Top Ten Prehistoric Animals of 2015 (Part 1)
As 2015 draws to a close, staff at Everything Dinosaur have the opportunity to reflect on all the new dinosaur and prehistoric animal discoveries made over the last twelve months. In addition, we have been busy compiling our top ten prehistoric animals of 2015, an annual survey that takes into account all the fact sheets sent out, drawing materials requested, views on website pages, blog views, comments, emails and product sales. We have also included data from our dedicated schools website and all this information has been brought together to create our list of the ten most popular prehistoric animals. Here is the first part of the countdown, from number ten to number six.
Prehistoric Animals
10). Pteranodon
Making a welcome return to the top ten is the pterosaur Pteranodon. It has been a good year for Pterosaurs generally with the likes of Quetzalcoatlus and Dimorphodon doing well. We suspect this was due in part to the fairly prominent role played by pterosaurs in the summer blockbuster “Jurassic World”. This is not the first time that record breaking film will be mentioned in this compilation. However, the popularity of pterosaurs in 2015 can also be explained by a number of new flying reptile discoveries, such as the fearsomely fanged Triassic pterosaur recently described.
To read more about this new pterosaur discovery: Utah’s Fearsome New Pterosaur.
The introduction of the beautiful (and quite large) Guidraco pterosaur model also helped to boost the popularity of the Pterosauria.
1:4 Scale Pterosaur Model from CollectA
Model has an articulated jaw. A wonderful prehistoric animal replica.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Prehistoric Mammals Make an Entry
9). Woolly Mammoth
Down one place from last year, the only mammal in our top ten, the enigmatic Woolly Mammoth. The Sabre-toothed cat was listed in our top twenty, once again helped by the introduction of a CollectA model, but the only representative of the Mammalia in our top ten for the second year running is Mammuthus primigenius.
Woolly Mammoth Featured in the Top Ten for 2015
Woolly Mammoth Model without the usual brown coat
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
The Woolly Mammoth’s popularity was maintained in part by news this year that the genome of this iconic Ice Age creature had been sequenced.
To read an article about this: Woolly Mammoth Genome is Sequenced.
8). Brachiosaurus
Down two places from last year, Brachiosaurus is at number eight in our countdown. It is the only sauropod in the top ten list, although both Diplodocus and Apatosaurus were climbers this year. Brachiosaurus is the first dinosaur to be listed in our chart. The top ten remains dominated by the Dinosauria.
Maintaining a Position in the Top Ten – Brachiosaurus
A traditional Brachiosaur interpretation?
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Marine Reptiles Too
7). Mosasaurus
The biggest climber this year is Mosasaurus. It enters our top ten list for the first time. Marine reptiles only rarely make the top ten, for example, Dolichorhynchops was at number ten when we completed this exercise in 2012. The reason for the popularity of Mosasaurus, quite simply “Jurassic World”. One of the best scenes in the whole movie was the Mosasaurus feeding time. We won’t mention what else happens to Mosasaurus, just in case blog readers have yet to see the film, suffice to say, that Mosasaurus plays quite a role in the unfolding action.
Mosasaurus – One of the Stars of “Jurassic World”
Comparing different models of mosasaurs.
As a result of “Jurassic World” Everything Dinosaur has experienced a record year for mosasaur model sales, with several models selling out many times over in the last six months or so.
Mosasaur fossils also made the news in 2015. Here is an article we wrote recently about a fascinating fossil find from Japan: Big-eyed Mosasaur Monster from Japan.
Giganotosaurus at Number Six
6. Giganotosaurus
Up two places from last year is Giganotosaurus. This dinosaur, (the name means “Giant Southern Lizard”), proved to be particularly popular amongst school children. We had lots of requests for fact sheets and drawings of this large carnivore. This helped boost this South American dinosaur’s popularity. In addition, new models by Schleich and the inclusion of a Giganotosaurus in one of the new model sets by CollectA kept dinosaur model fans happy.
New Model Introductions by Schleich Boosted Sales
Well painted model has an articulated lower jaw.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
To view the range of Schleich “World of History” models: Prehistoric Animal Models from Schleich.
Giganotosaurus brings to a close the first part of our top ten countdown for 2015. We will post up in a couple of days that all important top five.
Leave A Comment