Brontomerus mcintoshi – The Dinosaur Dubbed “Thunder Thighs”

A team of American and British scientists have named a new genus of Early Cretaceous sauropod from Utah “Thunder Thighs” as they believe that this particular long-necked dinosaur possessed a strong and powerful kick.

Although only fragmentary remains have been found, partially due to the poor state of preservation of the fossils, but also due to the fact that the excavation site had been looted by private collectors, scientists are confident that this new genus of sauropod had very robust, powerful limbs, strong enough to send a predatory dinosaur flying with one swift kick.

Commenting on this large-limbed Sauropod Dr Mike Taylor of the University College London, the lead author on the scientific paper on this creature stated:

“If predators came after it, it would have been able to boot them out of the way.”.

Details regarding this new dinosaur taxon have been published in the scientific journal “Acta Palaeontologica Polonica”, it will no doubt get a lot of publicity due to the genus name resembling the now defunct taxon Brontosaurus and the fact that it had very large thighs.  Hopefully, as a result of the publicity, more will be done to help protect scientific sites from looting, as little more can be found out about this dinosaur due to the limited fossil material recovered.  The name of this new taxon literally means “thunder thighs”, but just why this dinosaur had such strong legs remains open to speculation.

The Ilium (Hip-Bone) of B. mcintoshi

Picture credit: University College London

The ilium bone of this dinosaur has a forward projecting blade, proportionally much bigger than in similarly sized sauropods.  This suggests that large thigh muscles were anchored there.

The fossils of two specimens an adult; estimated to measure around 14 metres in length and to weigh perhaps as much as six tonnes and a pony-sized juvenile were found in close proximity.  The American and British researchers have speculated that the youngster could be the offspring of the adult, although there is little firm evidence to prove this.

However, sauropod tracks discovered last year seem to show young animals following an adult, perhaps these huge animals did protect their offspring by staying close to them, at least until the babies were big enough to look after themselves.

To read more about the sauropod trackways: Running with Baby Sauropods.

The fossils have been dated to around 110 million years ago (Albian faunal stage of the Cretaceous), a time when fast running packs of dromaeosaurs roamed the open plains.  Perhaps, this dinosaur evolved strong legs in order to kick out at and fend off attacks of predatory dinosaurs such as Deinonychus and Utahraptor.

The site, part of a quarry had been looted by commercial fossil-hunters but despite this enough fossil material was located in order to provide an analysis and the information required to identify a new taxon.

Brontomerus mcintoshi

The evidence for the large leg muscles comes from the ilium (part of the hips).  It is unusually large in comparison with other similar sized dauropods and the wide blade of the ilium projects forward providing a large area for the anchoring of leg muscles (femoral protraction and abductor muscles), muscles which would have helped to move the leg out and away from the body.  No actual leg bones have been recovered so at this time the reason for the big thigh muscles remains unknown, however, this dinosaur would have been capable of delivering a powerful kick, easily strong enough to send a hungry dromaeosaur flying.

Dr Taylor added:

“As you put the skeleton together, you can run muscles down from the hip-bone to join at the knee and that gives you a whopping thigh.  What’s interesting is that if it were a sauropod that could move particularly fast, you would expect to see very strong muscles on the back of the legs to pull it along [retractor muscles], but we don’t.

A Restoration of B. mcintoshi

Picture credit: F. Gascó.

In the picture, a mother Brontomerus is defending a juvenile by kicking out at an attacking dromaeosaur.

In addition to the unusual ilium, the shoulder blade (scapula) has strange bumps on it that probably mark the boundaries of muscle attachments, indicating that this dinosaur also had powerful forelimb as well.

Co-author of the study Dr Matt Wedel, from the Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, California stated:

“It’s possible that Brontomerus mcintoshi was more athletic than most other Sauropods.  It is well established that far from being swamp-bound hippo-like animals, Sauropods preferred drier, upland areas; so perhaps Brontomerus lived in rough, hilly terrain and the powerful leg muscles were a sort of ‘dinosaur four-wheel drive’.”

This discovery, plus numerous other sauropod finds dating from Lower Cretaceous strata is helping to change palaeontologist’s perception about the diversity of the Sauropoda during the Early Cretaceous.  It had been thought that the lizard-hipped sauropods had been largely replaced by herbivorous ornithischian dinosaurs in the food chains of the Northern Hemisphere by around 100 million years ago.  As more sauropod fossils are discovered it seems that scientists may have to revise the views held regarding the diversity and abundance of long-necked dinosaurs.

Dr Wedel commented:

“In the past twenty years, however, we are finding more sauropods from the Early Cretaceous period, and the picture is changing.  It now seems that sauropods may have been every bit as diverse as they were during the Jurassic, but much less abundant and so much less likely to be found.”

The fossilised bones of the two dinosaur specimens are currently at the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History in Norman (Oklahoma).  Plans are at an early stage to re-visit the location to see if more fossil material relating to this new genus can be discovered.  If elements of the leg bones could be found then this may help solve the mystery of the dinosaur with the “thighs like a body builder”.  With more fossils to study, the team could perhaps provide a more accurate assessment of the phylogeny of this sauropod, at the moment it has been tentatively ascribed to the camarasaurids.

It is possible, that this dinosaur may have resembled a giraffe and the strong hind limbs could have played a role in supporting the animal’s weight as it rocked back onto its back legs so that it could crane its neck higher to reach the branches of trees that other dinosaurs could not reach.

In antelopes there are many members of this family who have adapted a basic body plan to help them feed on vegetation that other animals cannot.  The long-limbed, long-necked Gerenuk (Litocrannius walleri) of southern Africa has exceptionally strong thighs that enable it to rear up on its hind legs to feed on the branches of thorn bushes that other antelopes can’t reach – could the large thigh muscles of B. mcintoshi have helped this dinosaur to do something similar?

For models and replicas of sauropod dinosaurs: Mojo Fun Prehistoric and Extinct Figures.

Pterosaur Fossil with Egg – Vital Clues to Pterosaur Reproduction

Pterosaurs, those members of the Archosauria alongside the dinosaurs that dominated life in the air for much of the Mesozoic have long fascinated scientists and ordinary folk alike.  These creatures that evolved sometime in the Triassic and went extinct at the end of the Cretaceous, dominated life in the air until the birds, those descendants from theropod dinosaurs came onto the scene.

With no extant animals even coming close to the pterosaurs, scientists had been very much in the dark about a number of aspects about pterosaur habits, life styles, breeding strategies and such like.  However, the finding of a fossilised pterosaur complete with the remains of an unlaid egg that was inside her may provide vital clues to help palaeontologists piece together more information about these fascinating, extinct flying reptiles.

It seems that pterosaurs laid leathery eggs like turtles rather than the hard-shelled eggs that birds lay.  In addition, this new fossil suggests that it was the males of the species that had large head crests, whilst the females were less conspicuous.

The report on the discovery of a pterosaur fossil with evidence of an egg, is in this months edition of the scientific journal “Science”.  The genus concerned is a small, Chinese Pterosaur known as Darwinopterus, named in 2009 to honour the bicentennial of the birth of the naturalist Charles Darwin and also to mark the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin’s ground breaking book outlining his theory of natural selection “The Origin of Species”.

To read more about the discovery and naming  of this pterosaur: Pterosaur Transitional Fossil.

Pterosaur Research

The fossil of Darwinopterus was found in the Liaoning Province of China, it has been dated to approximately 160 million years ago, we have put an arrow on the picture we received to highlight the egg which had been expelled by gases inside the body cavity as the organic remains of this pterosaur rotted away.  The fossil was found in sediments that formed at the bottom of an ancient lake, it seems that this little flying reptile suffered a broken wing for some reason and fell into the water, eventually settling on the still bottom where the muddy sediments preserved her remains.

Commenting on the discovery of the egg and its implications for pterosaur gender, David Unwin, a palaeobiologist at the University of Leicester (England) stated:

“In almost none of the previous collections can we tell what the gender of the fossil is.  This is the first association of an egg with an adult, so we can identify it as a female.”

Pterosaur Egg Discovery

The discovery of this fossil, it was found by a local farmer and handed over to Chinese scientists, provides evidence to support a number of theories that had been proposed by palaeontologists.  Firstly, that female pterosaurs had larger, wider pelvic areas than the males, this would permit the storage and passage of eggs.  The lack of an ornate head crest suggests that it was the males who tended to be crested – the peacocks of the Mesozoic.

A chemical analysis of the area shows that there is an absence of calcium carbonate, the mineral responsible for making bird eggs hard.

Under high powered magnification, the researchers could identify folds and pores within the egg (see black arrows on picture).  This suggests that the pterosaur egg had a similar structure to that of a modern turtles, it would have been leathery and “parchment like”.  These soft-shelled eggs, could probably swell and grow in size, absorbing water from the environment rather than having to contain all the water required to make the egg hatch as in the case of the hard-shelled eggs of birds.

Dr Unwin stated:

“By laying soft eggs that could grow in size, pterosaurs could make a much smaller investment in terms of material effort.”

This has implications for pterosaur nesting behaviour, perhaps they buried their eggs in sand, rather than brooding them as birds do.  The fact that the egg has been found in association with the egg layer provides evidence for the relationship between the pterosaur that laid the egg and the size of the actual egg laid.

Dr Unwin went onto add:

“What we now need to do, is to look at lots of pterosaurs and look at other things such as size.  Were males typically bigger or smaller than females?  And other really fundamental kinds of things that we know for living species, we can now look at in pterosaurs.”

This is evidence for a very “reptilian” form of reproduction for the pterosaurs.  This fossil suggests that these flying reptiles, laid their eggs in moist, soft ground and then abandoned them to their fate, in a similar way to turtles today.

Based on the few fossils of juvenile pterosaurs found to date, scientists believe that, unlike birds which need a degree of parental care, pterosaurs once hatched; were fully independent, miniature versions of the adults and capable of feeding for themselves.

Dr Unwin commented:

“The y looked like tiny adults.  They were highly precocious and could almost certainly fly very soon after hatching.”

Mark Witton, a pterosaur research scientist and renowned illustrator based at the University of Portsmouth, when asked about the discovery said:

“What makes this find so special is that the egg was not found in isolation.  We could identify in some cases what species the eggs belonged to, but we have never had a pterosaur egg in association with its mother before.”

Commenting on the size ratio between the mother and the egg, Chatham University palaeontologist Michael Habib stated:

“They seem to be relatively smallish eggs.  That is consistent with most egg-laying animals, but they don’t all do that.”

Pterosaur

The absence of a discernible head crest on the female suggests that it was the male pterosaurs that possessed the ornate head crests.  If this is true, then this discovery will help scientists separate the girls from the boys in other pterosaur genera.

Based on this evidence, the research team thinks only Darwinopterus males sported head crests, which they may have used to communicate with other members of their species.

Dr Unwin, a co-author of the study paper stated that the crests could be used for communication or display, being used to signal to other males that “I’m bigger than you”, or it could be used to tell females that “here I am, carrying this enormous crest, and I’m better to mate with than the chap next door who has a smaller crest.”

To view scale models of pterosaurs such as Dimorphodon and Guidraco: CollectA Deluxe Prehistoric Animal Figures.

New Troodontid Dinosaur from Utah – Record Breaking Year for the American State

The announcement of the discovery of a new genus of dinosaur from Utah, makes it a record-breaking year for the State, as this is the eighth new genus of dinosaur announced in 2010.  More importantly, the discovery of a troodontid dinosaur from Lower Cretaceous strata is the first evidence of this dinosaur family living in North America in the Early Cretaceous.

Troodonts were a group of active, relatively small theropod dinosaurs, that from a phylogenetic perspective seem to fit somewhere between the Ornithomimidae (ostrich-like dinosaurs) and the fearsome dromaeosaurids (raptors) on the dinosaur family tree.  These animals were bipedal, fast running and all the genera described to date had large eyes and big skulls.  Scientists believe that these little dinosaurs were warm-blooded and most probably covered in feathers.

The brains of troodontids were the largest brain in comparison to body size of any known type of dinosaur.  A number of palaeontologists, perhaps most notably Canadian Dale Russell, have suggested that had these meat-eaters not died out; they would possibly have evolved into an intelligent humanoid form over the sixty-five million years from the end of the Cretaceous to the Quaternary Period.

An Illustration of a Typical Troodontid (Troodon formosus)

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Troodontid Dinosaur

Not only does this discovery make it a record breaking year for Utah, in terms of new dinosaurs but it adds greatly to our understanding of the Troodontidae.  Troodonts are known from the Upper Cretaceous of Asia and from the Upper Jurassic and Upper Cretaceous of North America, however, this is the first evidence of troodonts living in what was to become North America in the Early Cretaceous.

Commenting on the new dinosaur, Scott Foss, a regional palaeontologist for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management stated:

“Its skull is six times larger than other dinosaurs.  One find a year is unusual but eight is outstanding.”

He went on to add that approximately one percent of all known dinosaurs described to date have had their fossils found in Utah.  We at Everything Dinosaur, think this claim is a little exaggerated, but the importance of the western United States as a location for Mesozoic vertebrate fossils should not be underestimated.

Seven of the new types of dinosaur found this year in the State of Utah have been found on Bureau of Land Management territory, whilst the other find was from the Dinosaur National Monument.

The dinosaur has been named Geminiraptor suarezrum.  The name is derived from the Latin geminae (twins), in honour of Doctors Celina and Marina Suarez, twin geologists who discovered the fossil bearing rock strata in which this dinosaur and other dinosaurs remains have been found.  The scientific name can be interpreted as “twin thief from the Suarez site”.

The Suarez site, has produced a number of dinosaur fossils, notably the fossils of the Early Cretaceous therizinosauroid Falcarius (scythe lizard).  The rocks have been dated to the Barremian faunal stage, approximately 125 million years old, the first fossils of this particular dinosaur were found in 2004 and the animal has been estimated to have measured about two metres in length.  The upper jaw bone (maxilla) is small enough to fit in the palm of the hand.

Co-author of the scientific paper, James Kirkland of the Utah Geological Survey commented that the maxilla was hollow and could be inflated “like a balloon”.  This strange characteristic has got the scientists speculating as to what purpose this anatomical adaptation may have served.

He stated:

“There is no clue what it was used for.  Maybe it was some kind of resonating chamber for vocalisation.”

Geminiraptor suarezrum

Some birds have resonance capabilities using air to assist vocalisation and provide them with more powerful calls, if these little dinosaurs lived in flocks then perhaps the jawbone provided extra resonance for their communication calls.

The Maxilla of Geminiraptor suarezrum

Geminiraptor fossil material.

Picture credit: PLoS ONE Journal

Key to the Illustration

(A) a side view of the maxilla (upper jawbone) – Lateral view

(B) a view of maxilla (upper jawbone) – Cranial view

(C) a view of the inside of the maxilla, from the inside of the face looking outwards – Medial view

(D) a view of the jawbone from the bottom looking up – Ventral view

The thick, black line is a scale bar of one centimetre in size and the abbreviations stand for:

alv = dental alveoli – the cavities or sockets in which the teeth were located

iof = internal antorbital fenestra – a bony opening in the skulls of archosaurs between the naris and the eye socket

mxf = maxillary fenestra – a bony opening in the maxilla bone

pf = pro-maxillary fenestra – an opening in the archosaur skull in front of the mxf (anterior to)

Only fragmentary remains of this little dinosaur have been recovered to date, but it is hoped that more troodontid material will be discovered a the Suarez location.

To view models of troodontids and other small theropod dinosaurs: Beasts of the Mesozoic Models.

Recommended Web Log – Pterosauria for all things Related to the “Bird Necks”

Every once in a while team members at Everything Dinosaur get pointed towards a new on-line resource such as a website, forum or blog.  Having spent a little time reviewing some papers on the ancestry of the pterosaurs (flying reptiles), one of our colleagues was pointed in the direction of a really cool web log – dedicated to anything and everything related to Ornithodira, a clade within a larger division of the Order Reptilia – the archosaurs.

The Early Triassic was a critical time in the evolution of back-boned animals.  In the aftermath of the Permian-Triassic extinction event, a mass extinction that led to the demise of something like 70% of all vertebrate genera living on land, the foundations for many of our modern ecosystems were laid down.  The period of time immediately after the mass extinction event sees the origins of a number of today’s successful vertebrates – mammals, turtles and the archosaurs.  Extant members of the Archosauria include the birds and crocodiles.  The ornithodirans, although members of the Archosauria are characterised by their upright stance, ankle bones, and “S-shaped” necks.  The ornithodirans (the name means “bird necks”) are further divided into two related but distinctly different groups:

* Dinosauromorpha – the sub-clade that defines the Dinosaurs

* Pterosauromorpha – pterosaurs (flying reptiles)

Although the exact definition of the Ornithodira has been debated, and the phylogenic relationships between genera and families is in some cases a “grey area” in palaeontology to say the least.  For example, pterosaurs did not seem to possess an upright stance or indeed “S-shaped” necks, but their ancestors did; so they are classified in this way.

A Model of a Member of the Pterosauria

The colourful Schleich Anhanguera pterosaur model. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

To view the Schleich range of prehistoric animal models: Schleich Prehistoric Animal Figures.

Charting a course through all this is the web log Pterosauria – a blog that provides updates on research, studies and data on this important part of vertebrate evolution.  As the blog owner and writer Taylor Reints states:

“We are a blog that tries to question main dinosaur and pterosaur – ornithodiran – answers or answer ornithodiran questions.”

Either way, if you want to learn more about the ancestry of the Dinosauria and the Pterosauria then this blog is for you.  What’s more the blog contains a lot of brilliant illustrations, bringing these ancient reptiles back to life.

To view models and replicas of pterosaurs and other flying reptiles: Models of Pterosaurs and Flying Reptiles.

New Study Suggests Large Pterosaurs Used Their Arms and Legs to Get off the Ground

A new study published in the open access and online journal PLoS One (Public Library of Science) suggests that the largest of the pterosaurs launched themselves into the air by using the powerful muscles of their legs and arms to push off from the ground, effectively pole-vaulting over their wings.  Once airborne these huge creatures could fly long distances using air currents to help them stay aloft with the minimum of effort, just like many large birds do today.

Pterosaurs

Pterosaurs, otherwise known as flying reptiles, are an extinct group of reptiles that evolved in the Triassic and survived until the very end of the Cretaceous.  Their wings were formed out of skin that stretched from the body over the forelimbs and along an elongated fourth finger that acted as a supporting strut for the wing membrane.  A number of unrelated reptile groups had taken up gliding since the Permian Period, most likely to exploit food resources in trees and to escape from predators.  An example of an early glider would be a genus like Kuehneosaurus.  However, active flight in vertebrates, that is, being able to control movements in the air under the power of their own muscles, was first seen in the pterosaurs.  For millions of years, these highly specialised archosaurs, had the skies to themselves.  With the evolution of the birds, slowly but surely this once spectacular and diverse group of reptiles went into decline.

The last types of pterosaurs to evolve were huge.  The very last kinds of pterosaur that survived into the Maastrichtian faunal stage of the Cretaceous belonged mainly to a family of flying reptiles known as the azhdarchids – huge creatures like Quetzalcoatlus northropi with a wingspan in excess of 12 metres.  Scientists had puzzled for many years over how these very large and quite heavy creatures were able to launch themselves into the air in order to fly.

An Illustration of a Late Cretaceous Azhdarchidae Pterosaur – Quetzalcoatlus northropi

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The Azhdarchidae Pterosaurs

Indeed, a recent theory regarding the largest of the Azhdarchidae, suggested that these reptiles, some of which were as tall as a modern giraffe, did not fly very much at all.  Instead, they roamed the Cretaceous plains, like Secretary birds; stalking small animals in the undergrowth and snatching up unwary creatures, including baby dinosaurs with their long, sharp toothless beaks.

To read an article on this theory: Getting Stalked by a Flock of Quetzalcoatlus.

The research was conducted by Dr Mark Witton, a palaeontologist from the University of Portsmouth, a specialist in pterosaur evolution and flight mechanics.  He was aided and assisted by Dr Michael Habib from Chatham University (Pennsylvania).  The two scientists examined the bones of giant pterosaurs to see if they could work how these bizarre creatures could have become airborne.  They concluded that these animals may have literally pole-vaulted themselves up into the air.

A Pterosaur “Pole-Vaulting” into the Air

Pterosaur becomes airborne.

Picture credit: Dr Mark Witton

Another, top class illustration by Dr Mark Witton shows a pterosaur, in this instance a member of the Pteranodontidae family, a Pteranodon longiceps taking to the air, by springing off the ground using its immensely strong arms.

Pterosaur Fossils

Many pterosaur fossils have been found in strata laid down in what was a marine environment.  This suggest that these particular flying reptiles lived close to the sea.  They could have launched themselves into the air by leaping from a cliff face, in the same way that many seabirds do today.  However, for those fossils of large pterosaurs found in non-marine strata, how they would have become airborne remained more problematical.  A thorny problem that now the UK and USA based researchers suggest they have a solution to.

They examined the fossil evidence and avoided trying to compare and contrast the pterosaurs with Aves (birds).

Dr Witton commentated:

”Most birds take off either by running to pick up speed and jumping into the air before flapping wildly, or if they’re small enough, they may simply launch themselves into the air from a standstill.  Previous theories suggested that giant pterosaurs were too big and heavy to perform either of these manoeuvres and therefore they would have remained on the ground.”

However, if birds are disregarded, and the fossil evidence examined with an emphasis on anatomical features, wing proportions and muscle attachment scars on the pneumatised Pterosaur bones, then it becomes clear that these flying reptiles would have achieved flight in a very different way compared to their feathered counterparts.

Dr Witton stated:

”These creatures were not birds, they were flying reptiles with a distinctly different skeletal structure, wing proportions and muscle mass.  They would have achieved flight in a completely different way to birds and would have had a lower angle of take-off and initial flight trajectory.  The anatomy of these creatures is unique.”

The two doctors propose that pterosaurs with up to 50 kilogrammes of forelimb muscle, could easily have propelled themselves into the air despite their huge size and considerable weight.

Previous theories have asserted that the largest of the pterosaurs could have been six metres in height with a wingspan of up to 12 metres but the researchers argue that five metres high with a 10 metre wingspan would have been perhaps more accurate.

Commenting on the strength of the forelimbs, Dr Witton said:

”The size of the flight muscles in a giant pterosaur would be incredible; they alone would be up to 50 kg (110lbs) and account for 20% of the animal’s total mass providing tremendous power and lift.”

Dr Habib added:

”Scientists have struggled for decades to figure out how giant pterosaurs could become airborne, and some recent proposals have simply assumed it must have been impossible.  But they may have approached the problem from the wrong end, instead of taking off with their legs alone, like birds, pterosaurs probably took off using all four of their limbs.”

This method of launching into the air, would be unique to the pterosaurs, if true, it might help to explain how they were able to grow to such huge sizes, with many genera of pterosaur far bigger in size than the largest flying birds today.

Dr Habib concluded:

”By using their arms as the main engines for launching instead of their legs, they use the flight muscles, the strongest in their bodies, to take off and that gives them potential to launch much greater weight into the air.  This may explain how pterosaurs became so much larger than any other flying animals known.”

The researchers examined anatomical aspects of large pterosaur skeletons calculating the relative strength of the bones and assessed the animal’s likely performance when “flap gliding” – the form of flight most likely to have been undertaken by these large creatures.  The team concluded that not only could flying reptiles the size of a bus, fly, they could do so extremely well and probably travelled vast distances crossing oceans and continents.  Recent studies of endocasts of pterosaur brains and other elements related to skull morphology suggest that these animals had keen senses and a great sense of balance – just what is required for active, powered flight.

The scientists found that it was unlikely that the flying reptiles would need to flap continuously to remain aloft once airborne.  Instead, these creatures would flap powerfully in short bursts with their large size allowing them to achieve rapid cruising speeds.

Commenting on this aspect of their study, Dr Witton said:

”Pterosaurs had incredibly strong skeletons, for their weight, they are probably amongst the strongest ever evolved.  And, unlike birds, where the wings become relatively weak as they grow in size, those of pterosaurs do the opposite: they become stronger.  As pterosaurs became larger, they reinforced their wings and expanded their flight muscles to ensure they could keep flying.”

A fascinating insight into how, pterosaurs could perhaps have taken off.  Whilst we at Everything Dinosaur, agree that many flying reptiles living in marine environments may have used cliffs to launch themselves into the air, how those pterosaurs that lived inland became airborne has remained a mystery.  Could this new theory provide the explanation?

We do have our own way of making pterosaurs fly.  When we were working on the publicity shots for the new Pteranodon longiceps replica from CollectA we were asked to try to show this model flying low over the other models in the series.  The shot was achieved by the use of a strategically placed hand, some fishing line and photo-shop.

Our Pterosaur “Takes to the Air”

Our Pteranodon flying.  Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

To view the CollectA range of not-to-scale prehistoric animal models: CollectA Prehistoric Life Models and Figures.

Global Cooling Found Dinosauria’s Achilles Heel

Many theories have been proposed regarding the extinction of the Dinosauria at the end of the Cretaceous.  Although the Cretaceous mass extinction event was not the only, or indeed, the most severe extinction event recorded in the Phanerozoic Eon, the demise of the dinosaurs seems to have attracted the most attention.  New research sheds light on the dinosaur extinction.

The Demise of the Dinosauria Explored

The skull of the T. rex exhibit on display.  A fresh examination of dinosaur extinction theories.  Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Victor Babbitt, from Boulder, Colorado (a great place to live if you happen to be interested in geology and palaeontology like Victor), has written an informative article speculating on why the dinosaurs may have become extinct but cold-bloodied reptiles, mammals and birds survived the extinction event.  It is well worth a read.

From the blog, a paper can be downloaded that provides the case for a sustained period of global cooling leading to the failure to hatch of dinosaur eggs.  This is a well argued article, that provides a very neat answer as to the demise of the dinosaurs but explains why their near relatives, the birds survived into the Cenozoic relatively unscathed.

Dinosaur Extinction

The paper suggests that the decades-long global cooling period caused by either asteroid impact or Deccan volcanism had a differential effect on dinosaur eggs versus bird and reptile eggs, such that many bird and reptile eggs hatched, but dinosaur eggs did not. This resulted in a “dead generation” that wiped out a 100 million years of dinosaur mega-fauna dominance in just a few decades.

If science is essentially a search for truth, it is not an exclusive club, contributions are most welcome.  Certainly a thought provoking article, one that has led to a lot of discussions amongst our team members.

For dinosaur themed toys and games, visit Everything Dinosaur’s user-friendly website: Dinosaur Toys and Gifts.