All about dinosaurs, fossils and prehistoric animals by Everything Dinosaur team members.
13 06, 2017

Introducing Mojo Models

By | June 13th, 2017|General Teaching|Comments Off on Introducing Mojo Models

Everything Dinosaur Adds Mojo “Prehistoric and Extinct” Models

The UK-based, on-line retailer Everything Dinosaur has added the Mojo “Prehistoric and Extinct” model range to its extensive portfolio of prehistoric animal and dinosaur replicas.  Mojo Fun models to be added to the range.  The company, which has been supplying the educational sector with dinosaur and fossil themed teaching resources for more than a decade, has introduced this range because the robust, hand-painted replicas are ideal for creative play and feature a number of animals that can help with coursework related to adaptation, genetics and extinction, all cornerstones of the national science curriculum in England.

The Mojo Hunting Tyrannosaurus rex Dinosaur Model

Mojo hunting Tyrannosaurus rex.

Mojo hunting T. rex dinosaur model.

To view the range of educational Mojo prehistoric animal models stocked by Everything Dinosaur: Mojo Fun Models – “Prehistoric and Extinct”.

Mojo Fun Models

Mojo was founded in 2009 and the company has grown quickly, becoming a highly respected producer of animal replicas since the very first range of models was introduced in January 2011.  Mojo’s mission is to create the finest quality, educational replicas available on the market.  Product safety is paramount to Mojo.  Every figure in the Mojo range is rigorously tested and fulfils all current worldwide safety standards.  All the replicas in the “Prehistoric and Extinct” range are suitable for children from three years and upwards making them ideal for schools and home education.

Mojo Models Can Be Used to Help Learn About the Stone Age

Prehistoric mammal models from Mojo. Models of early mammals.

A selection of prehistoric animal models from the Mojo “Prehistoric and Extinct” range.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Stone Age and Ice Age

With many schools introducing a scheme of work that explores life in the Stone Age, the Mojo Woolly Mammoth models can help children to learn more about the kinds of animals that once roamed Britain, Woolly Mammoths and Sabre-toothed Cats for example.

These replicas can be used in the production of classroom dioramas or for motivating students to undertake independent research.  The Mojo Woolly Mammoths also make handy props when exploring such issues as adaptation and extinction.  At Everything Dinosaur, we have come across many examples of models such as these being used to inspire children as they explore the likely causes of the extinction of the Woolly Mammoth, this in turn, leads on to such concepts as climate change and the impact of our species on the environment.

Learning About Extinctions

With a focus on working scientifically, the teaching curriculum provides flexibility in how learning objectives are achieved.  Children in upper Key Stage 2 are expected to learn about Darwinism and evolution, helpful preparation, as in Year 7 the science of genetics is introduced and runs through to Key Stage 4.   The Mojo Fun model range includes replicas of some recently extinct animals, the Quagga for example, an excellent way to illustrate the science of selective breeding to encourage certain characteristics and traits within a population.

The Mojo Quagga Model

Mojo Quagga replica.

The Mojo Quagga model.

A focus of science teaching in secondary schools that follow the national curriculum (England), is to help pupils develop a deeper understanding of the range of scientific ideas in biology.  Giving pupils the opportunity to learn about the extinction of the Quagga and the on-going attempts to resurrect this sub-species of Plains Zebra, helps to reinforce teaching about genetics and genetic engineering as well as providing important cross-curricular links into history, human population dynamics and the impact of climate change.

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

13 06, 2017

Watch the Birdie (Enantiornithine in Amber)

By | June 13th, 2017|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Dinosaur Fans, Main Page, Palaeontological articles|0 Comments

Nearly Complete Baby Bird Preserved in Amber

Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in collaboration with colleagues from the Royal Saskatchewan Museum (Canada) and the China University of Geosciences have announced the discovery of yet another prehistoric animal preserved entombed within a 99-million-year-old piece of amber from Myanmar.  The animal is a baby bird, perhaps only a few days old when it was engulfed in sticky tree resin back in the Cretaceous.  It is an astonishing discovery, an enantiornithine in amber.  It is one of a number of remarkable fossil finds made in recent years from the amber deposits of northern Myanmar.

Enantiornithine in Amber

Most of the skull and neck is preserved along with part of a wing, a hindlimb, complete with claws and some soft tissue surrounding the tail.  Some of the plumage has also been encased within the amber nodule.  Described as representing a specimen of the Enantiornithes clade, it is the most complete bird preserved in amber found to date.

Enantiornithine Hatchling Preserved in Burmese Amber

Baby Enantiornithine bird trapped in amber.

Baby bird preserved in amber.

Picture credit: Ryan McKellar (Royal Saskatchewan Museum) et al.

The picture above shows the amber nodule (a).  The nodule measures approximately 86 mm × 30 mm × 57 mm it has been assigned the specimen number HPG-15-1 and it has been cut in half.  The cut-mark is represented in (c) which shows the cut as a dotted line against a line drawing of the bird’s remains preserved in the nodule.  An interpretation of the high-resolution scans showing the skeletal components is shown in (b).  The disarticulated remains of this individual has led the research team to speculate that the corpse of this young bird might have been scavenged prior to its entombing in the tree resin.

A Very Young Bird

Writing in the academic journal “Gondwana Research”, the scientists conclude that the shape of the skeleton and the plumage indicates a very young bird, the well-developed wings, claws and the presence of some filamentous body feathers suggests that enantiornithines were hatched in a relatively advanced state, being perhaps able to feed itself almost immediately.

Being born nearly fully developed and independent of the parents is termed precocial.  Many modern birds are precocial, examples include ostrich chicks and ducklings.  These birds are able to keep themselves warm and move about, often leaving the nest in just a few hours.  The scarcity of body feathers on the Cretaceous bird represents a distinct departure from the feather coverings found in today’s precocial birds.  Perhaps the enantiornithines relied on their parents to brood them to keep them warm, or perhaps these birds hatched during the hottest part of the year, when insulation was not as necessary.

A Three-Dimensional Model Created from the High-Resolution Scans

Fossil bird trapped in amber.

Using 3-D scans the researchers were able to create a model of the death pose of the bird.

Picture credit: Ryan McKellar (Royal Saskatchewan Museum)

Commenting on the importance of this fossil discovery, Ryan McKellar (Royal Saskatchewan Museum) stated:

“We’ve had more complete specimens, where you get more of the skeleton preserved, from compression fossils, but never with this level of detail.  It’s like a little diorama.”

Nicknamed “Belone”

The amber nodule also contains insect remains, plant material and mites, providing an insight into the fauna and flora of a conifer forest that existed around 99 to 100 million years ago.  The amber was found by a miner back in 2014, at first the claw was thought to have come from a lizard but once the piece had been purchased by the Hupoge Amber Museum in Tengchong City, China, a correct identification was made.  The specimen was nicknamed “Belone” a local term for an amber-coloured bird called the Oriental skylark.

Researchers including palaeontologist Lida Xing (China University of Geosciences), used CT scans to examine fossil elements hidden from view.  These scans revealed the skull and part of the spine, although the cutting of the nodule damaged the anterior portion of the head and the tiny jaws.

As for its feathers, the bird had different kinds: some that palaeontologists have seen on dinosaurs, but others that are closer to modern-day birds.  This, the research team commented, was one of the most surprising and rewarding finds.

The Enantiornithine Hind Leg

Enantiornithine hindlimb

A closer view of the hind limb of the enantiornithine bird.

Picture credit: Ming Bai

A Precocial Bird

The presence of strong toes equipped with sharp claws suggests that this bird could clamber around in the trees shortly after hatching, yet more evidence of just how independent this young bird was.  Precociality is thought to be ancestral in birds.  Thus, altricial birds tend to be found in the most derived families within the Aves (birds) Order.   There is some evidence for precociality in the Dinosauria.  It seems that being independent at birth is a characteristic that is basal to the birds.

A Close View of One of the Claws

Enantiornithine claw.

A close view of the claw, even individual scales have been preserved in the amber.

Picture credit: Ming Bai

The amber mines of Kachin Province (northern Myanmar) are renowned for their remarkable fossils, back in 2016, Everything Dinosaur wrote an article about the remnants of a bird’s wing that had been preserved trapped in amber.

To read more: Bird Wing Trapped In Amber.

Later that year, Everything Dinosaur reported on discovery of a fragment of a dinosaur’s tail that had been found preserved inside amber.  That remarkable specimen was studied by a number of the researchers who contributed to the study of this baby bird fossil.

To read more about the dinosaur tail discovery: The Tale of a Dinosaur Tail.

The scientific paper: “A mid-Cretaceous Enantiornithine (Aves) Hatchling Preserved in Burmese Amber with Unusual Plumage” by Lida Xing, Jingmai K. O’Connor, Ryan C. McKellar, Luis M. Chiappe, Kuowei Tseng, Gang Li, Ming Bai published in Gondwana Research.

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