Animal News Stories

14 04, 2009

Popular Primeval off to Hollywood

By Mike|2024-04-15T14:36:31+01:00April 14th, 2009|Categories: Animal News Stories, Dinosaur Fans, Main Page, TV Reviews|0 Comments

Primeval Creators in Talks to turn TV Series into a Film

Impossible Pictures the company behind the hit television series Primeval are in talks with US film studio Warner Bros to turn the time travelling adventure into a Hollywood blockbuster.

According to industry insiders, work on the film will begin later this year, after Primeval has finished a run of its third series, now currently being shown on ITV1 on Saturday nights. The show features a cast of characters led by evolutionary zoologist Nick Cutter (played by Douglas Henshall) who explore rifts in time that allow animals from the past and the future to roam in the modern world. Primeval was originally pitched as an ITV rival to the new Doctor Who series, it has done well in the television ratings, regularly achieving viewing figures in excess of 7 million.

The film version will be a joint venture between the TV production company Impossible Pictures and Warner Bros. It is not known whether the TV series cast will take their roles to the big screen or whether American actors will take the main roles. The use of American actors and actresses is indeed a possibility as there are ongoing talks about creating a US TV series with a number of stateside networks.

We will have to wait and see, but it looks like the team behind the BAFTA and EMMY award winning Walking with Dinosaurs have plans to develop a substantial Primeval franchise. Wish we could jump through one of their anomalies to see how things turn out.

11 04, 2009

Woolly Rhino – An Odd Shaped Rhino Horn

By Mike|2023-03-02T07:31:17+00:00April 11th, 2009|Categories: Animal News Stories, Educational Activities, Main Page|0 Comments

Woolly Rhino (Coelodonta antiquitatis) – Odd Shaped Horns

Whilst one of our team members was doing some dinosaur themed teaching activities with school children before the half-term holiday, they were asked by a student why did Woolly Rhinos had such large horns?

A Replica of a Woolly Rhino

Great care has been taken to depict the anterior horn on the new Papo model. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The picture (above) shows the Papo Woolly Rhino model, to view the Papo range of prehistoric animal models and figures: Papo Prehistoric Animal Models.

The question was asked when the Mammoth tooth was being handed round and it did get us thinking as to why ancient Rhinos had large horns. In truth, we had to do a little bit of research before we could provide a complete explanation. We were able to send an email to the teacher, outlining some of the reasons for the large horn on the Woolly Rhino.

Woolly Rhino

It turns out that the particular pupil concerned had seen a model of a Woolly Rhino and it did have a very large nose horn when she compared it to her models of modern Rhinos in her zoo play set. Rhinocerotidae (the family to which Rhinoceroses belong), is actually quite an ancient mammal group, with their fossil record dating back to the Oligocene, approximately 35 million years ago. There were a number of Rhino species around during the Ice Ages of the Pleistocene Epoch, fossils of such animals have been found all over Asia and Europe, these ancient animals were much more widespread in the past than modern species. It is believed that the first Woolly Rhinos originated in China and there were a number of different types or species.

Coelodonta antiquitatis was named and described in 1807 by the German anthropologist and naturalist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, long before the term Dinosauria had been thought of. Indeed, Regency museums had many exhibitions of prehistoric mammal fossils long before dinosaur fossils began to take centre stage.

An Illustration of a Woolly Rhinoceros

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

To see a model of a Woolly Rhino and other prehistoric mammals associated with the Ice Age and the Pleistocene Epoch: Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal Models.

Coelodonta antiquitatis

Coelodonta antiquitatis had two horns on its snout, the front horn being larger than the second horn located between the eyes. Woolly Rhinos were stocky, covered in long, shaggy hair with short legs, small ears and a dumpy tail – all adaptations for living in cold climates. The horns of rhinos are made of keratin (fibrous hair that it compressed), the front horn (known as the anterior horn), could grow up to about 2 metres in length. It is believed that the males had larger horns than females.

Scientists believe that the front horn of the Woolly Rhino was keeled, it was constantly worn down as the animals grazed moving their heads from side to side. Woolly Rhinos may have used their large horns to clear snow in order to find food, this may explain how these animals had peculiar shaped horns. Animals with large horns may have been more successful engaging in ritual combat and winning more mates as well as finding food. The genetic trait for large horns may then have been passed from generation to generation. This might explain why over many generations Woolly Rhinos had larger horns.

9 04, 2009

Free Swimming Tadpoles

By Mike|2022-12-21T21:21:14+00:00April 9th, 2009|Categories: Animal News Stories, Educational Activities, Everything Dinosaur News and Updates, Main Page|0 Comments

Tadpoles begin to Disperse in Office Pond

Those tadpoles that hatched successfully have now begun to disperse across the office pond. The heads of these little creatures, are now clearly discernable but no eyes or mouth can be distinguished as yet, in animals little more than one centimetre long. The broad tails are permitting these tiny creatures to make short journeys as they spread out from the mass of spawn to take up residence in the rest of the pond. We have observed a number of indviduals have made it to the far side of the pond and they are hanging onto large stones and debris in the shallows. The majority of the tadpoles are to be found within the remains of the spawn, but we suspect that once they have exhausted their yolk sacs they will seek food and refuge elsewhere. There is a lack of cover for the tadpoles (we cleaned the pond out in the autumn). Hopefully, there will still be enough cover for the tadpoles to hide in although we accept that nearly all of them will perish over the next few weeks. Most will fall prey to the other animals that inhabit the pond with them, the dragon and damsel fly nymphs are particularly voracious, but even blackbirds and robins can pose a threat to the tadpoles.

3 04, 2009

The Frogspawn is Hatching – an Exciting Development

By Mike|2024-04-15T14:43:04+01:00April 3rd, 2009|Categories: Animal News Stories, Educational Activities, Everything Dinosaur News and Updates, Main Page|0 Comments

Office Pond Frogspawn Shows signs of Life

On Saturday 14th of March we reported that once again we had frogspawn in our office pond. This is the second year in a row that frogs have spawned in our pond. Based on our estimates we think that just like last year, the eggs we have in the pond have come from just the one female. We are not sure whether it is the same female as last year, but it might be as we believe that the Common Frog (Rana temporaria) tends to return to the same pond each year to spawn.

To read the article about the frogspawn: We have frogspawn in the office pond.

We have kept a close watch on the frogspawn, and over the last few days or so we have observed that it is beginning to hatch. The first tadpoles began to hatch on Wednesday 1st April, approximately 17 days after the spawn was laid. The spawn last year began to hatch a little earlier but it was laid in a shallower part of the pond in direct sunlight and this may account for the slightly slower hatching this year. We expect to see the majority of the tadpoles hatching over the weekend, although we note that the spawn is not as clear and healthy looking as it was last year. Perhaps it is because the spawn has ended up in a deeper part of the pond, sitting on the silty bottom. Those tadpoles that have hatched already, have a distinctive head end, but their tails are not able to propel them very far at the moment.

In the autumn, we all got together and had a lovely afternoon clearing out the blanket weed and generally cleaning the pond. This has left the pond with little weed cover. Hopefully, the tadpoles will be able to find plenty of cover to help them avoid predators. The absence of cover may permit us to observe the tadpoles in more detail this year.

To view the article about 2008 hatching frogspawn: Frogspawn beginning to hatch (2008).

The pond seems quite healthy, we have noticed a lot of snails eggs and the water boatmen have been very active. We also observed our first pond skater of the season. Hopefully, our pond clearing has helped maintain a healthy, balanced ecosystem.

15 03, 2009

Exciting Frog Blog 2009 – The Frogspawn has Moved

By Mike|2024-04-12T09:14:03+01:00March 15th, 2009|Categories: Animal News Stories, Educational Activities, Everything Dinosaur News and Updates, Main Page|0 Comments

Moving Frogspawn

We were checking back on last year’s notes and articles made about the frogspawn in our office pond. Interestingly, the frogspawn was laid on March 16th last year and this year it has arrived a little earlier.

To read last year’s article about the sighting of frogspawn: We have frogspawn in the office pond!

Yesterday we commented upon the folklore which stated that depending on where in ponds frogs spawned was an indicator of either a wet or dry spring. If frogs spawn in the shallow margins, this, according to the old-time sayings of country folk, meant that the spring was going to be wet. If frogs spawned in the deeper parts of the pond, this meant that the spring was going to be dry.

Our frogspawn has moved, it has sunk down to a deeper part of the pond. How it has done this remains a mystery. The eggs are inert and cannot move themselves, so we suspect that either the natural buoyancy of the spawn has changed and the spawn has sunk or the activity of the frogs in the pond may have moved it. It was quite windy last night so there is a possibility that the wind may have had an effect on the spawn and caused it to move.

So our spawn has been transferred from a shallow part of the pond to a deeper part, so much for the folklore, or did the frogs change their minds over the weather forecast?

14 03, 2009

Frog Blog 2009 – We have Spawn in the Pond again

By Mike|2022-12-20T14:37:45+00:00March 14th, 2009|Categories: Animal News Stories, Educational Activities, Everything Dinosaur News and Updates, Main Page|0 Comments

Frog Blog 2009 – Frogspawn in the Office Pond Again

For the second year running we have got frogspawn in the office pond. We had noticed a number of frogs around and in the pond over the last few days, but today on a quick tour of the office yard we have discovered a small amount of spawn close to the edge of the pond. There are three frogs in the pond at the moment, they are relatively small and all are croaking. We think these are males, calling for females, however, one frog has already spawned in the pond and we think that only male common frogs croak. The spawning probably took place yesterday or very early this morning.

Frogspawn

We shall leave the frogs alone and see if the males can attract any more females to come and lay their eggs.

The Frogspawn laid in the Office Pond

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

In a Different Part of the Office Pond

The spawn has been laid in a different part of the pond this year. The frogspawn laid last year was in the centre of the pond over a deep part of the pond, this year the spawn has been laid in a shallow part. Folklore states that if frogs spawn in the shallow part of the pond it is going to be a wet spring. The suggestion is that if frogs lay their eggs in the shallows they believe that there will be plenty of rain to keep the pond topped up and their eggs will not dry out. We shall have to wait and see. Hopefully, other frogs will spawn in the pond in the next few days.

1 03, 2009

Exciting Frog Blog 2009 – Frogs take up Residence in the Office Pond

By Mike|2024-04-12T09:14:34+01:00March 1st, 2009|Categories: Animal News Stories, Main Page|0 Comments

Frogs take up Residence in the Everything Dinosaur Office Pond

Last year we had our first frog spawn laid in the office pond. We had been monitoring the pond for sometime, but 2008 was the first time that frogs had decided to spawn in it. The spawn was laid on the 16th March last year and we have been eagerly looking forward to seeing if the frogs would spawn in our pond again this year.

As we work quite late these days, (some team members don’t leave the office until 10pm), we have been able to watch a couple of frogs late at night as they emerge from their winter hideaways and prepare for the mating season. We have two frogs in residence in and around the pond at the moment. These are common frogs (Rana temporaria) and at the moment we think that both these animals are males. We have noticed how bold the frogs have become, one of them sat on the stone flags that surround the pond for over an hour this morning. It was sunbathing in the spring sunshine, quite exposed to any cats or other predators. We have alerted the rest of the team and we will try to keep a look out in case a hungry hunter comes along. We have speculated that this near suicidal approach may have a lot to do with demonstrating to rival males that the pond is occupied and within the territory of a male. After the mating season, the frogs become much more cautious and remain in the more inaccessible areas of the pond, perhaps the lure of females encourages these little amphibians to show a little more bravado at this time of year.

We will keep a close watch on the pond and see if we get any frog spawn in a couple of weeks or so.

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

19 02, 2009

Parents of Boy Eaten by Crocodile don’t want Croc Killed

By Mike|2022-12-20T12:57:59+00:00February 19th, 2009|Categories: Animal News Stories, Main Page|0 Comments

Crocodile responsible for Death of Young Boy Identified

The parents of Jeremy Doble, the young boy who was attacked and eaten by an Estuarine crocodile have declared that they don’t want the crocodile killed by the Australian authorities.

The attack took place on February 8th as Jeremy played with his seven-year-old brother and pet dog in flooded swampland adjacent to the Daintree River in Queensland. The Daintree river and rain-forest is a world heritage site but the river has a high density of Estuarine crocodiles and these huge reptiles have a reputation for being man-eaters. The Estuarine or Saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) is the largest species of crocodile and the biggest reptile species on the planet. Mature adults can reach lengths in excess of 6 metres, any crocodile bigger than 2 metres is considered a potential man-eater.

Nobody witnessed the actual attack, but Ryan saw a crocodile shortly after his brother had disappeared and Steve Doble, the boy’s father, ran into the water trying to save his son when he heard screams. Steve Doble operates a tourist and trekking company and the family were used to seeing large crocodiles in the area. The threat of an attack was always there, Saltwater crocodiles like most species of large crocodile are ambush predators and unfortunately, a number of fatal crocodile attacks are reported each year.

This incident was the second such occurrence in the Daintree area in recent months. A man was eaten by a large crocodile on the Endeavour river just north of the Daintree. One shoe, a camera and some crocodile slide marks were found on the spot where the man disappeared. A hunt was launched by the local law enforcement agencies and a large crocodile trapped which when examined revealed the human remains inside its stomach.

After the attack on Jeremy, the authorities launched a large-scale search for the predator. Two crocodiles were caught, one male and a female. The female when x-rayed showed no human remains, however, the male croc was proved to be the culprit.

The boy’s parents have specifically asked authorities not to kill the animal. Instead, it will be sent to a crocodile farm or zoo but will not be put on public display. Crocodiles that measure over 4 metres long had been seen in the area and one of these creatures is more than capable of overpowering a human being. It is very sad to hear of this news, unfortunately as the numbers of crocodiles increase and they have more contact with people, such incidents are likely to occur. To a crocodile a person is another item of prey and there have been calls for another cull of large crocodiles in the area.

The population of Estuarine crocodiles in Australia fell dramatically in the 19th and early 20th Century due to hunting. However, protection and conservation schemes running since the 1970’s has permitted the crocodile population to increase. Australians seem to have a love – hate relationship with their crocodile species. Only a few days ago we reported on a new exhibit, a showcase of crocodilian evolution being opened at Darwin.

To view this article: Crocodile Exhibition opens to celebrate Darwin’s Birth.

It seems that having such magnificent creatures sharing your neighbourhood has some very serious drawbacks and unfortunately, there is little evidence to suggest that crocodiles can be successfully deterred from making such attacks.

17 02, 2009

I’m Dreaming of a White Alligator

By Mike|2022-12-20T12:34:47+00:00February 17th, 2009|Categories: Animal News Stories, Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Main Page|0 Comments

Bizarre Looking Alligator on show at American Tourist Attraction

A white alligator is the star turn at a Florida crocodile farm and tourist attraction Gatorland.

The Alligator is a member of the Order Crocodylia. There are just two species of alligator on the planet, the well-known and often viewed at zoos and American tourist attractions such as Gatorland, American alligator (Alligator mississipiensis) and the much rarer Chinese alligator (Alligator sinensis). Alligators are therefore found in only two, widely separated regions of the world, in the south-eastern USA and China. To be precise, the critically endangered Chinese alligator is found mainly in the upper reaches of the Yangtse river valley.

A Replica of a Chinese Alligator (Alligator sinensis)

Family Zoo Siamese crocodile model.

Tourist attractions like Gatorland in Florida, play a vital role in helping to preserve crocodiles, caimans and alligators. As well as providing curious tourists with information and permitting them to get up close and personal with some of the most dangerous animals on Earth, Gatorland and other attractions carry out conservation programmes and captive breeding schemes to help support the dwindling wild populations.

White Alligator

The latest residents of Gatorland to benefit from their protection is an exceptionally rare, white alligator, believed to one of only twelve such animals in the world. This animal, a 200 kilogramme male called Bouya Blan (the name means white fog in the local Indian dialect) was collected from a Louisiana swamp and transferred from Audubon zoo in New Orleans to Gatorland.

This particular male alligator, with its ivory skin and deep blue eyes was part of a clutch of seventeen young alligators collected by workers from the Louisiana Land and Exploration Company who were surveying the swamp land in 1986. The group was taken to the Audubon zoo where they remained until last year, before being transferred to the specialists at Gatorland. Unfortunately, only a few of the original seventeen survived in the twenty years of so they spent in captivity, but now under the supervision of the Gatorland experts they may have a more certain future.

These bizarre looking animals are not examples of albino-ism, the nearly complete absence of any pigment is caused by a genetic disorder. Animals that lack pigmentation are called leucistic (from the Greek leukos meaning white). The large male alligator in the picture is one of four leucistic alligators kept at Gatorland.

Mark McHugh, President and Chief Executive of the Floridian tourist attraction commented:

“People are awestruck when they see them, and just one look into those icy, blue eyes will give you chills”.

He went on to state how excited he and the rest of the Gatorland staff were at having these rare alligators at the park.

Mark’s colleague Tim Williams added:

“This is the largest group of giant white gators in the world. These are not albino animals, they are what we call leucistic, which means they have a little bit of pigmentation around the mouth and a little touch on the tail and they have piercing blue eyes.”

Mr Williams went on to explain that in the wild any animal with this genetic disorder would be unlikely to survive very long. They have a sensitivity to sunlight and their lack of camouflage would make them easy to spot, bad news with so many hungry predators around in their swamp homes.

As a result of their rare genetic condition, the alligators are housed in special enclosures to protect them from sunlight – and the unwanted attention of other males.

“We have four white alligators here at Gatorland and because they are all males they cannot be in the same enclosure as they are all very big and they would all fight with each other”;

commented Mr Williams, noting the natural aggressive tendency of male alligators.

Creatures with the leucistic condition need extra vitamin D (normally obtained from sunlight), to help the Alligators; their diet is supplemented with food rich in this particular vitamin. They are fed chicken, fish, red meat and do receive vitamin supplements as well.

Tim and his team are now hoping to breed white alligators with two female American gators who carry the leucistic gene. They will certainly be quiet a site at the Gatorland park, but we at Everything Dinosaur, are concerned about such a breeding programme.

Perhaps it would be better to focus resources on breeding the critically endangered Chinese alligator, rather than trying to breed a type of alligator that could not survive in the wild. We can appreciate the need for the attraction to generate visitor numbers by offering them the chance to view such strange creatures but we remain unsure as whether it is “right” to deliberately attempt to prolong this genetic disorder in a captive population of crocodilians.

15 02, 2009

New Crocodile Exhibition to Celebrate Darwin’s Birth

By Mike|2024-01-14T09:15:53+00:00February 15th, 2009|Categories: Animal News Stories, Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Main Page|0 Comments

Crocodile Exhibition to Celebrate Darwin 200

An Australian museum is putting on an exhibition showcasing the evolution of the crocodile as part of their celebrations marking the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth. The exhibit which is on display at the Northern Territories Museum and Art Gallery in Darwin is open until November.

Darwin itself, was named after the famous English scientist, he visited the area when the ship, HMS Beagle docked in September 1839, part way through its surveying expedition. Australia has two native species of crocodile, the Saltwater or Estuarine and the smaller freshwater crocodile. The Saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) is the largest living reptile with some specimens reaching lengths in of over 6 metres.

The exhibition is entitled “Supercrocodilians: Darwin’s ultimate survival story” is free to enter and tells the story of the evolution and development of this remarkable reptile group, one that has outlasted the dinosaurs.

Commenting on the events programme, exhibition curator Paul Horner said:

“We wanted to show Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution through an icon like the crocodile”.

Animals that were similar to modern crocodiles (phytosaurs) evolved around 240 million years ago. Crocodiles as a group have been around since the Late Triassic period with the ancestors of the modern species known today (23 species of crocodiles in the world at present, although most are endangered), being traced back to the Cretaceous (neosuchians). Some of the species of crocodilian around today may have remained largely unchanged for 5 million years or so. The crocodilian life style of being a heavily armoured, ambush predator of rivers and lakes does seem to be a formula for a sustained run in terms of survival. However, in their evolutionary history crocodiles have evolved to exploit a variety of environmental niches, from almost entirely marine forms such as Metriorhynchus, to fast running entirely terrestrial types.

The exhibition highlight is the reconstructed skull of a 15 metre long giant crocodile called Sarcosuchus. This particular crocodile, now fortunately extinct, lived in Africa during the Cretaceous period and although it had a long snout adapted for catching fish, it probably ambushed dinosaurs as they came down to drink.

Pictures show the skull of a Sarcosuchus and museum curator Paul Horner is dwarfed by it. Even allowing for the change in perspective as Paul is further from the lens than the crocodilian skull, the cast of this fossil skull is very impressive. Note the hooked tip to the upper jaw and the many sharp, needle-like teeth, believed to be adaptations to help catch slippery fish. Such a jaw configuration and dentition is seen in baryonychid dinosaurs, which were also believed to be fish-eaters in the main.

A Scale Drawing of a Prehistoric Crocodile – Sarcosuchus

Everything Dinosaur’s scale drawing of Sarcosuchus. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The exhibition has been planned for over a year and is a fitting tribute to Darwin, after whom the city is named and also highlights a need to conserve these remarkable and dangerous creatures.

Team members at Everything Dinosaur have been working on a model of Sarcosuchus that is being introduced later this year. Drawings have just been commissioned so that a fact sheet can be created for this new item. Scientists remain unsure as to which type of crocodilian was the biggest of them all. Sarcosuchus is a contender, along with the more heavily built Deinosuchus and the later Purussaurus from South America that lived during the Late Pliocene. This particular crocodile, believed to be more closely related to modern Alligators could reach lengths in excess of 16 metres.

To view models of a variety of prehistoric crocodilians and other related species: Dinosaur, Crocodilian and Prehistoric Animal Models.