Animal News Stories

News stories and articles that do not necessarily feature extinct animals.

8 08, 2007

Welcome to the Holocene – How to define a Epoch

By Mike|2023-02-14T13:50:16+00:00August 8th, 2007|Categories: Animal News Stories, Main Page|0 Comments

How to Define an Epoch – Death of a Dolphin

Recently the team members of Everything Dinosaur were asked to comment about an article that had featured in a popular women’s magazine. The article was part of a feature which highlighted bizarre facts about the animal kingdom. The particular part that attracted one of our customer’s attention was the snippet on Sabre Tooth Tigers. The author had stated that the Sabre Tooth Tiger was the last tiger species to go extinct.

The Holocene Epoch

This customer had queried this, emailing us asking whether we could confirm that the Sabre Tooth Tiger was indeed the last tiger to go extinct. The first thing we had to do was to point out that the name “Sabre Tooth Tiger” was misleading. This phrase is commonplace, but Sabre-toothed cats are not closely related to tigers. We are not sure how this misnomer arose, or who was responsible for first coining the phrase “Sabre Tooth Tiger” but this term is now synonymous with the Smilodon genus.

Sabre-Toothed Cats

Sabre-toothed cats belong to a sub-family of the cat family (Felidae) called machairodonts. The machairodonts seem to have first evolved around 12-15 million years ago (mya) and although their ancestry is uncertain, they seem to have quickly spread all over the Northern Hemisphere, before moving into the New World an estimated 5 mya.

Once we had explained this, we then went on to point out that animals like Smilodon fatalis went extinct about 10,000 years ago (the last Sabre-toothed cats survived in the Americas until the end of the last Ice Age).

However, many more big cats have gone extinct far more recently. We know of at least three sub-species of tigers that may have died out in the last 60 years. The Caspian tiger (P. tigris virgata) which once roamed Afghanistan, Iran and parts of Russia has not been seen since the 1950s. The Javan tiger (P. tigris sondaica) was last sighted in 1972 and the Bali tiger (P. tigris balica) has not been seen on the island since 1947.

Yangtze River Dolphin

Today, we read that the Yangtze River dolphin or Baiji (Latin name Lipotes vexillifer) may have died out as well. This mammal, that could reach lengths of over 2.5 metres was last seen in 2002 and a survey conducted in the animals habitat failed to record a single dolphin. It would be no surprise if this cetacean had become extinct. The Yangtze river is one of the world’s busiest waterways, it has been extensively over fished and is heavily polluted as China’s economy continues to grow.

Officially, the Worldwide Fund for Nature only recognises that a species is extinct if it is not seen for 50 years. The Yangtze River dolphin remains on the Critically Endangered classification but if any are surviving, they are so few in number not to make the species viable.

Sabre-Tooth Cat Model (Mojo Fun Prehistoric Life Smilodon)

The Mojo Smilodon model is a replica of a sabre-toothed cat. The Smilodon model measures approximately 13 cm long.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The picture (above) shows the Mojo Fun Prehistoric Life Smilodon model, to view the Mojo Fun range of prehistoric animal figures: Mojo Fun Prehistoric Life Figures.

The magazine article on Sabre-toothed cats also provided information on how time is divided up into geological periods it mentioned that scientists classify the time since the last Ice Age as the Holocene (recent time). When we submitted our notes clarifying the points raised about the cats, we were asked to state what the Holocene stands for. We commented about this mentioning the obvious – this being an interglacial period, the ascent of man moving to a sedentary lifestyle with domesticated animals, the rise of civilisations and so on. We also commented that the Holocene was being marked by the dominance of just one species – us.

Homo sapiens

In just 10,000 years the population of Homo sapiens has exploded and our impact on this planet is being felt everywhere and by every other creature. The Holocene epoch could be defined by extinctions caused by the activities of mankind.

We lament the passing of the Yangtze River dolphin, sadly much, much more is yet to come.

23 07, 2007

Invasion of the Crocodiles

By Mike|2023-02-13T08:12:48+00:00July 23rd, 2007|Categories: Animal News Stories, Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Main Page|0 Comments

Invasion of the Crocodiles

The increasing number of Estaurine (otherwise known as Saltwater) crocodiles on the North-east coast of Australia is causing concern amongst local residents and the surfing community.

The Estaurine crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) can be found over a large area of South-east Asia. It ranges from Sri Lanka to the Fiji islands, with a resurgent population in northern Australia as hunting them has been banned. These animals can grow up to 9 metres in length (27 feet) although many stories abound about even larger specimens being seen. It is capable of living in a number of habitats but prefers the mouths of rivers and other tidal areas. Estaurine crocodiles are quite happy swimming out to sea and many have been spotted tens of miles off shore. This may explain why they are so widely spread in Southeastern Asia.

Unfortunately, their numbers in Northern Australia have grown substantially over the last twenty years and many crocodiles are beginning to be seen on popular surfing beaches and basking close to areas frequented by swimmers.

There are even been reports of crocodiles being spotted close to Cairns and Townsville the main centres of population in the region. A recent study by local rangers and Aboriginal guides have estimated numbers to be around 500 – 1,000. The rise in population has been attributed to the ban on hunting crocs and the decline in natural predators of crocodile eggs such as dingoes and other wild dogs.

These crocodiles are very capable hunters and once above 8 feet in length would be classified as man-eaters. The larger specimens are mainly ambush predators preying on animals as they come to the rivers to drink.

A call for a cull has been made and many locals are already lobbying to be able to carry guns. However, the local Environmental Protection Agency is reluctant to support a cull as if open season was declared on the Saltwater crocodiles the population may be devastated in just a few years. Despite their fearsome reputation crocodile attacks are relatively rare with only 17 attacks being recorded since 1985 with only five fatalities.

The Crocodilian order is very ancient with crocodiles of various types thriving throughout the Mesozoic. The first modern crocodiles evolved around 90 million years ago, all crocodiles and alligators belong to a Crocodilian group called the Eusuchians, these became widespread during the Late Cretaceous and survived the mass extinction that ended the reign of their cousins the dinosaurs. Although the Estaurine is the largest reptile living today, it was dwarfed by many of the crocodiles that lived in the past.

Giants like Sarcosuchus (means “flesh crocodile”) and Deinosuchus (means “terrible crocodile”) from the Cretaceous are believed to exceeded 12 metres (40 feet in length).

Crocodile Models: Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal Models.

Scientists still debate which was the largest crocodile known, as often only fragments of the skeleton are fossilised. Perhaps the biggest of all was Purussaurus from South America. This animal inhabited rivers and lacks of the late Miocene (8 mya), estimates of its length vary but it may have reached over 17 metres (55 feet).

28 05, 2007

Dodos in the 21st Century

By Mike|2023-02-11T13:35:52+00:00May 28th, 2007|Categories: Animal News Stories, Main Page, Photos|0 Comments

I want a Dodo Figure!

Well it is different I suppose, a dodo figure. One extinct animal is as good as another, although I’m not sure where I can find one, I have never seen one in any shops or on-line, and don’t know if it is part of any range (or what range of animals it would belong to). At Everything Dinosaur we specialise in dinosaur models and dinosaur toys and we do know the Wild Safari Dinos model range quite well.

Dodo Figure

Started by looking at our books and magazine articles on dinosaurs and prehistoric mammals to see if I could find a picture of a Dodo, and maybe a reference to it. Found what I wanted in an old book – a reference to Doug Watson (a sculptor), who had made a Dodo model. Now we just had to find it.

Contacted our American museum friends and found that they did have one that was part of a range called “Wings of the World”, covers a multitude of animals. At least I now knew what range it belonged too. One Dodo sourced, and one happy customer.

Fact file – Dodo – common name “nauseating bird”. Apparently, because when sailors first encountered this bird on the island of Mauritius, and killed it for food, it was found to be so greasy and oily it made anyone eating it ill.

We find all sorts of models for our customers.

To see what other models we do – click on: Everything Dinosaur, Toys and Dinosaur Models.