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.
Our thanks to Caldey who sent into Everything Dinosaur her drawing of the recently introduced Beasts of the Mesozoic Fans’ Choice Medusaceratops dinosaur model. It is a superb illustration of a very colourful, iridescent dinosaur.
Caldey has sent Everything Dinosaur a drawing of the Beasts of the Mesozoic Fans’ Choice Medusaceratops. It is a fantastic drawing of a horned dinosaur.
Picture credit: Caldey
Fans’ Choice Medusaceratops
The Fans’ Choice Medusaceratops is a relatively new edition to the ceratopsian series in the popular Beasts of the Mesozoic articulated model range and it is the latest figure to have been drawn by Caldey. Previously, this young artist has drawn numerous models in the Beasts of the Mesozoic range.
Caldey has been inspired to produce several illustrations depicting figures from the Beasts of the Mesozoic ceratopsian series including Zuniceratops, Styracosaurus, Spiclypeus as well as the original Medusaceratops.
An illustration of Medusaceratops in the original colour scheme. Picture credit: Caldey.
An Iridescent Dinosaur
The Fans’ Choice Medusaceratops proved a particularly challenging subject as this brightly coloured and highly detailed model has a coating of iridescent paint. Metallic pens were used to create this effect on Caldey’s drawing and she has skilfully reproduced the various different types of a scale associated with the figure. In addition, her use of tones has given the Medusaceratops a sense of depth and perspective.
A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented:
“We are grateful to Caldey for sharing her wonderful drawing with us. We think the illustration is fantastic, such amazing detail.”
Many of Caldey’s illustrations have been inspired by prehistoric animals depicted in the “Jurassic Park/Jurassic World” movie franchise, but she also likes to draw some of her favourite prehistoric animal models in her collection.
Our thanks to Caldey for sending in her Medusaceratops illustration.
The new Safari Ltd Wild Safari Prehistoric World Albertosaurus dinosaur model is now in stock at Everything Dinosaur. A magnificent and colourful tyrannosaur.
Albertosaurus dinosaur model. The new Wild Safari Prehistoric World Albertosaurus figure.
Wild Safari Prehistoric World Albertosaurus
This striking replica of a Late Cretaceous, North American member of the Tyrannosauridae family is a welcome addition to the Safari Ltd model range. This extensive model series already includes several T. rex figures and in 2021, a replica of Daspletosaurus was added to this range.
Stalking amongst the model bricks, an Albertosaurus model, an excellent replica of a Late Cretaceous tyrannosaur from North America.
The model measures 25 cm long (10 inches) and that detailed head stands approximately 11.5 cm (4.5 inches) off the ground. A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented that the patterning on the model chosen by the designers would have helped to camouflage this large carnivore as it stalked its prey in the woodlands that were common throughout the Late Cretaceous landscape of northern Laramidia.
Albertosaurus fossils, specifically the nearly 1,150 fossil bones recovered from the Dry Island bonebed adjacent to the Red Deer River in Alberta, provide evidence that this theropod was gregarious and lived in packs.
The type species Albertosaurus sarcophagus was named and described by Henry Fairfield Osborn in 1905, the same year in which Osborn named and described the much larger, geologically younger but closely related Tyrannosaurus rex.
The Wild Safari Prehistoric World Albertosaurus dinosaur model, now in stock at Everything Dinosaur.
As Everything Dinosaur prepares for the arrival of the new Safari Ltd prehistoric animal models and Dino Dana figures we have been finalising our Zuul scale drawing in readiness for adding this diagram to our armoured dinosaur fact sheet.
Everything Dinosaur’s scale drawing of the armoured dinosaur Zuul. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Zuul crurivastator
Zuul (Z. crurivastator), was formally named and scientifically described in 2017 (Arbour and Evans). The fossil specimen, which is nearly complete was discovered in Judith River Formation sandstone sediments. The fossil material was purchased by the Royal Ontario Museum (Canada), and the Zuul specimen is on public display.
The genus name honours a fictional ghoul from the 1984 movie “Ghostbusters”. The research team, were reminded of the monster “Zuul the Gatekeeper of Gozer”, when studying the dinosaur’s prominent horns and ridges on the exquisitely preserved skull.
The species name translates as “destroyer of shins” a reference to the defensive tail club, that was preserved. Zuul remains the only member of the Ankylosaurinae to be known from a complete skull and tail club.
A recent research paper suggested that the tail club was used during intraspecific combat. Although tail clubs were probably used to deter predators, damaged osteoderms on the Zuul specimen suggested that these large herbivores indulged in ritual combat behaviours, perhaps over territory or in fights over mates.
Zuul is estimated to have measured around six metres in length and to have weighed around 2,500 kilograms.
A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented:
“We intend to send out a Zuul fact sheet with every model of Zuul we sell. We are committed to helping educate and inform. For the vast majority of the prehistoric animal models and figures we supply we include a fact sheet on that animal.“
Our thanks to talented, young artist Caldey who emailed to Everything Dinosaur her illustration of a Velociraptor. The drawing of the head in lateral view was inspired by the third film in the “Jurassic Park” movie franchise, which was released in 2001.
Our thanks to Caldey for emailing Everything Dinosaur a wonderful illustration of a “Jurassic Park” raptor that she had created. The drawing was inspired by the Velociraptors seen in the third film in the move franchise. Picture credit: Caldey.
Picture credit: Caldey
Illustration of a Velociraptor
The drawing of the head of the dromaeosaurid shows a remarkable level of detail and a careful choice of colours to illustrate this dinosaur. The Velociraptor sports some quills on the top of its head and the head and neck are covered in a variety of different sized scales. The Velociraptor has a prominent, scarlet boss on its naris and blue pigmentation around the eye. The teeth are particularly well drawn. “Jurassic Park III”, was the first film in this movie franchise to depict Velociraptors with quills, whilst in the earlier two films, the Velociraptors were shown without feathers (entirely covered in scales).
Back in the autumn (2022), we received an image of an Atrociraptor from Caldey. This drawing was based on the “raptor” as depicted in the latest film in this series “Jurassic Park Dominion”.
A spokesperson for the UK-based Everything Dinosaur commented:
“The Velociraptor illustration is such a detailed drawing. Palaeontologists are beginning to understand a little more about the integumentary coverings of dinosaurs as more impressions of fossilised skin are studied. It is likely that many genera were covered in scales of different shapes and sizes. As visual communication was important to these lithe, little hunters, why not give Velociraptor bright facial markings.”
Our thanks to Caldey for providing Everything Dinosaur with such a fantastic Velociraptor drawing.
The new Mojo Fun Woolly Mammoth model has arrived at Everything Dinosaur’s warehouse and this excellent prehistoric proboscidean has been made available to purchase on Everything Dinosaur’s award-winning website.
The Mojo Fun Woolly Mammoth model is available from Everything Dinosaur.
Mojo Fun Woolly Mammoth
The Woolly Mammoth is one of two Ice Age figures to be added to the Mojo Fun “Prehistoric Life” range of figures. A Woolly Rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) is due to arrive at Everything Dinosaur in a few weeks.
The Woolly Mammoth model is an update on the previous Mojo Fun figure, we suspect that this earlier 1:20 scale Mammuthus primigenius model from Mojo Fun will now be retired.
The hair texture and details of the shaggy coat of this prehistoric elephant model have been praised by Everything Dinosaur team members.
The hair texture on the new Mojo Fun Woolly Mammoth has been praised by Everything Dinosaur team members.
Mammuthus primigenius
A spokesperson for the award-winning, UK-based company stated that team members were most impressed with this Mammuthus primigenius replica.
The spokesperson added:
“There are lots of Woolly Mammoth figures and models available. It is always pleasing to see a manufacturer updating figures in their range and we congratulate the team at Mojo Fun for their amazing Woolly Mammoth and we look forward to the arrival of their Woolly Rhinoceros.”
To view the extensive range of Mojo Fun prehistoric and extinct animal models available from Everything Dinosaur: Mojo Fun Prehistoric Life Models.
Some dinosaur fossils might be regarded as spectacular, the enormous casts of sauropod skeletons or perhaps a Tyrannosaurus rex articulated mount. However, it is often the smaller specimens that provide palaeontologists with a wealth of data. For example, whilst walking through a museum after a meeting, an Everything Dinosaur team member spotted a Triceratops fossil tooth on display.
Fossil teeth provide palaeontologists with an understanding of the animal’s diet. Wear patterns can indicate the method of feeding and in some animals such as elephants for example, detailed analysis of the teeth can not only provide information on diet, but the age of the proboscidean can also be determined.
A Triceratops fossil tooth. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
If the internal structure of the tusk of a Woolly Mammoth is examined, then seasonal variations in growth can be determined and even times when the prehistoric elephant suffered from poor health.
Triceratops Fossil Tooth
A single tooth from a ceratopsian can change perspectives and lead to a revision of our understanding of the Dinosauria. In 2017, Everything Dinosaur team members wrote an article about a scientific paper that confirmed the discovery of a single tooth from a horned dinosaur. This fossil tooth demonstrated that ceratopsids existed in eastern America (Appalachia). This was the first recorded evidence of this group of ornithischian dinosaurs on that part of the American Cretaceous land mass.
Sometimes it can be the smallest fossils that provide the greatest amount of information. Palaeontologists still have a lot to learn about the Dinosauria, even a famous dinosaur such at Triceratops horridus probably hides a few secrets still.
The Triceratops model (Heavy Lance – Tricolor) in anterior view. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
The picture (above) is one of the Nanmu Studio Jurassic Series Triceratops colour variants (Tricolor).
Team members at Everything Dinosaur have been busy preparing a Brighstoneus scale drawing in readiness for the arrival of the new for 2023 CollectA Brighstoneus dinosaur model. The first of the new for 2023 CollectA prehistoric animal figures are expected to be in stock in a few weeks. As we research and write our Brighstoneus fact sheet, a scale drawing was commissioned so that we could demonstrate the approximate size of this recently described dinosaur.
The Brighstoneus scale drawing being prepared for the Everything Dinosaur Brighstoneus fact sheet that we intend to despatch with the CollectA Age of Dinosaur Popular Brighstoneus figure. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
When scientifically described (Lockwood et al), Brighstoneus was estimated to measure around eight metres in length, and to have a body mass of approximately nine hundred kilogrammes, team members at Everything Dinosaur have attempted to reflect the animal’s size by using a silhouette of a human being to give a visual guide to scale. Readers can hopefully appreciate how our drawing represents the CollectA Age of Dinosaurs Popular model.
The CollectA Age of Dinosaurs Popular Brighstoneus dinosaur model. This ornithopod figure should be available from Everything Dinosaur in early 2023.
A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur, explained that they were looking forward to receiving this exciting new herbivorous dinosaur replica and confirmed that the first batch of CollectA prehistoric animal figures (with the exception of the 1:6 scale Stegouros and the 1:20 scale Koolasuchus), should be arriving at the company’s warehouse in a few weeks. The Stegouros and the Koolasuchus were due to be in stock later in the year (April/May 2023).
Everything Dinosaur has won the Feefo Platinum Trusted Service Award, an independent seal of excellence and company integrity. Everything Dinosaur has won this top Feefo award every year since this accolade was introduced.
Everything Dinosaur wins Platinum Trusted Service Award for the fourth year running.
Platinum Trusted Service Award
Feefo established the Trusted Service Awards in 2014 to recognise brands that use the platform to collect verified reviews and receive exceptional feedback from their customers. Their highest award, the Platinum Trusted Service Award was introduced in 2020 and Everything Dinosaur has been awarded top marks by Feefo four years in a row.
These are unique awards because they truly reflect a company’s dedication to providing outstanding customer service by analysing feedback from genuine customers.
Tony Wheble, CEO at Feefo praised Everything Dinosaur and commented:
“A particular congratulations to Everything Dinosaur for winning a Platinum Trusted Service Award by providing great customer service consistently over a number of years. I look forward to seeing them continue to achieve next year and beyond.”
Customer Service Award
Everything Dinosaur’s dedication and commitment has also been recognised by the South Cheshire Chamber of Commerce. The UK-based company won the “Excellence in Customer Service” award at the end of 2022.
Mike and Sue of Everything Dinosaur proudly show their certificate and trophy after winning the Excellence in Customer Service Award at the South Cheshire Chamber of Commerce Business Awards. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Feefo
Feefo is a leading global customer reviews and insights platform. Feefo’s mission is to empower its clients to fully understand how their customers experience their product or service. Working with over 6,000 brands, Feefo is the world’s largest provider of verified reviews, helping brands understand customers by analysing verified reviews and providing insight into trends, needs and habits.
A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented:
“We are delighted to receive the Feefo 2023 Platinum Trusted Service Award for customer service, which recognises our hard work over the last three, challenging years. This award means a lot to us because it is based on feedback and reviews from our customers and, ultimately, keeping them happy is what we care about. We are committed to delivering the highest quality of service, so we will continue to listen, understand and respond to all our customers.”
Carboniferous chimaeras were suction feeders unlike their modern relatives such as the rat fish which are durophagous (feed on hard-shelled prey such as crabs, snails and molluscs). That is the conclusion of new research published this week in the academic journal The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
An Exceptional Three-dimensional Fossil
The research led by the Muséum national d’histoire naturelle (MNHN) located in Paris, and the University of Birmingham has shown that an ancient relative of chimaeras, jawed vertebrates that are related to cartilaginous fishes (sharks and rays), fed by sucking in prey animals underwater.
An exceptional three-dimensional fossil of an ancient chimaera (Iniopera genus), has revealed new clues about the diversity of these creatures during the Carboniferous period.
The three-dimensional cast of the Carboniferous chimaera fossil (Iniopera) which helped the researchers to determine feeding strategy. Picture credit: University of Birmingham.
Carboniferous Chimaera
The fossil, from a genus called Iniopera, is the only suction feeder to be identified among chimaeras, and quite different from living chimaeras, which generally feed by crushing molluscs and other hard-shelled prey between their teeth.
Chimaeriformes are an ancient order of cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes) that are thought to have evolved in the Devonian. Most extant species are found at depths greater than two hundred metres, and some chimaera fish are restricted to extremely deep water (Bathypelagic Zone).
Most fossil and extant chimaeras are quite small, very few specimens exceed one metre in length. However, other prehistoric, cartilaginous fish that were distantly related to Iniopera grew much larger. For example, the Permian genus Helicoprion with its bizarre tooth-whorl jaw, which has been estimated to have grown to around eight metres in length.
As Everything Dinosaur prepares for the arrival of Haylee the Helicoprion model from PNSO a scale drawing of this Permian fish has been commissioned. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Although models of prehistoric fish from the Chondrichthyes Class are rare, PNSO have included two prehistoric shark figures (O. megalodon and Cretoxyrhina) and a replica of Helicoprion.
Commenting on the significance of this study, lead researcher Dr Richard Dearden (University of Birmingham) stated:
“Being able to identify Iniopera as a suction feeder sheds light on the diverse role of chimaeras in these early ecosystems. In particular, it suggests that in their early evolutionary history, some chimaeras were inhabiting ecological niches that are now monopolised by ray finned fishes – a far cry from their modern life as specialised shell-crushers.”
The cartilage skeleton of these fish are rarely fossilised and the Chondrichthyes tend to be underrepresented in the fossil record. The skeletons that are preserved tend to be crushed flat and distorted so interpreting them is notoriously difficult. However, by studying the tooth shapes and diverse body plans, palaeontologists were already aware that extinct forms were far more varied than their living counterparts.
3-D Imaging Techniques
Using advanced 3-D imaging techniques, the researchers reconstructed the head, shoulder and throat skeleton of the Iniopera fossil. They then estimated the location of major muscles and found the anatomy was poorly suited to durophagous feeding. Instead, the researchers believe the animal was more likely to have used the muscle arrangement to expand the throat to take in water and a forward-pointing mouth to orient towards prey.
Suction feeding is a technique used by many animals that live underwater. It involves generating low pressures in the throat to pull in water and prey. To do this effectively, the animal needs to be able to rapidly expand its throat, and point its mouth forward towards prey items. Numerous different aquatic jawed vertebrates, such as ray-finned fishes and some turtles have evolved specialised anatomies to help them feed in this manner more effectively.
The suction feeding theory is also supported by fossilised Chimaeriformes that have preserved stomach contents. Small arthropods have been found in association with the body cavity of several specimens and their relatively entire state suggests suction feeding as the method of prey capture.
Everything Dinosaur acknowledges the assistance of a media release from the University of Birmingham in the compilation of this article.
The next edition of “Prehistoric Times” magazine (issue 144) is on its way and should be with readers in a couple of weeks. Our thanks to magazine editor Mike Fredericks who sent into Everything Dinosaur a preview of the front cover artwork which was created by Daniel Navarro, a very talented artist from Spain.
The front cover image of the next edition of the quarterly publication “Prehistoric Times”.
“Prehistoric Times”
We are reliably informed that this issue (winter 2023), will feature an interview with the Canadian palaeoartist Julius Csotonyi. We suspect that the interview will feature his new book “Dinosaur World”, a publication eagerly anticipated by fans of his artwork as it includes over 1,200 different dinosaur illustrations. Fans of palaeoart on this side of the Atlantic get to hear from John Conway about his latest projects including his own book, which is due out shortly entitled “A History of Painting (with Dinosaurs)”.
Visit the “Prehistoric Times” website to subscribe to this quarterly magazine: “Prehistoric Times”.
Featured Prehistoric Animals
The featured prehistoric animals in issue 144 are the Chinese early tyrannosauroid Dilong and the biggest snake known to science – Titanoboa. Readers can expect to see lots of amazing artwork.
A drawing of Titanoboa commissioned by Everything Dinosaur for a fact sheet on Titanoboa for a Rebor model.
The Titanoboa illustration (above) was commissioned by Everything Dinosaur so that the UK-based company could produce a scale drawing of the giant prehistoric snake for the fact sheet that was despatched with Rebor Titanoboa figures.
To view the range of Rebor models including museum class Titanoboa maquettes (whilst stocks last): Rebor Models and Figures.
