By Mike|2023-10-30T09:58:56+00:00September 22nd, 2018|Key Stage 1/2|Comments Off on Strawberry Fields Primary and Dinosaurs
Strawberry Fields Primary and Dinosaurs
To conclude a busy week for Everything Dinosaur team members there was a trip to Yorkshire to work with the enthusiastic children in Key Stage 1 at Strawberry Fields Primary. A very colourful prehistoric animal themed window display in one of the classrooms (2MC) was spotted. The long-necked, purple-coloured prehistoric animal was surrounded by post-it notes that the children had used to fill with dinosaur and fossil themed facts that they had researched.
A Purple Prehistoric Animal Spotted in the Classroom
A colourful long-necked prehistoric animal window display in Key Stage 1.Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Prehistoric Animal Spotting – Plesiosaur or Sauropod?
The teachers were not sure whether their purple prehistoric animal was a plesiosaur or a long-necked dinosaur. They thought that it resembled animal like the Loch Ness monster, but there were leaves at the base of the neck, so perhaps this was a land animal. The children had decided that the creature was a marine reptile, a sea monster and therefore not a dinosaur but a plesiosaur.
Pupils were happy to display their knowledge and to explain that plesiosaurs were not related to Tyrannosaurus rex and that Pteranodon was not a dinosaur but a flying reptile.
The well-appointed and tidy classrooms featured lots of displays supporting the term topic “dinosaurs”. The children in Year 1 for example, had created a dinosaur den in their classroom, there was even a crepe paper volcano in the corner. The children confidently explained that an “asteroid had hit the Earth and this killed the dinosaurs.”
Prior to our prehistoric animal workshops with the classes, we provided some additional teaching resources and during our dinosaur workshops we made sure to link to several extension ideas which we were also able to support with extra teaching materials.
Our thanks to the teaching team at Ewloe Green Primary in Wales, who sent us a list of questions that had been compiled by the Year 1 pupils as they studied their dinosaur themed term topic. The enthusiastic, budding palaeontologists have been carrying out a lot of research into prehistoric animals as they prepare for our visit to deliver some dinosaur workshops at the school.
Quite a range of questions had been put together by the children, some of which we hope to address in our workshops with the classes. The questions and our notes have already been incorporated into the lesson plans emailed to the school. However, there are still one or two outstanding enquires, such as the question from Amelia who wanted to know why do some dinosaurs have four legs and some only two?
Why Do Some Dinosaurs Have Four Legs and Some Only Two?
The very first dinosaurs were not giants, they were small, fast-running carnivores that appeared more than 235 million years ago during the Triassic. These dinosaurs were bipeds, this means that they ran around on their hind legs, they did not use their front limbs, their arms for walking around. Humans are bipeds, we walk around on our back legs and use our arms and hands for other things. Human babies learn to crawl and they move around on all fours, but they soon learn to walk upright.
One of the Very First Dinosaurs Nyasasaurus from Africa
Nyasasaurus – believed to be one of the first dinosaurs. It lived some 235 million years ago in the Triassic. It was a fast-running dinosaur – a biped.
Picture credit: M. Witton/NHM
Quadrupeds and Bipeds
From these small, meat-eating ancestors the dinosaurs quickly evolved into lots of different species of different shapes and sizes. As some dinosaurs adapted to eating plants rather than meat, they began to develop bigger bodies to help them cope with digesting tough plant food. As these plant-eating dinosaurs got bigger and heavier, they found it easier to move around on all fours, with all their limbs helping to support their weight. All the very heaviest dinosaurs described so far, the long-necked dinosaurs like Apatosaurus, Brontosaurus and Brachiosaurus, for example, moved around on four legs. Animals that walk on all fours are called quadrupeds.
Around 1,200 Different Types of Dinosaur Have Been Described To Date
So many different types of dinosaur. Around 1,200 different types of dinosaur have been scientifically described. Some dinosaurs walked on just their hind legs, some dinosaurs walked on all fours and some dinosaurs could amble around on all fours, but if they needed to run quickly, they could rear up onto their hind legs and run away, changing from being a quadruped to becoming a biped.Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Prehistoric Animals Term Topic – Supporting the Teacher
Challenge the class to sort dinosaur models into animals that walk on two legs and animals that walk on all fours.
Can the children research animals alive today and classify them into different groups based on how they move?
Why Do Some Dinosaurs Have Horns?
Sorcha wanted to know why do some dinosaurs have horns? Lots of dinosaurs had horns, in fact there is a group of dinosaurs called the “horned dinosaurs” as most of these types had long horns on their faces or heads and all of them had frills of bone at the back of their skulls. Famous horned dinosaurs include Triceratops, Protoceratops and the very spiky Styracosaurus (see picture above).
Scientists think that these horns helped dinosaurs to:
Stay safe – the horns, spikes and frills of bone around their necks helped protect them from attacks from other dinosaurs.
To signal to other dinosaurs in their herd – dinosaurs like Triceratops and Styracosaurus probably lived in large groups (herds), they could have used their big horns and frills to signal to the other group members.
To find a mate – dinosaurs probably had colour vision, as good as ours. They could see colours, just like we can and the horns and frills may have been brightly coloured and used in displays to help these dinosaurs to find a mate. Many birds are brightly coloured and have large feathers which are not helpful when it comes to flying but are used to help these creatures display and show-off – a peacock for example.
Lots of Different Horned Dinosaurs – How Many Can You Count?
Horned dinosaurs used their horns to help defend themselves from attack, to help signal to other herd members and to help them display.Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
The image (above) shows some of the horned dinosaur models in the CollectA Prehistoric Life range.
Challenge the class to write a fact sheet all about the famous, three-horned dinosaur Triceratops.
Find pictures of horned dinosaurs, can the children group them into two types of horned dinosaur, one group with large nose horns and small horns over their eyes and a second group with small nose horns and large horns over their eyes?
What types of animals have horns today? Can you make a list and work out what these animals use their horns for?
Qiupanykus zhangi – Is This Evidence of Egg-eating Dinosaurs?
A team of scientists including researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Henan Geological Museum and Lanzhou University, have published a paper announcing the discovery of a new species of dinosaur. The little animal that might have weighed around half a kilogram, has been named Qiupanykus zhangi and it has been classified as an alvarezsaurid, a group of bizarre, small, long-legged dinosaurs with highly specialised arms.
Eggshell fragments found close to the remains of the dinosaur’s tail, have thrown up the intriguing possibility that alvarezsaurids with their stocky arms and robust single claw, could have used their highly adapted limbs to break open the eggs of other dinosaurs and therefore these dinosaurs may have been specialist egg-eaters (ovivores).
A Life Reconstruction of the Newly Described Qiupanykus zhangi Breaking Open Dinosaur Eggs
Qiupanykus zhangi – a new alvarezsaurid from the Late Cretaceous of central China.
Picture credit: Zhao Chuang
The Youngest Alvarezsaurid from China (Qiupanykus zhangi)
The fossil consisting of the rear portions of the skeleton of an individual was found in Guanping, Qiupa town in the Luanchuan County of Henan Province (central China). Although the bones are poorly preserved, fossilised elements include most of the hind limbs, part of the hips some bones from the neck and twenty-five bones from the tail (caudal vertebrae). Named specimen 41HIII-0101, it was excavated from Upper Cretaceous deposits (Late Maastrichtian faunal stage) of the Qiupa Formation. Qiupanykus is the youngest member of the Alvarezsauridae known from China so far described. The paper describing the fossil specimen has been published in the journal “China Geology”.
A View of the Fossils of Q. zhangi and an Accompanying Line Drawing
Qiupanykus zhangi fossils and accompanying line drawing. Note the scale bar is 10 centimetres. An eggshell fragment has been identified on the left of the picture.
Picture credit: China Geology
The Enigmatic Alvarezsauridae
The Alvarezsauridae are a geographically widespread family of very bird-like theropod dinosaurs. Alvarezsaurid fossils have been found in Mongolia, China, as well as North and South America. They seem to have had a wide temporal distribution too, with the earliest known genera being excavated from Upper Jurassic strata in China. When first studied, these little, fast-running dinosaurs were thought to have been flightless birds, but as more fossil remains were found they were re-classified as non-avian dinosaurs. These dinosaurs have presented palaeontologists with a mystery.
Their stubby arms and single, massive, hypertrophied claw indicate an adaptation to a specialised lifestyle. Perhaps, they used their strong arms and their large claw for digging out burrows, some scientists have suggested that these dinosaurs were specialised insect eaters and they used their powerful front limbs to break into the mounds of termites.
A Pair of Alvarezsaurids Break Into a Termite Mound
Proposed alvarezsaurid feeding strategy.
Picture credit: Dougal Dixon
Did Qiupanykus zhangi Eat Eggs?
The discovery of an eggshell fragment in close proximity to the skeleton led the researchers to speculate on a possible link between Qiupanykus and egg eating. The team ruled out that the egg might have been laid by Qiupanykus as they calculated that it was too small to have laid such a large egg and the eggshell resembled the shell of an oviraptorid dinosaur egg.
In 2012, Everything Dinosaur reported upon the discovery of a pair of eggs found in association with another alvarezsaurid from South America (Bonapartenykus ultimus), in the subsequent scientific paper, the researchers did comment as to the parentage of the eggs, they might have been laid by an oviraptorosaurid dinosaur.
When discussing the discovery of an eggshell fragment very close to the tail bones of Qiupanykus zhangi the research team provide three possible explanations:
Fragments of eggshell were buried by chance alongside the remains of Q. zhangi the finding of the eggshell in association with a dinosaur skeleton is just coincidence.
The eggshell comes from an egg laid by an alvarezsaurid dinosaur, it was part of a brood.
The eggshell fragments were from eggs broken by alvarezsaurid dinosaurs and the eggs were not laid by them.
Given the specialised limbs and the strong, robust thumb claw of alvarezsaurids it is possible that these dinosaurs used their specialised arms and claws to crack open the eggs of other tetrapods and as such alvarezsaurid dinosaurs were not insectivores digging into termite mounds but instead fed upon eggs (ovivores).
To read Everything Dinosaur’s recent article that looks at fossil discoveries that are helping to map the evolution of the specialised arms of alvarezsaurids: Two New Chinese Dinosaurs Prove Handy.
JurassicCollectables Reviews Beasts of the Mesozoic Figures
The talented team at JurassicCollectables have produced a review of the two figures from the amazing Beasts of the Mesozoic model collection. This range of articulated “raptor” figures has been winning praise from dinosaur fans and model collectors and now, thanks to a super video review from JurassicCollectables, subscribers to their YouTube channel can see what all the fuss is about. In the video, the Environmental Accessory Pack – Desert with the Mononykus figure is reviewed alongside the beautiful Linheraptor exquisitus replica.
JurassicCollectables Reviews L. exquisitus and the Beasts of the Mesozoic Desert Accessory Pack
Video credit: JurassicCollectables
Beasts of the Mesozoic Figures
The Beasts of the Mesozoic range of figures consists of 1:6 scale, articulated “raptors”, although some of the animals featured such as Mononykus olecranus, the model that is supplied in the Desert Environmental Accessory Pack and features in this video review, is not a member of the Dromaeosauridae. The series is the brainchild of talented designer and artist David Silva and Everything Dinosaur has an exclusive agreement to supply these figures in the European Economic Area (EEA) by on-line channels and mail order.
The JurassicCollectables Video Review Features the Beasts of the Mesozoic Linheraptor exquisitus and the Desert Accessory Pack
JurassicCollectables reviews the Beasts of the Mesozoic Linheraptor and the Desert Accessory Pack which features Mononykus.
Picture credit: JurassicCollectables
For Discerning Model and Figure Collectors
The state-of-the-art modelling techniques that have been used to create this range are highlighted in the JurassicCollectables video. The narrator unpacks each figure in turn (starting with the Linheraptor) and then assembles the figures demonstrating how the support pegs and points of articulation work. It is great to see the video featuring the box art and the background artwork that can be found on the inside of the packaging.
The Beasts of the Mesozoic Linheraptor Figure
The exquisite Beasts of the Mesozoic Linheraptor exquisitus figure.
One of the benefits of the JurassicCollectables video review is that viewers can see the model assembled and it was very useful to see the storage pockets under the model’s base where the spare toes that come with the “raptors” can be stored safely and securely. The flexible tail on the Linheraptor figure was also demonstrated.
The Beasts of the Mesozoic Linheraptor exquisitus Displayed Against the Box Background
The Beasts of the Mesozoic Linheraptor exquisitus figure displayed against its box background.
Hand-painted, Articulated Prehistoric Animal Sets
The Beasts of the Mesozoic range also includes four accessory packs, which comprise a small, articulated dinosaur model with a diorama based on a different prehistoric environment. The JurassicCollectables video narrator took care to highlight the contents of one of these accessory packs, the desert set featuring the bizarre dinosaur M. olecranus.
The Desert Accessory Pack Featuring Mononykus
The contents of the Beasts of the Mesozoic Desert Accessory Pack with the Mononykus figure.
Picture credit: JurassicCollectables
The carefully crafted video (which lasts a little over fifteen minutes), showed the contents of the Beasts of the Mesozoic Desert Accessory Pack and demonstrated how to set up the dinosaur diorama. It was helpful to see how all the accessories including the beautifully detailed Protoceratops skull and the realistic rocks can be combined together to make a stunning prehistoric animal diorama.
The Beasts of the Mesozoic Desert Accessory Pack Assembled
The assembled Beasts of the Mesozoic Desert Accessory Pack featuring Mononykus.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Desert Accessory Pack Comes Complete with a Dinosaur Nest and Hatchling
JurassicCollectables took each of the accessories in turn and discussed their merits. For example, the Desert Accessory Pack includes a set of dinosaur eggs and a “raptor” hatchling. The narrator commented on each of these items and made sure that viewers had a chance to appreciate each piece. The Beasts of the Mesozoic range of figures is a welcome addition to the collectables market and in this very informative video, the flexibility and the range of poses for each of the models was demonstrated. Collectors can create their very own prehistoric scene and the versatility of these kits enables every collector to have their own, unique dinosaur diorama.
Aimed at serious model collectors aged fourteen years and older (these are display pieces and not toys), each Beasts of the Mesozoic prehistoric animal figure is based on the latest scientific research and these very well made videos from JurassicCollectables give potential buyers an ideal opportunity to view the kits and their contents before making a purchase.
The JurassicCollectables YouTube channel has over 75,000 subscribers and an amazing 855 videos. Everything Dinosaur recommends fans of prehistoric animals subscribe to this amazing YouTube channel: Subscribe to JurassicCollectables on YouTube.
Team members at Everything Dinosaur are busy preparing for a dinosaur workshop at Ewloe Primary in Wales. The children in Year 1 have been researching dinosaurs and finding out lots of facts about prehistoric animals. One of the teachers at the school emailed Everything Dinosaur with a list of questions that the children had compiled.
Year 1 Children Think of Questions About Dinosaurs
Why do dinosaurs have spikes on their backs? Isabelle. Why do some dinosaurs have four legs and some not? Amelia. Why do some dinosaurs have armour? Cora. Why do some have arms? Emily Why do some walk in a clumsy fashion? Lily Why do some have horns? Sorcha Why do some only eat plants? Paige Why do some dinosaurs fly? Emma Why do some run really fast? Harri Why do they fight? Lyla-Brooke Why are some vegetarian? Isaac Why do they have sharp teeth? Riya Why are they all different sizes? Scarlett Why do some have long tails? Jac Why do some have such a long neck? Olly Why do some have arms? Charlotte Why do they leave footprints and how? Noah Why do they have tails? Katelyn Why do they have claws? Leah
Image credit: Everything Dinosaur
Dinosaur Questions
There are quite a lot of questions and our dinosaur expert will endeavour to answer some of them during the school visit to conduct the dinosaur workshops. However, here are a couple of answers that we have prepared.
Why Do Dinosaurs Have Arms?
Our thanks to Charlotte and Emily for thinking up this super question. All dinosaurs had arms, a pair of arms just like us in fact. The bones in these arms were very similar to the bones that we have in our arms from the shoulder to the wrist joint (the humerus, sometimes called the funny bone and the ulna and radius bones), but there are differences in our wrists and fingers.
The arms of dinosaurs were adapted to help them to do different things. Some dinosaurs walked on all fours, the arms of these dinosaurs were used for walking. Other dinosaurs walked on two legs and their arms were used in other ways. For example, the ostrich-like Struthiomimus (Strooth-ee-oh-mime-us), had quite long, thin arms which may have had feathers on them. These arms were not wings, this dinosaur was too big to fly, but Struthiomimus may have flapped its arms about to scare off predators, to attract a mate or perhaps to shade its babies from the sun.
Different Dinosaurs with Different Arms
Dinosaur arms and their different functions. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Why Do Dinosaurs Leave Footprints and How?
Lots of animals and even people leave footprints, if you walk over something soft like mud or sand your foot will sink in and leave an impression behind. If you walk on something hard, like the concrete paths around your school, you don’t leave footprints, but if you were to walk on the concrete before it had hardened then your feet would sink into the concrete and you would create a footprint. Nice time you go to the beach and you walk on the sand take a look behind you, as you may have left a trail of footprints.
Can You Spot the Dinosaur Footprints?
Lots of dinosaur tracks made in the soft sand as the dinosaurs walked by, as the sand turned into rock so the dinosaur footprints have been preserved as fossils.
Picture credit: Lu Yong
When a dinosaur walked over soft ground such as the mud by a lake or a sandy river bank, they would leave a set of footprints. Sometimes, these tracks would get quickly covered by more sand and mud and over millions of years these layers would harden and turn into stone such as mudstone and sandstone. These rocks might preserve the dinosaur footprints as fossils.
A Dinosaur Steps in Some Mud and Leaves a Footprint
A fossil dinosaur footprint photographed at the London Natural History Museum. The exhibit features a three-toed print from the famous Lark Quarry track site in Australia. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
The shape and size of the fossil footprint provides palaeontologists with clues as to what sort of dinosaur might have made the track.
For Teacher – Supporting the Dinosaur Questions
Can the children think of six different ways they use their arms? Take photographs of these activities and make a poster for display describing what their arms are being used for. Think through and list the tasks that arms will be asked to do when it comes to putting the posters up on a wall for display. Write down the list of tasks needed to put a poster up on a wall, can a member of the class instruct their classmates correctly to ensure the task is completed?
Using plastic tubs filled with wet sand make a series of impressions using everyday objects found in the classroom, can the children work out what the objects were just from the impressions made? Make salt dough and have the class use various objects to make their own salt down fossils. Press an object into the salt dough to make an impression and then bake the dough to make it hard to preserve the imprint.
By Mike|2024-05-11T16:31:21+01:00September 18th, 2018|Key Stage 1/2|Comments Off on Amazing Questions About Dinosaurs – Part 1
Questions About Dinosaurs – Part 1
As Everything Dinosaur prepares to visit Ewloe Green Primary in Flintshire, to work with the enthusiastic Year 1 children as they learn about dinosaurs, their teacher arranged to email over a set of questions that the children had prepared.
Questions from the Year 1 Children
Why do dinosaurs have spikes on their backs? Isabelle. Why do some dinosaurs have four legs and some not? Amelia. Why do some dinosaurs have armour? Cora. Why do some have arms? Emily Why do some walk in a clumsy fashion? Lily Why do some have horns? Sorcha Why do some only eat plants? Paige Why do some dinosaurs fly? Emma Why do some run really fast? Harri Why do they fight? Lyla-Brooke Why are some vegetarian? Isaac Why do they have sharp teeth? Riya Why are they all different sizes? Scarlett Why do some have long tails? Jac Why do some have such a long neck? Olly Why do some have arms? Charlotte Why do they leave footprints and how? Noah Why do they have tails? Katelyn Why do they have claws? Leah
Questions About Dinosaurs
That’s a lot of questions for our dinosaur and fossil experts to work through. Some of these questions can be incorporated into our dinosaur workshops that we are preparing for the classes, but we will tackle a couple of questions here, just to help the budding young scientists as they explore life in the past.
Why Do Dinosaurs Have Claws?
Our thanks to Leah for this question. There were lots of different dinosaurs and they all had claws of various shapes and sizes. These claws may have originally come about to help protect the fingers and toes of the dinosaur ancestors as they walked about on land. However, claws soon evolved into different shapes and sizes. Some dinosaurs such as the meat-eaters, developed sharp claws on their toes and hands to help them catch their dinners, whilst other dinosaurs such as some of the plant-eaters had claws like hooves to help them as they walked along.
Even giants like Brontosaurus had a big toe claw, it may have used this claw as a weapon to keep it safe from other dinosaurs, but this claw also helped this dinosaur to walk safely across muddy ground without slipping in the same way that football boots have studs on the bottom.
Different Dinosaurs/Different Claws
A close-up view of the detailed head and those dangerous-looking claws on the PNSO Qingge the Therizinosaurus dinosaur model.
The picture (above) shows the huge claws on the Therizinosaurus model by PNSO.
Cool Fact – Your fingernails are made from the same stuff as dinosaur claws (it is called keratin).
Why Do Dinosaurs Have Tails?
All the dinosaurs discovered so far had tails. The tails of dinosaurs came in all shapes and sizes. Some dinosaurs had very long tails that they might have used as whips to help keep them safe from attacking meat-eaters. Fast running dinosaurs used their tails to help them balance when they sprinted. Other dinosaurs evolved tails with a bony club on the end which they could use as a weapon. Some feathered dinosaurs even had tails that they could use to display and to show-off with, just like the tail of a peacock!
Different Dinosaurs/Different Tails
A trio of Rebor tyrannosaurid dinosaur tails. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Cool Fact – Our distant ancestors had tails too. The bump that you can feel at the bottom of your back is your tail bone (it is called the coccyx).
For Teacher
Can you find pictures of dinosaurs with different claws? Can you sort them into groups? What sort of describing words will you use for each group – sharp claws, blunt claws, big claws, small claws?
Look at pictures of animals alive today, can you find examples of different tails? What might these animals use their tails for?
Tiny Fossils Reveal How Shrinking Was Essential for Successful Mammalian Evolution
Mammals and dinosaurs may have shared a common reptilian ancestor, but these two tetrapod lineages diverged from one another a very long time ago. However, mammals lived alongside the dinosaurs for many millions of years and a new study published in the academic journal “Nature”, suggests that staying small and inconspicuous was a key factor contributing to the evolution of mammals. It was only after the extinction of the dinosaurs and other types of reptile, pterosaurs and marine reptiles, for example, that mammals were able to grow much larger.
Mammals and Dinosaurs
Most Mammals Remained Small During the Mesozoic and Many were Probably Nocturnal
Purbeck Lagoon 145 million years ago, small placental mammals living alongside dinosaurs. As darkness falls Durlstodon (top left) looks on whilst two Durlstotherium scurry through the undergrowth. In the centre a Durlstotherium has been caught by Nuthetes destructor.
Picture credit: Mark Witton
The Origins of Mammals
There are three types of mammals living today, there are the monotremes, the egg-laying mammals such as the platypus and the echidna, remnants of a once very widespread and diverse group of egg-laying mammals called the Australosphenida, that existed in the Southern Hemisphere for much of the Jurassic and Cretaceous. Secondly, there are the pouched mammals, the marsupials, familiar creatures such as kangaroos, possums, koalas and such like. Thirdly, there are the much more common and geographically widespread placental mammals (humans are a placental mammal).
The first true mammals such as the Late Triassic Eozostrodon, Megazostrodon and Morganucodon lived over 200 million years ago and a team of scientists from the United States and the UK have concluded that whilst the dinosaurs grew into giants, the ancestors of all modern mammals opted for a different strategy, they stayed small.
A Life Reconstruction of the Morganucodont Morganucodon of the Late Triassic
A model of the Late Triassic mammaliaform Morganucodon.
Picture credit: University of Birmingham
Getting to Grips with the Mammalian Jaw
The researchers used modern computer analysis to examine what happened to the skeleton of our tiny, shrew-like mammal ancestors. Modern mammals have a unique lower jaw, consisting of a single bone that bears teeth (the dentary). In contrast, other vertebrates have more complex lower jaws formed by several bones fused together.
In the course of the evolution of mammals, the complex jaws became simplified and a new jaw joint was formed, whilst some of bones that once formed the back of the jaws (the articular in the lower jaw and the quadrate in the back of the upper jaw), became much reduced in size, moving to the middle ear to evolve a role to aid hearing.
The scientists looked at how it was possible for the jaw to be restructured, whilst the animal was still able to feed and to hear. X-ray computed tomography (CT scans) were employed to assess the skulls and jaws, computer models were then built to simulate the evolutionary process. The team’s results showed that the small size of the fossil mammals significantly reduced the stresses in the jaw bones when feeding, while still being powerful enough to capture and bite through prey, such as insects.
Early Mammals were Small and Shrew-like
An illustration of Wareolestes rex. An early mammaliaform that probably was nocturnal and insectivorous.
Picture credit: Elsa Panciroli
Mammalian Jaw Evolution
Commenting on the study, lead author and lecturer at Birmingham University, Dr Stephan Lautenschlager stated:
“Our results provide a new explanation of how the mammalian jaw evolved over 200 million years ago. Getting very small appears to have been crucial for our mammalian ancestors. This allowed them to reduce the stresses in the jaw during feeding and made the restructuring of the jaw bones possible.”
Professor Emily Rayfield (Bristol University), who lead the study added:
“The evolution of the mammalian jaw joint has perplexed palaeontologists for over 50 years. Using computational methods, we can offer explanations to how our mammalian ancestors were able to maintain a working jaw while co-opting bones into a complex sound detection system. Our research is about testing ideas of what makes mammals unique among the animal kingdom, and how this may have come about.”
The scientific paper: “The Role of Miniaturisation in the Evolution of the Mammalian Jaw and Middle Ear” by Stephan Lautenschlager, Pamela Gill, Zhe-Xi Luo, Michael J. Fagan and Emily Rayfield published in the journal Nature.
Everything Dinosaur acknowledges the assistance of a press release from the University of Birmingham in the compilation of this article.
Subscribers to Everything Dinosaur’s newsletter received their latest instalment a few days ago and what a jam-packed newsletter it was. The headlines were dominated by the arrival of the amazing Kaiyodo Sofubi Toy Box Tyrannosaurus rex figures. These three, articulated T. rex figures have been eagerly anticipated by collectors and they are very rare, so it was great to see all three models featuring (018A, 018B and the “classic” 018C).
Announcing the Arrival of the Kaiyodo Sofubi Toy Box T. rex Figures
The Kaiyodo Sofubi Toy Box T. rex dinosaur figures are in stock at Everything Dinosaur.Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Kaiyodo Sofubi Toy Box T. rex Dinosaurs
The three tyrannosaurs with a total of ten points of articulation each, make wonderful pieces for any serious dinosaur figure collector. It is very difficult to obtain these figures from outside Japan and newsletter readers have been contacting us over the last few days to congratulate us and to express their delight over these detailed models.
To view the limited edition Kaiyodo Sofubi Toy Box T. rex dinosaurs including the “smoke green” and the “classic” colour variants: Kaiyodo Prehistoric Animal Models.
Get Your Hands on a Kaiyodo Sofubi Toy Box T. rex
The Kaiyodo Sofubi Toy Box T. rex dinosaur figures are in stock at Everything Dinosaur.Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
With prices from £32.99 plus postage, these models are already proving to be extremely popular with collectors. Prices stated as correct at the time of publishing.
Rebor Vanilla Ice “Jungle” and “Mountain”
The Kaiyodo “Smoke Green” T. rex and Rebor Vanilla Ice “Jungle”
The Kaiyodo Sofubi Toy Box T. rex dinosaur figure (smoke green) and a Rebor “Vanilla Ice” in the jungle colouration.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Everything Dinosaur will be stocking the amazing pair of 1/35th scale Rebor tyrannosaurs which will be sold under the name Vanilla Ice. There are two colour variants available, the one pictured above, is the Vanilla Ice “Jungle” tyrannosaur, a beautiful, green-coloured theropod. This model will be available at the end of October or thereabouts and Everything Dinosaur has opened a priority reserve list for this dinosaur model.
The Rebor Vanilla Ice 1:35 Scale Tyrannosaur Figure “Mountain” and a Dinomites T. rex Soft Toy
Rebor “Vanilla Ice” Mountain and a soft and cuddly T. rex.Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
The picture above shows the Rebor Vanilla Ice “Mountain” dinosaur model. It, like its counterpart “Jungle”, is a superb replica. Both tyrannosaur models have an articulated lower jaw and “Mountain” along with “Jungle” should be arriving at our warehouse on or around the end of October.
To join our priority reserve list for the Rebor Vanilla Ice “Jungle” and “Mountain” tyrannosaur figures, simply email Everything Dinosaur: Contact Everything Dinosaur.
Dinomites Soft Toy T. rex
To complete our tyrannosaur theme for our latest newsletter, a picture and information about our Dinomites T. rex soft toy were included, it is a wonderful example of prehistoric plush. It is a super soft and cuddly Tyrannosaurus rex, aimed at young dinosaur fans. For further information about the huge range of soft toy prehistoric animals stocked by Everything Dinosaur: Soft Toy Dinosaurs from Everything Dinosaur.
The Dinomites Soft Toy Tyrannosaurus rex
The Dinomites T. rex soft toy.
To subscribe to Everything Dinosaur’s regular customer newsletter, just drop our dedicated team members an email: Email Everything Dinosaur.
The famous “Jurassic Coast” stretches for 95 miles (155 kilometres). It runs from Exmouth in East Devon to Studland Bay in Dorset and the layers of sedimentary rock record approximately 185 million years of Earth’s history.
The “Jurassic Coast”
This coastline on the English Channel was designated at England’s first UNESCO natural World Heritage Site back in 2001 and although it attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists every month during the summer, there are still quiet parts to be explored and enjoyed.
A View of the Jurassic Coast Towards Burton Bradstock East of Lyme Regis
The view towards West Bay and Burton Bradstock. A beautiful day on the UNESCO World Heritage site, the “Jurassic Coast”.Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Sandstone Cliffs
The photograph shows a section of the sandstone cliffs that lie to the east of Seatown in Dorset, the view shows West Bay and on the far right the sheer sandstone cliffs of Burton Bradstock can just be made out.
What a terrific view, this area of southern England may attract huge numbers of visitors every year, but there are still some areas, especially those more difficult to access parts of the coastline, that can provide opportunities to have a small section of a UNESCO World Heritage site, all to yourself, for a few minutes at least.
By Mike|2023-10-30T08:38:13+00:00September 15th, 2018|General Teaching|Comments Off on A Beautiful Marine Reptile Model
Wonderful Model of a Pliosaurus
Our thanks to the model collector and prehistoric animal fan who sent in a picture of a wonderful marine reptile diorama. The figure in question is a model of the fearsome, carnivore Pliosaurus. The artist (Martin Garratt), has done a splendid job in making a prehistoric animal model that costs just a few pounds into something truly unique and spectacular.
Prehistoric Pliosaurus Model Display Piece
A customised CollectA Pliosaurus scale model.
Collecta Deluxe Pliosaurus
The image (above) shows the figure. It is a customised CollectA Deluxe Pliosaurus. It has been used to make an amazing marine reptile diorama.
To help depict the model in a dynamic swimming pose, the sculptor moulded a support and incorporated this into the base by making it look like an irregular section of the sandy seabed the marine reptile was cruising past. The fine details on this display piece help to reflect the quality of the craftsmanship involved. The sculptor has even created a coiled ammonite shell and added it to the seabed.
A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented:
“We enjoy seeing pictures of prehistoric animal dioramas and we get lots sent into our offices. We look at every one, pictures of dinosaur models created by children as well as museum quality dioramas such as this one created by a professional artist.”
