All about dinosaurs, fossils and prehistoric animals by Everything Dinosaur team members.
12 03, 2010

Pachycephalosaurus – the Bone-headed Dinosaur

By |2023-01-03T07:29:37+00:00March 12th, 2010|Dinosaur Fans, Everything Dinosaur News and Updates, Main Page|0 Comments

Pachycephalosaurus wyomingensis – Late Cretaceous Bone-head

A young dinosaur fan sent us an email the other day, wanting to know why the dinosaur group known as the Pachycephalosauridae (the taxonomic name for the dinosaurs known as the bone-headed dinosaurs) were named after Pachycephalosaurus when more is known about another North American bone-headed dinosaur Stegoceras.

It is true that Stegoceras is one of the best known genera of the pachycephalosaurid family.   Dozens of skull fragments are known as when as elements of the skeleton.   Indeed, most of the reconstructions of these Late Cretaceous dinosaurs are based on the scientific information available on Stegoceras.

These particular dinosaurs were among the last of the dinosaurs to evolve.  It seems that these animals were small, bipedal dinosaurs with slight skull thickenings and as the Cretaceous progressed they evolved spectacular skull ornamentation and became much larger.

Pachycephalosaurus

Pachycephalosaurus is the largest genus of this type of bone-headed dinosaur known.  It was formerly named and described in 1943, based on skull material and studies carried out on fossils found in the northwestern part of the United States during the late 1920s and early 1930s by Charles Gilmore.  It was Gilmore who studied the first almost complete skull of this dinosaur, the fossil having been discovered in the Lance Formation of Late Cretaceous strata (Wyoming).  The name means “thick headed lizard”, very appropriate as the dome on the top of its head was over 20 cm thick (attested to by the holotype material).  As Pachycephalosaurus seemed to have the biggest bone-head of them all, this name was taken to represent this particular family of ornithischian dinosaurs.  The first references to pachycephalosaurines were used in scientific papers just a couple of years after the genus Pachycephalosaurus was formerly named.   Following a review and revision of this particular clade in 1974 the name Pachycephalosauridae was accepted as the term to describe all members of the bone-headed dinosaurs.

An Illustration of the Giant Pachycephalosaurid – Pachycephalosaurus

Pachycephalosaurus

Enter the “Boneheads” – a scale drawing of Pachycephalosaurus. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

To view a model of Pachycephalosaurus and other bone-headed dinosaurs take a look at the extensive range provided by CollectA: CollectA Age of Dinosaurs Prehistoric Life Models.

11 03, 2010

Remembering Roy Chapman Andrews – Naturalist, Adventurer and Explorer

By |2023-03-04T15:56:49+00:00March 11th, 2010|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Dinosaur Fans, Main Page, Palaeontological articles|0 Comments

Roy Chapman Andrews 1884-1960

Today, March 11th, marks the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Roy Chapman Andrews one of the most colourful and fascinating naturalists and museum scientists of the 20th century.  He led a number of pioneering expeditions to the Gobi desert of central Asia in the early 1920s and although the original objective of these scientific expeditions was to find mammal fossils, he is best remembered for the dinosaurs he helped discover.

Roy Chapman Andrews

Working for the American Museum of Natural History (New York), Roy Chapman Andrews and his colleagues on these expeditions discovered the first-known fossilised dinosaur nests and hatchlings as well as many new dinosaurs including Protoceratops, Velociraptor and Oviraptor.

To see models of Velociraptor, Protoceratops and Oviraptor: CollectA Age of Dinosaurs Popular Models.

An Oviraptorid Dinosaur Sitting on a Nest

An Oviraptor and dinosaur eggs exhibit.

An Oviraptor and its nest. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Many people believe that the real life adventures of Roy Chapman Andrews formed the basis for the fictional character Indiana Jones.

To read an article about this: Would the real Indiana Jones Please Step Forward.

Although regarded as a maverick by some academics, the contribution of Roy Chapman Andrews to the collection of the American Museum of Natural History is widely recognised.  Indeed, many of the methods and techniques pioneered by his team in the 1920s in their expeditions to remote parts of the world are still used by scientific expeditions today.

10 03, 2010

“Egg-citing” News about DNA – Ancient DNA Extracted from Fossilsed Eggs

By |2023-01-03T07:21:32+00:00March 10th, 2010|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Main Page|3 Comments

Fossilised Eggs Yield Ancient DNA

A team of scientists based at Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia, have successfully extracted DNA from fossilised eggshells.  This breakthrough in ancient DNA extraction may permit researchers to understand the taxonomic relationships between long extinct birds and their modern relatives, as well as helping them to learn more about extinct species.

The research team were able to successfully recover genetic material from the eggs of several different species of extinct birds, the size and thickness of the egg shell did not seem to inhibit the extraction process with DNA being extracted from both thick and thin eggshells.  In a study that has been written up in the scientific publication “The Proceedings of the Royal Society B (Biology)”; a number of fossilised eggs from Australia, New Zealand and Madagascar were analysed and DNA successfully extracted from the internal membranes of the eggshell.

The study also demonstrated that by using eggshell, accurate radiocarbon dating of specimens could be carried out and an insight gained as to the environmental conditions prevalent at the time the eggs were laid.

A Dinosaur Egg (Theropod)

A dinosaur egg fossil.

A dinosaur egg (believed to be from a theropod dinosaur). Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The oldest egg from which genetic material was extracted was a 19,000 year old emu egg.  Other bird species whose eggshells were analysed include the Giant Moa of New Zealand and the Elephant Bird – Aepyornis from Madagascar.  Although a number of media sources have claimed this breakthrough as an important step towards extracting DNA from dinosaur eggs, the creation of a real life Jurassic Park is still a very long way off.

Commenting on the research work, lead author Charlotte Oskam of Murdoch University’s DNA laboratory stated:

We were able to obtain DNA from both thin (duck) and thick (elephant bird) eggshells, which suggests that thickness may not play a significant role in the recovery of DNA from eggshells.  Furthermore, we were able to isolate DNA from eggshells from three countries, each with very different climate conditions.”

Fossilised Eggshells

Eggshells are resistant to biological and organic breakdown, as anyone who has ever put eggshells on a compost heap will tell you,  The calcium carbonate and other compounds from which eggshell is made, breaks down very slowly.  The structure deters decay and it is this property that has helped preserve genetic material in as yet not fully permineralised fossils.

Oskam explained:

“that moa eggshell has 125 times lower microbial contamination when compared to moa bone.  This highlights eggshells as an attractive substrate for ancient DNA work, especially whole genome studies.”

Although she is against reviving extinct animals, regarding it as unethical, this new technique could help preserve the genetic material of endangered egg-laying animals that are around today.  The gathered genetic information from these ancient birds, might provide better evolutionary histories for extinct species.  It could also enable researchers to non-invasively investigate the past biodiversity of many birds, including modern ones, like penguins.

It is thought that eggs laid at higher latitudes such as the Arctic or in Antarctica may have a greater preservation potential and thus yield more genetic material.

Commenting on the possibility of extracting DNA from long permineralised dinosaur eggs, Oskam added:

“It would be extremely exciting to extract DNA from a dinosaur egg,”

However, since even the most recent dinosaur egg fossils (Late Cretaceous) are something like 3,500 times older than the oldest fossil egg from which DNA was extracted in this study, the scientists admit that they are a long way from being able to gather DNA from dinosaur eggs.

A spokesperson for the researchers said:

“Since the last dinosaurs died out 65 million years ago, it is safe to say we are nowhere near approaching these sorts of ages.”

The results of the analysis of this palaeogenetic data will help the team interpret the relationship between many of these ancient bird species and how they fared once modern humans interacted with them.  The information produced may provide further compelling evidence of the role of man in the extinction of these species of birds, many of whom where flightless and vulnerable to hunting pressure.

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

9 03, 2010

Lest We Forget Iguanodon

By |2023-01-03T07:17:09+00:00March 9th, 2010|Dinosaur Fans, Everything Dinosaur News and Updates, Main Page|0 Comments

New Iguanodon Model from Bullyland of Germany

Model collectors and fans of the Ornithopoda have several Iguanodon dinosaur models to choose from.  A new addition to the Bullyland range – a replica of an Iguanodon.

So much interest has been generated by the introduction of the long awaited Giganotosaurus replica from Bullyland of Germany that their second new introduction seems to have been somewhat overlooked.  Admittedly, the new Giganotosaurus from this German manufacturer is a fascinating insight into the current thinking on this, the largest theropod known from the fossil record to date.

To see the wide range of Bullyland prehistoric animal figures: Bullyland Dinosaur Models.

However, the 1:30 scale model of Giganotosaurus represents just half of Bullyland’s new prehistoric animal model output for 2010, also launched this year is an updated version of that perennial favourite, Iguanodon.

There are numerous models and replicas of Iguanodon on the market.  After all, it was the second member of the Dinosauria clade to be scientifically described, although since its formal scientific description the Iguanodon genus has become something of a “taxonomic wastebasket”.

Everything Dinosaur stocks an enormous range of dinosaur and prehistoric animal models and figures.  There are many different iguanodontid replicas available.

To view the models section of Everything Dinosaur’s award-winning website, where the iguanodontid figures can be found: Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal Models.

Iguanodon Dinosaur Models

This new interpretation of a large ornithopod, shows Iguanodon in a quadrupedal pose, scientists are quite certain that most Iguanodontids were facultative bipeds, that is, if they chose they could run on their hind legs, however, they mostly moved around on all fours.

The New Bullyland Iguanodon Model

Iguanodon dinosaur models.

The new Bullyland Iguanodon dinosaur model.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

A New Iguanodon Model

This new Iguanodon interpretation keeps up the fine tradition of Bullyland models, it is very well painted and the striped flanks, rump and tail are representative of recent work carried out on ornithopod colouration and markings.  This model even has a pose-able left forelimb so that the thumb spike can be raised in a defensive posture.  The manufacture of articulated dinosaur models is a new innovation for Bullyland, it is interesting to speculate about what new introductions may result next year as a result of this development.

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8 03, 2010

International Women’s Day 2010

By |2023-01-03T07:11:02+00:00March 8th, 2010|Dinosaur Fans, Everything Dinosaur News and Updates, Main Page|1 Comment

International Women’s Day 2010

Today, the 8th of March is commemorated around the world as International Women’s Day, recognising the role of women in the world and highlighting social, welfare and other issues surrounding equal rights.  Although the origins of this day go back to 1910, the campaign for gender equality goes on and March 8th is a day on which the role of women in society, within the arts, sciences and other fields of human achievement can be recognised and celebrated.

International Women’s Day

Within the field of palaeontology and other Earth sciences there are a number of notable women academics who have pushed the boundaries of our understanding of pre-history.  For example, Marie Stopes, the famous suffragette and pioneer of birth control was a highly respected palaeobotanist.  She was the first female science lecturer at Manchester University.  An authority on fossil plants, Marie published a number of important papers during her studies in England and Germany.  Staff at Everything Dinosaur have been privileged to have been given the opportunity to see for ourselves some of the fossil specimens that this gifted woman and leading campaigner in women’s health issues worked on.

Everything Dinosaur Recognises the Role Women Play in Science

Celebrating women in science.  International women's day.

A collection of women scientists part of a poster montage spotted during a school visit. Celebrating International Women’s Day. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Tomorrow is the anniversary of the death of Mary Anning, a pioneering English fossil collector who was responsible for helping to shape our understanding of Jurassic fauna.  Amongst Mary’s important discoveries was the first English plesiosaur and the first fossils of a flying reptile to be found in the United Kingdom.

To view models of plesiosaurs and replicas of other prehistoric animals that represent creatures discovered by Mary Anning: Sea Monsters and Marine Reptile Models.

Events Around the World

A number of events have been held around the world, celebrating the role of women in society and their achievements, one thing is for certain, the Earth sciences owe a great deal to the brave and dedicated women who helped develop our understanding and to their fellow female scientists who continue this work today.

7 03, 2010

Fake Reviews on Websites – Everything Dinosaur’s Point of View

By |2023-01-03T07:06:07+00:00March 7th, 2010|Everything Dinosaur News and Updates, Main Page, Press Releases|0 Comments

Fake Reviews on E-tail Websites – Everything Dinosaur’s Point of View

Everything Dinosaur receives hundreds of emails from customers, we get feedback on our customer service and products. Every single one of our reviews is genuine.

I suppose it had to happen sooner rather than later, after all, it probably happens on other websites, we received a product review from a customer who praised the particular product they had purchased from our website but then commented that the other product reviews related to that item were made up.

Genuine Reviews

The truth is we get hundreds of compliments from customers and very positive feedback from those people who have purchased from Everything Dinosaur, or just asked for some dinosaur information, or help with a school project and such like.

Our company is made up of parents, teachers and real dinosaur experts, when we set up the business more than five years ago we drafted a set of articles that we as a company would abide by.  These principles, are our very own memorandum of association, setting out how we would run Everything Dinosaur, fundamentally we wanted to have a organisation that we could be proud of, what we stood for mattered to us.  Indeed, if we ourselves could not be passionate about what we do and what we stand for then how could we expect anybody else to be on our behalf.

The ability to post up feedback and comments on the website was a development first introduced into our website upgrade in 2008, the revised and expanded system operating today, the result of yet another upgrade, retained the “write a review/feedback” section as we felt that this was an important element.  Prior to this there was no facility for customers to publish the nice things they said about us, or indeed for Everything Dinosaur team members to put online comments and feedback received and we wanted to rectify this.

Unfortunately, when we changed servers a few months ago, much of the feedback and comments received could not be transferred over.  We lost much of the input from customers and clients of the company as a result.  However, slowly but surely the site is becoming populated once again by feedback.  This may be a slow process, to date we have had published on our website 146 product reviews and comments since the new server system was installed on the 6th May 2009.  This works out at approximately one customer review or comment every two days or so.  We are grateful and very appreciative of every one that we receive.

Customer Feedback

Perhaps it would be helpful if we outlined our policy on customer feedback and comments, as we do put quite a lot of work into this area of our business and indeed a great deal of what we do is influenced and directed by the comments we receive.

For every order that we send out where a feedback postal service is available, we include a feedback form and a FREEPOST envelope.  We get quite a few of these everyday and, as part of our work in the company, each morning those that we have received are reviewed and then split between us so that we can respond in person to any comments or suggestion that might require a personal reply.

As subscribers to the UK Data Protection Act (Registration number: Z9024867), we have a tick-box element on the form, so that customers can advise us whether or not they would like to be included in our newsletter and product information database.  Above this part of the feedback survey, there is a section where customers can provide comments, ideas, suggestions and such like.  Every form that comes into us, is read and discussed by the team members and it is from these comments that many of the feedback and comments published at the Everything Dinosaur are sourced.  In addition, since every order placed with us is responded to by a team member sending a personal email to the customer, we do get quite a lot of feedback and comments electronically.  If this is the case, we email the customer again, encouraging them to leave a comment on the website, we include in our reply a link to the product(s) in question so that the customer can write a view on the page of the item that they have purchased.

Feedback from Collectors

With the models that we supply, we tend to get a lot of feedback from collectors and dinosaur enthusiasts.  Many of the new introductions have waiting lists of customers, who have requested that we reserve a particular model for them.  When the models come in these people are contacted and often when they have received the model we get some comments back either via an email reply to our earlier correspondence or via the feedback form.

We can understand why some more cynical people could perceive portions of the feedback as being made up, this may be a practice found on other commercial sites.  For us however, it is a full time job, responding to and working with the customer letters, comments, reviews and everything else that we do receive, so we don’t have time to fabricate any.

Let me close by putting up the latest comment received by Everything Dinosaur.  Yesterday, we only had one feedback form in our Saturday morning post.  This form had been sent into us by a lady called Haidee from London.

Customer Feedback sent into Everything Dinosaur

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

I think the above feedback, speaks volumes for our company and everything we stand for.  Our thanks to all those people who take the time and trouble to give us feedback and place comments/reviews on our website.

A Teaching Feedback Form Received by Everything Dinosaur

No fake reviews at Everything Dinosaur.

Every review posted is genuine feedback from a member of the teaching team.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

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

6 03, 2010

Debate over Ida Rumbles On – Darwinius masillae

By |2023-01-03T06:56:57+00:00March 6th, 2010|Main Page, Palaeontological articles|0 Comments

Darwinius masillae Ancestor of Lemurs not Humans say Scientists

The debate over Darwinius masillae continues as scientists conclude that “Ida” was an ancestor of lemurs and not hominins.

Ever since the beautifully preserved fossil of 47-million-year-old primate nicknamed “Ida” was revealed to the world, the analysis and interpretation of this fossil has attracted controversy.  Heralded at the time as the “missing link” between ancient primates and that particular part of the primate lineage that would eventually lead to our own species, the fossil when it was formerly presented to the world at the American Museum of Natural History (New York) attracted huge interest.  However, the claim that this particular fossil represented our ancient ancestor has been already challenged and a new paper published this week supports the view that “Ida” is related to the lemurs and not a direct link to Homo sapiens.

Darwinius masillae

The fossil was originally discovered in 1983, in the famous Messel shales of Germany, a location renowned for superbly preserved early Tertiary fossils.  The original specimen was split in half when it was found, as the private individuals who discovered the specimen thought that the part and counterparts of the fossil would make more money if they were sold in separate lots.

These specimens ended up in different museum collections.  In addition, in order to enhance the value of one of the plates, it was embellished a little by the restoration team before being offered for sale.  Unfortunately, in the world of fossil dealing, this is quite common practice, it is amazing how much value can be added with a bit of a “scrape and a polish”.  One part of Ida – the nickname given to the fossil by those scientists who got the chance to prepare the fossil for display, ended up in the USA, the second part was sold to the Natural History Museum of University of Oslo.  It was a Norwegian team, led by John (Jorn) Hurum of the Natural History Museum (Oslo) that published the scientific paper claiming that Ida represented a link on the evolutionary history of our species.

One of the comments attributed to Dr Hurum was that Ida represented:

“the closest thing we can get to a direct ancestor”.

To read more about the announcement of the fossil discovery: The Relationship between Hominids and Lemurs – Darwinius masillae.

There was certainly a great deal of hyperbole and publicity when the fossil was revealed to the world at the special media event held in New York last May.  Pictures of Ida were published around the world, with the Norwegian scientists being interviewed on national television, A&E purchased the rights to make a documentary and a number of news and media companies signed agreements to cover “Ida” and her story.

Some Examples of Remarkable Messel Shale Fossils

Part of the Messel gallery (Senckenberg Museum).

The atmospheric Messel gallery at the Senckenberg Museum (Frankfurt).

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

There was even a documentary shown on the BBC, narrated by Sir David Attenborough.  The fuss over this particular discovery was quite extraordinary.  Although, with the various events scheduled to take place in 2009 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin, it was not surprising that this “missing link” would attract such worldwide attention.

However, it was not long before the scientific community, once having had the chance to formerly review the research papers, began to unpick the Norwegian team’s hypothesis

Dr Jens Franzen, an expert on Germany’s Messel shale fossils,  questioned the link to humans and stated:

“She belongs to the group from which humans developed, but my impression is she is not on the direct line”.

To read one of the articles, a rebuttle of the Norwegian teams’ work: The Debate over “Ida” Hots Up.

Ida does represent the most complete primate discovered to date, although the light and delicate nature of the fossil and the bones having been crushed during the preservation means that individual portions cannot be handled.  Radiographs (x-rays) have revealed a lot of information, for example, the jaw has adult teeth emerging giving an indication of the age of the animal.  The pelvic girdle suggests female and so the scientists studying “Ida” have concluded that she was an independent, fully weaned sub-adult that died in her first year of life.  She did not possess claws but had nails (just like we do) and would have been quite at home in the trees of the Messel rain-forest.

Ida was approximately 50 centimetres long, half of this length was made up of the tail.  If she had reached full adult size she would have still weighed less than 2 kilogrammes.  Darwinius masillae is a very significant discovery.  It is the most complete primate fossil found to date and will permit scientists to study her life history, diet and locomotion. Undoubtedly, any future study of early Palaeogene primates will benefit from the work done on “Ida”.

However, a new study carried out by scientists based at Duke University, (North Carolina – USA), and published in the Journal of Human Evolution also challenges the conclusions drawn by the first analysis of this fossilised primate.

Visiting Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology Blythe Williams and her colleagues contest the earlier findings and dispute the argument that Darwinius masillae was a “missing link”.

Commenting on the original paper published by Dr Hurum and his team, she stated;

“The problems with the manuscript jumped out immediately.  Yes, Darwinius masillae is, indeed, a very complete, 47-million-year-old fossil.  But that doesn’t mean it overthrows the incredibly extensive body of research that we have already built up.”

Dr Hurum and his colleagues are believed to be working on a response to rebuff the latest arguments that have been put forward, challenging their earlier findings.  It seems that the debate over the fantastically well preserved fossil of Ida is going to run and run.  The whole issue has become somewhat blurred as a result of the excessive media interest and indeed the large sums of money thrown at the scientists for exclusive book, film and television rights.  When Darwin first published his famous book “The Origin of Species”, it created a Victorian media storm, it seems that more than 200 years after Darwin’s birth a fossil named after him is going to be doing the same thing for some time to come.

Everything Dinosaur stocks a wide variety of prehistoric animal models including replicas from the Eocene.  To view this range: Replicas of Prehistoric Mammals.

5 03, 2010

The Red Headed League

By |2023-03-04T19:54:24+00:00March 5th, 2010|Dinosaur Fans, Educational Activities, Everything Dinosaur News and Updates, Main Page|0 Comments

Red Colouration in Predatory Dinosaurs

Team members at Everything Dinosaur explore the idea that there was red colouration in predatory dinosaurs.

Evidence suggests that dinosaurs had good colour vision, studies of brain cases can provide an indication of the volume of the brain and analysis of the preserved holes in the skull that carried the nerves back and forth can suggest which senses were important.  For example, with Tyrannosaurus rex the orbits in the skull (eye sockets) were large compared proportionately with other reptiles, birds and mammals.  Some scientists have postulated that the big tyrannosaurs had the largest eyes of any land animal.  The optic nerve of T. rex has been estimated to be more than 2 cm in diameter, indicating that a lot of information was being passed from the eyes to the brain.

Red Colouration

Crocodiles and birds have colour vision, indeed some birds, most notably the raptors have exceptional eyesight – hence the phrase “eyes like a hawk”.  Recent discoveries have shown that many dinosaurs may have been brightly coloured, so colours of plumage and scales may have been very important to the Dinosauria.  A recent paper, published on behalf of a group of British and Chinese scientists even suggested that some small, theropod dinosaurs were ginger coloured.

To read more about “ginger” dinosaurs: Melanosomes Provide Further Proof of Feathered Dinosaurs.

With the theory that dinosaurs had good colour vision; model makers and manufacturers can go to town with the colours and patterns they put onto their various dinosaur replicas and toys.  Just like animals today, many dinosaurs would have been camouflaged or patterned in a particular way, natural selection favouring those creatures that were best adapted to their environments.  Other dinosaurs may have used colour to communicate with other members of their species or to threaten or intimidate predators and prey.

An example, of a novel use of colour can be seen in the new scale model of the fearsome meat-eater Giganotosaurus by Bullyland of Germany.  This hand-painted 1:30 scale model is painted a mixture of dark green and mustard on the tail, the back and the flanks, but the head and the throat has been depicted in a contrasting, bright red pigment.

The Giganotosaurus Model from Bullyland of Germany

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

To view the Bullyland range of prehistoric animal figures: Bullyland Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal Models.

Bullyland Giganotosaurus

This is a large model, of a large carnivorous dinosaur.  Indeed, based on the fossil evidence, Giganotosaurus may be one of the largest meat-eating dinosaurs of all time.  Fossils excavated from Patagonia in Argentina (remarkably 70% of an adult skeleton is known), indicate that these animals may have reached lengths in excess of 50 feet.  The bright red head is very striking when compared to the rest of the body and at first glance this looks like an unusual choice of colouration for a model of an apex predator, especially when considered in context with other data known about Giganotosaurus.

Studies have shown that the ratio of the thigh bone to the lower leg bones indicate that this dinosaur was not a particularly fast runner.  It probably specialised in hunting the large long-necked, slow moving titanosaurs.

But why the red head?  There has been a lot of controversy over whether large theropod dinosaurs were hunters or mainly scavengers.  The American palaeontologist John “Jack” Horner has championed the hypothesis that these large creatures were primarily scavengers.  The hunter versus scavenger debate continues today, with advocates citing evidence from both extinct and extant creatures to support their point of view.  In all likelihood, a large carnivore such as T. rex or Giganotosaurus would not turn down the opportunity of a free meal if it came across a carcase.  So it is quite likely that these animals were opportunist scavengers to some extent.

Those predators that could chase off other carnivores and steal their kills would have a distinct advantage.  This behaviour is seen in Africa today, with, for example hyenas chasing off lions and robbing them of their hunting spoils.  A big theropod, with a strikingly marked head appearing on the scene could intimidate other predators and scare them away from their meal.

Hence the reason for the bright markings on the head of the Giganotosaurus model.  Smaller allosaurs confronted with a large 40 foot plus predator roaring, and flashing its large teeth in its huge jaws with some vigorous head bobbing would have probably been enough to see off even the most determined and hungry dinosaur.

4 03, 2010

Mass Extinction Event at end of Cretaceous was Caused by Extraterrestrial Impact

By |2023-01-03T06:45:16+00:00March 4th, 2010|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Geology, Main Page|0 Comments

Dinosaurs Wiped out by Extraterrestrial Impact

An international panel of experts having reviewed the current evidence related to the Cretaceous mass extinction event have come down strongly on the side of those scientists that claim it was a huge space impact that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs.

Cretaceous Mass Extinction Event

The team of experts published their conclusions following a review of the last twenty year’s research into the extinction event located at the K/T boundary.  Their findings were discussed at the 41st Lunar and Planetary Science Conference held in Texas.

According to this eminent group, the dinosaurs, flying reptiles, marine reptiles and a number of other major groups of animals became extinct 66 million years ago, when an extraterrestrial object, an asteroid or meteorite, smashed into the Gulf of Mexico.  This huge rocky object, estimated at over 10 kilometres wide; blasted a hole more than 100 kilometres across in the Earth’s crust and hit the Earth with the estimated force of 100 million hydrogen bombs.  Geophysical analysis of the Chicxulub crater (the site of the impact), suggests that the object from space was travelling at more than 30 kilometres a second when it crashed into the sea.  Analysis of the impact crater suggests that this object approached at a low angle from the southeast, a furrow in the south west segment of the crater provides the tell-tale evidence of the direction of the impact.

Space Impact Theory

The first scientists to put forward the theory of a space impact causing the mass extinction event marking the end of the age of reptiles and wiping out approximately 50% of all the species on the planet was father and son team, Luis and Walter Alvarez.  In 1980, they publicised the discovery of a worldwide layer of clay rich in the rare element iridium.  They speculated that the iridium had been deposited as the result of a huge collision with a large, rocky object from outer space.  A number of theories for the demise of much of the mega fauna approximately 65 million years ago have been put forward.  A strong candidate was the potential global catastrophe caused by repeated volcanic eruptions in India – the Deccan Traps.  The changes in the climate would have had a significant impact on life on Earth, but the scientists meeting in Texas have strongly endorsed the space impact theory as being the primary cause of the death of the likes of Tyrannosaurus rex, the ammonites and the mosasaurs.

Commenting on this new report, Dr Gareth Collins from the Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College London stated:

“The asteroid was about the size of the Isle of Wight and hit Earth 20 times faster than a speeding bullet.  The explosion of hot rock and gas would have looked like a huge ball of fire on the horizon, grilling any living creature in the immediate vicinity that couldn’t find shelter.  Ironically, while this hellish day signalled the end of the 160 million year reign of the dinosaurs, it turned out to be a great day for mammals, who had lived in the shadow of the dinosaurs prior to this event.  The KT extinction was a pivotal moment in Earth’s history, which ultimately paved the way for humans to become the dominant species on Earth.”

The object from space would have caused fire storms and earthquakes, and blasted material high into the atmosphere, blocking out the Sun to trigger a “nuclear winter” that would have killed off much of the Earth’s life in a matter of days.

Scientists have speculated that most of the large animals in North America would have perished within a short period of time following the impact.  Other types of creature, living in areas further away from the impact would have become extinct over a longer period of time.  Ammonites for example, already under pressure according to the lack of fossils and lack of diversity of genera in Upper Cretaceous sediments may have persisted for another 250,000 years before finally becoming completely extinct.

An Ammonite Fossil and a Replica

We spotted a Bullyland ammonite model being used to help illustrate a display of ammonite fossils. Ammonite replicas.

The iconic ammonite!  These cephalopods may have persisted for a few thousand years after the impact event before finally becoming extinct. A Bullyland ammonite model is used to help illustrate a display of ammonite fossils. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The model shown above is a Bullyland ammonite replica. To view the Bullyland range of prehistoric animal figures: Bullyland Prehistoric Animal Models and Figures.

Last year, we reported on the publishing of a scientific paper that refuted the claim that an extraterrestrial collision caused the mass extinction.  It seems that this debate is set to continue for a long time.

To read the article challenging the impact theory: Published Study Rejects Asteroid Impact Theory.

In another controversial twist to the arguments being presented, a team of scientists from the U. S. Geological Survey, published a paper last year on their research into the survival of some types of dinosaur into the Cenozoic.  This team reported on the findings of hadrosaur fossils that may have been found in post-Cretaceous strata.  Whether this was evidence of some types of dinosaur surviving the mass extinction event or whether this is evidence of fossil re-deposition has been hotly debated.

To read more about dinosaurs surviving beyond the Cretaceous: Did some Dinosaurs survive into the Palaeogene?

3 03, 2010

Dinosaurs Around 10 Million Years Earlier than Previously Thought

By |2023-03-04T19:56:11+00:00March 3rd, 2010|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Main Page|0 Comments

Fossil Evidence from Tanzania Provides New Insight into Dinosaur Evolution

The Triassic is regarded as a transitional period in the evolution of vertebrates, the Permian mass extinction event devastated the mega fauna of planet Earth, with something like 95% of all species becoming extinct.  It was into this brave, new world of the Triassic, that the ancestors of the dinosaurs evolved and they, plus their archosaur relatives were soon to dominate life on land for many millions of years.

The first dinosaur fossils have been dated to approximately 230 million years ago, but a team of scientists working in Tanzania (Africa) have uncovered evidence of the closest relatives of the Dinosauria in much older rocks dating to the Early Triassic.  This latest discovery, reported in the scientific publication “Nature” pushes back the origin of the dinosaurs by at least 10 million years.

Dinosaur Evolution

Although the exact evolutionary lineage of the dinosaurs is still debated, it is clear that by approximately 228-230 million years ago a number of different types of dinosaur had evolved.  One of the better known early dinosaurs is Herrerasaurus.  Herrerasaurus (H. ishigualestensis), was a large theropod dinosaur named and described in 1988 when skull material of this dinosaur species was found.  Other elements of the skeleton had been discovered in 1959, but with the skull; a more positive description of this early, meat-eater could be made.

An Illustration of the Early Carnivore Herrerasaurus

Herrerasaurus scale drawing.

Herrerasaurus drawing.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

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