2018 | Everything Dinosaur Blog

23 09, 2018

Chemical Clues to the Earliest Animal Fossils

By Mike|2023-10-30T10:53:35+00:00September 23rd, 2018|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Main Page, Palaeontological articles, Photos/Pictures of Fossils|0 Comments

Cholesterol Proves Dickinsonia was an Animal

A team of international scientists including researchers from the Australian National University (Canberra) and the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow), have finally solved one of the great puzzles in palaeontology. They have detected molecules of cholesterol in an ancient animal fossil to confirm that the bizarre Dickinsonia, part of the enigmatic Ediacaran biota, was an animal and therefore distantly related to all other animals including humans.

A Fossil of Dickinsonia – A Bizarre Disc-like Organism But What Exactly Was It?

Dickinsonia costata fossil. — *The Ediacaran fossil Dickinsonia costata, specimen P40135 from the collections of the South Australia Museum.*

Picture credit: Fr Alex Liu (Cambridge University)

The Enigmatic Ediacaran Biota

Before the Cambrian explosion and the evolution of hard-bodied organisms, there existed a strange biota formed of bizarre, soft-bodied organisms that did not show much affinity to Late Cambrian fossil groups and to any form of living organisms today. Fossils appear in sedimentary rock dated between 570 to 541 million years ago and have been found in Australia, (the Ediacara Hills of South Australia, from which this period in Earth’s history is named) and notably in Namibia, England, China, Canada and Russia. They were the first complex multi-cellular organisms to appear on Earth.

Although the Ediacaran biota immediately preceded the rapid appearance and diversification of animals in the Cambrian, where these strange organisms fit within the tree of life remained a mystery. Some of these fossils appear segmented and show some bilateral symmetry, Dickinsonia for example, but most lack any obvious signs of a gut, a mouth, an anus or any appendages that might link them to the Animalia.

This new study, published in the journal “Science”, identified biomarkers, specifically the fat, cholesterol in the fossilised remains of Dickinsonia. This discovery confirms that at least one bizarre Ediacaran group, Dickinsonia and related taxa are members of the animal kingdom (Metazoa).

Finding Fossils Can Be Dangerous

Australian National University PhD student Ilya Bobrovskiy and his fellow collaborators in this research project, explored a remote area of exposed cliff on the White Sea coast of north-western Russia. The field team were looking for strata laid down in the Ediacaran so that they could study any fossils preserved within the ancient rocks. The sedimentary material they were interested in was exposed high up on a steep cliff face and ropes had to be used to get the field team down the cliff face so that they could dislodge sandstone boulders which fell to the beach below and then could be collected for further analysis.

Palaeontology Can Be a Dangerous Business – Dislodging Ancient Marine Sandstone Boulders From the Cliff Face

Extracting sandstone blocks from the cliff face. — *Digging out huge blocks of sandstone to find Ediacaran fossils on the Russian White Sea coast.*

Picture credit: Australian National University

Dickinsonia – The Earliest Known Animal in the Geological Record

Some Dickinsonia fossils are a whopping 140 centimetres in length, indicating that these organisms were much bigger than most of the Ediacaran and later Cambrian biota, but where they fitted in the classification of life on Earth remained open to conjecture. Previously, it had been suggested that these fossils represented giant, single-celled amoeba, lichens or dead-end evolutionary experiments that have no connection to other life forms. The research team discovered a Dickinsonia fossil that was so well preserved that a molecular analysis revealed traces of tiny amounts of cholesterol, a type of fat that is only produced by animal life. The scientists postulate that this is the conclusive evidence that confirms that Dickinsonia was an animal.

Cholesterol Found in Dickinsonia Proves it was an Animal

Picture credit: Australian National University

Co-author of the study, Associate Professor Jochen Brocks from the ANU Research School of Earth Sciences commented:

“The fossil fat molecules that we’ve found prove that animals were large and abundant 558 million years ago, millions of years earlier than previously thought. Scientists have been fighting for more than 75 years over what Dickinsonia and other bizarre fossils of the Ediacaran biota were. The fossil fat now confirms Dickinsonia as the oldest known animal fossil, solving a decades-old mystery that has been the Holy Grail of palaeontology.”

Preparing Fossil Specimens for Analysis

Searching for traces of organic materials such as fats in Dickinsonia. — *Preparing a fossil specimen for the organic matter analysis.*

Picture credit: Australian National University

Molecular Analysis of Dickinsonia Fossils

Using extremely sensitive techniques to assess the chemical nature of fossil material has opened up whole new areas of study for palaeontologists. Prior to the employment of such technologies as computerised tomography, synchrotron radiation light sources, biomarker analysis and four-dimensional scanning, palaeontologists were restricted to studying the shape and the form of fossils. Today, palaeontologists can utilise these new methodologies, drawn from a variety of disciplines such as engineering and medicine to undertake complementary areas of study.

To read an article published in 2017 that postulated that Dickinsonia was a member of the Animal Kingdom and likely to be a Metazoan: Growth Analysis Suggests Dickinsonia was Definitely an Animal.

For models and replicas of ancient prehistoric creatures: Prehistoric Animal Models.

22 09, 2018

Key Stage 1 and Beautiful Dinosaurs

By Mike|2024-05-11T10:13:50+01:00September 22nd, 2018|Educational Activities, Main Page, Teaching|0 Comments

Key Stage 1 Classes at Strawberry Fields Primary Study Dinosaurs

The children in the three Key Stage 1 classes at Strawberry Fields Primary are certainly enjoying their term topic all about dinosaurs, fossils and life in the past. The dedicated teaching team have developed a challenging and varied term topic for the pupils.

Studying Dinosaurs

The budding young palaeontologists in Year 1 (class 1MM), have been working out whether “a dinosaur would make a good pet”. Some of the fierce meat-eating dinosaurs we talked about during our school visit, might not make ideal pets, but some of the smaller plant-eaters, (herbivores) might have been better suited. The dinosaurs would certainly have been curious to visit the amazing dinosaur den that had been set up in the classroom, complete with a beautiful crepe paper volcano overlooking it.

A Model of a Volcano on Display in the Classroom

Year 1 model volcano. — *A wonderful representation of a volcano on display in a Year 1 classroom.* *Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.*

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Bright and Colourful Prehistoric Animal Displays

The children in the three Key Stage 1 classes (1MM, 1/2CE and 2MC), were keen to display their knowledge and explained confidently how the dinosaurs died out. Prior to our workshops, we provided some additional resources and we emailed over to the school a lesson plan that we had devised that examined the question “why do asteroids always land in craters”? This lesson plan and the other materials we provided were aimed at supporting the school’s scheme of work and to engage the children with the concept of “scientific working”.

Lots of Brightly Coloured Prehistoric Animals on Display Around the Spacious Classrooms

Key Stage 1 prehistoric animal window display. — *A colourful long-necked prehistoric animal window display in Key Stage 1. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.*

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

A Three-dimensional Dinosaur Model

In the tidy and well-appointed classrooms, our dinosaur expert who visited the school spotted lots of excellent examples of the children’s work. There was even a three-dimensional model of the head of a Triceratops looking down on the display boards in one of the classrooms. These display boards were rapidly becoming filled with examples of the children’s non-chronological reports, questions that they had researched about dinosaurs, fact sheets and plenty of colourful prehistoric animal themed artwork.

The Head of a Triceratops Looks Down on the Class Display Boards

Triceratops head on display in a Key Stage 1 classroom. — *A three-dimensional Triceratops head on display in the classroom.* *Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.*

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Our very best wishes to all the young palaeontologists in Key Stage 1 at Strawberry Fields Primary and also to the hard-working teaching team that had put together such an exciting and challenging term topic for the children.

Visit the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

22 09, 2018

Strawberry Fields Primary and Dinosaurs

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

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.

Visit the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

21 09, 2018

Answering Amazing Questions About Dinosaurs – Part 2

By Mike|2024-05-11T16:30:51+01:00September 21st, 2018|Educational Activities, Main Page, Teaching|0 Comments

Answering Questions About Dinosaurs – Part 2

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 image. — *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

The great variety of dinosaurs. — 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?

Different types of horned dinosaur. — *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.

To view this range: CollectA Prehistoric Life Figures.

For Teacher

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?

Visit the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

20 09, 2018

Did Alvarezsaurids Eat Eggs? That’s a Fascinating Question

By Mike|2024-05-11T06:21:42+01:00September 20th, 2018|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Dinosaur Fans, Main Page, Photos/Pictures of Fossils|0 Comments

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 Depicted Breaking into the Eggs of an oviraptorid. — *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 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

Alvarezsaurids breaking 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 2012 article about Bonapartenykus ultimus: Alvarezsaurid Eggs Uncovered In Patagonia.

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.

Visit the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

19 09, 2018

Beasts of the Mesozoic Reviewed by JurassicCollectables

By Mike|2023-10-30T09:27:11+00:00September 19th, 2018|Dinosaur Fans, Everything Dinosaur Products, Everything Dinosaur videos, Main Page, Photos of Everything Dinosaur Products, Product Reviews|0 Comments

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

Reviewing Beasts of the Mesozoic Linheraptor 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

Picture credit: JurassicCollectables

To view the Beasts of the Mesozoic range exclusively available from Everything Dinosaur: Beasts of the Mesozoic Figures.

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

Linheraptor (Beasts of the Mesozoic) on display. — *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

Beasts of the Mesozoic Desert Accessory Pack contents. — *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

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.

The Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

18 09, 2018

Dinosaur Questions for Year 1

By Mike|2023-10-30T09:14:04+00:00September 18th, 2018|Educational Activities, Main Page, Teaching|0 Comments

Answering Dinosaur Questions for Year 1 Pupils

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

Different dinosaur 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?

Dinosaur tracks and prints fossil site (China). — *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

Fossil dinosaur 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.

Visit the website of Everything Dinosaur: Everything Dinosaur.

18 09, 2018

Amazing Questions About Dinosaurs – Part 1

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

PNSO Qingge the Therizinosaurus (close view). — *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.

To view this range of prehistoric animal figures: PNSO Age of Dinosaurs Figures.

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

Three Rebor dinosaur 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?

Visit the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

17 09, 2018

Stay Small if you Want to Survive the Mesozoic

By Mike|2023-10-30T08:58:27+00:00September 17th, 2018|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Main Page, Palaeontological articles|0 Comments

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 (Dorset) 145 million years ago. — 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

Staying small helped A model of the Late Triassic mammaliaform evolution during the Mesozoic. — *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.

For an article that looks at the evolution of hearing in the mammaliaform and true mammals: Let’s Hear It For Mammalian Evolution.

A Transitional Process

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

The Middle Jurassic mammaliaform (W. rex). — *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.

Visit the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

16 09, 2018

Everything Dinosaur Exclusive September Newsletter

By Mike|2024-05-11T16:31:43+01:00September 16th, 2018|Adobe CS5, Dinosaur Fans, Everything Dinosaur Newsletters, Everything Dinosaur Products, Main Page, Photos of Everything Dinosaur Products|0 Comments

Kaiyodo Sofubi, New Rebor and a Soft Toy T. rex

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

Kaiyodo Sofubi Toy Box T. rex (classic colouration). — *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

Kaiyodo Sofubi Toy Box T. rex dinosaur figure (018A). — *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”

Kaiyodo Sofubi Toy Box T. rex dinosaur figure (smoke green) and a Rebor "Vanilla Ice" - jungle variant. — *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

The Rebor "Vanilla Ice" Mountain variant and a soft toy T. rex. — *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

To subscribe to Everything Dinosaur’s regular customer newsletter, just drop our dedicated team members an email: Email Everything Dinosaur.

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