February, 2015 | Everything Dinosaur Blog

5 02, 2015

Pliocene/Pleistocene Climate Studies Supports Current Climate Change Models

By Mike|2023-03-24T06:26:14+00:00February 5th, 2015|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories|0 Comments

Analysis of Ancient CO2 Levels Reaffirms Current Climate Change Models

A team of international researchers, including scientists from the universities of Bristol and Southampton have analysed ancient levels of carbon dioxide and used this information to reaffirm current predictions about climate change as made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It may be some consolation to know that a study of ancient climates and their related atmospheric CO2 levels does indeed indicate that our planet is likely to respond as predicted to rising levels of this green house gas.

Climate Studies

Two sources of prehistoric data were used, each one helping the scientists to piece together a picture of fluctuating warm and cold periods as the Pliocene Epoch led into the much cooler Pleistocene. In a scientific paper, published in the journal “Nature”, the research team report on the level of CO2 recorded following a study of ancient marine plankton fossils taken from core samples drilled into the sea floor.

The shells of these microscopic creatures provide information on how the world’s climate fluctuated several times over one million years from around 3.3 million years ago. This data was then cross referenced using CO2 taken from bubbles of ancient atmosphere trapped in ice drilled from both the North and South Poles.

Rising Levels of Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide

The IPCC predictions as to how the Earth will respond to rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide are verified by this new research. It was during the Pliocene, that the hominins diversified rapidly and the climate fluctuations, periods of intense cold perhaps lasting as long as 100,000 years interspersed with much warmer phases, may have acted as the spur to help these very early humans to migrate out of Africa and to spread further afield.

Scientists know that the Earth’s climate has fluctuated widely over the last 1.8 million years (start of the Pleistocene Epoch). Temperature, annual rainfall and carbon dioxide levels have all varied cyclically. By studying the relationship between climate change and CO2 levels during the generally warmer Pliocene, the researchers have been able to assess the validity of IPCC models which attempt to predict future climate change in response to increasing levels of CO2 gas.

A Changing Planet

Commenting on the study, co-researcher Dr Gavin Foster (Southampton University) stated:

“We have shown that the change in Earth’s temperature for a given change in CO2, once the effect of the growth and retreat of the highly reflective continental ice sheets was taken into account, was not only identical during both the cold Pleistocene and the warm Pliocene periods, but was also similar to the understanding recently summarised by the IPCC.”

The implication therefore, is that as the world warms up, as in the Pliocene Epoch, the IPCC range of climate sensitivity is likely to be a suitable measure for predicting and describing the degree of warming we should expect.

Atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide have varied hugely since the Archean and although it is very much lower today than it has been for much of our Earth’s history, use of fossil fuels and deforestation have increased the concentration by as much as 35% over pre Industrial Revolution levels.

A Typical European Interglacial Landscape (Pleistocene)

A wet and boggy landscape – but things are going to get warmer. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

So we now have a model that in all likelihood seems to a reliable predictor for climate change. The trick now is to alter our behaviour and change as a species so that the worst of the climate change can be avoided.

Given our current record, some hope.

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

4 02, 2015

Schleich Mini Dinosaurs in Stock at Everything Dinosaur

By Mike|2023-03-23T21:45:59+00:00February 4th, 2015|Dinosaur Fans, Everything Dinosaur News and Updates, Everything Dinosaur Products, Main Page, Press Releases|0 Comments

The Very Collectible Schleich Mini Dinos Range

The Schleich mini dinosaur model range is now in stock at Everything Dinosaur. New for 2015, Schleich have introduced a range which consists of eight highly collectible prehistoric animal figures. The models range in size from 5.5 cm to around 7.5 cm in length and the set features seven dinosaurs and one member of the Pterosauria (flying reptile).

The Schleich Mini Dinosaurs Model Series

Can you name them all? Can you name all eight prehistoric animal models in the Schleich mini dinosaurs set?

Picture credit: Schleich /Everything Dinosaur

Schleich Mini Dinosaurs

Everything Dinosaur stocks a large range of Schleich prehistoric animal figures. To see the Schleich range of dinosaurs and other figures on Everything Dinosaur’s award-winning website: Schleich Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animal Figures.

Each one of these miniature replicas has been hand-painted and we love the different colour schemes that have been chosen. These are certainly busy times for the design team at the German manufacturer.

Highly Collectible Schleich Mini Dinosaurs

Schleich mini dinosaurs (plus one member of the Pterosauria). A set of eight prehistoric animal figures to collect.

Picture credit: Schleich/Everything Dinosaur

Eight Prehistoric Animal Figures

The models are: Velociraptor, Stegosaurus, Saichania (an armoured dinosaur from Mongolia), Tyrannosaurus rex, Triceratops, Pentaceratops (both members of the Ceratopsidae), Spinosaurus and an azhdarchid pterosaur – Quetzalcoatlus.

One of the New Mini “Dinosaurs” from Schleich

The pterosaur figure in the model series. A replica of the azhdarchid pterosaur Quetzalcoatlus.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

These new, inexpensive replicas are highly collectible as well as being ideal for creative, imaginative play.

A spokesperson for UK-based Everything Dinosaur praised the design team at Schleich and congratulated them for introducing such a colourful set of prehistoric animal figures.

The spokesperson added:

“These eight models are highly collectable and we are sure that young dinosaur fans are going to want to collect them all. These hand-painted figures are bound to be very popular.”

3 02, 2015

Prehistoric Bird Soars over Dinosaur Display

By Mike|2023-03-23T21:43:41+00:00February 3rd, 2015|Early Years Foundation Reception|Comments Off on Prehistoric Bird Soars over Dinosaur Display

School Children Model Dinosaurs and Ancient Birds

Children at Eaton Primary School had a visit from Everything Dinosaur today. The dinosaur expert explained all about fossils, how they form and what they can tell us about life in the past. The children enjoyed a very tactile and practical session (appealing to kinaesthetic learners).

Model Dinosaurs and Ancient Birds

The activities, which included a comparison between our hands and the footprints from four types of dinosaur were very well received. Whilst at the school, our sharp-eyed and observant fossil expert noticed a beautifully made model of a seabird soaring high over a part of the classroom that had been turned into a dinosaur museum. The children were amazed to learn that some types of dinosaur were very closely related to birds (Aves), Tyrannosaurus rex even had a wishbone (furcula).

Colourful Seabird Model on Display

Comparing a seabird to a flying reptile. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Dinosaur Workshop

During the dinosaur workshop, the evolutionary relationship between Aves and the Dinosauria was touched upon. The children were keen to show off their artwork and to demonstrate their knowledge by classifying dinosaurs into herbivores and carnivores. It was certainly a fun morning teaching about dinosaurs and birds in school.

Everything Dinosaur stocks a wide range of prehistoric animal models including numerous replicas of pterosaurs and other flying reptiles. In addition, our award-winning website also provides customers with the opportunity to purchase some models of prehistoric birds.

To view the models section of the user-friendly Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur Prehistoric Animal Models and Figures.

3 02, 2015

Seabirds and Pterosaurs with Reception

By Mike|2023-03-23T21:40:43+00:00February 3rd, 2015|Educational Activities, Teaching|0 Comments

Reception Class Stomping Like Dinosaurs and their Dinosaur Exhibit

Another busy day for Reception class at Eaton Primary School as they have been studying dinosaurs and other animals that lived long ago. Our dinosaur expert was very impressed with the colourful dinosaur drawings that had been posted up around the classroom.

A Dinosaur Workshop

Under the expert tutelage of teacher Mrs Duffell, ably supported by Miss Parker (Teaching Assistant), the children had been learning together, helping each other to explore prehistoric animals. Reception class had learned about fossils and how some of them are formed, they had used charcoal to create some very decorative ammonite fossil drawings, it was helpful to have ammonite fossils available for the children to handle. Some wonderful use of vocabulary as the eager young palaeontologists explored how fossils felt.

Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals

There were some very confident counters as the class compared the size of their hands to the footprints of various dinosaurs. Our dinosaur expert, who had visited the school for the morning, also had his hand measured. He was told that some dinosaurs had small feet and left small footprints, whilst other dinosaurs had massive feet and left massive, huge footprints. A lovely example of children using language to express ideas and demonstrate understanding.

Seabirds and Pterosaurs

A special dinosaur shop/exhibit had been set up in a corner of the classroom, a great location for role play. Hanging above this area was a wonderful model of a seabird, that reminded our dinosaur expert of a pterosaur (flying reptile). Pterosaurs were not dinosaurs, but they were related to the group of reptiles called the Dinosauria. Many pterosaurs adapted to life in marine habitats and just like many seabirds today, they hunted fish. Whilst the big ammonites under the water caught fish, flying over the waves pterosaurs were on the lookout for any fish foolish enough to swim close to the surface.

The seabird model, reminded us of the pterosaur called Guidraco, a flying reptile whose fossils have been found in China. The name of this flying reptile translates as “malicious ghost dragon”, with those sharp teeth even the most slippery fish would not escape.

Comparing the Model Seabird to a Pterosaur

Comparing a seabird to a flying reptile.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Guidraco Pterosaur

When it came to designing the Guidraco replica, it was suggested that since this animal lived in a marine habitat, perhaps it should be coloured in a similar way to a Puffin. The colourful crest on the pterosaur reminds us of the large, colourful beak of the seabird that hangs over the dinosaur shop area. Both Puffins and Guidraco pterosaurs ate fish and the big teeth of the pterosaur are quite impressive, but not as big as those of a meat-eating dinosaur like Tyrannosaurus rex.

A challenge was set, could the young palaeontologists work out how big a T. rex tooth was? Could they answer the question which was bigger a Tyrannosaurus rex tooth or a banana? No doubt the Reception class will have fun with this investigation and perhaps they can think of creative ways in which they could display the information.

To conclude the visit, the children performed their dinosaur stomping song, lots of fierce dinosaur expressions all around the classroom.

The Guidraco model used to compare to the Reception class seabird is the 1:4 scale CollectA Guidraco model from the company’s Supreme/Deluxe replica range: CollectA Deluxe/Supreme Prehistoric Life.

2 02, 2015

China’s Long-Necked “Dragon” Dinosaur

By Mike|2023-03-23T21:36:59+00:00February 2nd, 2015|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Dinosaur Fans|0 Comments

Could This Jurassic Mamenchisaurid Have Helped Establish Dragon Legends?

A team of researchers from Japan, China and the University of Alberta (Canada), have announced the discovery of a new species of mamenchisaurid dinosaur. A paper on the sixteen-metre-long, Middle Jurassic giant is being published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Mamenchisaurids are only known from Asia (majority of fossil finds from central China) and as far as we at Everything Dinosaur are aware, their fossilised remains have been restricted to Lower, Middle and early Late Jurassic aged strata.

Qijianglong guokr

These animals, members of the Sauropoda, may represent a radiation of Asian, long-necked dinosaurs when the continent was isolated. How this group, renowned for their extremely long necks and large front legs are related to other components of the Sauropoda remains unclear.

The fossils of this new dinosaur species were uncovered in 2006, when locals were digging a fish pond near Qijiang City, about twenty miles south of the city of Chongqing in central China, although some vertebrae later ascribed to this species were found in the same area in the late 1990s. The dinosaur has been named Qijianglong, the name is pronounced (chee-gee-ang-long) and the name means “dragon of Qijiang”. The formal, binomial name of this dinosaur that roamed the large, flat floodplains of this part of China some 160 million years ago is Qijianglong guokr. The trivial or specific name honours the Chinese scientific social network “guokr”, which means nutshell.

New Species of Mamenchisaurid Dinosaur Described

Half the body length of this dinosaur was made up of its neck.

Picture credit: Lida Xing

Mamenchisaurid Challenged by Allosaurs

The picture above shows an adult Qijianglong being harassed by a pair of allosaurid dinosaurs. A flock of pterosaurs disturbed by the presence of the dinosaurs takes to the air in the background. Most palaeontologists believe that the long forelimbs and extraordinarily long neck of most mamenchisaurids evolved as adaptations to help these dinosaurs specialise in feeding on the tops of trees, parts of the available plant biomass that other dinosaurs could not reach. The neck of Qijianglong was over eight metres in length, it made up half its total body length. In comparison, most other sauropods have necks that represent around one third of their body length.

Significantly, much of the skull of this dinosaur was found in association with the cervical vertebrae.

University of Alberta PhD student Tetsuto Miyashita, one of the co-authors of the scientific paper on this new herbivorous member of the Dinosauria explained:

“It is rare to find a head and neck of a long-necked dinosaur together because the head is so small and easily detached after the animal dies.”

Studying the Cervical Vertebrae

Analysis of those cervical vertebrae (neck bones) showed that unique among known mamenchisaurids, the neck bones of Qijianglong had a great many air sacs in them. This would have made the neck relatively light despite its great size. Interlocking finger-like processes in the neck bones suggest that this dinosaur had a very stiff neck that was much more mobile bending vertically than horizontally. The neck anatomy has been described as being similar to the steel construction and supports seen in a tower crane.

Student Miyashita added:

“Qijianglong shows that long-necked dinosaurs diversified in unique ways in Asia during Jurassic times, something very special was going on in that continent. Nowhere else we can find dinosaurs with longer necks than those in China. This new dinosaur tells us that extreme species thrived in isolation from the rest of the world.”

The restored Qijianglong specimen is on display in a local museum in Qijiang City, the palaeontologists involved in this study have speculated on whether the fossilised bones of these huge animals helped inspire Chinese dragon myths. Ironically, since most Chinese dragons are depicted as long-necked reptiles, then early interpretations of dinosaur fossil material that may have inspired stories of dragons, were not too far off the mark.

For dinosaur models and prehistoric animal models: Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal Models.

1 02, 2015

Schleich World of History Kentrosaurus in Stock

By Mike|2023-03-23T21:32:45+00:00February 1st, 2015|Dinosaur Fans, Everything Dinosaur News and Updates, Everything Dinosaur Products|0 Comments

World of History Schleich Kentrosaurus in Stock at Everything Dinosaur

The World of History Schleich Kentrosaurus armoured dinosaur model is now available from Everything Dinosaur.

The Schleich Kentrosaurus dinosaur model has arrived and what a wonderful model of a stegosaur this replica is. This new, spiky dinosaur is an addition to the Schleich World of History prehistoric animal model range and it is the first of a number of exciting replicas to be added to this range in 2015. Known, only from eastern Africa, “pointed lizard” was a typical member of the Stegosauridae. Two species of Kentrosaurus are now recognised and the largest specimens are estimated to have reached lengths of around 4.5 to 5 metres. For the record, females may have been larger and more robust than the males, a trait now recognised in a number of Dinosauria genera.

Schleich Kentrosaurus

The Magnificent Schleich Kentrosaurus Dinosaur Model

Available from Everything Dinosaur – the World of History Schleich Kentrosaurus dinosaur model.

Picture credit: Schleich

This beautifully crafted World of History replica shows some amazing details, the sculpting on the plates and the skin texture are particularly noteworthy. It is also intriguing to see such bold colours on a Kentrosaurus dinosaur model. Previous kentrosaur replicas have tended to be predominantly green in colour.

World of History Kentrosaurus

The Schleich World of History Kentrosaurus and other Schleich models can be seen here: Schleich World of History Dinosaur Models.

It is fitting for a Kentrosaurus replica to be added to Schleich’s model range this year, as 2015 marks the centenary of the naming and describing of this Late Jurassic dinosaur. Following expeditions to the Tendaguru Beds in Tanzania by German scientists, this dinosaur was formally named and described in 1915.

A spokesperson from the UK-based, mail order company Everything Dinosaur congratulated the design team at Schleich for introducing a wonderful replica of a Jurassic armoured dinosaur.