird-line Archosaurs”, sometimes also referred to as the Ornithodira.  The researchers conclude that Teleocrater and its near relatives split off from other avemetatarsalians before the evolutionary split between the Pterosauria (flying reptiles) and the dinosaurs.

Establishing T. rhadinus on the Archosauria Family Tree

The phylogeny of Teleocrater.

Teleocrater is more closely related to pterosaurs and dinosaurs (including birds) than to crocodilians.

Picture credit: Sterling Nesbitt of Virginia Tech with additional annotation by Everything Dinosaur

The Big Two Branches of the Archosauria

The Archosauria clade consists of birds and crocodiles plus an array of extinct creatures which include the dinosaurs, silesaurids and the flying reptiles (pterosaurs).  This huge group of reptiles can be generally divided up into two distinct branches, based on the anatomy of the ankle bones.  On one branch, we have the crocodiles and their relatives (Crurotarsi), which tend to have a sprawling gait, whilst on the other branch we have the Avemetatarsalia, otherwise referred to as the ornithodirans, which tend to have their limbs directly under their hips and have a more upright gait, similar to mammals.

Dr Charig never got the opportunity to study fossils of the ankle bone, he passed away in 1997, without being able to complete his assessment of this reptile.  The researchers have honoured the contribution made by Alan Charig by naming him as an author on the 2017 paper and formally recognising the name Teleocrater, that he was the first to use.

Excavating the Fossils of Teleocrater

Excavating the fossils of Teleocrater and other Triassic animals.

Excavating the remains of Teleocrater rhadinus and other animals in southern Tanzania in 2015.

Picture credit: Roger Smith

Uniting the Aphanosauria Clade – Dinosaur Ancestors on All Fours

Teleocrater helps to cement the establishment of the Aphanosauria clade, a group of long-necked, slender-limbed, carnivores that lived in the Middle Triassic and were geographically widespread across Pangaea.  The Crurotarsi archosaurs, those crocodile-like creatures were thought to be highly diversified and geographically widespread across the super-continent Pangaea.  It now seems that the other branch of the Archosauria, the Avemetatarsalia, may have been equally as diverse and as widespread as their crocodile-like cousins.

Previously, palaeontologists have postulated that the earliest dinosaur relatives were chicken-sized and bipedal.  Thanks to the 2015 fossil discoveries and the work first undertaken by F. R. Parrington and Alan Charig, scientists have a different body plan to consider.  T. rhadinus which roamed the area that was to become Tanzania some 245 million-years-ago, was much larger at around three metres long and it was a quadruped.

An Illustration of the Early Avemetatarsalian Teleocrater rhadinus

T. rhadinus illustration.

A life reconstruction of Teleocrater rhadinus.

Picture credit:  Gabriel Lio (Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales)

Remembering Dr Alan Charig

Alan Charig studied the fossils of what we now know as Teleocrater rhadinus.  Twenty years after his death, scientists can place this enigmatic reptile and its relatives within the avemetatarsalian branch of the Archosauria, Teleocrater represents one of the earliest members of this sub-branch, a lineage that eventually led to the dinosaurs and the birds.

In addition, with a more complete picture of Teleocrater, palaeontologists have another puzzle to ponder.  If the early branch members of the Avemetatarsalia were more species-rich and more widely geographically distributed than previously thought, then several early dinosauromorphs used to help scientists to understand how the body plan of the Dinosauria evolved, may represent specialised forms rather than the typical ancestral avemetatarsalian body plan.

Today, we reflect on the work of Dr Alan Charig and his mentor Francis Rex Parrington.  The researchers writing in the journal “Nature” have helped to put flesh onto those bones first examined all those years ago.  For my part, my thanks to Alan Charig for helping to write such a beautiful book and for inspiring a generation of science writers and enthusiasts.

The scientific paper: “The Earliest Bird-line Archosaurs and he Assembly of the Dinosaur Body Plan” by Sterling J. Nesbitt, Richard J. Butler, Martín D. Ezcurra, Paul M. Barrett, Michelle R. Stocker, Kenneth D. Angielczyk, Roger M. H. Smith, Christian A. Sidor, Grzegorz Niedźwiedzki, Andrey G. Sennikov & Alan J. Charig published in the journal “Nature”.

Everything Dinosaur acknowledges the help of Virginia Tech in the compilation of this article.

Visit the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

12 04, 2017

Chinese Fossil Sites Under Threat

By |2023-06-15T07:31:08+01:00April 12th, 2017|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Main Page, Photos/Pictures of Fossils|0 Comments

Mining Operations Damage Famous Fossil Site

An article in the South China Morning Post highlights the growing concern expressed by the scientific community over damage to a globally important fossil site in Guizhou Province (south-western China).  Phosphorous mining operations are wiping away fossil evidence of some of the earliest organisms classified as animals known to science.  The tiny micro-fossils preserved in strata exposed in Weng’an county, represent the remains of multi-cellular organisms, marine sponges that once thrived in an ancient sea some 600 million years ago.

A False Colour Image Showing One of the Sponge-Like Micro-fossils (Doushantuo Formation)

Sponge-like Ediacaran micro-fossil.

A scanning electron microscope image of the 600 million-year-old sponge-like animal fossil (false colour image).

Picture credit: NIGPAS (Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Fossil Site Under Threat

Professor Zhu Maoyan and his colleagues at the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology have called for urgent measures to be taken to help protect the Weng’an biota.  The world-renowned fossil site, one of the few places that preserves traces of Ediacaran fauna, is threatened as hundreds of mining trucks are transporting rocks from the area every day.  Weng’an county has one of Asia’s largest phosphorus reserves.  The mining business contributes more than sixty per cent of the county government’s annual tax income.  Intensive mining in the area has led to cases of massive subsidence.

The professor, who has led a number of field teams to explore the fossiliferous sediments, that first came to the attention of palaeontologists less than twenty years ago, stated:

“Six hundred million years of life’s evolutionary history is being traded to help produce a bowl of rice.”

The demand for phosphorous to make fertiliser is increasing, unfortunately, the rocks that form the Doushantuo Formation of Guizhou Province are a rich source of this important element.  However, local officials in Weng’an county have promised action after a fossil site covering about three square kilometres was nearly destroyed and buried under huge heaps of debris caused by subsidence.

The Doushantuo Formation

The micro-fossils preserved in the phosphorite rocks of the Doushantuo Formation, preserve the remains of 600 million-year-old, sponge-like organisms.  Professor Zhu commented that the Weng’an biota was remarkable because of the abundance of fossils and their fine state of preservation, with details shown down to a cellular level.

The professor added:

“There may not be another place like it in the whole world.”

Features of the Fossils are Similar to Extant Sponge Anatomy

Precambrian sponge-like fossils.

Views of the sponge-like fossils from south-western China.

Picture credit: NIGPAS (Chinese Academy of Sciences)

The picture above shows various views of micro-fossils from the Weng’an county location including highly magnified views of what be a holdfast structure (c, d, e, f, g and h).

Professor Zhu stressed that both local government and the public had failed to realise that the exposures in Weng’an county are unique and very valuable to science.  It was suggested that a “core area” be chosen and then this site given protection.

To read an article featuring research by Virginia Tech College of Science and the Chinese Academy of Sciences which looks at the fossil evidence from the Doushantuo Formation: New Research Suggests Multicellular Life Started Earlier Than Previously Thought.

Visit the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

11 04, 2017

Getting our Heads Around Edmontosaurus Skulls

By |2023-07-22T11:40:50+01:00April 11th, 2017|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Dinosaur Fans, Main Page|0 Comments

New Paper Published on Edmontosaurus

Scientists from the Canadian Museum of Nature in collaboration with colleagues from the Beijing Museum of Natural History have published a paper in the on-line academic journal PLOS One that provides a fresh analysis of the iconic North American dinosaur Edmontosaurus.  The researchers effectively develop the ideas put forward when this duck-billed dinosaur was first described a hundred years ago and help to highlight the differences between the two species currently assigned to the Edmontosaurus genus.  In addition, they cast doubt over the recently named and described Alaskan Hadrosaur Ugrunaaluk kuukpikensis (named and described in 2015), instead they suggest that these fossils belong to a species of Edmontosaurus.

The “Lizard from Edmonton” Named in 1917

Wild Safari Prehistoric World Emontosaurus model.

The Wild Safari Prehistoric World Edmontosaurus dinosaur model.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

For models and replicas of Edmontosaurus and other hadrosaurs: Wild Safari Prehistoric World Figures.

Cranial Anatomy of Edmontosaurus regalis

The scientists, which included Dr Jordan Mallon (Canadian Museum of Nature), who recently published a new paper casting doubt on how to tell female from male dinosaurs: No Visual Difference Between Boy Dinosaurs and Girl Dinosaurs looked again at the E. regalis holotype and the paratype material which come from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation (southern Alberta, Canada).

It was the pioneering Canadian palaeontologist Lawrence Lambe who first named and described Edmontosaurus back in 1917.  The holotype (CMN 2288), the fossil specimen on which the original description of Edmontosaurus (E. regalis) is based, consists of an incomplete skull and partial skeleton.

The paratype (CMN 2289), the specimen that has proved to be most beneficial in the clarification Edmontosaurus as it shows features not seen on, or are more distinct that those found in the holotype, consists of an incomplete but partially articulated skull in addition to significant elements from the rest of the skeleton.  The researchers were able to identify a number of unique anatomical characteristics that help to distinguish E. regalis from E. annectens.

A Scale Drawing of Edmontosaurus regalis

A scale drawing of E. regalis.

A scale drawing of Edmontosaurus regalis. Note the colourful red comb on the top of the skull.

Picture credit: PLOS One

A “Soft, Fleshy Comb”

In the picture above, the scale drawing of Edmontosaurus is shown sporting a “soft, fleshy comb” on top of the skull.  Recent research suggests that E. regalis did indeed have a comb, a bit like a giant rooster.

Edmontosaurus with a soft tissue crest.

Soft-tissue crests in members of the Dinosauria.

Picture credit: Julius Csotonyi

To read an article published in 2013 that suggests members of the Hadrosaurinae had soft-tissue crests: Duck-billed Dinosaur with a Comb Like a Rooster.

With a better understanding of the differences between the two species of Edmontosaurus, the team could then develop their ideas, applying them to related duck-billed dinosaurs such as the giant Shantungosaurus from the Late Cretaceous of China, enabling them to revise this part of the Hadrosaurinae family tree.

Edmontosaurus regalis Compared to Edmontosaurus annectens

Corresponding author for the paper, Dr Hai Xing has published previously, describing differences between Edmontosaurus and Shantungosaurus.  Analysis of the skull bones of Edmontosaurus enabled Dr Xing and his colleagues to add a further three distinguishing characteristics to help tell the difference between E. regalis and E. annectens, (adult specimens).  In addition, the researchers identified a unique feature of the jugal (a bone in the cheek area linking the maxilla to the eye-socket),

Views of the Holotype E. regalis Material

A unique feature of E. regalis (jugal bone).

Close-ups of the jugal anterior process of CMN 2288 in lateral (E) and posterolateral (F) views.

Picture credit: PLOS One

Key

  • en =external naris
  • n =nasal bone
  • j = jugal bone
  • pm = premaxilla (front of the top jaw)
  • m = maxilla (part of the top jaw)
  • p = palatine (bone related to the palate)
  • pt = pterygoid bone

The red arrow (E and F), points to the sharp, posterodorsally tilted ridge of bone that pushes into the eye-socket area.  This feature is unique to Edmontosaurus regalis.

Ugrunaaluk kuukpikensis – Nomen dubium

In 2015, a new type of flat-skulled hadrosaur was described (U. kuukpikensis), based mostly on fossils excavated from the Liscomb bonebed in the Price Creek Formation of northern Alaska.  This new dinosaur, was thought to be quite closely related to Edmontosaurus, it was assigned to the Edmontosaurini tribe, but Xing et al argue that as the description was based on fossils of juveniles and as their study sheds new light on the anatomy of Edmontosaurus, Ugrunaaluk kuukpikensis may not be a valid genus.  Instead, they suggest that the Liscomb bonebed material represents a northern occurrence of Edmontosaurus (E. regalis).

Whilst the team are quick to praise the meticulous approach of Mori, Druckenmiller and Erickson they suggest that given the relatively small size of the Ugrunaaluk fossils and the lack of overlap between these specimens and known Edmontosaurus fossils it is not credible to assert a new genus based on the evidence to date.  U. kuukpikensis becomes a Nomen dubium (dubious name).

To read about the discovery of the Alaskan duck-billed dinosaur fossils: Duck-billed Dinosaur from Alaska.

Views of the Holotype Skull Material (CMN 2288)

Edmontosaurus skull material (holotype - E. regalis).

CMN 2288 the holotype skull fossil of E. regalis (left lateral view and dorsal view, with accompanying line drawings).

Picture credit: PLOS One

The scientific paper: “Supplementary Cranial Description of the Types of Edmontosaurus regalis (Ornithischia: Hadrosauridae), with Comments on the Phylogenetics and Biogeography of Hadrosaurinae” by Hai Xing, Jordan C. Mallon, Margaret L. Currie published in PLOS One.

Visit the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

10 04, 2017

Jurassic Park III Diorama Completed

By |2023-06-15T06:56:39+01:00April 10th, 2017|Dinosaur Fans, Main Page|0 Comments

Jurassic Park III Diorama Completed

Time for an update on the super-sized dinosaur diorama being built by enthusiastic model fan Robert Townsend.  The project has now been completed and “Jurassic Park III” as the prehistoric landscape has been called, is nearly ready to be populated with dinosaurs.  Robert explains that the name for his project has nothing to do with the 2001 movie, after all, there are no buildings, fences, vehicles, crashed aircraft or humans in it.  However, just like the island Isla Sorna, the setting for the third film in the “Jurassic Park” franchise, the area is going to home to a variety of prehistoric creatures. It is a superb dinosaur diorama.

Dinosaur Diorama Takes Shape

Dinosaur diorama planting.

The CollectA Palm Tree model helps to add height to the vegetation.

Picture credit: Robert Townsend

Dinosaur Diorama

Robert has carefully planned out his planting to provide various points of interest for the viewer.  The picture above shows the waterhole area, a place where many animals would naturally congregate.

For prehistoric plants and other prehistoric figures ideal for dinosaur dioramas: CollectA Prehistoric Life Figures.

A View of the Prehistoric Landscape (left side of the model)

A well-planned prehistoric scene.

A view of the diorama looking down the left side of the large model.

Picture credit: Robert Townsend

The picture above shows the remarkable precision of the placing of the vegetation and other landscaping features such as the tridactyl (three-toed) dinosaur footprints that can be seen on the left of the photograph.

Model maker Robert commented:

“All that remains to be done is to design and paint some sort of suitable background on a large piece of card in order to complete the illusion”.

Prehistoric Planting and Painting Skills

For those model makers who are a little uncertain of their painting skills, many suitable backgrounds can be purchased from model railway shops, or why not try a pet shop?  The backgrounds sold to fit into tropical fish takes, especially those depicting lots of rocks can make ideal backdrops to a prehistoric landscape.

A View Down the Right-hand Side of the Diorama

Dinosaur nests including in the model landscape

A view along the right-hand side of the model. Can you see the dinosaur nests?

Picture credit: Robert Townsend

In the foreground (picture above), the model maker has moulded some dinosaur nests, again an opportunity to highlight different mini-scenarios within the larger landscape.  The CollectA Monathesia and Cycads (left) and the CollectA Williamsonia (right) model plants blend in well with the range of hand-crafted prehistoric foliage that Robert has added.  The two dinosaur nests, close to the board’s edge were the very last landscape features to be constructed.

For CollectA scale models: CollectA Deluxe Prehistoric Figures.

A View of the Planting Around the Dinosaur Diorama Waterhole

Dinosaur diorama waterhole.

The waterhole feature in the prehistoric landscape.

Picture credit: Robert Townsend

Everything Dinosaur has been promised some more pictures.  When a suitable backdrop has been created and attached to the rear and the sides of the giant diorama, Robert says he will email over some more photographs.

It is a very impressive prehistoric landscape.  Our congratulations to Robert and we wonder whether anyone else has built a bigger dinosaur model diorama?

For other helpful items to help with diorama building visit: Everything Dinosaur.

10 04, 2017

Stone Age Cave Paintings

By |2023-06-14T06:48:10+01:00April 10th, 2017|General Teaching, Key Stage 1/2|Comments Off on Stone Age Cave Paintings

“Stone Age to Bronze Age”

Teaching about history to lower key stage two pupils can be quite a challenge for educationalists.  Sometimes it can be difficult to engage and enthuse children, especially with a fact heavy topic such as the “Stone Age to the Bronze Age” area of the national curriculum.  It can also be quite difficult to identify ways in which the subject can provide “touchstone” opportunities to interact with other aspects of the curriculum – to provide cross curricular extensions for the teaching team to implement.

Over the last few days we have seen some excellent examples of this subject area interacting with art and design elements.  Palaeolithic art, cave paintings (also known as parietal art), links in with this topic area providing a historical context for exploring ideas such as concept art, expressionism and how ancient tribes interacted with nature.  It can also give teachers the opportunity to introduce new painting techniques to the children.

Year 3 Children Create Parietal Art (Cave Paintings)

Cave art from schoolchildren.

A wonderful example of cave art from school children from Bowlee Community Primary. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Cave Art Teaching Resources

Here are some articles on parietal art, that can help teachers with this term topic.

Indonesian Cave Paintings Change Ideas About the Origin of Art – Exploring the origins of human culture.

Cave Women Played an Important Role in Cave Art – The role of women in early societies.

Famous Cave Paintings Threatened by Pollution – The effect of pollution on ancient cave paintings.

Visit Everything Dinosaur’s user-friendly website: Everything Dinosaur.

9 04, 2017

Chicxulub Impact Event Not Responsible for Dinosaur Extinction

By |2023-06-14T06:22:16+01:00April 9th, 2017|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Dinosaur Fans, Main Page, Photos/Pictures of Fossils|0 Comments

Mexican Tracksites Indicate Decline of Dinosaurs Prior to Impact Event

A team of scientists based in Germany and Mexico have published a paper that challenges the commonly held belief that the extraterrestrial impact event marked by the Chicxulub crater resulted in the extinction of the dinosaurs and their flying cousins the pterosaurs.  In addition, studies of marine sediments indicate that at least one species of ammonite Sphenodiscus pleurisepta may have survived into the Palaeogene.

Chicxulub Extraterrestrial Impact Not the Cause of Global Mass Extinctions

Chicxulub impact event.

An artists’s impression of the impact event.

Exploring the Fossil Assemblage of the Cretaceous/Palaeogene Boundary

Writing in the journal of the “Geological Society of America Bulletin”, the researchers which include lead author Professor Wolfgang Stinnesbeck of Heidelberg University, Professor Eberhard Frey (State Museum of Natural History, Karlsruhe) and scientists from the Museo del Desierto, Coahuila, (Mexico), postulate that the dinosaurs and the flying reptiles were in long-term decline before the Chicxulub impact and the global mass extinction that marked the end of the Mesozoic.

The scientists also postulate that Aves (birds), had spread and diversified at the same time as the Dinosauria was in decline.  Furthermore, based on fossil evidence, the team contend that at least one type of ammonite, Sphenodiscus pleurisepta persisted into the Cenozoic.

These conclusions were drawn from a comprehensive study of upper Cretaceous sedimentary sandstone rocks, laid down at the very end of the “Age of Dinosaurs”.  The tracks and body fossils found at two localities in the Mexican state of Coahuila, depict life on the shore and the surrounding waters of a shrinking inland sea.  Both sites represent sandstones within the Las Encinas Formation of north-eastern Mexico.

Remote Fossil Site in North-eastern Mexico (Las Encinas Formation)

Fossil site in north-eastern Mexico

One of the remote and isolated sites where the fossils were found.

Picture credit: Professor Stinnesbeck/Heidelberg University

The trackway assemblages at Amargos and Rancho San Francisco respectively, were produced by at least six different types of birds, while trackways of azhdarchoid pterosaurs are rare.  Only a single footprint made by a dinosaur (Theropod) was recorded.

Professor Stinnesbeck commented:

“Dinosaur tracks, however, are rare.  Only a single footprint comes from a predatory dinosaur.”

Lack of Pterosaur Fossil Evidence

The scarcity of pterosaur fossils was also noted.  The scientists state that azhdarchoid pterosaur fossils are rare.  Azhdarchids include some of the most famous and largest pterosaurs of all – Quetzalcoatlus Hatzegopteryx and Arambourgiania.  Most of the Pterosauria had become extinct by the Maastrichtian faunal stage of the Late Cretaceous.  From their heyday in the Early Cretaceous when at least ten pterosaur families existed, by the very end of the Cretaceous only two families of pterosaur are known in the fossil record.

Pterosaur Fossils Such as These Tracks are Very Rare

Pterosaur fossil tracks.

Pterosaur fossil tracks (north-eastern Mexico).

Picture credit: Professor Stinnesbeck/Heidelberg University

The photograph above shows prints of Azhdharchidea pterosaurs in a sandstone of the Upper Cretaceous, location – Rancho San Francisco near Paredon, north-eastern Mexico.

Research into the two locations Amargos and Rancho San Francisco, indicate a gradual decline of the dinosaurs with a simultaneous increase in the diversity of birds even before the end of the Cretaceous.

Professor Stinnesbeck added:

“Until now, it was generally assumed that the dinosaurs died out first and bird species diversified afterwards.  Our data, however, substantiate the theory that birds ascended before dinosaurs became extinct.”

The team postulate that the extraterrestrial impact event was not the cause of the dinosaur and pterosaur extinction, these reptiles were already on their way out, long before that event took place.  This idea of only a few dinosaur species persisting until the very end of the Mesozoic has been proposed before.  A count of dinosaur fossils found in the famous Hell Creek Formation of Montana supported the theory that the Dinosauria were already in decline by the end of the Cretaceous, the fossil assemblage in the very youngest rocks was dominated by just a handful of species.

Ammonites Survived into the Cenozoic

In the scientific paper, the researchers comment that the ammonites were not wiped out by the asteroid/comet/meteor strike.  Professor Stinnesbeck and his colleagues suggest that the species Sphenodiscus pleurisepta, a type of ammonite known from the United States and Mexico, survived, albeit in a declining state into the Palaeogene.

The geology professor stated:

“The effects of the Chicxulub impact were therefore not the cause of a global mass extinction, which probably came about considerably less catastrophically than previously assumed.”

Studying the Chicxulub Impact Event

The power of the extraterrestrial impact is evidenced by the abundance of crystalline clay minerals that are rounded in shape (smectite spherules), within a two-and-a-half metre-thick layer of strata.

The Last Ammonite (Sphenodiscus pleurisepta)?

Sphenodiscus pleurisepta fossil ammonite.

Sphenodiscus pleurisepta ammonite fossil.

Picture credit: Conrad

The picture above shows a typical fossil of S. pleurisepta (picture of the holotype fossil), scale bar equals 1 cm.

For models and replicas of ammonites and other prehistoric animals: CollectA Prehistoric Life Figures.

The fifty million year decline of the Dinosauria: Bayesian Analysis Sheds New Light on Dinosaur Decline.

To read about other ammonites that may have persisted into the Cenozoic: Unravelling an Ammonite Mystery.

8 04, 2017

Schleich Herrerasaurus Dinosaur Model Reviewed

By |2023-06-13T22:12:45+01:00April 8th, 2017|Dinosaur Fans, Everything Dinosaur videos, Main Page, Product Reviews|0 Comments

A Video Review of the Schleich Herrerasaurus Dinosaur Model

Those clever people at JurassicCollectables have produced another dinosaur model video review.  This time it is the Schleich “First Giants” Herrerasaurus that is in the spotlight.  This figure was introduced by Schleich in 2016 and Herrerasaurus has been in the news lately following the publication of a scientific paper that reclassifies the Dinosauria.  The paper, written by a number of eminent palaeontologists, including researchers from the Natural History Museum and Bristol University, puts the Herrerasauridae, the family to which Herrerasaurus belongs, outside of the Dinosauria.  Herrerasaurus may not have been a dinosaur after all.

The Schleich Herrerasaurus Dinosaur Model Reviewed

In this short video (duration a little under five minutes), a Herrerasaurus dinosaur model is unwrapped and put on the display turntable.  The narrator discusses the model and highlights some of the features, including the quaint, retro, almost 1950s feel of the model.

The Schleich Herrerasaurus Dinosaur Model Video Review

Video credit: JurassicCollectables

The video review gives model collectors the opportunity to see this quite large dinosaur model up close.  The model may have a retro, almost “stop motion” feel to it, as pointed out by the narrator but there are still some lovely touches, such as the wet, glossy look to the inside of the nostrils and the careful paint job done on the eye and down the flanks.  The narrator summaries the Schleich “First Giants” Herrerasaurus succinctly when he says that “this is an early dinosaur that reminds you of an early toy dinosaur.”

JurassicCollectables on YouTube

JurassicCollectables have an amazing YouTube channel which is full of dinosaur model reviews and other very informative and interesting videos.  This YouTube channel has tens of thousands of subscribers, that’s an incredible achievement, our congratulations to everyone at JurassicCollectables for such a brilliant YouTube channel.

Visit the YouTube channel of JurassicCollectables here: JurassicCollectables on YouTube, Everything Dinosaur recommends that prehistoric animal model fans subscribe to the JurassicCollectables YouTube channel.

To purchase the Schleich Herrerasaurus dinosaur model and to see the full range of Schleich prehistoric animal replicas that Everything Dinosaur offers: Schleich Dinosaur Models and Figures.

The Schleich “First Giants” Herrerasaurus Dinosaur Model

Schleich Herrerasaurus dinosaur model.

Available in the summer of 2016 from Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Thanks, JurassicCollectables for your video review of Herrerasaurus (H. ischigualastensis), it may not be technically a dinosaur any more, but it is still great to see a manufacturer creating models of Triassic animals.

To read about the reclassification of the Dinosauria and the subsequent implications for Herrerasaurus: Root and Branch Reform of the Dinosaur Family Tree.

Visit the award-winning Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

7 04, 2017

California to get a State Dinosaur?

By |2023-06-13T10:34:29+01:00April 7th, 2017|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Dinosaur Fans, Main Page|0 Comments

One Step Closer to a State Dinosaur for California

California is one step closer to joining a select group of American States that have their own State dinosaur.  A vote in the “Golden State’s” legislative assembly was passed and the duck-billed dinosaur Augustynolophus morrisi is nearer to becoming the official dinosaur of the most populous State in the Union.  California already has a substantial number of State symbols, including the Leatherback Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), the State marine reptile and the artichoke (Cynara cardunculus), California’s State vegetable.

The Hadrosaur Augustynolophus morrisi Could Become the State Dinosaur for California

Augustynolophus image.

Augustynolophus could become California’s State dinosaur.

Picture credit: Augustynolophus Twitter Account

Augustynolophus morrisi

Assembly member, Richard Bloom, the representative for Santa Monica, introduced a bill at the beginning of the year to make this Late Cretaceous, duck-billed dinosaur a state symbol.  The vote yesterday moved Augustynolophus nearer to becoming adopted.  Augustynolophus (pronounced August-steen-ah-pho-lus mor-riss-eye) fossils, including a fragmentary skull, have been found in the Moreno Formation, the fossils represent the most complete dinosaur discovered in California.  In fact, despite California’s size, it is the third largest State in the United States, very few dinosaurs are associated with this part of America.

We at Everything Dinosaur, think that just one other dinosaur genus Saurolophus is associated with California and these fossils, also from the Moreno Formation, may have been reassigned to Augustynolophus.

Helping to Support Learning and Educational Opportunities

The reason why lawmakers in California are keen to adopt a dinosaur as a symbol is that they hope that the dinosaur will promote learning and support educational opportunities.  California already has an official state fossil, Smilodon californicus – a sub-species of Sabre-toothed cat known from the famous La Brea Tar Pits close to the centre of Los Angeles.

Images of a Smilodon Figure (Mojo Fun Smilodon)

Views of the Mojo Smilodon.

Various views of the Mojo Smilodon model.  Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The picture (above) shows a Mojo Fun Smilodon figure.

To view the Mojo Fun range of prehistoric animal models: Mojo Fun Prehistoric and Extinct Models.

Twitter Account for a Dinosaur

Augustynolophus has its own Twitter account (@augustynolophus), you can follow the progress of the legislation on Twitter.  The Californian Senate have to vote and if the outcome is favourable then the Governor will have the final say.

Only seven of the fifty States that make up the USA have official State dinosaurs:

  • Wyoming – Triceratops
  • Texas – Paluxysaurus jonesi (Sauroposeidon)
  • Oklahoma – Acrocanthosaurus atokensis
  • New Jersey – Hadrosaurus foulkii
  • Missouri – Hypsibema missouriensis
  • Maryland – Astrodon johnstoni
  • Colorado – Stegosaurus armatus

To read an article about British Columbia debating whether to introduce an official fossil for the Canadian Province: Four Contenders for the Official Fossil for Canadian Province.

To see the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

6 04, 2017

Updating Apatosaurus

By |2023-06-13T10:24:52+01:00April 6th, 2017|Dinosaur Fans, Everything Dinosaur News and Updates, Main Page, Press Releases|0 Comments

Re-writing the Apatosaurus Dinosaur Fact Sheet

At Everything Dinosaur, for the vast majority of the named prehistoric animal models we supply, we send out a fact sheet on that animal to accompany the sale.  As a result, we have researched and written hundreds of fact sheets.  From time to time, we have to update and amend these fact sheets to reflect changes in ideas about extinct animals and to incorporate new fossil evidence.  It is time to re-write the Apatosaurus fact sheet.

A New Scale Drawing Added to the Everything Dinosaur Apatosaurus Fact Sheet

Apatosaurus scale drawing.

Scale drawing of Apatosaurus (A. ajax).  Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The Apatosaurus Fact Sheet

The Apatosaurus fact sheet was first written in 2006, but it has undergone several revisions, just like the whole of the diplodocids.  In the new, updated data sheet, we assert that Apatosaurus was closely related to Diplodocus and comment on the recently resurrected genus Brontosaurus being the sister taxon to Apatosaurus.  A sister taxon or sister group, as it is sometimes termed, is used in classification to denote the very closest relatives of another taxon within the evolutionary tree.

Although several palaeontologists disagree with the findings of the 2015 paper that considered Brontosaurus a valid genus “A Specimen-level Phylogenetic Analysis and Taxonomic Revision of Diplodocidae (Dinosauria, Sauropoda)”, which was co-authored by Roger Benson of Oxford University), at Everything Dinosaur, we have amended our fact sheet to reflect the changes in the Diplodocidae family.  In addition, back in 2014, a huge, two-metre-long femur (thigh bone), was discovered at the Mygatt-Moore Quarry (Mesa County, western Colorado).

Although, a number of Sauropod genera are associated with this famous dig site (Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation), the bone has been ascribed to Apatosaurus (species unknown) and this single bone discovery suggests that Apatosaurus may have been considerably bigger than the twenty-one to twenty-two-metre-long estimates of the past.

To read more about this fossil discovery: Record Breaking Apatosaurus Thigh Bone.

An Apatosaurus Illustration

Although we had a lot of Apatosaurus illustrations in our database, we chose to commission a new drawing based on the Papo Young Apatosaurus dinosaur model, which was introduced back in 2015.  Apatosaurus was considerably more robust than Diplodocus and the Papo model, with its thick neck, showing well defined cervical vertebrae and robust limbs, contrasted nicely with our illustration of Diplodocus.

The Papo Young Apatosaurus Dinosaur Model

Papo Young Apatosaurus model.

The Papo Young Apatosaurus dinosaur model.  Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

To view the Papo Apatosaurus and the rest of the Papo prehistoric animal model range: Papo Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animal Models.

The Missing Apatosaurus Skull

Many skeletons of these animals are found with the skull missing and when Apatosaurus was first described it was given the short, deep, “box like” skull of a Camarasaurus.  When a real Apatosaurus skull was scientifically described many years later, it was described as being very different from that of a camarasaurid.  It was long and low with peg-shaped teeth positioned at the front of the mouth.  The nostrils are located on the top of its head, this added weight to the argument that Apatosaurus lived in swamps where it could feed out of reach from predators with the water helping to support its great bulk.  However, it is now believed that these animals were almost entirely terrestrial.

Until the next Apatosaurus fact sheet re-write.

Visit Everything Dinosaur’s award-winning website: Everything Dinosaur.

5 04, 2017

Hunting for Tasmanian Tigers

By |2023-06-13T10:13:10+01:00April 5th, 2017|Animal News Stories, Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Main Page|0 Comments

Scientists Prepare to Set Camera Traps in Hunt for Thylacine

Ever since the last known Thylacine died in Hobart zoo back in 1936, there have been numerous “sightings” both in Tasmania and on the Australian mainland of this marsupial, frequently referred to as the “Tasmanian Tiger”.  Most of these reports have been dismissed either as hoaxes, or as observers mistaking foxes or feral dogs for the largest carnivorous marsupial known to have co-existed with modern man during the Holocene Epoch.

Grainy photographs and blurred film footage have come to prominence from time to time, helping to fuel the debate as to whether Thylacines (Thylacinus cynocephalus), which were believed to have been hunted to extinction, might just have survived, with a few scattered populations holding on.

A Stuffed Thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) in a Museum

A Tasmanian tiger exhibit.

Stuffed Thylacine (Tasmanian tiger).  Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

To view the range of CollectA models: CollectA Age of Dinosaurs Popular Models.

Scientific Expedition to a Remote Location in Northern Queensland

A field team will be dispatched to the remote Cape York Peninsula (northern Queensland), in a bid to search for evidence of the existence of a surviving Thylacine population.  The team, led by Professor Bill Laurance of James Cook University (Queensland), hope to set fifty camera traps in the area so that photographic proof can be established.  The Cape York Peninsula has been chosen as a number of credible witness accounts of possible sightings, including one from a tourism operator and former park ranger, have occurred in the locality.

Professor Laurance commented:

“All observations of putative Thylacines to date have been at night, and in one case four animals were observed at close range, about 20 feet away, with a spotlight.  We have cross-checked the descriptions we received of eye shine colour, body size and shape, animal behaviour, and other attributes, and these are inconsistent with known attributes of other large-bodied species in north Queensland such as dingoes, wild dogs or feral pigs.”

The exact destination of the field team is being kept a closely guarded secret.  Nearly four thousand reported sightings have been recorded on the Australian mainland, it is the reports from qualified rangers, Aboriginal communities and the many credible witnesses that offer the tantalising prospect of a live population being identified.

Ranger Patrick Shears, explained that local Aboriginals call the beast the “moonlight tiger” and that many observers claim that these marsupials approach quite close, before turning their long, stiff tails and trotting away into the darkness.

A Reward Offered for a Living Thylacine

Tasmanian tour operator Stuart Malcolm has offered an $1.75 million AUD (£1 million GBP), reward for proof that the Thylacine has survived to the present day.  Professor Laurance and his team are not interested in any reward money, after all, it was a bounty placed on each dead Thylacine recorded, that helped devastate the species in Tasmania.

The Professor is not particularly sanguine when it comes to the chances of the expedition being a success.  He has stated that it is very unlikely that the Thylacine has survived on the Australian mainland.   However, with a number of credible reports to guide them, it seems that if the Tasmanian Tiger has survived anywhere on the mainland of Australia, the Cape York Peninsula is a good place to start looking.

CollectA introduced a finely detailed model of a female Thylacine into their model range last year.  This model is quite hard to find, but not as difficult as a live Thylacine to track down.  Everything Dinosaur stocks this model, for the CollectA Thylacine and other rare CollectA models: CollectA Prehistoric Life Figures.

The CollectA Prehistoric Life Thylacine Model

The CollectA Thylacine replica.

The CollectA Thylacine model.

Everything Dinosaur intends to add a second Thylacine model to its already, extensive range later in the year.   Check this blog for more details about the model and also for updates on the Queensland expedition.

Visit Everything Dinosaur’s award-winning website: Everything Dinosaur.

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