We have frogspawn in the office pond. This morning (February 28th, 2023), the first batch of frogspawn was spotted in the Everything Dinosaur office pond. The eggs had probably been laid just a few hours earlier in the very early morning. It had rained in the night and there was extensive cloud cover. The night had been chilly with temperatures around 4 degrees Celsius, what would normally be expected in our area at the end of February.
This is the first time that we have recorded frogspawn in February.
The first frogspawn has been laid in the office pond. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Frogspawn in February
We have not recorded frogspawn in the office pond being laid in February before. Last year, we recorded the first frogspawn on March 2nd, this was the earliest we had recorded spawn, until a new record for early spawning was set this year.
Over the last few years, Everything Dinosaur team members have noted the date of the first frogspawn being laid. The trend is for the frogs (Rana temporaria) to spawn earlier each year. Is this caused by the impact of global climate change?
Earliest recorded spawning dates for Common frogs in the office pond:
February 28th 2023
March 2nd 2022
March 11th 2021
March 20th 2020
March 22nd 2019
March 17th 2018
March 11th 2017
March 20th 2016
March 12th 2015
Other dates when we have recorded the first frogspawn in a year:
March 19th 2013, March 11th 2012, March 18th 2011 and the first ever frogspawn in the office pond was laid on March 16th 2008.
New Beasts of the Mesozoic models (2023) feature in the latest Everything Dinosaur customer newsletter. New ceratopsians and tyrannosauroid replicas to collect. The headline item in the newsletter is the feathered tyrannosauroid Yutyrannus huali in 1:18 scale.
The new for 2023 Beasts of the Mesozoic Yutyrannus huali tyrannosauroid dinosaur model is highlighted in Everything Dinosaur’s latest customer newsletter. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Beasts of the Mesozoic Models
There are seven additions to the popular Beasts of the Mesozoic models range. Four carnivorous dinosaurs and three ceratopsian figures. Part of the new “tyrannosaur” series, a replica of a juvenile T. rex and a 1:6 scale Dilong paradoxus have arrived at Everything Dinosaur’s warehouse.
The juvenile T. rex figure (left) and the 1/6th scale Dilong replica. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Jurassic and Cretaceous Dinosaur Models
Whilst six of the seven new figures represent Cretaceous dinosaurs, the Guanlong (G. wucaii) is an articulated model of an early tyrannosauroid (proceratosaurid tyrannosauroid) known from the Late Jurassic of China.
There are two new replicas of Styracosaurus for fans of horned dinosaurs to collect. Both Styracosaurus models are in 1:18 scale and called “Old Buck” as they represent a mature male.
The Late Jurassic tyrannosauroid Guanlong (left) and the Late Cretaceous ceratopsian Styracosaurus (right). Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Old Buck Styracosaurus
One of the “Old Buck” Styracosaurus figures has been painted to reflect injuries it may have sustained in a fight with a tyrannosaur. None of the tyrannosauroids that have just been added to the Beasts of the Mesozoic range were coeval with Styracosaurus. Collectors will have to wait for the tyrannosaurs associated with the Campanian faunal stage such as Albertosaurus and Gorgosaurus to be introduced.
The Beasts of the Mesozoic Styracosaurus dinosaur model. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Old Buck (Bloody)
The articulated Styracosaurus with the battle damage is known as “Old Buck Bloody”.
A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented that:
“Along with the two new Styracosaurus models, a trio of articulated baby Diabloceratops models have been added to the Beasts of the Mesozoic range.”
The Old Buck – Bloody (left) and the trio of baby Diabloceratops figures (right). Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Everything Dinosaur team members have been busy packing and despatching the latest Beasts of the Mesozoic fulfilment programme. New tyrannosaur and ceratopsian figures in the Beasts of the Mesozoic range have arrived at the company’s warehouse and Kickstarter orders are in the process of being sent out.
Beasts of the Mesozoic tyrannosaur and ceratopsian model fulfilment by Everything Dinosaur. Parcels awaiting movement to the despatching area. Sue poses with parcels made ready for despatch. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Beasts of the Mesozoic Fulfilment
Seven new Beasts of the Mesozoic figures have arrived. They include the two new Styracosaurus figures (Old Buck and Old Buck – Bloody), along with the baby Diabloceratops and four tyrannosauroids – Guanlong, Dilong, a juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex and a Yutyrannus huali.
The Beasts of the Mesozoic Yutyrannus huali articulated dinosaur model. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented:
“We have been focusing on getting out the UK orders and those parcels destined for Europe. A sizeable portion of UK orders have already been sent out. Over the weekend we have been concentrating on getting out the Kickstarter orders for customers in the EU.”
Plans are in place to complete the UK fulfilment within a few days and the European orders are scheduled to be sent out by the evening of Thursday 2nd March (2023).
Everything Dinosaur team members have been asked to compile a short list of questions about dinosaurs by a researcher for a UK national radio programme. The researcher read the recent Everything Dinosaur blog article about the discovery of a large, tridactyl dinosaur footprint in Yorkshire and contacted the company with the request.
A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented:
“We are delighted to help out and devise some dinosaur themed questions. Usually we are the ones being asked questions about prehistoric animals, by dinosaur fans of all ages. It makes a nice change to turn the tables.”
The questions compiled by pupils at Mayfield Primary. Normally, it is Everything Dinosaur team members who get asked questions about dinosaurs and prehistoric animals. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Questions About Dinosaurs
As requested by the radio station researcher, we have compiled a list of questions on dinosaurs.
The word “dinosaur” or to be technically correct the “Dinosauria” was first coined by a British scientist in the early 1840s – who was it?
What does the term dinosaur actually mean?
Tyrannosaurus rex is perhaps the most famous dinosaur of all, in what year was T. rex formally, scientifically described?
Dinosaur fossils are found in rock formations that were laid down during three geological time periods – one of these periods is called the Jurassic – hence the movie “Jurassic Park” but what are the names of the other two geological periods associated with the dinosaurs?
What was the name of the first dinosaur to be scientifically described?
The world’s first life-size dinosaur models are still in existence, but where in the world would you have to travel to if you wanted to see them?
The answers and accompanying notes will be prepared and made available to the researcher.
A team of scientists have been studying a Pinacosaurus larynx and have concluded that this armoured dinosaur was probably capable of producing a variety of sounds and calls.
A juvenile specimen of Pinacosaurus (P. grangeri), specimen number IGM100/3186, preserves a hyoid and two laryngeal elements (cricoids and arytenoids) in almost life articulation. From these remains the researchers have concluded that just like crocodilians and birds, Pinacosaurus was capable of producing a range of vocalisations. The calls may have had several functions, to alert others of a predator approaching, to threaten a predator, to define territory or to search for a mate. The sounds made by this ornithischian dinosaur may have been related to courtship, or perhaps helped to call offspring to their side.
Skull in ventral view (a) photograph by Michael D’ Emic and edited by Junki Yoshida. A 3-D reconstruction of the skull, jaws and hyolaryngeal apparatus in left oblique view (b). Crico-aryteniod joint of right cricoid in medial view (c). The joint of left arytenoid in dorsolateral view (d). Arytenoid position in glottal opening (e) and glottal closing in anterior views (f). Arytenoid position in glottal opening (g) and glottal closing in dorsal views (h). Abbreviations: afa, articular facet for arytenoid; afc, articular facet for cricoid; ap, arytenoid process; atr, atlas rib; caj, crico-arytenoid joint; lcb, left ceratobranchial; lcr, left cricoid; md, mandible; pm, premaxilla; pd, predentary; rar, right arytenoid; rcb, right ceratobranchial; rcr, right cricoid. Scale bars equal 1 cm. Picture credit Yoshida et al.
Pinacosaurus grangeri
Pinacosaurus (P. grangeri) is regarded as a basal member of the Ankylosaurinae subfamily of ankylosaurs. It is known from copious fossil material, and it is one of the most extensively studied of all the Late Cretaceous Thyreophora. Fossils are known from the Mongolia and China (Djadokhta Formation and the geologically older Alagteeg Formation).
A Pinacosaurus dinosaur model (PNSO). A study into their vocalisation has been published. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
The image (above) shows a not-to-scale replica of Pinacosaurus (PNSO).
In tetrapods the voice box (larynx) has several functions. It plays a role in respiration, protects the airway to prevent food items becoming lodged and it has a function in vocalisation. Fossil preservation of the larynx in archosaurs is extremely rare. The Pinacosaurus fossil material (IGM100/3186) represents the oldest voice box known to science. It provides scientists with an opportunity to better understand the evolution of the larynx in non-avian dinosaurs.
The Pinacosaurus hyolaryngeal apparatus (tongue and voice box) in situ. A life reconstruction. Cricoid (purple), arytenoid (green), and ceratobranchial (blue) are depicted. Artwork by Tatsuya Shinmura.
Vocal Armoured Dinosaurs
Ossification of the cricoid and arytenoid is confirmed in Pinacosaurus, and it has been reported in Saichania, another Asian ankylosaurine. This configuration is also found in extant birds. The complex arrangement of the hyolaryngeal apparatus led the researchers to conclude that it did not simply function as a barrier to preventing food entering the trachea (airway protection). It was specialised for opening the glottis and possibly acting as a sound modifier.
The voice box of modern birds and crocodilians differs. In crocodiles and their close relatives it is the larynx that produces sounds. In birds, the larynx forms part of the vocal tract but they have a specialised organ (syrinx) located at the base of the trachea (wind pipe), that produces sounds.
Pinacosaurus – Shared Anatomical Characteristics
The researchers suggest that Pinacosaurus retained the same hyolaryngeal elements as found in crocodilians. However, Pinacosaurus shows many shared characters with birds in the arrangement and morphology of the larynx.
The authors of the scientific paper, which was published this month in “Communications Biology” (Junki Yoshida, Yoshitsugu Kobayashi and Mark Norell), propose that Pinacosaurus did not use the larynx as a sound source like non-avian reptiles. The larynx probably worked as a sound modifier as found in birds
Furthermore, the authors postulate that bird-like vocalisation likely appeared in non-avian dinosaurs before the evolution of the Aves (birds).
Article sourced from the open-access paper in Communications Biology.
The scientific paper: “An ankylosaur larynx provides insights for bird-like vocalization in non-avian dinosaurs” by Junki Yoshida, Yoshitsugu Kobayashi, Mark A. Norell published in Communications Biology.
At Everything Dinosaur we enjoy reading all the customer comments and feedback we receive. Here is a guide to reviewing Everything Dinosaur or an Everything Dinosaur product on the company’s website.
How to Leave a Review
Leaving a review on the website is quite easy and straightforward. To demonstrate this, let us use leaving a review on the recently arrived Beasts of the Mesozoic Yutyrannus huali model as an example.
The Beasts of the Mesozoic Yutyrannus huali articulated dinosaur model. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Visit the product page, the page of the item that you wish to review. Scroll down the page and find the blue “Reviews” link.
Click the “Reviews” link and then leave a comment/feedback and a product rating out of 5-stars.
Scroll down the product page and click the link entitled “Reviews” (highlighted by a red arrow). When on the review section, rate the item out of 5-stars and leave a comment. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Reviewing Everything Dinosaur
In the image (above) we have highlighted with a red arrow where the “Reviews” link can be found on the Beasts of the Mesozoic Yutyrannus huali model page.
A spokesperson commented:
“Reviews are very important to us and we enjoy reading the comments and feedback from customers.”
Everything Dinosaur team members are busy preparing for the arrival of the new CollectA models and have finished a Hadrosaurus scale drawing. The illustration will be incorporated into the free Hadrosaurus fact sheet which will be sent out with model purchases.
The Hadrosaurus foulkii scale drawing. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Hadrosaurus foulkii
As Everything Dinosaur prepares for the arrival of the first of the new for 2023 CollectA prehistoric animal figures we have been commissioning scale drawings of the models to incorporate into our free fact sheets. Fact sheets featuring Ceratosuchops, Anomalocaris, Ruyangosaurus and Shastasaurus are also being prepared.
A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented that they hoped to have most of these fact sheets finished in the first week of March. The Hadrosaurus foulkii data sheet is currently being finalised.
The new for 2022 CollectA Age of Dinosaurs Hadrosaurus dinosaur model.
Hadrosaurus Scale Drawing
The Hadrosaurus scale drawing will provide a visual guide to fact sheet readers as to the size of this herbivorous dinosaur. The fact sheet will explain about this dinosaur’s discovery and its importance in palaeontology. Hadrosaurus was the first dinosaur to be scientifically described from fossils found in North America. It was the first duck-billed dinosaur named and when an exhibition of its fossils was opened at the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences in 1868, it became the first mounted dinosaur skeleton to be erected in the USA.
It is widely accepted by palaeontologists that birds are descended from theropod dinosaurs. Their evolutionary lineage, the transition over time from the fast-running, agile, terrestrial Maniraptora to the birds we see today remains not fully understood. A new research project is being set up giving scientists the opportunity of tracing dinosaur footsteps to help them to better understand the evolutionary path of the avian dinosaurs.
A three-toed theropod footprint: Picture credit: Dr Peter Falkingham.
A £2.2 million GBP ($2.65 million USD) Research Project
A £2.2 million GBP ($2.65 million USD) research project funded by the European Research Council is being set up to permit scientists to study the evolution of the Dinosauria through their fossil tracks. The research project is to be led by Dr Peter Falkingham, a reader in vertebrate biology in the School of Biological and Environmental Sciences at Liverpool John Moores University.
Fossils of feathered dinosaurs and Mesozoic birds are known and have been extensively studied. Perhaps, one of the most intensively studied species in the entire fossil record is Archaeopteryx lithographica, a feathered theropod from the Upper Jurassic of southern Germany.
This five-year research programme, with its focus on studying theropod trace fossils, will provide a fresh perspective on the locomotion of the theropod/avian lineage.
Archaeopteryx fossil cast. Archaeopteryx is arguably one of the most extensively studied genera in the fossil record. This new research programme will focus on the locomotion of theropod dinosaurs. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Commenting on the scope of the study, Dr Falkingham explained:
“Fossil footprints are a direct record of motion in a way that skeletons can never be. I will use fossil footprints to explore the locomotor changes that took place as theropod dinosaurs evolved into birds.”
Creating a New Team
The plan is to establish a new team of post-doctoral scientists and technicians that will undertake advanced 3-D imaging of fossilised tracks and fossil skeletons. By combining trace fossils and body fossils in this way, the team hope to utilise kinematic and kinetic analyses to build an unprecedented view of footprint formation.
A simulated footprint (Guineafowl) mapped. Picture credit: Dr Peter Falkingham.
Tracing Dinosaur Footsteps
Limb motions of dinosaurs will be reconstructed using fossil tracks. Supercomputer simulations modelling every grain of a sediment responding to the indenting foot will be used to evaluate the reconstructed motions.
Dr Falkingham commented:
“These simulations will compute the forces occurring between foot and ground. These forces and motions will drive musculoskeletal biomechanical simulations that will shed light, not only on what the feet of dinosaurs were doing, but on how the whole limbs and even bodies of these enigmatic animals once moved. By sampling fossil tracks from around the world, spanning the 230 million years since theropods first appeared, this project will recover fossilised motions along the dinosaur-bird lineage.”
Mapping the locomotion of the avian lineage. Picture credit: Dr Peter Falkingham.
Extending our Knowledge About the Dinosaurs
Dr Falkingham added:
“The results should give us a unique view of locomotor evolution that cannot be recovered from bones alone.”
Everything Dinosaur acknowledges the assistance of a media release from Liverpool John Moores University in the compilation of this article.
For further information and to follow the progress of this research project, visit the website of Dr Peter Falkingham: Dr Peter Falkingham.
Everything Dinosaur has received a delivery of PNSO prehistoric animal models and figures including Qingge the Therizinosaurus and Thabo the Suchomimus. Team members have been busy contacting all those customers who wanted to be informed when these new PNSO figures arrived.
The popular PNSO Jacques the Deinocheirus figure is now back in stock (February 2023).
PNSO models in stock. Jacques the Deinocheirus (top), Thabo the Suchomimus (middle) and Qingge the Therizinosaurus (bottom). Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Prehistoric Animal Models
The shipment contained a wide variety of dinosaur models and figures including 1:35 scale figures such as the new colour variant of Spinosaurus (2022) and the horned dinosaur models – Doyle and the Torosaurus replicas Aubrey and Dabei.
PNSO Essien the Spinosaurus dinosaur model in 1:35 scale.
PNSO Models in Stock
A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur explained that the shipment was being unpacked and the models checked and that this stock would be available on the company’s website as quickly as possible. The company had received lots of enquiries about the new models, Qingge the Therizinosaurus and Thabo the Suchomimus, and staff were doing all they could to keep customers informed about the shipment’s progress.
The spokesperson added:
“We received lots of emails about the new theropod models [Suchomimus and Therizinosaurus], as well as lots of emails about when the likes of the PNSO Deinocheirus model would be available again. We have been busy emailing all those customers who expressed an interest in these figures.”
Our thanks to young Caldey who sent into Everything Dinosaur a colourful Mosasaurus drawing. The giant marine reptile, is accompanied by a prehistoric turtle and a school of Cretaceous fish.
A very colourful Mosasaurus illustration. The huge marine reptile swims with a prehistoric turtle (Archelon) in the background. Picture credit: Caldey.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Mosasaurus Drawing
The Mosasauridae are extinct members of the Order Squamata. They are distantly related to lizards and snakes. Caldey has given her Mosasaurus a forked tongue and pterygoid teeth, two characteristics that underline the taxonomic relationship between these marine reptiles and living members of the Squamata.
The artist depicts the mosasaur swimming close to the water’s surface. It is thought that most mosasaurs did frequent the surface zone of the ocean (Epipelagic zone), although some mosasaur fossils are associated with estuarine and freshwater environments.
Caldey has chosen to give her mosasaur a striking colour scheme with the use of dramatic reds and blues. The underside is a lighter colour and reflects countershading. Most palaeontologist think, that just like living sharks, mosasaurs were countershaded with light undersides and darker backs.
The colouration of mosasaurs remains controversial. In 2014 researchers from Lund University (Sweden), published a paper in the journal “Nature”, that reported the discovery of melanin in the preserved scales of a mosasaur’s skin.
A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented:
“The carefully composed Mosasaurus is accompanied by typical Late Cretaceous fauna of the Western Interior Seaway. Caldey has included an Archelon in her mosasaur illustration. It is a very colourful and striking illustration, of what would have been an apex predator.”
