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.
7 04, 2023

Thank You Letters and Everything Dinosaur

By |2023-04-07T10:26:44+01:00April 7th, 2023|Educational Activities, Main Page, Photos, Teaching|0 Comments

Whilst tidying up some files on the Everything Dinosaur database, an old photograph of a set of thank you letters sent into the UK-based mail order company was discovered. When team members conducted school visits lots of pupils sent in thank you letters. The letters from each class were grouped together and photographed. Often a picture of the children’s letters would have been pinned to our office notice board.

A set of thank you letters from a class.
Pupils sent in thank you letters to Everything Dinosaur. A school class sent in thank you letters to Everything Dinosaur after a dinosaur workshop at their school. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Dinosaur Workshops in School

A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur stated:

“In the past, the company visited schools to conduct dinosaur workshops. Over the years we must have worked with thousands of schoolchildren. We enjoyed our school visits, and the dinosaur workshops were an enormous success. The company has received hundreds of thank you letters from pupils. It was always a pleasure to read these notes.”

Visit Everything Dinosaur’s award-winning website: Everything Dinosaur.

Thank You Letters

Asking the class to produce a thank you letter was a popular extension activity encouraged by Everything Dinosaur team members. These thank you letters helped the children practice their handwriting and helped build confidence with sentence construction, punctuation and grammar.

The spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur explained that the company did not visit schools at present. This service was stopped during the COVID-19 pandemic and other projects have prevented this popular service from resuming.

For educational, dinosaur and prehistoric themed toys, models and crafts: Dinosaur Toys and Gifts.

As team members tidy up files and archive more photographs, happy memories will be triggered as old school photographs are seen once more. The archiving and cataloguing of these files are part of Everything Dinosaur’s commitment to GDPR. The General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and the UK Data Protection legislation help to protect customer’s data.

6 04, 2023

New CollectA Prehistoric Animal Models in Stock

By |2023-04-06T15:30:46+01:00April 6th, 2023|Adobe CS5, Dinosaur Fans, Everything Dinosaur News and Updates, Everything Dinosaur Products, Main Page, Press Releases|0 Comments

The new for 2023 CollectA prehistoric animal models have arrived at Everything Dinosaur. Eight new prehistoric animal figures to collect. New CollectA Age of Dinosaurs Popular not-to-scale models have arrived. In addition, two new CollectA Deluxe figures, the Mosasaurus and the impressive Ruyangosaurus are also in stock.

New CollectA prehistoric animal models.
Six new for 2023 CollectA Age of Dinosaurs Popular, not to scale figures are now in stock at Everything Dinosaur.

CollectA Prehistoric Animal Models

Six of the new figures are new additions to the CollectA Age of Dinosaurs Popular range. There are four new dinosaurs – Triceratops horridus – confronting, Hadrosaurus, Brighstoneus and the Ceratosuchops – fishing spinosaurid figure.

The other two new figures to be introduced are both scale models in the CollectA Deluxe range. The 1:40 scale CollectA Deluxe Mosasaurus has an articulated lower jaw. There is also a replica of the giant Asian sauropod Ruyangosaurus. The Ruyangosaurus model (R. giganteus) has a declared scale of 1:100.

New CollectA Deluxe figures in stock at Everything Dinosaur.
The CollectA Deluxe 1:40 scale Mosasaurus model and the 1:100 scale CollectA Ruyangosaurus replica have arrived at Everything Dinosaur.

Everything Dinosaur

A spokesperson for the UK-based, mail order company commented:

“These are the first batch of new for 2023 CollectA models to arrive at our warehouse. We have been busy contacting all our customers who asked to be informed when these figures became available. The last two new for 2023 CollectA models Stegouros and Koolasuchus are expected in the late spring.”

To view the range of not-to-scale CollectA prehistoric animal figures: CollectA Age of Dinosaurs Popular Models.

Anthony Beeson

Sadly, our dear friend Anthony Beeson, passed away last year. Anthony was the inspiration behind the CollectA range of prehistoric animal figures. His enthusiasm and dedication to the CollectA brand has enabled CollectA to introduce new models. Such was Anthony’s passion for these models that there is a huge inventory of new replicas and models all waiting to be produced. The CollectA range will continue to grow, and Anthony’s unbounded energy and drive has ensured that there will be lots of new model introductions for many years.

To view the range of scale figures and replicas in the CollectA range: CollectA Deluxe Prehistoric Animal Figures.

5 04, 2023

A Special Dinosaur Birthday Cake with “Raptor Claws”

By |2024-01-02T20:05:19+00:00April 5th, 2023|Adobe CS5, Dinosaur Fans, Main Page, Photos|0 Comments

Team members at Everything Dinosaur tried to bake a birthday cake for a family member but left it on a cooling tray too long. Having removed the baked cake from the oven, it was deposited on a cooling rack. Unfortunately, the hot cake became marked by the bars on the cooling rack. Inadvertently, we had created a dinosaur birthday cake complete with “raptor” claw marks.

A dinosaur birthday cake complete with claw marks.
The cake looks like it has been attacked by a dinosaur. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Dinosaur Birthday Cake

A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented:

“It was just serendipity. We did not intend to create the marks in the cakes that we had baked, it happened by accident. However, we were rather impressed with the result. The cake looks like it has been clawed by the three-clawed hand of a dinosaur.”

For models and replicas of fossils including dinosaur claws and teeth: Replicas of Iconic Fossils, Dinosaur Claws and Teeth.

Once decorated the cake looked quite presentable. It was soon eaten but at least whilst it lasted, we could be comforted with the thought that we had produced a cake that was “on brand”.

4 04, 2023

Exciting Chocolate Dinosaur Nests with Eggs

By |2024-03-09T15:57:42+00:00April 4th, 2023|Adobe CS5, Dinosaur Fans, Educational Activities, Main Page, Photos, Press Releases|0 Comments

Everything Dinosaur team members have come up with a fun and easy chocolate dinosaur nests with eggs recipe. It is our way of providing a little a treat for children. We are also confident that many dedicated teaching professionals will enjoy these tasty cakes too.

Our recipe for dinosaur chocolate nests will provide a dozen or so little chocolate cakes. For a healthy, balanced diet, we suggest that would-be chefs are reminded by the grown-ups about the benefits of fruit and vegetables when it comes to eating sensibly.

Dinosaur chocolate nests. Chocolate dinosaur nests.
Super dinosaur chocolate nests which are fun and easy to make. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

A Simple and Inexpensive Recipe

Here is a list of ingredients to make 8 to 12 chocolate dinosaur nests.

  • Plain or Milk cooking Chocolate 225 grammes (8oz)
  • Packet of Breakfast Cereal Cornflakes or Shredded Wheat variety
  • Packet of Sugar Coated Mini-chocolate Eggs
  • Pack of Small Cake Cases

With our recipe there is some measuring involved. There is some mixing too, so this is a good exercise to help little ones with number confidence and manual dexterity. Please take care when supervising children when it comes to melting the chocolate.

Chocolate Dinosaur Nests

For full instructions on how to make these simple, dinosaur themed cakes: How to Make Dinosaur Chocolate Nests.

These chocolate nests also make super cakes for a dinosaur themed party. They are simple to create, require no baking and are very tasty. If you are having a dinosaur party, please, don’t forget the fruit and vegetables. After all, palaeontologists calculate that around seventy percent of all the Dinosauria were herbivores!

You can be quite imaginative, laying out a “Stegosaurus salad”, or perhaps some crunchy “Cretaceous cucumber” or “Camarasaurus carrots”.

To view the huge range of educational toys and games available from Everything Dinosaur: Everything Dinosaur – Learning (Games, Toys, Crafts).

Or simply visit our home page: Everything Dinosaur.

We hope all teachers, teaching assistants, parents, grandparents and guardians enjoy the early spring break.

3 04, 2023

A Superb Triceratops Skull on Display

By |2024-01-02T20:09:29+00:00April 3rd, 2023|Adobe CS5, Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Dinosaur Fans, Main Page, Palaeontological articles, Photos/Pictures of Fossils|1 Comment

Visitors to the Berlin Naturkundemuseum (Germany) will be able to see an amazing Triceratops skull on display as part of an exhibition entitled “Dinosaurs! Age of the Giant Lizards”.

The impressive cranium, complete with horns and an imposing head shield measures two metres long and it was found in Lance Creek Formation deposits (Wyoming, USA) back in 2020. The fossil was discovered by an amateur fossil hunter and after preparation in Canada, the current owner Lars Fjeldsoe-Nielsen has lent the stunning specimen to the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin.

Triceratops Skull on Display
The magnificent Triceratops skull on display in the “Dinosaurs! Age of the Giant Lizards” gallery at the Berlin Naturkundemuseum. Picture credit: Lukasz Papierak.

Horned Dinosaur Skull

The Triceratops specimen has been nick-named “Amalie” after the daughter of the owner. It is not known whether the skull fossil is from a female or male Triceratops. Both males and females sported neck frills and horns.

Numerous ornithischian dinosaurs are known from the Lance (Creek) Formation. The strata were deposited during the Maastrichtian faunal stage of the Late Cretaceous (69-66 million years ago). The fossils found in these rocks represent a diverse dinosaur dominated terrestrial fauna that thrived prior to the mass extinction event that saw the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs, including ceratopsians like Triceratops.

PNSO Doyle the Triceratops (2022)
The new for 2022 PNSO Doyle the Triceratops 1:35 scale model comes complete with a scale model of a Triceratops skull.

The picture above shows a Triceratops model and skull, which is part of the PNSO Age of Dinosaurs series.

To view the PNSO prehistoric animal models and figures available from Everything Dinosaur: PNSO Age of Dinosaurs Models and Replicas.

Triceratops Skull on Display

A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented that they were unsure as to the Triceratops species that “Amalie” represented. They explained that both Triceratops horridus and an as yet, not fully described Triceratops species are associated with the Lance Formation.

Johannes Vogel, Director General of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin thanked the owner for lending this wonderful specimen and stated:

“The Museum für Naturkunde Berlin would like to express its sincere thanks to Mr Fjeldsoe-Nielsen for this further generous loan. This will enable research museums like ours to get visitors excited about nature and explore the objects.”

The exhibition “Dinosaurs! Age of the Giant Lizards” is due to run until the end of the year.

Everything Dinosaur acknowledges the assistance of a media release from the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin in the compilation of this article.

2 04, 2023

The Amazing Papo Green Styracosaurus Dinosaur Model

By |2024-01-02T16:56:56+00:00April 2nd, 2023|Adobe CS5, Dinosaur Fans, Everything Dinosaur News and Updates, Everything Dinosaur Products, Main Page, Photos of Everything Dinosaur Products, Press Releases|0 Comments

Team members at Everything Dinosaur took advantage of the settled weather to take a photograph of the splendid Papo Green Styracosaurus model outdoors. This new colour variant of the Papo Styracosaurus model was added to the Papo “Les Dinosaures” range last year. It has proved popular with dinosaur model fans and collectors. Its popularity could be explained by its striking colouration or perhaps the excellence of the painting. It could be popular because of the detailed skin texture. Whatever the reason, the Papo green Styracosaurus has been a welcome addition to the Papo range for fans of horned dinosaurs.

Papo green Styracosaurus.
The recently introduced (2022) Papo green Styracosaurus dinosaur model. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The Papo Green Styracosaurus

A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented that this ceratopsian figure had been introduced in the autumn of 2022. The original version (red Styracosaurus), was introduced in 2011. The original Styracosaurus figure has been retired and is out of production.

To view the range of Papo prehistoric animal figures in stock at Everything Dinosaur, including the rare, red Styracosaurus (whilst stocks last): Papo Prehistoric Animal Models.

1 04, 2023

How Big was a T. rex Brain?

By |2023-05-08T12:35:00+01:00April 1st, 2023|Adobe CS5, Dinosaur Fans, Main Page, Palaeontological articles, Photos, Photos/Pictures of Fossils, Teaching|0 Comments

Everything Dinosaur team members were sent a question by a young dinosaur fan who wanted to know how big was the brain of T. rex? We put our own brains trust to work on this intriguing question.

Having a large brain does not necessarily indicate intelligence, how that organ is configured, and its complexity can provide neuroscientists with an insight into the intelligence of organisms.

Ironically, a controversial study published earlier this year, postulated that Tyrannosaurus rex might have been as smart as a primate, it may have possessed a comparable number of brain cells to that of a monkey.

How big was the brain of T. rex?
An endocast of the brain of T. rex derived from internal moulds of the brain case. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

How Big was the Brain of T. rex?

CAT scans of theropod skulls have enabled palaeontologists to trace nerve pathways and to build up a picture of what some brains of dinosaurs might have looked like. The Tyrannosaurus rex fossil material known as Stan (BHI3033), has provided researchers with a detailed understanding of T. rex brain function. For example, fifty percent of the brain volume was dedicated to analysing smells. Hence the assertion that the sense of smell was extremely important to this carnivore.

As for brain size, estimates vary, but a recent paper published in the Journal of Comparative Neurology estimated the T. rex brain to have weighed around 350 grammes, and endowed this predator with considerable intelligence, putting the “King of the Tyrant Lizards” on a par with extant monkeys.

To read an article from 2013 that looks at research that indicated that dinosaurs had complex brains and postulated that they were capable of sophisticated behaviours similar to modern birds and mammals: Scientists Create a Detailed Map of a Dinosaur’s Brain.

Capable of Tool Use?

Author of the recently published paper, Dr Suzana Herculano-Houzel from the Department of Psychology at Vanderbilt University (Tennessee), postulates that Tyrannosaurus rex had approximately 3 billion cerebral neurons, a greater number than found in baboons.

Beasts of the Mesozoic T. rex model in 1:18 scale
The image of the Beasts of the Mesozoic Tyrannosaurus rex model in 1:18 scale that features on the back of the product packaging. A recent research paper has suggested T. rex was as clever as a monkey. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

The picture (above) shows an image of an articulated Tyrannosaurus rex from the Beasts of the Mesozoic range. To view this range of prehistoric animal figures: Beasts of the Mesozoic Models and Figures.

Using data on living birds and reptiles, Dr Herculano-Houzel inferred the number of neurons extinct creatures had based on calculations of brain mass, including many theropods such as Allosaurus, Archaeopteryx and T. rex.

Writing in the “Journal of Comparative Neurology”, a publication edited by Dr Herculano-Houzel, the doctor extrapolated how many brain cells T. rex possessed in its cerebrum (telencephalon), the most highly advanced part of the brain associated with higher cognitive functions.

Dr Herculano-Houzel postulates that Tyrannosaurus rex would have matured rapidly, lived to about forty years of age and was smart enough to use tools and to pass on acquired knowledge to offspring.

Controversial Ideas

Summarising her research, the doctor concludes:

“That theropods such as Tyrannosaurus and Allosaurus were endotherms with baboon and monkey-like numbers of telencephalic neurons, respectively, which would make these animals not only giant but also long-lived and endowed with flexible cognition, and thus even more magnificent predators than previously thought.”

How big was the brain of T. rex.
T. rex brain endocast. Was T. rex really smart? Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

As Clever as a Primate!

The paper has attracted scepticism from palaeontologists and other researchers. Gaining an understanding of the neuronal composition of the brains of dinosaurs would provide fundamental insights into their behavioural and cognitive capabilities.

However, brain tissue is rarely fossilised and to achieve her calculations Dr Herculano-Houzel assumed that the entire volume of the braincase was filled by brain tissue. This may not have been so. Perhaps, less than fifty percent of the braincase of T. rex was filled with brain tissue. Dinosaur brains could have been considerably smaller than the size postulated in the scientific paper.

In addition, how the brain is configured, its composition, if you like how it is “wired”, will have a significant impact on an organism’s intelligence.

Claiming that theropods such as Tyrannosaurus and Allosaurus were “the primates of their times”, is exceptionally difficult to substantiate in the absence of a living animal to study.

To read an article from October 2016 about the remarkable discovery of a preserved partial iguanodontid brain: Dinosaur Brain from Southern England.

Bird Brains

Assessing intelligence is challenging, even in living creatures. Pigeons for example, would perhaps not be regarded by many people as being particularly smart, but these avian dinosaurs are capable of remarkable feats of navigation. Many birds demonstrate advanced cognitive abilities such as corvids (crows and their relatives) using tools. Crows have much smaller brains than most monkeys, they have far fewer cerebral neurons but they can outperform some primates when it comes to cognitive assessment tasks.

Dr Herculano-Houzel argues that estimating neuron counts from brain mass is a method that has been applied to hundreds of mammal, bird, and non-avian dinosaur species, the methodology is robust.

However, claiming that T. rex was a smart as a monkey is quite a leap.

The Dinosaur Renaissance

A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented:

“The research paper is free to access, so readers can make up their own minds. Whilst it is extremely challenging to try to work out how intelligent an extinct animal was, the days of regarding dinosaurs as creatures so stupid that they were an evolutionary dead end are long gone.”

The spokesperson added:

“Since the 1960s and the work of palaeontologist John Ostrom, the view of the Dinosauria has fundamentally changed. These animals were perfectly adapted to their environments and they were capable of complex behaviours just like mammals and their close relatives the birds. Just how smart T. rex was is difficult to quantify and validate with scientific evidence. Along with other theropods such as the dromaeosaurids and the oviraptorids these predators might have demonstrated very complex behaviours derived from their cognitive abilities.”

Unfortunately, as we are unlikely to ever observe a living non-avian dinosaur, assessments regarding dinosaur intelligence remain speculative.

How Big was the Brain of T. rex? Something to Ponder

However, the idea of a smart, 7 tonne carnivore measuring in excess of 12 metres long, it makes you think…

The scientific paper: “Theropod dinosaurs had primate-like numbers of telencephalic neurons” by Suzana Herculano-Houzel published in the Journal of Comparative Neurology.

31 03, 2023

Beasts of the Mesozoic in the Garden

By |2023-04-02T13:30:01+01:00March 31st, 2023|Adobe CS5, Dinosaur Fans, Everything Dinosaur Products, Main Page, Photos of Everything Dinosaur Products|0 Comments

Our thanks to dinosaur fan and model collector Caldey who sent into Everything Dinosaur some pictures of her latest Beasts of the Mesozoic model acquisitions. The young artist and dinosaur fan had taken some ceratopsians into the garden and taking advantage of the sunny weather took some photographs of the articulated figures.

Beasts of the Mesozoic Diabloceratops diorama.
The adult Diabloceratops articulated figure with a trio of juvenile Diabloceratops. Picture credit: Caldey.

Picture credit: Caldey

Beasts of the Mesozoic

The Beasts of the Mesozoic range originally consisted of articulated “raptor” figures. It has been expanded to included horned dinosaurs such as the splendid Diabloceratops figure. A trio of juvenile Diabloceratops is a very recent addition to this popular series. These youngsters scale up well when compared to the adult Diabloceratops figure.

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

Beasts of the Mesozoic "Old Buck" Styracosaurus
The Beasts of the Mesozoic Styracosaurus “Old Buck” takes a wander around the garden. Picture credit: Caldey.

Picture credit: Caldey

“Old Buck” Styracosaurus

The Beasts of the Mesozoic “Old Buck” Styracosaurus looks very much at home in the garden. It seems to be enjoying the sunny weather. The photographer has taken care to find suitable places on the rockery to photograph the figures. The sunlight certainly highlights the vivid stripes on the horns and back of the Styracosaurus.

On thanks to Caldey for sending in these photos of the latest editions to her model collection.

30 03, 2023

New Study Suggests Tyrannosaurus rex Had Lips

By |2024-01-02T16:06:41+00:00March 30th, 2023|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Dinosaur Fans, Main Page, Palaeontological articles|0 Comments

Large, predatory theropod dinosaurs are often portrayed as fierce-looking monsters, with huge and highly visible teeth. These teeth are visible over the jaw line when the meat-eating dinosaur’s mouth is closed. This is reminiscent of the appearance of modern crocodilians, which after all, are closely related to fellow archosaurs such as the theropod members of the Dinosauria. However, a new study suggests predatory dinosaurs had scaly, lizard-like lips. Even Tyrannosaurus rex had lips according to a new paper published in the academic journal Science.

Tyrannosaurus rex had lips.
A juvenile Edmontosaurus disappears into the enormous, lipped mouth of Tyrannosaurus. Picture credit: Mark Witton.

Tyrannosaurus rex Had Lips

The researchers including Dr Mark Witton (University of Portsmouth) and the study lead author Assistant Professor Thomas M. Cullen (Auburn University, Alabama) suggest that carnivores such as Tyrannosaurus rex did not have permanently exposed teeth. Films such as “Jurassic Park”, many palaeoartists and numerous model manufacturers have got it wrong. Instead, these dinosaurs had scaly lips, covering and sealing their mouths.

The debate as to whether theropod dinosaurs such as Giganotosaurus, Velociraptor, T. rex and Allosaurus had lips has gone on for some time. Did these dinosaurs have perpetually visible upper teeth that hung over their lower jaws and were therefore exposed and on view even with the jaw closed? The researchers suggest that dinosaurs such as Tyrannosaurus rex did not have a smile like a crocodile. Theropods possessed lips similar to those of lizards and the ancient reptile Tuatara, the only extant member of the Rhynchocephalia.

Detailed Study

In the most detailed study concerning the presence or otherwise of extraoral tissue in the Theropoda conducted to date, the researchers examined the tooth structure, wear patterns and jaw morphology of lipped and lipless reptile groups and found that theropod mouth anatomy and functionality resembles that of lizards more than the mouths of crocodilians.

Tyrannosaurus rex skull and head reconstructions.
T. rex skull and head reconstructions. Picture credit: Mark Witton.

These lips were probably not muscular, like those of mammals. Most reptile lips cover their teeth but cannot be moved independently, a reptile can’t curl its lips back and snarl like a dog. They could not make the sort of movements that we might associate with our faces or that of other mammals.

Derek Larson, Collections Manager and Researcher in Palaeontology at the Royal BC Museum in Canada and a co-author of the study stated:

“Palaeontologists often like to compare extinct animals to their closest living relatives, but in the case of dinosaurs, their closest relatives have been evolutionarily distinct for hundreds of millions of years and today are incredibly specialised.”

The research team concluded that theropod teeth were extremely similar to the teeth of monitor lizards (varanids). The teeth are thought to have functioned in the same way, so perhaps monitor lizards such as the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) can be favourably compared to extinct animals such as theropod dinosaurs, even though the Varanidae as members of the Squamata, are only very distantly related to the Dinosauria.

Upending Popular Theropod Depictions

Co-author Dr Mark Witton (University of Portsmouth) explained:

“Dinosaur artists have gone back and forth on lips since we started restoring dinosaurs during the 19th century, but lipless dinosaurs became more prominent in the 1980s and 1990s. They were then deeply rooted in popular culture through films and documentaries — Jurassic Park and its sequels, Walking with Dinosaurs and so on. Curiously, there was never a dedicated study or discovery instigating this change and, to a large extent, it probably reflected preference for a new, ferocious-looking aesthetic rather than a shift in scientific thinking. We’re upending this popular depiction by covering their teeth with lizard-like lips. This means a lot of our favourite dinosaur depictions are incorrect, including the iconic Jurassic Park T. rex.”

The Implications of “Tyrannosaurus rex Had Lips”

The results of the study, found that tooth wear in lipless animals was markedly different from that seen in carnivorous dinosaurs and that dinosaur teeth were no larger, relative to skull size, than those of modern lizards, implying they were not too big to cover with lips.

Furthermore, the distribution of small holes around the jaws, which supply nerves and blood to the gums and tissues around the mouth, were more lizard-like in dinosaurs than crocodile-like. In addition, modelling mouth closure of lipless theropod jaws showed that the lower jaw either had to crush jaw-supporting bones or disarticulate the jaw joint to seal the mouth.

Tyrannosaurus rex bellowing with its mouth shut, like a vocalising alligator.
Tyrannosaurus rex bellowing with its mouth shut, like a vocalising alligator. Picture credit: Mark Witton

Kirstin Brink (Assistant Professor of Palaeontology at the University of Manitoba, Canada) and fellow co-author of the scientific paper commented:

“As any dentist will tell you, saliva is important for maintaining the health of your teeth. Teeth that are not covered by lips risk drying out and can be subject to more damage during feeding or fighting, as we see in crocodiles, but not in dinosaurs.”

Assistant Professor Brink added:

“Dinosaur teeth have very thin enamel and mammal teeth have thick enamel (with some exceptions). Crocodile enamel is a bit thicker than dinosaur enamel, but not as thick as mammalian enamel. There are some mammal groups that do have exposed enamel, but their enamel is modified to withstand exposure.”

Theropod Teeth are Not Oversized

Previously, it had been suggested that the teeth of predatory dinosaurs were just too big to be covered by lips. This study challenges that view and suggests that theropod teeth were not atypically large. Even the huge, banana-shaped teeth of tyrannosaurs are proportionally similar in size to living predatory lizards when the actual skull size is considered. Therefore, the researchers reject the hypothesis that theropod teeth were too large to be covered by lips.

Model makers and figure manufacturers have created figures that reflect the current scientific debate about the presence or otherwise of lips in theropod dinosaurs. For example, Rebor recently introduced two new Tyrannosaurus rex figures “Kiss” being a lipped model, whereas the counterpart figure “Tusk” was lipless.

Rebor "Kiss" and Rebor "Tusk" T. rex figures.
Some model manufacturers have reflected the current scientific debate by producing replicas with lips as well as lipless forms such as the recent Rebor “Kiss” and “Tusk” figures.

To view the range of Rebor figures and replicas in stock at Everything Dinosaur: Rebor Models and Figures.

Important Implications with Regards to Reconstructing Theropod Dinosaurs

This new study provides a new perspective on the “lips” versus “lipless” debate. It provides new insights into how scientists, artists and model makers reconstruct the soft tissues of dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals. This research provides information on how theropod dinosaurs fed, how they maintained their dental health as well as broader issues such as dinosaur ecology and evolution.

Dr Witton summarised the study stating:

“Some take the view that we’re clueless about the appearance of dinosaurs beyond basic features like the number of fingers and toes. But our study, and others like it, show that we have an increasingly good handle on many aspects of dinosaur appearance. Far from being clueless, we’re now at a point where we can say ‘oh, that doesn’t have lips? Or a certain type of scale or feather?’ Then that’s as realistic a depiction of that species as a tiger without stripes.”

The research team stress that their study does not say that no extinct animals had exposed teeth — some, like sabre-toothed carnivorous mammals, or marine reptiles and flying reptiles with extremely long, interlocking teeth, almost certainly did.

Everything Dinosaur acknowledges the assistance of a media release in the compilation of this article.

The scientific paper: “Theropod dinosaur facial reconstruction and the importance of soft tissues in paleobiology” by Thomas M. Cullen, Derek W. Larson, Mark P. Witton, Diane Scott, Tea Maho, Kirstin S. Brink, David C. Evans and Robert Reisz published in the journal Science.

29 03, 2023

Beautiful Bullyland Ammonite Model Retired

By |2024-01-02T16:07:02+00:00March 29th, 2023|Adobe CS5, Dinosaur Fans, Everything Dinosaur News and Updates, Everything Dinosaur Products, Main Page, Photos of Everything Dinosaur Products, Press Releases|0 Comments

The popular Bullyland ammonite model is to be retired according to sources at the German model and figure manufacturing company. Everything Dinosaur team members made enquiries with Bullyland in Germany earlier in the week and it has been confirmed that the ammonite model is going out of production.

The Bullyland ammonite model next to a polished section of an ammonite fossil.
The Bullyland ammonite model is often used in museum displays to depict the living animal next to fossil material. This Bullyland model is being retired and there are no plans in place to make any more replicas. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Bullyland Ammonite Model

The Bullyland ammonite model was included in the company’s latest product catalogue, but according to Everything Dinosaur’s sources the ammonite figure is to be withdrawn. Over the last few years, the number of models made by Bullyland has been reduced. The company has been focusing on producing figures under licence for organisations such as Disney and Pixar.

Bullyland ammonite model.
The Bullyland replica ammonite model.

To view the range of Bullyland prehistoric animal figures available from Everything Dinosaur: Bullyland Prehistoric Animal Models and Figures.

A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented:

“Over the last 2-3 years the Bullyland range of prehistoric animals has been significantly reduced. A new Ichthyosaurus model was due to go into production in 2020, but this replica seems to have been postponed, possibly permanently.”

The spokesperson went onto state:

“As for the Bullyland ammonite model, its partner product, a belemnite, was retired about a decade ago. Whilst we will be sorry to see this figure go, there are now a number of ammonite and other prehistoric invertebrate models on the market, most notably within the CollectA Age of Dinosaurs Popular range.”

CollectA Arthropods and Cephalopods new for 2020.
New CollectA arthropods and cephalopods.

The picture (above) shows some of the cephalopod and arthropod figures within the CollectA range. In 2022, the range was extended with the addition of the nautiloid Cooperoceras and this year, a model of Anomalocaris is being added.

To view the range of CollectA Age of Dinosaurs Popular figures available from Everything Dinosaur: CollectA Age of Dinosaurs Popular Figures.

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