New Additions to Carnegie Collectibles Range and other Prehistoric Series from Safari Ltd

A sneak peek at the 2013 releases from Safari Ltd and it is great to see a number of exciting additions to the already extensive Safari Ltd replica range.  To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the relationship between the manufacturer and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, a 1:25 scale model of the recently discovered Theropod Concavenator is being introduced.

Carnegie Collectibles Concavenator Model

Concavenator Dinosaur Model

Picture Credit: Safari Ltd/Everything Dinosaur

The model will measure nearly 18cm long and stand 9cm tall, an exciting new model for the Carnegie scale model dinosaur collectibles range.

Fans of Pterosaurs and marine reptiles won’t be disappointed as amongst the new additions to the Wild Safari Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Life series there is a colourful model of the Jurassic Pterosaur Dimorphodon and a model of an Elasmosaurus.

Taking to the Air in 2013 – Dimorphodon

Pterosaur for 2013

Picture Credit: Safari Ltd/Everything Dinosaur

The Dimorphodon will be approximately 13cm long (including tail) and have a wingspan in excess of 20cm.

Elasmosaurus Model from Safari Ltd

Cretaceous Plesiosaur

Picture Credit: Safari Ltd/Everything Dinosaur

The Elasmosaurus mode will measure approximately 25cm in length.

To view Everything Dinosaur’s existing Safari Ltd models: Safari Prehistoric Animal Models

Other new models in the Wild Safari Dinos (not to scale range) include the Hadrosaur, Gryposaurus from the Campanian faunal stage of North America, care has been taken to skilfully re-create the spiny ridge along this dinosaur’s back.

Wild Safari Gryposaurus

New Duck-billed Dinosaur for 2013

Picture Credit: Safari Ltd/Everything Dinosaur

This new Hadrosaur measures a little under 22cm long.

Not to be outdone the trend to include more Ceratopsians continues with a replica of Diabloceratops due out next year.  This horned dinosaur from Utah “Devil Horned Face” is bound to be a hit with model collectors.

Wild Safari Diabloceratops Dinosaur Model

“Devil Horned Face”

Picture Credit: Safari Ltd/Everything Dinosaur

One other interesting “new” Safari model is a reproduction of a Brachiosaurus in the Wild Safari range that resembles the older Brachiosaurid found in the Collectibles scale model range from this company (product code ref: 412001).  A more modern interpretation of a Brachiosaur was introduced into the Wild Dinos Safari range a couple of years back and now Safari have added a robust “swan-necked” Brachiosaurus to their not to scale range.

Brachiosaurid Replica Due out in 2013

A Traditional Brachiosaur interpretation?

Picture Credit: Safari Ltd/Everything Dinosaur

The Brachiosaur will measure approximately 30cm long and stand 35cm tall making it larger than the current Brachiosaurus model in the Wild Safari range.

Finally, in terms of new model introductions, there is exciting news for all fans of the “Terror Birds”, the long awaited Gastornis/Diatryma model is also going to be released next year – a sneaky peek below:

Terror Bird – Gastornis New for 2013

New for the Prehistoric Life Range – Gastornis

Picture Credit: Safari Ltd/Everything Dinosaur

The Gastornis model will measure 8.5cm by 7cm approximately.

So much for the vertebrate palaeontologists amongst you, but for once invertebrate palaeontologists have been remembered by Safari Ltd and the company is going to introduce a special tube set featuring fauna from the Cambrian geological period.  Based on fossil discoveries from the Burgess Shale this ten figure model set will feature iconic Palaeozoic creatures such as a Trilobite and Anomalocaris plus a model of England’s very own Charnia (hoorah for Leicestershire).

Cambrian Fauna (Tube Set) from Safari Ltd

Say hello to Cambrian Wildlife

Picture Credit: Safari Ltd/Everything Dinosaur

Team members at Everything Dinosaur will continue to keep model fans and collectors up to date with new 2013 introductions watch this space or check out Everything Dinosaur on Facebook or Google Plus for the latest news.

Everything Dinosaur on Facebook: Catch Up with Everything Dinosaur on Facebook

Check out Everything Dinosaur on Google Plus: Everything Dinosaur and Google+

A Review of Planet Dinosaur – Episode 4 “Fight for Life”

Having bemoaned the absence of any Triassic dinosaurs in this excellent television series, it was a pleasure to see the warm, shallow seas of the Jurassic featured in this episode of “Planet Dinosaur”.  The focus on this particular programme was the predator/prey relationship, a rich hunting ground for the production team given the amount of fossil evidence that can be interpreted to show such affinities.  The fossil record and the various pathologies of body fossils, coupled with an examination of the natural world today and predator/prey relationships provides plenty of material.  The marine predator featured was the huge Pliosaur “predator X”, with its rosette of 30 centimetre long teeth.  The prey was the Plesiosaur – Kimmerosaurus langhami, one of our favourite Plesiosaurs, anything named after the Kimmeridgian faunal stage is fine by us.  This part of the programmes showed these long-necked beasts, ploughing through soft mud in search of shell fish, worms and other food items.  The fossil evidence for this behaviour comes from a cliff face in Switzerland which has a number of long, weird grooves preserved in the rock, which was once sediment at the bottom of a shallow, tropical sea.  Scientists believe these grooves were dug out by Plesiosaurs as they swam along with their snouts in the sediment searching for food.  They could also have been created as these marine reptiles searched for stones to swallow to act as ballast and as gastroliths to help them grind up food.  We noted that Dr. Adam Smith (Plesiosaur expert) was named in the credits.

The terrestrial part of the programme took viewers to the Morrison Formation of the western United States.  It discussed the relationship between Allosaurus and two prey genera – Camptosaurus and Stegosaurus.  The programme postulated that Camptosaurs and Stegosaurs lived together for mutual benefit.  The Camptosaurs with their bipedal stance acting as look outs for the heavily armoured Stegosaurs.  Such relationships are seen in nature today, for example, in Africa our team members have observed Ostriches and Zebra feeding together.  The Zebras rely on the Ostrich with their heads held high and superb eyesight to spot danger.  Whether or not Camptosaurs and Stegosaurs actually sought out each other for mutual protection is a little speculative, but certainly feasible, if difficult to prove given the fossil record.  Allosaurus fragilis was the hunter, an interesting interpretation, especially the colouration and the crests above the eyes – they reminded us of sun-shades, these would have been useful especially if this predator was most active at dawn or dusk, with the sun low in the sky, just like many predators today. Surprisingly, Saurophaganax got a look in, S. maximus a very large Allosaurid which was first studied in the 1930s.  We thought that this Theropod had been re-classified as just a very big A. fragilis, but no, there it was in all its glory, bullying the Allosaurus out of its kill, its twelve metre-length making it about 15% bigger than the other Theropod.

Interestingly, Saurophaganax is not featured or even mentioned in the book that accompanies this BBC television series.

To read a brief article on Utah's Theropods: Articulated Theropod Fossil found (Morrison Formation)

A Lupin Flowers for Everything Dinosaur

The spell of gorgeous weather at the end of September must have made the difference.  In the early spring we planted out some Lupin plants that we had raised from seeds.   The area behind the office is slowly and surely being turned into a more nature friendly area.  We have lots of Sedems and even a second Buddleia bush to help attract bees and butterflies.  The Lupins were planted out as we wanted to use the large leaves and stalks as backgrounds for some of our prehistoric animal model shots.  The foliage works quite well for this particular job.  However, we never thought that we would get a flower, especially after the less then glorious summer we had – weather wise.

Everything Dinosaur's Lupin in Flower

Picture Credit: Everything Dinosaur

Naturally, we could not simply plant out the seeds, we divided our seeds into three groups, each group being put in a different area of the yard, one group experienced full sun virtually all day, the second group was placed in an area that had partial shade and the final group was planted in an area roughly between the other two.  The Lupin that flowered came from the middle group.  We had also sourced the seeds from two different sources, the seedlings had been labelled to help us identify which source the plant that emerged was from.  We contacted the supplier to let them know that one of their plants had flowered in its first year for us.  We will try and get some pictures done using the foliage as a backdrop, but in the meantime, we have a lovely flower that cheers us all up.

Pterosaurs Take to the Skies Again In National Geographic's Stunning Film

Spectacular flying reptiles soar into view in the stunning film “Flying Monsters” narrated by Sir David Attenborough and made by National Geographic. There will be a special screening on Wednesday October 5th at The Liberty Science Centre in New Jersey and the film officially premiers at eight science museums on Friday, the 7th (in Birmingham AL, Hastings NE, Indianapolis ID, Jersey City NJ, Los Angeles CA, Portland OR, and Mexico City NM).   Looks like it is going to be a stunning visual treat for dinosaur fans and enthusiasts of the Pterosaurs.

Sir David Attenborough Encounters a Pterosaur

Picture Credit: National Geographic

Avatar-like CGI brings to life spectacular-looking colossal creatures that have been extinct for millions of years in this captivating, family-friendly new film, “FLYING MONSTERS 3-D,” the new giant screen film adventure, which premieres in North America beginning October 7th, 2011.  Hosted and written by Sir David Attenborough, this film is produced by award-winning Atlantic Productions, in association with Sky 3-D, and being distributed by National Geographic Cinema Ventures.

The film is already earning accolades—scooping up a 2011 BAFTA and nominated for best 3-D film at the Jackson Hole Film Festival, which will take place next week.

These creatures may seem fanciful, but unlike Avatar, these actually were real and did exist — and it’s hard to believe they dominated the skies for millions of years!

You will be astonished by the sheer size and variety of these colossal creatures captured in spectacular, larger-than-life immersive 3-D experience.  These are not your run-of-the-mill pterodactyls…. audiences will get to meet amazing creatures like Tapejara and the enormous Quetzalcoatlus.  We suggest that if you are around these museum locations on the day, you make a date with these creatures – the first group of vertebrates to evolve powered flight.

Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre – Looking for a Manager

The staff at the world famous Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre (Morden, Manitoba) may be used to finding prehistoric animal fossils but the search is now on to find a general manager to help map out the direction of the organisation over the next few years.

The Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre  (CFDC) is currently recruiting qualified applicants for a soon to be vacant general manager’s position.  A targeted recruitment effort is currently underway to fill the upcoming vacancy.  This management position will offer the selected individual many tremendous professional growth opportunities, is responsible for the overall management of the organisation in consultation with a volunteer board of directors.

Potential applicants are invited to make contact with the Centre to learn more about this opportunity.  The job will be advertised in the local media.  Additional information will be posted on the CFDC website, www.discoverfossils.com. specifically in the staff recruitment centre.  So if you have ever fancied yourself as a Sir Richard Owen figure, now's your opportunity.

The position of General Manager will become vacant on October 17th.   The position is currently filled by Tyler Schroeder, who will leave the CFDC to pursue other career opportunities within the private sector.

“I would like to extend the heartfelt gratitude of our organisation to Mr. Schroeder, for his significant efforts at the CFDC,” summarises board president Henry Penner.  “During his employment the CFDC has made substantial advancements in the fields of education, tourism and research.  In particular, he has had a tremendous skill in advancing the public image and reach of our Centre.”

“I am very proud of what we’ve achieved as a team, during my time at the CFDC.  This organisation is well positioned to take great advantage of the many opportunities before it,” echoes Tyler Schroeder.  “I look forward to my new role as an Agricultural Loans Manager at the RBC in Morden and wish continued success to the CFDC.”

The Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre houses the largest collection of marine reptile fossils in Canada, including a 43-foot long Mosasaur named “Bruce”, the largest Mosasaur in the country.  Housed in the Access Event Centre in Morden, the CFDC is working towards building a new state-of-the-art facility in the Manitoba Escarpment.

Planet Dinosaur – The Last Killers (Late Cretaceous Theropods Mainly)

Half way through the BBC television series already, it does not seem more than five minutes since “dear old auntie Beeb” introduced us to their version of Spinosaurus and Carcharodontosaurus back in episode one.  These two dinosaurs were fierce carnivores and after a sojourn into the world of feathered dinosaurs, the majority of which would stand no more than a metre tall, we get right back to big Theropods, but this time with a focus on the very last few million years of the Cretaceous.

For all those enthusiastic dinosaur fans waiting to see Tyrannosaurs they were not to be kept waiting any longer.  However, it was not Tyrannosaurus rex that was the star attraction, other older members of the Tyrannosauridae were put into the spotlight – the likes of Daspletosaurus torosus allowing the evidence for the mobbing of herbivores (Chasmosaurus belli), reflecting what scientists have observed Komodo dragons doing, only scaled up to nine metre long Theropods.

It was a bad night for Ceratopsians all round with Centrosaurs getting caught up in a raging torrent and dying in their hundreds – a vivid explanation of bone bed formation.  The bizarre Abelisaurids, those dominant predators of the southern hemisphere were brought to life with a feature on the cannibalistic Majungasaurus (we still prefer the synonym Majungatholus).

An interesting programme that did its best to update viewers on how our understanding of the apex predators of the Dinosauria has moved on since “Walking with Dinosaurs”.

Rex Appeal (BBC 4 at 9pm)

Part of the BBC's dinosaur season, “Rex Appeal” is an hour long programme that examines how dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals have been depicted in the cinema.  Director John MacLaverty provides a fun and informative insight into the history of dinosaurs in the movies, part of the BBC's season of dinosaur programmes.

The enduring appeal of dinosaurs in cinema, beginning with the cartoon Apatosaurus in the 1914 animation Gertie. The creatures have not only been used to reflect contemporary anxieties, including how Jurassic Park's fears of DNA manipulation mirrored arguments about genetically modified crops, but have featured prominently in the development of special effects, from Willis O'Brien's work on King Kong to the advent of CGI in the 1990s.

Look out for a few familiar friends behind the various talking heads, as supplied by Everything Dinosaur.  This programme will be repeated on BBC 4 three times over the next few days or so.  What with the third episode of “Planet Dinosaur” being shown tonight (Last Killers), with a film to follow called “When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth” there is a feast of Dinosauria on our screens tonight.

New Research Challenges Theory of Hibernating Dinosaurs in Polar Regions

It is now known that dinosaurs inhabited the polar regions during the Mesozoic.  Recent studies of Alaskan rocks dating from the Cretaceous has revealed the fossilised remains of a surprising prehistoric ecosystem with dinosaurs surviving four months of near total darkness in what would have been the Arctic winter.  In the southern hemisphere the fossils excavated from the famous Dinosaur Cove and East Gippsland sites have provided palaeontologists with data on dinosaurs that inhabited the southern polar forests – small Hypsilophodonts such as Leaellynasaurua, Qantassaurus and the bizarrely named Atlascopcosaurus.

It had been suggested that dinosaurs hibernated to escape the worst of the cold weather, as although the polar regions were much warmer than today, temperatures would have fallen below freezing in the long cold, totally dark winters.

However, a study of fossilised dinosaur bones from Victoria (Australia) have revealed that dinosaurs which once lived in the Antarctic Circle were little different to those living in other parts of the southern hemisphere when it came to staying active year-round.  This new evidence suggests that polar residents may not have hibernated.

During the Cretaceous Period Australia was much further South than it is today, and parts of it sat inside the Antarctic Circle.  This meant that it would have experienced total darkness for many months of the year and the conifer and fern forests would have been affected by frosts and falls in temperature to below freezing.

In a paper published in the online scientific journal PLoS One, a joint US and Australian research team challenge the hibernating dinosaurs theory, as, with the discovery of more dinosaur bones from Victoria they have more fossil bones to study and they question their previous hypothesis that some dinosaurs may have hibernated in order to survive the harsher winter climate.

An Illustration of a Hypsilophodontid Dinosaur

Picture Credit: Ralph S Coventry Associates

The Hypsilophodontids were a very successful group of Ornithopods.  Most were small and cursorial, living in the shadow of larger herbivores such as the Iguanodonts.  Interpretations of Hypsilophodont fossil bones discovered on the Isle of Wight led some palaeontologists to be believe that these nimble creatures were arboreal.  Scientists now doubt whether these animals were tree dwellers – however, discoveries made in China and North America suggest that a number of dinosaur genera were adapted to a life in the trees.

The 'hibernation hypothesis' was based on the presence or absence of tree-ring-like growth markings, called lines of arrested growth (LAGs), in cross sections of fossilised bones.  LAGs can be used to determine the age of an animal; they form as a result of an animal's slowed metabolic processes, such as those experienced during hibernation.

All but the smallest dinosaurs were found to have LAGs, the researchers revealed in the study, the smallest dinosaurs being juveniles experiencing rapid growth, which slowed down as these animals reached maturity.

The physiology of these “polar” dinosaurs “strongly resembled” that of their warmer-clime cousins, says study co-author Professor Patricia Vickers-Rich at Monash University.

She stated:

“Based on bone microstructure alone, we can say that the dinosaurs living near the South Pole were not physiologically different from dinosaurs living anywhere else in the world during that time.  This tells us something very interesting: that basically from the very start, early dinosaurs, or even the ancestors of dinosaurs, evolved a physiology that allowed an entire group of animals to successfully exploit a multitude of environmental conditions.”

Co-author Dr Thomas Rich of Museum Victoria in Melbourne, stated that with more fossils excavated from sites such as Dinosaur Cove,  being able to study additional fossils led to a “change in ideas”.  He explained that their earlier investigations, published thirteen years ago, relied on observations from just two species.  The researchers had been trying to figure out when animals developed the ability to hibernate to cope with extreme cold periods.

For the new study, the researchers analysed bones from perhaps as many as eighteen species of dinosaur, mostly Hypsilophodontids (two-legged, plant-eating dinosaurs) that lived 112-100 million years ago, in the Early Cretaceous.  The palaeontologists remain unsure as to just how many Hypsilophodontid species the fossil bones represent, as the fossils are “mined” out of the cliff face and are fragmentary.

University of Queensland paleontologist Dr Steve Salisbury, who was not involved in the study, is not surprised by these findings.  He explains that LAGs are not exclusive to hibernators.

“Most exothermic animals – those that depend on environment for regulation of body temperature, such as crocodiles, turtles, various lizards – go through periods of faster growth and slower growth.”

Dinosaur bone growth would most likely have been linked to the seasons.  Slower bone growth (and therefore, LAGs) is likely to occur during cooler seasons and when resources are in short supply. 

Dr. Salisbury added:

“Gradually evidence is emerging, and a better understanding of dinosaur growth and physiology is showing that [the hibernating dinosaur theory] was a good story at the time, but it probably doesn't hold up today.”

He continued stating  that whilst the many months of darkness would have been an issue, climatic conditions were probably not as harsh as found near the poles today.

“These dinosaurs existed when Australia was still connected to Antarctica and there was no Southern Ocean encircling Antarctica, which meant that warm tropical currents could circulate down to very high latitudes and that would have kept the continent much warmer than it is now.”

While the revelations discount the hibernation theory, they still don't give the whole story about the differences in dinosaurs that lived around the poles and those that didn't.   Dinosaurs may have been very similar to their relatives living in lower latitudes according to this analysis of microstructure in fossilised Ornithopod and Theropod bones, but they may have behaved differently.  Perhaps these animals huddled together to keep warm, this would have resulted in a more social, pack animal.  Perhaps these dinosaurs did not hibernate fully but like modern crocodiles facing harsh environmental conditions they entered into a state of torpor – estivation.

It is interesting to note that as far as we at Everything Dinosaur know, birds don't hibernate.  They do migrate to avoid harsh weather, perhaps a number of dinosaurs were seasonal visitors to the polar regions, exploiting the continuous plant growth encouraged by the twenty-four hours of daylight experienced in the polar summers.  However, these small Hypsilophodontids were too small to migrate far, they may have been permanent residents which brings in the intriguing possibilities of endothermy and feathered dinosaurs (feathers primarily for insulation).

Planet Dinosaur – Book Review

The new dinosaur discoveries, the huge, the tiny, the weird and the wonderful are revealed in remarkable detail in this book “Planet Dinosaur – The Next Generation of Giant Killers” that has been produced to accompany the BBC television series.  Team members at Everything Dinosaur, were asked to write a review and true to our word here it is.

It is more than ten years since the ground-breaking BBC television series “Walking with Dinosaurs” was first broadcast on BBC1.  Now, 2011 brings the much anticipated “Planet Dinosaur” to our screens, an opportunity to highlight some of the amazing dinosaur discoveries that have been made over the last decade or so.  Accompanying the 1999 television series a book entitled “Walking with Dinosaurs – A Natural History” was published, in a continuation of this trend, BBC Books have produced a companion to “Planet Dinosaur” and what a visual feast it proves to be.

It may be just a blink in geological time since 1999, but this new publication is strikingly different from its predecessor.  For example, “Walking with Dinosaurs – A Natural History” followed the format of the television programmes very closely.  Each of the six chapters was dedicated to telling the story and introducing the prehistoric animals and the science behind them from a particular episode of the TV series.  “Planet Dinosaur – The Next Generation of Giant Killers”; in contrast, focuses on the prehistoric animals and the palaeontology, with the use of a graphic novel style layout to highlight elements taken from individual television programmes.

Each of the main protagonists from the television series is given its own double page fact file – a vast array of amazing prehistoric creatures many of whom have been discovered since 1999.  A highly detailed CGI image is surrounded by notes providing information about long extinct animals as diverse as Microraptor – a dinosaur that could glide and predator X a huge, marine reptile so new to science that it has yet to be formally named and described.

In contrast to the “Walking with Dinosaurs” publication,  the majority of the animals featured are described using their binomial scientific name, that is, the genus and species name as if to reaffirm the publisher's desire to provide a strong scientific undercurrent to the narrative. 

The Front Cover of “Planet Dinosaur”

Picture Credit: Ebury Publishing

A handy pronunciation guide is provided, a boon to parents and grand-parents who will no doubt be persuaded to read alongside their dinosaur obsessed younger family members.

One slight criticism we proffer in what is generally an excellent book, towards the end of the 238 pages there is a small section that attempts to place the prehistoric animals featured in the television series into context with geological time.  We could take issue with the dates given for some of the geological periods, indeed there seems to be some discrepancies over the dates given in this section with those stated in the introduction, but our main gripe is that the Triassic has been omitted from the time-line altogether.  This may be expediency on behalf of the publishers, as the television series focuses almost exclusively on the work of palaeontologists studying creatures that lived during the later part of the Mesozoic Era – the Jurassic and the Cretaceous.

Just as certain as planet Earth having been subjected to extraterrestrial impacts, this beautifully illustrated book will prove to be very popular amongst avid dinosaur fans.  Its clever combination of stunning images and scientific detail  will also intrigue and inform the casual reader, keen to see how the science of palaeontology and our understanding of the prehistoric world has moved on. Highly recommended.

Planet Dinosaur – The Next Generation of Giant Killers

A definite requirement for the Christmas stockings of dinosaur fans this book, published to accompany the six-part BBC documentary series “Planet Dinosaur” is packed full of information and facts about the prehistoric creatures featured in the programmes.

Broken down into six chapters, although not reflecting the format of the television episodes, this 238-page volume updates readers on the progress made by palaeontologists over the last ten years as they uncover new evidence about dinosaurs and other ancient creatures from the past.

Despite the title, it is not just meat-eaters, or indeed dinosaurs that feature.  For example, there is an in-depth assessment of the fossil evidence to support Argentinosaurus (A. huinculensis), a herbivore, as being the biggest land animal known to science.  This book also features the marine reptiles Kimmerosaurus (k. langhami) and “predator X” – a giant Pliosaur, so new it has yet to be formally described.

The almost three-dimensional illustrations and the storyboard layout will appeal to dinosaur fans old and young alike.  This publication will also help to inform the curious reader interested in learning more about these long extinct creatures.  “Planet Dinosaur – The Next Generation of Giant Killers” helps to put the flesh on the bones of the animals featured in the television series.