All about dinosaurs, fossils and prehistoric animals by Everything Dinosaur team members.
About Mike
Mike runs Everything Dinosaur, a UK-based mail order company specialising in the sale of dinosaur and prehistoric animal models, He works alongside Sue, and between them they have become the "go to guys" for museum quality prehistoric animal models and figures. An avid fossil collector and reader of dinosaur books, Mike researchers and writes articles about palaeontology, fossil discoveries, research and of course, dinosaur and prehistoric animal models.
Fossils of an ancient ape that lived in Turkey around 8.7 million years ago is challenging accepted ideas about human origins. The fossils include skull bones, jaws and teeth of both males and females. This new ape has been named Anadoluvius turkae. The material was excavated from the Çorakyerler fossil locality near Çankırı in northern Turkey, about 60 miles (100 km) northeast of the country’s capital, Ankara. Assigned to the subfamily Homininae, the genus name is from “Anadolu” the modern Turkish word for the Anatolia region.
The discovery of A. turkae lends support to the hypothesis that the Homininae first evolved in Europe before migrating to Africa 7–9 million years ago.
A female Anadoluvius turkae partial cranium. From left to right, palatal, right lateral and anterior views. Picture credit: Sevim-Erol et al.
The subfamily Homininae consists of two tribes. The Hominini which includes modern humans and their extinct relatives along with the subtribe Panina which consists of bonobos and chimpanzees. In addition, there is the Gorillini tribe (gorillas).
Anadoluvius turkae
The researchers suggest that hominines (members of the Homininae tribe), not only evolved in western and central Europe but spent over five million years evolving there and spreading to the eastern Mediterranean. These apes eventually dispersed into Africa, probably as a result of a drying climate reducing the amount of forest habitat in the eastern Mediterranean.
The well-preserved fossils including an Anadoluvius cranium permitted the scientists to conduct a detailed analysis of character attributes in the fossil record. This new study supports the hypothesis that hominines originated in Europe and dispersed into Africa along with many other mammals between 9 and 7 million years ago (Tortonian stage of the Miocene Epoch).
Anadoluvius turkae was about the size of a modern chimpanzee. Anadoluvius probably weighed around 50-60 kilograms. It inhabited dry forested habitats and probably spent a lot of time on the ground rather than in the trees.
More Miocene Homininae Fossils
The researchers consisting of scientists from Ankara University, Pamukkale University and the Ege University Faculty of Science (Turkey), along with colleagues from the Naturalis Biodiversity Centre (Holland) and the University of Toronto (Canada) hope to find more fossils.
A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented:
“Further fossil discoveries will help to clarify the evolutionary origins of the Homininae. More fossils from Africa and Europe will help palaeontologists to outline the geographical distribution of our ancient ancestors.”
Everything Dinosaur acknowledges the assistance of the Media Relations team at the University of Toronto (Canada) in the compilation of this article.
The scientific paper: “A new ape from Türkiye and the radiation of late Miocene hominines” by Ayla Sevim-Erol, D. R. Begun, Ç. Sönmez Sözer, S. Mayda, L. W. van den Hoek Ostende, R. M. G. Martin and M. Cihat Alçiçek published in Communications Biology.
Long necks in proportion to overall body length is known in many tetrapods. Giraffes and sauropods are typical examples. The evolution of a longer neck being linked to feeding strategies. A newly described ancestor of plesiosaurs named Chusaurus xiangensis suggests that neck elongation occurred rapidly in these types of marine reptiles. Lengthy necks, ideal for pursuing fast-moving nektonic prey such as fish and squid developed quickly over a five-million-year period approximately 250 million years ago.
The new described pachypleurosaurid sauropterygian, Chusaurus xiangensis indicates that increasing neck length rapidly evolved in the Plesiosauria. Picture credit: Qi-Ling Liu.
Picture credit: Qi-Ling Liu
Chusaurus xiangensis
Researchers have reported a new species of pachypleurosaurid sauropterygian from southern China. The new species shows key features of its Middle Triassic relatives, but has a relatively short neck, measuring 0.48 of the trunk length, compared to > 0.8 from the Middle Triassic onwards. Comparative phylogenetic analysis shows that neck elongation occurred rapidly in all Triassic eosauropterygian lineages. This evolution was probably driven by feeding pressure in a time of rapid re-establishment of new kinds of marine ecosystems.
The lengthy necks of marine reptiles, used for chasing fast-moving fishes, developed quickly over a five-million-year period around 250 million years ago.
The best-known of all the pachypleurosaurs is Keichousaurus.
Adding More Vertebrae
The researchers conclude that pachycephalosaurs lengthened their necks mainly by adding new vertebrae.
The findings, published today in BMC Ecology and Evolution, and carried out by scientists in China and the UK, show that pachypleurosaur taxa lengthened their necks mainly by adding new vertebrae. One taxon, Keichousaurus had more than 20 cervical vertebrae, while some Late Cretaceous plesiosaurs such as Elasmosaurus had as many as 72. Its neck was five times the length of its trunk.
The Elasmosaurus scale drawing commissioned by Everything Dinosaur as the company’s fact sheet is updated. This plesiosaur had a neck five times the length of its trunk and more than seventy cervical vertebrae. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
The illustration (above) was inspired by the recently introduced CollectA Age of Dinosaurs Elasmosaurus figure.
Pachypleurosaurs Like Chusaurus xiangensis Evolved in the Early Triassic
These reptiles originated in the Early Triassic, four million years after the end-Permian mass extinction that wiped out around 90% of Earth’s species. Ecosystems were undergoing dramatic changes in the aftermath of the extinction event.
The authors of the study, including scientists from the University of Bristol, studied the Chusaurus xiangensis fossils from Hubei Province (China). Its neck had begun to lengthen. However, it was less than half the length of its trunk, compared to later relatives that had a neck length to trunk ratio of greater than 0.8 (80%).
Two Fossil Skeletons to Study
Lead researcher Qi-Ling Liu from the China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), commented:
“We were lucky enough to find two complete skeletons of this new beast. It’s small, less than half a metre long, but this was close to the ancestry of the important group of marine reptiles called Sauropterygia. Our new reptile, Chusaurus, is a pachycephalosaur, one of a group of small marine predators that were very important in the Triassic. I wasn’t sure at first whether it was a pachypleurosaur though because the neck seemed to be too short.”
Co-author Dr Li Tian (China University of Geosciences) added:
“The fossils come from the Nanzhang-Yuan’an Fauna of Hubei. This has been very heavily studied in recent years as one of the oldest assemblages of marine reptiles from the Triassic. We have good quality radiometric dates showing the fauna is dated at 248 million years ago.”
Fellow author Professor Michael Benton of the University of Bristol’s School of Earth Sciences explained:
“The end-Permian mass extinction had been the biggest mass extinction of all time and only one in twenty species survived. The Early Triassic was a time of recovery and marine reptiles evolved very fast at that time, most of them predators on the shrimps, fishes and other sea creatures. They had originated right after the extinction, so we know their rates of change were extremely rapid in the new world after the crisis.”
Not All Vertebrates Evolve in the Same Way
Not all vertebrates evolve in the same way. When it comes to evolving a lengthy neck, giraffes have changed in a different way to pachypleurosaurs. Most mammals have seven neck vertebrae. Giraffes have seven neck bones too. Each one is extremely long, so these herbivores can browse on the tops of trees. Chusaurus had seventeen. Later pachycephalosaurs had twenty-five. Late Cretaceous plesiosaurs such as the huge Elasmosaurus had seventy-two. These long necks with numerous vertebrae are likely to have been extremely flexible. These marine reptiles could whip their necks round and grab a fish, whilst keeping their body steady.
Flamingos also have long necks so they can reach the water to feed. They have extra cervical vertebrae, up to twenty, but each one is also long.
Chusaurus xiangensis – Perfectly Adapted to its Environment
Dr Benjamin Moon, who also collaborated in this study stated:
“Our study shows that pachycephalosaurs doubled the lengths of their necks in five million years, and the rate of increase then slowed down. They had presumably reached some kind of perfect neck length for their mode of life.”
Dr Moon added:
“We think, as small predators, they were probably mainly feeding on shrimps and small fish, so their ability to sneak up on a small shoal, and then hover in the water, darting their head after the fast-swimming prey was a great survival tool. But there might have been additional costs in having a much longer neck, so it stabilised at a length just equal to the length of the trunk.”
Everything Dinosaur acknowledges the assistance of a media release from the University of Bristol in the compilation of this article.
The scientific paper: “Rapid neck elongation in Sauropterygia (Reptilia: Diapsida) revealed by a new basal pachypleurosaur from the Lower Triassic of China” by Qi-Ling Liu, Long Cheng, Thomas L. Stubbs, Benjamin C. Moon, Michael J. Benton, and Li Tian published in BMC Ecology and Evolution.
Scientists have described a new species of prehistoric bat based on the oldest bat fossils ever discovered. The new bat species has been named Icaronycteris gunnelli and it flew in the skies above Wyoming approximately 52 million years ago.
The study describing these remarkable fossil finds was published earlier this summer in the academic journal PLOS One.
Photograph of one of the two newly described bat skeletons representing Icaronycteris gunnelli. This specimen is in the research collections of the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada. Picture credit: Royal Ontario Museum.
Icaronycteris gunnelli
The authors at the American Museum of Natural History (New York) in collaboration with the Naturalis Biodiversity Centre in the Netherlands, hypothesise that bats diversified rapidly during the early Cenozoic.
There are more than 1,460 extant species of bats found in nearly every part of the world, with the exception of the polar regions and a few isolated islands. These fossils from the Green River Formation of Wyoming suggest that these mammals were geographically widespread by the early Eocene.
Bat fossils had been found in these strata over the last sixty years or so. However, they were all thought to represent the same two taxa. The two fossil bat taxa that have been described previously from the Green River Formation are Icaronycteris index (Jepsen, 1966) and Onychonycteris finneyi (Simmons et al, 2008).
A photograph of one of the two newly described bat skeletons representing Icaronycteris gunnelli. This specimen, the holotype, is now in the American Museum of Natural History’s research collections. Picture credit: Mick Ellison/AMNH.
Detailed Study
Scientists from the Naturalis Biodiversity Center started looking closely at Icaronycteris index by collecting measurements and other data from museum specimens. This more detailed study they suspected, would lead to new taxa being identified.
Although there are fossil bat teeth from Asia that are slightly older, the two I. gunnelli fossils represent the oldest bat skeletons ever found.
Arvid Aase, park manager and curator at the Fossil Butte National Monument, in Wyoming commented;
“The Fossil Lake deposits of the Green River Formation are simply amazing because the conditions that created the paper-thin limestone layers also preserved nearly everything that settled to the lake’s bottom. One of these bat specimens was found lower in the section than all other bats, making this species older than any of the other bat species recovered from this deposit.”
While the I. gunnelli skeletons are the oldest bat fossils from this site, they are not the most primitive, supporting the idea that Green River bats evolved separately from other Eocene bats around the world.
Everything Dinosaur acknowledges the assistance of a media release from the American Museum of Natural History in the compilation of this article.
The scientific paper: “The oldest known bat skeletons and their implications for Eocene chiropteran diversification” by Tim B. Rietbergen, Lars W. van den Hoek Ostende, Arvid Aase, Matthew F. Jones, Edward D. Medeiros and Nancy B. Simmons published in PLOS One.
Our thanks to collector and prehistoric animal fan William who sent in a review of the PNSO Dunkleosteus model. The PNSO placoderm replica was introduced into the mid-size model range in late 2021. This model of a prehistoric fish has proved to be popular with collectors.
A stunning model of a placoderm – the PNSO Dunkleosteus model.
Collector Comments on the PNSO Dunkleosteus Model
William emailed Everything Dinosaur praising this prehistoric animal model.
He stated:
“Zaha is my first ancient marine predator. I decided to dip my toe into the prehistoric past “Zaha” sports the new updated shark like body with a beautiful rainbow trout colour. But what sold me on this beautiful model is the truly accurate articulated jaw.”
Terror of the Devonian
William explained that when viewed with the mouth closed, the armoured skull looks fantastic.
He added:
“If you carefully pinch the lower jaw the real magic happens. Once you draw it downwards to open this engages the jaw’s opening mechanism as in the real-life ancient apex predator.”
This fish was a terror of the Devonian. The jaw action of “Zaha” is described as “smooth” and the jaw when opened displays lots of detail. The reviewer comments that there might be several Dunkleosteus figures on the market, but the PNSO figure is the only one you need to add to your collection.
The PNSO Zaha the Dunkleosteus has an articulated jaw and armoured plates.
William concluded his review of the PNSO Dunkleosteus model by praising Everything Dinosaur.
He thanked Everything Dinosaur on behalf of the legion of palaeo-figure collectors who valued what the UK-based company does. He commented that the extensive range of figures covered a wide price range. Price points for children as well as adult prehistoric animal model collectors.
Our thanks to William for his Dunkleosteus review and for his kind comments.
A new species of spinosaurid named Protathlitis cinctorrensis has been described from fossils found in Castellón Province in north-eastern Spain. The dinosaur is estimated to have measured around ten to eleven metres in length. It has been described based on a right maxilla and five, sturdy tail bones (caudal vertebrae) excavated from the Lower Cretaceous Arcillas de Morella Formation. In addition, a previously described tooth has been assigned to this species.
The discovery of another European spinosaurid taxon adds weight to the hypothesis that these theropods originated in Laurasia. Later, during the Barremian-Aptian faunal stages, these dinosaurs migrated into Africa and Asia, where they diversified.
In Europe, the baryonchines dominated, whilst in Africa, it was the spinosaurines that were most abundant.
Protathlitis cinctorrensis, near the coastal areas where it lived. Picture credit: Grup Guix.
Writing in the academic journal “Scientific Reports” the researchers propose that this dinosaur is nested with the Spinosauridae family as a basal baryonychine. As such, it is the first baryonychine dinosaur species known from the Arcillas de Morella Formation.
The genus Protathlitis was named in reference to the UEFA Europa League title won by the Spanish football club Villarreal C.F. in 2021. It is also a tribute to the club centenary celebrated this year (2023).
Palaeontologist Begoña Poza, co-author of the work, excavating fossil 5ANA-78, in the fifth digging campaign at the ANA site (Cinctorres, Castellón). Picture credit: Grup Guix.
Everything Dinosaur contacted one of the authors of the study, curious to find out more about the Villarreal C.F connection.
Andrés Santos-Cubedo explained that the dinosaur’s name celebrates the UEFA Europa League title.
He added:
“Because three of the scientists who wrote the paper, live in Villarreal, and one of us was at the final in Gdansk (Poland).”
The species name for this dinosaur, “cinctorrensis” is dedicated to Cinctorres and its inhabitants. This municipality is in the Els Ports region within the province of Castellón.
A Diverse Dinosaur Fauna
The discovery of P. cinctorrensis will help palaeontologists to better understand the evolutionary history of this enigmatic theropod group. In addition, it confirms that the Iberian Peninsula in the Early Cretaceous was home to a highly diverse dinosaur fauna. Dinosaurs described from this region include iguanodontids, titanosaurs, hypsilophodonts as well as a second spinosaurid – Vallibonavenatrix cani. V. cani is the first member of the spinosaurine subfamily to be described from fossils found in the Arcillas de Morella Formation.
Recreation of the dinosaur Protathlitis cinctorrensis, located at the ANA site, Cinctorres (Castellón). Picture credit: Grup Guix.
Everything Dinosaur acknowledges the assistance of a media release and personal correspondence with one of the authors of the study in the compilation of this article.
The scientific paper: “A new spinosaurid dinosaur species from the Early Cretaceous of Cinctorres (Spain)” by Andrés Santos-Cubedo and Carlos de Santisteban published in Scientific Reports.
Six new Schleich dinosaur models have been announced for 2024. These six new figures will be in stock at Everything Dinosaur by the middle of December 2023. Technically, these model introductions represent five brand new figures with what looks like to be a new colour version of the Schleich Brachiosaurus.
Five new Schleich dinosaur models and one repainted Brachiosaurus figure. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Schleich Dinosaur Models
The five new dinosaur figures are:
Allosaurus – a Late Jurassic theropod most famously associated with the Morrison Formation.
Bajadasaurus – a dicraeosaurid sauropod from the Early Cretaceous of Argentina.
Concavenator – a carcharodontosaurid theropod from the famous Las Hoyas fossil site in Spain.
Moros intrepidus – a small tyrannosauroid theropod from Cedar Mountain Formation exposures in Utah.
Stegosaurus – an armoured dinosaur also most famously associated with the Morrison Formation.
The sixth figure seems to be a new version of the Schleich Brachiosaurus model that was originally introduced in 2017. The Schleich Brachiosaurus figure has been praised for its tactile qualities.
A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur confirmed that all six dinosaur models were due to be in stock by the middle of December (2023).
The spokesperson added:
“Over the autumn season we expect to be able to post up details of other new models from manufacturers. We expect to be able to announce news of new for 2024 Safari Ltd models. Later in the autumn we will be providing details about new figures from CollectA.”
Moros intrepidus
The early Late Cretaceous theropod Moros intrepidus is an interesting choice for Schleich. Named and described in 2019, Moros is known from fragmentary fossils including teeth and hind limb bones. The fossils were found in sediments representing the lower Mussentuchit Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation. Palaeontologists estimate that Moros lived around 96 million years ago. The apex predator role was still dominated by allosauroids. It was only later that tyrannosaurs took over the role of apex predators in North America.
The next video to be posted up on Everything Dinosaur’s YouTube channel will be a short review of the recently introduced Papo Kronosaurus marine reptile model. Model collectors have asked for more images of the Papo Kronosaurus figure. Everything Dinosaur team members are happy to help. Photographs of the model have been taken and circulated on social media. In addition, the short YouTube video will highlight the finer details of this new replica.
The next Everything Dinosaur YouTube video will feature the recently introduced Papo Kronosaurus model. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
The Everything Dinosaur YouTube channel contains hundreds of informative videos. The channel provides news, hints and tips for dinosaur model collectors. It has thousands of subscribers.
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Papo Kronosaurus
The Papo Kronosaurus is the second marine reptile figure to be introduced this year by Papo. It follows the Papo Mosasaurus figure that was introduced in the early spring. Both figures have articulated jaws and the Papo Mosasaurus will briefly feature in the Kronosaurus YouTube short.
The new for 2023 Papo Kronosaurus figure has an articulated jaw. This model will feature in a short video. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Everything Dinosaur stocks a wide variety of Papo prehistoric animal figures. The Papo range, named “Les Dinosaures” has grown to incorporate dozens of dinosaurs, pterosaurs, prehistoric mammals and marine reptiles.
To view the Papo range of prehistoric animal figures in stock at Everything Dinosaur: Papo Prehistoric Animals.
A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur stated that the stock footage had already been shot. A script for the voice over recording had been prepared. The text was due to be revised and finalised. Once the video had been put together and edited, there were plans to post it up in the next two to three days.
Everything Dinosaur team member Sue Judd has been asked to speak at an international business event organised by China Britain Business Council. The event hosted by KPMG is being held next month in Manchester. The prestigious event involving the China Britain Business Council, the UK Department for Business and Trade and the Manchester China Forum will explore opportunities for continuing UK/China commercial engagement.
Sue has been asked to speak about the prospects of developing more import and export opportunities. Her focus will be on business to consumer goods. Undoubtedly, dinosaurs will get a mention.
An Everything Dinosaur team member has been asked to speak at a prestigious business event.
An Everything Dinosaur Team Member Mixes with the “Great and the Good”
Improving prospects along with the recent resumption of travel to China has permitted greater commercial engagement. The event aims to explore how companies can capitalise on the opportunities presented by China’s post-pandemic reopening. Many UK businesses have found huge success in the Chinese market. However, the world-wide economic slowdown, the global pandemic, and geo-political tensions have all had an impact on the environment for international business.
China remains the UK’s third largest trading partner. Trade between the UK and China was worth approximately £111 billion in 2022. The line-up of speakers from business, academia and government will discuss the prospects for trade with China. Presenters include Andrew Seaton, Chief Executive of the China-Britain Business Council and Gillian Drakeford MBE.
Sue Judd of Everything Dinosaur has played a significant role in helping to develop the company’s export success.
Everything Dinosaur team members Mike and Sue are praised for the export success. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Sue commented that she was looking forward to speaking at the event. Her role was to help encourage other firms to develop business relationships with Chinese companies.
Sue added:
“Hopefully I will be able to encourage other businesses to consider working with Chinese companies and entrepreneurs in China. I might also get asked questions about dinosaurs too.”
Visit the user-friendly and award-winning Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.
The Everything Dinosaur beanie hat is now in stock. A lightweight and very comfortable beanie hat embroidered with the Everything Dinosaur logo. Team members had been photographed wearing the black beanie hats and customers asked where they could be purchased. We always listen to our customers, and we organised a special production run of these exclusive hats.
The exclusive Everything Dinosaur beanie hat is now in stock. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
A Black Everything Dinosaur Beanie Hat
The Everything Dinosaur beanie hat is made from 100% acrylic. It is machine washable at forty degrees Celsius. The black beanie hat is a one-size, adult beanie which will fit most heads.
The view the range of dinosaur themed clothing available from Everything Dinosaur: Dinosaur Themed Clothing.
An Everything Dinosaur beanie hat with an embroidered Everything Dinosaur logo. A fantastic beanie hat to keep your ears and head warm. Comfortable and breathable with 3M THINSULATE insulation.
Mike from Everything Dinosaur wearing the embroidered black beanie hat. He is holding the Eofauna Scientific Research Konobelodon atticus model, a 1:35 replica of a prehistoric elephant. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Feedback from Customers
The Everything Dinosaur warehouse and offices are notoriously cold. During the winter, team members wear the beanie hats to help keep them warm whilst picking and packing orders. Customers had spotted the stylish hats which featured in a number of company images. We received requests asking how these beanie hats could be purchased. The feedback from customers was listened to and a special, exclusive production run of the embroidered beanies was undertaken.
A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented:
“The black beanie hat has come about thanks to customer feedback. It was part of our company uniform and it appealed to our customers and social media followers. We have been able to organise an exclusive production run of these comfortable, lightweight and breathable beanies.”
Everything Dinosaur team members received a request from a model collector to take some photographs of the Papo Kronosaurus marine reptile model. As always, the team members were happy to oblige. Some photographs of this recently arrived Papo replica were emailed to the Papo fan.
The official Papo image that had been released only showed one view of this figure. The collector wanted several views of this new model. The collector also wanted a close-up view of the articulated jaw.
The Papo Kronosaurus marine reptile photographed in lateral view. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Emailing Images of the Papo Kronosaurus Marine Reptile Figure
The Papo Kronosaurus marine reptile model was placed on a turntable in the Everything Dinosaur photo studio. Several photographs were taken. Once we had taken the photographs, they were resized and cropped and then emailed to the collector.
The Papo Kronosaurus replica has a formidable set of jaws. The model is photographed in anterior view. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
The model collector subsequently placed an order for this exciting new addition to the Papo “Les Dinosaures” range.
A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented that they were happy to take pictures of models and figures for customers.
The spokesperson added:
“We had wanted to take some more pictures ourselves. We also wanted to set this marine reptile figure up on a turntable and take a short video for our Instagram channel. In addition, we also wanted to take some more photos of those formidable jaws”.
Close-up view of the jaws of the formidable Papo Kronosaurus marine reptile model. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Visit the award-winning and user-friendly Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.
