Hedgehog, Squirrel, and Deer Classes Study Dinosaurs
The children in Year 2 at Newport Infant School (Shropshire), had an exciting day today when one of our dinosaur experts visited them to kick-start their new term topic all about dinosaurs, fossils and life in the past. The three classes that make up the Year 2 cohort – Hedgehog, Squirrel and Deer had been set a challenge by their teachers over the holiday period. Could the children create something to do with dinosaurs and then bring it into school?
Learning About Dinosaurs
The children set about this task with relish and our dinosaur expert was able to see the results of the children’s hard work, plus we suspect, the efforts of one or two grown-ups that also got involved in the project.
Examples of Dinosaur Models on Display in Deer Class (Year 2)
Children in Deer class (Year 2) made dinosaur models including some amazing, blue dinosaurs.Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Newport Infant School (Deer Class)/Everything Dinosaur
Lots of Dinosaur Themed Craft Ideas
The hard-working and dedicated teaching team deliberately kept the brief for the children quite vague. It did not matter what the pupils produced, so long as it had something to do with dinosaurs. A wide variety of different craft ideas were showcased as our dinosaur expert toured the three classrooms. There were lots of prehistoric animal models, with many different types of materials used including cardboard, modelling clay and papier mâché.
Some children had chosen to produce a poster or a set of dinosaur fact sheets. We spotted a poster in Hedgehog class which examined the diets of different dinosaurs, herbivore, omnivore or carnivore. This poster was very timely, as we found out that the teachers had set the children a spelling list for them to learn this week and the words carnivore, herbivore and omnivore were included on the list.
Exploring the Diets of Different Dinosaurs
Year 2 children explore dinosaur diets (Hedgehog class). Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Newport Infant School (Hedgehog Class)/Everything Dinosaur
This large primary school provides lots of exciting learning opportunities and the teaching team have created an imaginative scheme of work for the summer term. The colourful prehistoric animals and cleverly created posters have set the scene for what will be a fascinating and varied topic. During our visit, we set the classes a variety of challenges ourselves, these included learning about reptiles alive today, producing poems about dinosaurs and researching famous fossil hunters such as Mary Anning.
Some of the Dinosaur Models on Display in the Squirrel Classroom
Ancient Cetaceans – Frankfurt Natural History Museum
There are some very impressive prehistoric whale exhibits in the ancient whales gallery at the Frankfurt Natural History Museum (Frankfurt, Germany). The Frankfurt Museum, also known as the Senckenberg Museum, houses one of the largest natural history collections in the whole of western Europe. The extensive galleries highlight biodiversity and tell the story of the evolution of life on Earth. One of the highlights of the entire collection is the substantial cetacean gallery that includes a number of mounted exhibits of ancient prehistoric whales.
The Ancient Whales Gallery (Senckenberg Museum)
The magnificent ancient whales gallery at the Frankfurt Natural History Museum (Germany). Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Basilosaurus on Display at the Senckenberg Museum
A team member from Everything Dinosaur spotted a glass case that contained the fossil skull and jaws of the Late Eocene whale Basilosaurus, fossils of which are known from New Zealand, North Africa, the United States and Europe. This early toothed whale was an apex predator, reaching lengths in excess of twenty metres and perhaps weighing more than 10,000 kilograms.
Basilosaurus was popularised after it appeared in the BBC television series “Walking with Beasts”, a sequel to the famous “Walking with Dinosaurs” television series that was first aired in 1999. Episode two of “Walking with Beasts” entitled “Whale Killer” told the story of a pregnant Basilosaurus and her search for enough food to sustain herself and her unborn calf as the world entered a period of climate change that would lead to a significant extinction event.
An Illustration of Basilosaurus
An illustration of Basilosaurus. A Basilosaurus scale drawing.Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
The Basilosaurus Prehistoric Animal Figure
The image (above) shows the PNSO scientific art Basilosaurus figure. This spectacular model has earned praise from dinosaur fans and model collectors.
Peritresius martini – Missing Link in Sea Turtle Evolution
Peritresius martini is a newly described Late Cretaceous prehistoric turtle. It provides a missing link in sea turtle evolution.
Tortoises, terrapins and turtles, collectively classified into the Order Testudines (sometimes referred to as the Chelonii), are a very ancient group of reptiles. They were around before the crocodilians and the dinosaurs. Surprisingly, not that much is known about the evolutionary origins of extant species, but newly published research by the University of Alabama at Birmingham, has identified an important missing link in the lineage leading to modern sea turtles.
A new species of Late Cretaceous sea turtle has been named and described in a paper published in the academic on-line journal “PLOS One”. The turtle, which had a shell more than a metre in diameter, has been named Peritresius martini. The turtle’s name honours amateur fossil collector and retired scientist George Martin, who discovered the specimen in Lowndes County, Alabama and donated the fossil to the Alabama Museum of Natural History (Tuscaloosa, Alabama).
The Known Fossil Material Ascribed to Peritresius martini
The known fossil elements of P. martini with a line drawing showing their position in life.
Picture credit: University of Alabama at Birmingham
In the picture (above), the known fossil elements are shown including elements from the carapace, the plastron and the pelvic girdle (centre image). The fossil bones have been superimposed (in green) onto a line drawing showing a life reconstruction of the marine turtle.
Drew Gentry, lead author of the research and a PhD student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham stated:
“This discovery answers several important questions about the distribution and diversity of sea turtles during this period of time. It provides further evidence that Alabama is one of the best places in the world to study some of the earliest ancestors of modern marine turtles.”
Alabama During the Late Cretaceous
The new species of sea turtle (P. martini), swam in the shallow waters off the coast of Appalachia between 73 and 70 million years ago. It has been compared to the extant (Chelonia mydas), the green sea turtle, that can be found off the coast of Alabama today.
Alabama in the Late Cretaceous and Fossil Turtle Discoveries
Alabama in the Late Cretaceous. The picture above shows the biostratigraphy and the palaeobiogeography of the Late Cretaceous fossil turtle discoveries of North America. Note P. martini is marked by the yellow star.
Picture credit: PLOS One
Biostratigraphy and paleobiogeography of Late Cretaceous chelonioid species of North America. Localities and taxon ranges for fossil occurrences key:
1). Nichollsemys baieri – a sea turtle from the Bearpaw Formation of Canada dating from the Late Campanian.
2). Porthochelys laticeps – a sea turtle from Kanas that lived during the Coniacian through into the Santonian faunal stages of the Late Cretaceous.
3). Toxochelys latiremis – a sea turtle known from western Kansas with a wide temporal distribution ranging from around 88 – 73 million years ago.
4). Ctenochelys stenoporus – known from central Alabama.
5). Prionochelys nauta – from the Mooreville Chalk Formation of Alabama.
6). Toxochelys moorevillensis – from the Late Santonian and the Early Campanian which was named in 1953.
7). Ctenochelys acris – closely related to C. stenoporus, graduate student Drew Gentry published a study that proved that C. acris was a valid species. To read more about this research: Graduate Student Unlocks the Secrets of Sea Turtle Evolution.
8). Thinochelys lapisossea – from the Selma Formation of Alabama.
9). Zangerlchelys arkansaw – a sea turtle from the Marlbrook Marl Formation of Arkansas.
10). Peritresius martini – the newly described sea turtle from the study.
11). Peritresius ornatus – a closely related marine turtle species to P. martini that was first named and described in the mid-19th Century.
12). Euclastes wielandi – a primitive sea turtle dating from the Late Maastrichtian faunal stage of the Cretaceous.
13). Catapleura repanda – a Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian faunal stage), turtle associated with Greensand marine deposits of New Jersey.
Commenting on the contribution of George Martin, Drew Gentry said:
“Professional palaeontologists often spend a great deal of time in laboratories performing the in-depth research necessary to properly study extinct species. Almost every palaeontologist would love to spend more time in the field looking for fossils. But, without people like George Martin, many of the most significant fossil specimens ever found in Alabama would still be buried in the dirt.”
Peritresius martini – A Fortuitous Fossil Find
This important marine turtle fossil discovery happened by chance as George Martin explained;
“Finding this fossil turtle was largely happenstance as I stopped to look at the rock strata exposed by the stream. I found a fragment of the turtle shell embedded in the marl and returned to the spot several times over the next year to recover fragments of the turtle as they were uncovered by the stream.”
However, without the skull and limb bones, the appearance and habits of P. martini can only be speculated upon. The scientists have no information on what it fed upon, how it moved or whether this turtle was a creature of the coastal seas or deeper water. The discovery of this new species of Peritresius helps to fill a gap in the Stem Cheloniidae, a group of ancient sea turtles that are related to the majority of sea turtles found today.
A Timeline of Turtle Evolution
Time-calibrated, strict consensus phylogeny of select fossil and extant Testudine species. P. martini is highlighted by the purple star.
Picture credit: PLOS One
Everything Dinosaur acknowledges the help of a University of Alabama at Birmingham press release in the compilation of this article.
Prior to starting a day of dinosaur workshops with Foundation Stage 2 children there was time to discuss the additional teaching resources that our dinosaur and fossil expert had brought with them. When Everything Dinosaur team members visit schools, they always bring extra teaching aids to help support the school’s scheme of work.
Fossils, books, puzzles and games for schools. Everything Dinosaur supplies an extensive range of prehistoric animal themed resources. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Dinosaur and Fossil Themed Teaching Resources
Learning about dinosaurs is a great topic for Reception and Key Stage 1 children. Many pupils already have quite a lot of pre-knowledge and learning about life in the past has plenty of touch points for cross-curricular activities, linking with literacy, numeracy, history, geography, exploring the properties of materials and introducing the idea of working scientifically. The teaching resources we had prepared for the reception class included a dinosaur “hokey cokey”, a measuring exercise comparing the hands of the children to the footprints of dinosaurs and an exercise linked to exploring locations in the British Isles following the adventures of a baby Diplodocus.
Everything Dinosaur supplies numerous lesson plan ideas and teaching resources. These items are available free and can be downloaded from several websites.
We also supplied a handy pronunciation guide as we do appreciate that some teachers and learning support assistants can struggle with all the long dinosaur and prehistoric animal names. In addition, we also supplied some tridactyl (three-toed) dinosaur footprints that can be used in a simple writing exercise to help improve hand-eye co-ordination and motor skills.
A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented:
“Learning about dinosaurs and fossils can provide a very rewarding and stimulating topic area, that dovetails nicely into a subject that many children are enthusiastic about. Children as young as three, seem to pick up facts and awareness about dinosaurs and they love to demonstrate their knowledge and learning.”
We look forward to seeing pictures of the children’s work including their dinosaur drawings with lots of lovely labelling, a challenge we set the children during our dinosaur and fossil themed workshops.
Miocene Fossil Treasure Trove at Californian Dam Site
Construction workers building a new dam on the Calaveras reservoir in California have uncovered a treasure trove of more than 1,500 fossils that depict marine life in the Miocene Epoch. The fossils include numerous whale skulls, around twenty in total, University of California Berkeley scientists supervising the preservation of the 20 to 15 million-year-old specimens are confident that the material found to date represents at least one new species of Baleen whale.
Miocene Fossil Treasure Trove
The large Calaveras reservoir lies to the north-east of the city of San Jose in the “Golden State”, the original dam was constructed in 1925, but concerns over the risk of earthquakes has led to the commencement of a second dam several hundred metres downstream. The first fossils were found in 2013 and brought to the attention of the University.
The fossilised remains include whales, sharks, such as Megalodon teeth, ancient seals, other vertebrates and a wealth of invertebrate fossils including gastropods, bivalves and crustaceans. In addition, the distinctive fossil teeth of a Desmostylus have been found. The Desmostylians are an extinct Order of hippo-like, prehistoric mammals that are distantly related to today’s sea cows.
Part of the Skull of an Ancient Baleen Whale from the Calaveras Reservoir Site
Fossil skull and jaw material representing a type of baleen whale from the dam site.
Picture Credit: University of California Berkeley/Sara Yogi
A Miocene Coastal Palaeofauna
The discovery of preserved palm fronds and pine cones in the marine sediments suggest that the coastline was close by. Desmostylus is believed to have favoured freshwater or estuarine environments, the Desmostylus fossil teeth found at the construction site adds further weight to the idea that the strata were laid down in shallow water close to land.
Commenting on the significance of the fossils, Cristina Robins, a senior scientist at the Museum of Palaeontology (University of California, Berkeley) and the person responsible for cataloguing all the fossil finds stated:
“Fossils are found all the time in the Bay Area, but the concentration of unique and varied specimens is what makes this special.”
Numerous Invertebrate Fossils Have Been Found
Examples of shell fossils from the Calaveras Dam site.
Picture Credit: University of California Berkeley/Sara Yogi
Providing Public Access to an Important Fossil Collection
University of California Berkeley laboratory staff are being assisted by graduate and undergraduate students. The work of cleaning, identifying and labelling all the fossils is quite laborious, but eventually, the scientists hope to make all the fossil material digitally available via the University’s website.
A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented:
“It is very likely that a number of new species might be identified from this fossil deposit. This collection is helping palaeontologists to piece together an ancient environment, a lush tropical coastal ecosystem dominated by large, prehistoric mammals with an exotic marine fauna consisting of several different types of cetacean, some of which may have the prey of the giant shark Megalodon”.
So Many Fossils Have Been Found that an Entire Research Laboratory has been Taken Over
The extensive fossil collection from the Calaveras Dam site.
Picture Credit: University of California Berkeley/Sara Yogi
Ironically, the word “Calaveras” is Spanish for skulls, considering the amount of whale skull material found at the site, this is a very appropriate name for the dam and the reservoir.
Research led by American Museum of Natural History scientists has provided a fresh perspective on a shark that might have been the “Jaws” of the Carboniferous. The Carboniferous shark, Carcharopsis wortheni was first scientifically described in the mid-19th century and was previously known only from its characteristic serrated teeth and fragments of jaw. A fossilised brain case identified as C.wortheni was excavated in 2007 from Upper Mississippian aged rocks in Arkansas (Fayetteville Shale). The fossil was found by Royal Mapes, a retired Ohio University professor and a research associate at the Museum. State-of-the-art imaging techniques were used to provide a unique insight into this important apex predator that lived some 320 million years ago.
The Fossil Cranium (Brain Case) of Carcharopsis wortheni
The brain case of Carcharopsis wortheni. A Carboniferous shark study.
Picture credit: American Museum of Natural History/Allison Bronson
Insight into Shark Evolution
The shark lived at a critical point in the evolutionary history of our planet, part of a marine fauna that survived the end Devonian mass extinction event which decimated vertebrate species. This ancient Palaeozoic shark, was originally described in 1843 based on its distinctive serrated teeth, a feature that is common in extant sharks such as the formidable Great White (Carcharodon carcharias), an apex marine predator with a frightening reputation, thanks in the main to the film “Jaws” directed by Steven Spielberg, which was based on Peter Benchley’s book. However, serrated teeth are rarely found in Palaeozoic sharks.
A CT Scan Showing the Unique Serrations on a Tooth from Carcharopsis (C. wortheni)
Carcharopsis fossil tooth. Scale bar = 1 mm.
Picture credit: American Museum of Natural History/Allison Bronson
The picture above shows a computer tomography generated image of a Carcharopsis tooth, measuring around five millimetres in length. The blue lines are canals identified within the tooth.
Commenting on the fossil, lead author of the study Allison Bronson, a PhD student at the American Museum of Natural History stated:
“They [the teeth] look a little like what you’d see in a Great White, but are 320 million years old and with different enamel. This is really early to see serrated teeth.”
Carboniferous Shark Fossil Study
Royal Mapes donated the brain case specimen to the New York-based natural history museum, along with a remarkable 540,000 other fossils. Mapes co-authored the Carcharopsis study, which has been published in the journal “Papers in Palaeontology”, American Museum of Natural History curator John Maisey also contributed to the paper.
The scientists used high-resolution computed tomography (CT) imaging to examine the cranium, a tooth, and an isolated portion of a tooth base. Using the scans, they were able to reconstruct the internal canals of the teeth for the first time and found that these are similar to the canals found in today’s sharks.
The arrangement of the shark’s blood vessels—also revealed through CT scans—suggests that Carcharopsis was probably closely related to the group of ancient cartilaginous fish from which today’s sharks and rays evolved. However, more complete fossils are needed to firmly position it in the tree of life.
Everything Dinosaur acknowledges the help of the American Museum of Natural History in the compilation of this article.
By Mike|2023-10-10T09:44:04+01:00April 18th, 2018|Key Stage 1/2|Comments Off on Children Build A Swamp for Their Dinosaurs
A Dinosaur Swamp
Children in Year 1 at Earlswood Infant & Nursery School in Surrey had a “dinotastic” time yesterday, as one of our dinosaur experts visited to deliver workshops to help kick-start their summer term topic “dinosaurs”. This larger than average school is located on two separate sites and it incorporates a popular Foundation Stage 1 cohort. Earlswood caters from children from age three to eleven and the four classes of Year 1 pupils were relishing learning about dinosaurs, fossils and life in the past.
Building a Dinosaur Swamp
As part of the topic, the children had been investigating different habitats for animals. Badger class had built a swamp for their dinosaur and prehistoric animal models to live in. They had thought carefully about the sort of resources the animals would have required to keep them healthy and happy.
Badgers Class (Year 1) Have Built a Swamp for their Dinosaurs
A dinosaur swamp spotted in a school. The children have constructed a home for their dinosaurs. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
The teacher had included some feathers to remind the eager learners that many dinosaurs may have been feathered and that the closest living relatives of the dinosaurs are birds.
High Expectations for Young Learners
The staff have high expectations for the children both academically and socially and the dedicated senior leadership of the school places great emphasis on personal, social and emotional development. The Reception children even got involved with the reptile themed day, with a visit from a pet tortoise!
Under the Noses of Dinosaurs, a New Species of Early Cretaceous Amphibian is Described
A small, fragmentary fossil found in an outcrop of the Kuwajima Formation, in western Central Japan has been identified as a new species of albanerpetontid amphibian. This tiny animal, measuring just six centimetres in length inhabited a wide floodplain, that was crossed by meandering rivers in a humid environment some 130 million years ago. The fossils represent the oldest example of this type of tetrapod found in Asia, they predate the only other specimens known from Asia (Uzbekistan), by tens of millions of years.
An Early Cretaceous Amphibian
A Life Reconstruction of the Little Albanerpetontid Amphibian (S. isajii)
An illustration of Shirerpeton – an Early Cretaceous amphibian.
Picture credit: Takumi Yamamoto
The Ancient Albanerpetontidae Family
Superficially resembling modern-day Salamanders, these ancient amphibians are only distantly related to their modern counterparts. They evolved in the Middle Jurassic and persisted until very recently, finally becoming extinct during the Pleistocene Epoch. Several genera are known and they are characterised by their unique skulls and the presence of bony scales on their skin. The tiny specimen consists of a partial skull, vertebrae and elements from a hind limb, a total of forty-three bones. The only Asian examples of this clade of amphibian have been found in Uzbekistan. These fossils date from the very end of the Cretaceous, so the Japanese specimen is some sixty million years older.
High resolution X-ray computed microtomography was used to identify the shape of the bones which remain partially buried in the part-prepared fossil.
The Rock Containing the Partially Exposed Fossil Bones Along with a Computer Image Tracing the Outline of the Individual Bones
A new Early Cretaceous amphibian from Japan (Shirerpeton).
Picture credit: The Education Board of the city of Hakusan, (Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan)
A Tiny Fossil
The picture (above) shows the holotype fossil of the new albanerpetontid amphibian, which has been named Shirerpeton isajii. Image (A) shows the fossils in the 2.5 by 1.5 cm square slab of rock, whilst image (B), is a digital photograph with various bones from the skull highlighted. Abbreviations: Br, braincase elements; Fr, frontal; L.La, left lacrimal; L.Mx, left maxilla; L.N, left nasal; L.Pa, left parietal; LPf, left prefrontal; L.Sm, left septomaxilla; L.Sq, left squamosal; R.La, right lacrimal; R.Pa, right parietal; R.Pf, right prefrontal; R.Sq, right squamosal; ?, unidentified element. Scale bars in both images = 5 mm.
Writing in the open-access academic journal PLOS One, the researchers, Susan Evans, a professor of vertebrate morphology and palaeontology (University College London) and Ryoko Matsumoto, a curator with the Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Natural History were able to identify the specimen as a member of the Albanerpetontidae from the shape of the lower jaw. The distinctive frontal bone of the skull, along with several other identified autapomorphies (unique traits), enabled the scientists to erect a new species.
Shirerpeton isajii
The scientists named the species in honour of Shinji Isaji, the head of the Tetori Group fossil investigation commission, a body under the Hakusan city government in charge of studying the Kuwajima fossil location where the fossil was found.
A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented:
“There are about twenty of these amphibians known in the fossil record, currently assigned to five genera. They were globally widespread during the Mesozoic, but this is the first time an albanerpetontid has been recorded from East Asia. Their fragmentary record makes understanding their evolution and their phylogeny very difficult, scientists are not even sure how closely related these ancient lissamphibians are to extant amphibians.”
The spokesperson continued:
“Small animals like Shirerpeton are just as important as larger animals like dinosaurs when it comes to considering ancient environments and habitats. In fact, this amphibian is probably more important than larger vertebrates in helping scientists to understand the localised climate in the Barremian of Japan.”
Mass Extinction Event Paved the Way for the Dinosaurs
Dinosaur evolution where did it all start and why?
It is now widely accepted that dramatic, global climate change played a significant role in the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs some 66 million years ago. The demise of the Dinosauria is well documented, but just how did this particular branch of the Archosauria rise to prominence and just as importantly, when did they start to dominate life on land?
There remains much to be learned about the origins of the dinosaurs, in addition, after the first dinosaurs evolved, for some 20 million years or so they made up only a tiny portion of terrestrial fauna, other reptiles dominated, then all of a sudden, at least when you consider the scale of geological time, the fossil record shows a change in the dinosaur’s fortunes. From being bit-part players in the Middle Triassic, by the Late Triassic they had taken centre stage.
Mass Extinction
Research published in the journal “Nature Communications”, postulates that the first, rapid diversification of the dinosaurs occurred following a dramatic global ecosystem crisis. This crisis was caused by rapid climate change, the ensuring mass extinction event cleared away a lot of competitors, especially herbivores. A mass extinction event resulted in the demise of the dinosaurs, but it seems likely (according to this new research), that a mass extinction event led to their ascendancy in the first place.
Terrestrial Life Around 234-232 Million Years Ago
Life in the Late Triassic, an explosion in dinosaur diversity.
Picture credit: Davide Bonadonna
The picture (above), shows a scene in the early Late Triassic of southern Pangaea around 232 million years ago. On the far left a pair of rhynchosaurs (diapsid, herbivorous reptiles characterised by stocky bodies, a squat gait and powerful beaks for cropping plants), lounge on a fallen tree. In the centre background a large, carnivorous rauisuchian is patrolling. Rauisuchians were archosaurs, but on the other branch of the Archosauria – the Crurotarsi which comprise crocodile-like animals, as opposed to the second main branch of the archosaurs the Avemetatarsalia, which houses the birds and the dinosaurs. The rauisuchian walks with an erect posture, (legs directly under the body). In the foreground, two species of light-weight, bipedal early dinosaurs are depicted.
The Carnian Pluvial Episode (CPE)
The study conducted by Massimo Bernardi of the MUSE (Museo delle Scienze of Trento) and Piero Gianolla of the University of Ferrara (Italy) in collaboration with Professor Michael Benton of Bristol University, provides evidence to suggest that the diversification of the Dinosauria followed the Carnian Pluvial Episode, a time when the Earth went from an extremely arid climate to a humid and substantially wetter climate, before reverting back to arid once again. This dramatic period in Earth’s history occurred between 234 and 232 million years ago (during the Carnian faunal stage of the Late Triassic).
The cause of this violent swing in our planet’s weather patterns is elusive, but most palaeontologists consider the huge volcanic eruptions in western Canada and the outpouring of vast quantities of igneous material, which are represented today by the great Wrangellia basalts as the engine for climate change. What is termed Large Igneous Province (LIP) volcanism, resulted in huge amounts of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere. This led to rapid, ocean acidification, increased rainfall and dramatic global warming turning a dry world dominated by large deserts in central Pangaea, into much more humid and wetter environments.
For Much of the Triassic the Land was Dominated by Deserts
A typical Triassic landscape. For much of the Triassic the land super-continent of Pangaea was dominated by deserts. Picture credit: R. Townsend.
Picture credit: R. Townsend
Everything Dinosaur stocks a wide range of models of Triassic terrestrial animals including rauisuchians and early dinosaurs. For example, we recommend the CollectA range of not-to-scale models and replicas: CollectA Prehistoric Life Models and Figures.
Dating Ichnoassemblages from the Dolomites (Southern Alps)
The researchers examined the ancient Triassic fauna of South America and compared these palaeoenvironments with data from the Italian Dolomites. Although dinosaur and other reptile fossils from Triassic sediments are relatively widespread, for example Triassic vertebrate fossils are known from North America, South Africa, China, Europe and England, accurately dating these deposits has proved to be extremely difficult. Hence the significance of the Italian Dolomites.
The stratigraphy of the Southern Alps and of the Dolomites in particular covers virtually the whole of the Middle and Late Triassic. The sequence of strata, can be dated using a variety of methods, which when cross-referenced provides one of the most detailed geological timescales of the early Mesozoic anywhere on Earth.
Dating the Dolomites – A Bio-Chrono-Stratigraphic Framework
Dating the Dolomites, a number of dating methods are available to scientists, permitting them to accurately date the rocks and the fossils they contain.
Picture credit: Nature Communications/Bernardi, Gianolla, et al
Preserved in the Rocks
Preserved in the rocks of the Dolomites are a series of tracks and trackways. These footprints provide palaeontologists with an idea of the animals around at the time the sequence of strata was being laid down. This research team noticed that prior to the Carnian Pluvial Episode, when this part of the world was arid, the tracks were dominated by Crurotarsi archosaurs, in the early Carnian 100% of the tracks represent these crocodile-like reptiles.
However, during the Carnian Pluvial Episode (CPE), 50% of the tracks represent dinosaurs, whilst just 20% indicate the presence of Crurotarsi archosaurs, the rest are associated with dinosauromorphs, close relatives of the true dinosaurs. As the world entered the Norian faunal stage of the Late Triassic, some 227 million years ago, nearly all the tracks preserved in this region (90% plus) were made by dinosaurs.
Diversification of the Dinosaurs
The complicated chart above, plots the occurrence of several precisely dated ichnoassemblages in the Late Triassic of the Southern Alps allowing the research team to date, relatively precisely, the timing of the diversification of the dinosaurs in this part of Pangaea. On the left of the chart is the timeline in millions of years, the Period/Epoch and the faunal stage and sub-stage are noted. Helping to relatively date the sequence of rocks are the zonal fossils, in this case ammonites, the rocks of this region can be mapped sequentially using key fossil ammonite species which provide a biostratigraphical reference.
The sequence of geological formations are shown and the various ichnotaxa associated with them are displayed. The scientists identify the probable track maker and describe them as dinosaurs (sky blue), dinosauromorphs (light green) or crurotarsans (orange). The length of the coloured column shows the time interval over which the tracks have been found.
Absence of Dinosaur Tracks
Note the absence of dinosaur tracks in the Middle Triassic (bottom part of the chart), however, blue columns (dinosaur tracks) dominate the top part of the chart, the Late Triassic. Pie charts show percentage breakdown of the different tracks, pre, during and post the CPE. The final column on the far right provides details of the palaeoenvironment and the flipping from arid to humid and then back again.
The small boxes underneath the chart provide a key to the general characteristics of the rocks associated with each geological formation: (a) cherty limestone; (b) sandstone; (c) sandy limestone; (d) volcanics; (e) oolitic-bioclastic limestone; (f) black platy limestone or dolostone, black shale; (g) dolostone; (h) marlstone, claystone and shale; (i) marly limestone; (j) conglomerate.
Summarising the Study – Pointing Towards a Mass Extinction
In summary the lithology (characteristics of the rocks), the length of the sequence of deposition, helping to provide absolute dating information along with the abundance of zonal fossils to permit relative dating, allow scientists to accurately map the geological time represented by the strata. This precise dating has enabled the researchers to tease out the significance of the CPE in reference to the evolution of the dinosaurs.
The Diversification of the Dinosaurs Coincides with the Carnian Pluvial Episode
The diversification of the dinosaurs coincides with the Carnian Pluvial Episode (CPE).Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Over a period of around 8 million years the palaeofauna of the southern Alps as shown by trace fossils changed dramatically. Dinosaur trace fossils become much more abundant. The researchers conclude that the dinosaurs diversified explosively in the middle Carnian, at a time of major climate and floral change and the extinction of key herbivores, which the dinosaurs opportunistically replaced. The trace fossils found in the Dolomites region therefore play a crucial role in understanding the evolution of the Dinosauria.
Commenting on the significance of the study, one of the authors, Dr Piero Gianolla (University of Ferrara) stated:
“We had detected evidence for the climate change in the Dolomites. There were four pulses of warming and climate perturbation, all within a million years or so. This must have led to repeated extinctions.”
A Link Between Dinosaur Evolution and the CPE
The discovery of the existence of a link between the first diversification of the dinosaurs and the CPE is unexpected and revolutionary. This dramatic event not only paved the way for the dinosaurs to dominate terrestrial ecosystems, but also permitted the diversification of many other types of tetrapod, including lizards, crocodiles, turtles and mammals, key terrestrial animals in today’s ecosystems. The scientists conclude that they have developed a new framework for the evolution of the most famous reptiles.
The scientific paper: “Dinosaur diversification linked with the Carnian Pluvial Episode” by Massimo Bernardi, Piero Gianolla, Fabio Massimo Petti, Paolo Mietto and Michael J. Benton published in the journal “Nature Communications”.
For many schools in the United Kingdom, this week sees the start of the summer term. Everything Dinosaur team members have a very busy itinerary with lots of school visits and other activities planned. With their teaching qualifications and knowledge about dinosaurs, fossils and life in the past, our team members offer a wide variety of teaching activities and fossil workshops. The summer term is going to be very busy, with lots of school visits booked into our teaching schedule.
Dinosaurs in School
Questions about dinosaurs prepared by a class in readiness for a visit from Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur/Mansel Primary School
Everything Dinosaur Team Members Answering Questions
Our dedicated, hard-working and knowledgeable team members provide dinosaur themed teaching activities from Early Years Foundation (EYFS) and Reception through to Key Stage Four and beyond. Whether it is a term topic, part of a science week or a special event, fossils and dinosaurs in school can help enthuse and motivate the next generation of scientists. We do our best to answer all the queries and questions from the pupils, sometimes we even have to get involved with a little bit of impromptu fossil identification as the children bring in fossils and other objects that they have found for us to identify.
A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented:
“This term [summer 2018], is likely to be our busiest we have so many school visits planned. We are looking forward to meeting all the eager and enthusiastic children as well as the dedicated teachers, learning support providers and teaching assistants who create such amazing lessons and schemes of work for the children.”
A Very Full Display Board in the Middle of a Dinosaur Term Topic
A dinosaur museum in a classroom. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur/Brookfield Primary School
Dinosaurs as a Term Topic
Dinosaurs and life in the past makes a great term topic. Topic areas such as “Footsteps in the Past” and “Jurassic Forest” have been created to help schools engage in cross-curricular activities and to deliver imaginative and creative schemes of work for their pupils. Many children have quite a lot of pre-knowledge when it comes to the Dinosauria. Starting a term topic can help learners to gain more confidence and simple experiments and activities can enhance the work done by the school to help develop scientific working.
For further information on Everything Dinosaur’s activities in schools and to request a quotation (we are already taking bookings for 2019), simply drop us an email: Contact Us.
