Schleich Pentaceratops Model Makeover

At Everything Dinosaur, our team members and teaching staff are always amazed by just how creative and clever dinosaur fans are.  Take for example Peter Thomas, a collector of prehistoric animal models who kindly sent to us some pictures of his version of the Schleich Pentaceratops dinosaur figure.  What an amazing colour scheme and such a skilfully painted model too.

Schleich Pentaceratops Model

Schleich Pentaceratops available from Everything Dinosaur.  Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The Colour of Dinosaurs

Despite considerable advances in recent years, palaeontologists cannot be certain about the colours of horned dinosaurs.  However, most scientists believe that these bird-hipped reptiles had excellent colour vision and that their spectacular frills and crests played a role in visual display as well as in intraspecific combat and as defensive weapons against carnivorous dinosaurs.  Peter has opted to give his Pentaceratops a very colourful crest and skull, the flashes of yellow combined with the red tones would have made a most impressive display surrounded by the greens and browns of the forest.

Combining Dinosaurs with Art

Dinosaur models, such as those made by Schleich with their roughened textures and carefully crafted features, provide tremendous scope when it comes to considering a repaint.  By repainting, you can be guaranteed to have created a unique piece of art and after all, not even the world’s most respected palaeontologist can criticise your choice of colours, as no one has ever seen a living non-avian dinosaur.  Horned dinosaur replicas make an excellent model choice for the hobbyist.  These types of dinosaurs, known as ceratopsians, are famous for their ornate head shields and myriad of bumps, horns, and lumps on the heads and faces.  When painted the model can be photographed in a suitable setting or added to a custom-made prehistoric landscape diorama.

The Schleich Pentaceratops Compared to the Schleich Triceratops

One of the enlarged jugal bones with a horny sheath on it can be clearly seen on the Pentaceratops model (cheek area, under the eye).  Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Visit the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

Education Extensions

As an extension to a science module involving learning about evolution, fossils and extinction, teachers could challenge students to repaint a dinosaur model.  This brings an element of art and design work into the science curriculum, helping to support the idea of cross curricular touch points in the teaching syllabus.   Students could be tasked to consider the following areas:

• What colour scheme might work best to help camouflage the animal?
• How the habitat/environment might influence the evolution of different coloured animals
• The evidence for the colouration of extinct animals
• Can students use examples of living (extant) animals to justify their chosen colour scheme?

A spokesperson from the teaching team at Everything Dinosaur commented:

“Peter’s Pentaceratops is an excellent example of a repainted dinosaur replica.  The photography has really helped to emphasis the hues and tones that have been carefully blended together to make a fantastic and truly unique dinosaur model.”

The Schleich model range is an excellent choice for this sort of activity, to view the range of Schleich prehistoric animals in stock at Everything Dinosaur: Schleich Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals.

Key Stage 1 Learn About Continents Using Dinosaurs

Another busy week for the teaching team at Everything Dinosaur.  During one of our school visits to deliver a dinosaur themed workshop to Reception and Key Stage 1 children, we were asked by a member of the teaching team to provide assistance when it came to reinforcing learning about the seven continents.  Luckily, our knowledgeable dinosaur experts had prepared a dinosaur themed geography exercise to help link the geography and science topics together.

Linking a Term Topic About Dinosaurs to Learning About Continents (Geography)

Key Stage 1 – dinosaurs and geography exercise. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Dinosaur Fossils Have Been Found All Over the World

Palaeontologists know that dinosaurs lived all over the world.  The world may have looked very different during the time of the dinosaurs, but fossils of dinosaurs have been found on every continent, even Antarctica.  This evidence proves that dinosaurs lived on all seven continents.  As our dinosaur experts know which kinds of dinosaurs lived where, they can use this information to develop teaching resources to help children learn about geography such as the names and the locations of these continents.

The Dinosaur Geography Exercise

A selection of prehistoric animals in the dinosaur geography exercise.  Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The Key Stage 1 children are challenged to put each of the named dinosaurs onto a map of the world, on the continent where the fossils have been found.  Naturally, we provided a comprehensive lesson plan with all the information the teaching team required to help support the children’s learning.

For dinosaur themed toys and games: Dinosaur Toys and Games.

Developing Locational Knowledge

Under the national curriculum for England, children in Key Stage 1 should develop knowledge about the world and develop a basic vocabulary relating to human and physical geography.  A key requisite is to be able to name and locate the world’s seven continents and five oceans.  Our dinosaur geography exercise cleverly links in this teaching requirement and enables the children to demonstrate their understanding by making links across topic areas.

Helpful Teaching Notes are Provided by Everything Dinosaur

A chart to help kick-start a teaching topic about dinosaurs. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Cross-curricular Learning

In the rich and varied scheme of work for the dinosaur term topic at the school we were visiting, the teachers had included sub-topic areas such as learning about Mary Anning as well as learning about how the Earth has changed since the time of the dinosaurs.  The dinosaur geography exercise that we had developed dove-tailed nicely into the teaching team’s scheme of work.

Visit the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented:

“We were able to combine the children’s enthusiasm for learning about dinosaurs with the teacher’s need to ensure that the class could learn about the location of today’s continents.  This was a great way to test understanding and to reinforce learning across different subject areas.”

For further information about Everything Dinosaur’s work: Contact Everything Dinosaur.

Pushing Back the Origin of our Species by 100,000 Years

Fossil hominin remains from the Atlantic coast of Morocco indicate that our species Homo sapiens originated at least 100,000 years earlier than previously thought.  In addition, this north African discovery challenges the idea of eastern Africa as being the “cradle of humankind” – at least in terms of the evolution of our species.

An Early Human Skull Compared to a Modern Human Skull (Homo sapiens)

Comparing Homo sapiens skull material.

Picture Credit: Natural History Museum (London) with additional annotation by Everything Dinosaur

Writing in the academic journal “Nature”, scientists that include lead author professor Jean-Jacques Hublin (Department of Human Evolution at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany), have studied the fragmentary fossilised remains of five early humans and dated these remains to approximately 315,000 years ago.  Previous studies, had suggested that our species originated some 200,000 to 220,000 years ago.

Rewriting the Textbooks

Sixty miles west of the Moroccan city of Marrakesh, the remote cave site of Jebel Irhoud can be found.  The cave roof may have collapsed long ago, but this location has provided extremely important evidence about life in the Pleistocene Epoch.  This notable anthropological site was discovered in 1960, with the first extensive field work being undertaken a year later.  The limestone cave site has yielded a number of fossils of prehistoric mammals as well as bones and stone tools associated with both Neanderthals and our own species.  According to scientists, this new study indicates that the idea that our species evolved in eastern Africa is no longer tenable.  It is more likely that H. sapiens evolved all across the continent.

Professor Hublin stated:

“It is not the story of it happening in a rapid way in a “Garden of Eden” somewhere in Africa.  Our view is that it was a more gradual development and it involved the whole continent.  So, if there was a Garden of Eden, it was all of Africa.”

A Beautifully Preserved Human Jaw

The more than twenty human bones (from five individuals), include a nearly complete lower jaw, plus skull fragments. The material has been dated using several methods and the range of dates produced is between 280,000 to 350,000 years, with the most probable date around 315,000 years.

A Model of a Modern Human (H. sapiens)

A model of modern human being (H. sapiens).

The model (above) is from the Bullyland range of prehistoric animal figures.

To view this range: Bullyland Prehistoric Models and Figures.

Homo sapiens Fossils

The re-dating and the human remains from Jebel Irhoud convinced the research team that early H. sapiens once lived at this location.  The teeth, somewhat bigger when compared with those of modern humans, are a better match to H. sapiens than they are to Neanderthals or other known archaic humans.

The Jebel Irhoud skulls are elongated compared with those of modern people.  This suggests that these individuals’ brains were organised differently when compared to our own.

A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented:

“These fossils overturn our ideas regarding the evolution of our species.  In addition, by comparing the skulls, jaws and teeth we can gain a better understanding of how our species Homo sapiens has evolved over the last 300,000 years.  We are not separate from the laws of natural selection, but very much shaped by them.”

Visit the award-winning Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

Herbivore, Carnivore, Omnivore

One of the key topic areas covered in the Year 2 science curriculum (England), is that pupils should be taught to describe how animals obtain their food.  This permits the teaching team to introduce the concept of the development of simple food chains.  The national curriculum for England gives guidance on science programmes of study, but schools have flexibility in how these key concepts are taught in the classroom.  Dinosaurs and life in the past can provide a class with a highly enjoyable term topic that permits the teaching team to build in a wide range of cross-curricular learning activities.

An Everything Dinosaur Workshop

Designing a Herbivorous Dinosaur – Learning About Food Webs

Our mailbag was full of lovely dinosaur cards.

Picture credit: Great Wood Primary School

Take for example, the term topic recently delivered by the teaching team at Great Wood Primary School (Lancashire), to their charges in Year 2.  Our dinosaur expert observed some excellent examples of non-fiction and fiction writing, along with evidence of non-chronological reporting during his visit to deliver a dinosaur themed workshop at the school.

For dinosaur themed toys and gifts: Prehistoric Animal Toys and Gifts.

A Dinosaur Food Chain

During an hour-long workshop with the Key Stage 1 children, our dinosaur expert introduced a series of extension ideas to help support the scheme of work that had been developed by the teaching team.  One of the topic areas touched upon was establishing the concept that different kinds of animals obtained food in different ways.  In addition, scientists used special terms to describe the diets of animals – herbivores, carnivores and omnivores.

We challenged the children to design their very own prehistoric animal, to label its body parts and to think about what food it might have eaten.  Could they come up with a name to describe their very own dinosaur?  By doing this, we were checking the children’s understanding of the key concepts.

Herbivores, Omnivores and Carnivores in the Dinosauria

A colourful dinosaur drawing from Alice in Year 2 at Greatwood Primary School).

Picture credit: Great Wood Primary School

The children came up with some very creative and imaginative designs.  At the end of the topic, one of the teaching team members sent us examples of the children’s work.  These pictures were posted up onto our warehouse wall and they made a very colourful display.  Having children design their own prehistoric animals is a great way to test understanding and provides an interesting way of demonstrating the key components of food webs, as well as introducing ideas about how animals can adapt to different environments.

Visit Everything Dinosaur’s website: The Everything Dinosaur Website.

Luskhan itilensis – Giant Pliosaurid from Russia

A team of international researchers have announced the discovery of a new species of giant marine reptile, a pliosaur that has been named Luskhan itilensis.  Writing in the academic journal “Current Biology”, the scientists state that the fossils, which represent a single animal, indicate that this Early Cretaceous reptile was huge.  The skull is estimated at 1.5 metres long, suggesting that L. itilensis might have reached lengths in excess of ten metres.

The New Giant Marine Reptile (Luskhan itilensis) Compared to a Frogman

An illustration of the pliosaurid Luskhan itilensis from Russia.

Picture credit: Andrey Atuchin

Three-dimensional Fossil Skeleton (Luskhan itilensis)

The fossil material was excavated from a bank on the river Volga, close to the town of Ulyanovsk, in the Volga Federal District of Russia.  It is estimated to be around 130 million years old (Early Cretaceous).  Members of the family known as the Pliosauridae typically have very large skulls, strong, powerful jaws with big teeth.  These marine reptiles, distantly related to the plesiosaurs, “fly” through the water propelled by their large flippers.  Most of these animals are regarded as fearsome, apex predators.  Pliosaurs such as Kronosaurus, Pliosaurus and Liopleurodon represent the top predators within their ecosystems.

A Model of the Apex Predator Kronosaurus (K. queenslandicus)

Swimming into view the PNSO Kronosaurus marine reptile model (Jeff the Kronosaurus).

The model (above) is a PNSO Kronosaurus.

To view the range of PNSO prehistoric animal figures in stock: PNSO Age of Dinosaurs.

A Specialised Fish-eater

Examination of the snout of this new pliosaurid, the rostrum, suggested to the scientists that this marine reptile may have filled a different niche in ancient marine ecosystems compared to other Pliosaurs.  The long jaws reminded the researchers of the snouts of gavials (gharials), a type of crocodile that is a specialist fish-eater.

A Photograph of a Gharial Skull (Gavial)

The skull of a gharial from the Grant Museum of Zoology (London).  Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The research team postulate that Luskhan itilensis was not an apex predator but a specialist fish-eater (piscivore).  This suggests that over the long history of this marine reptile group, the pliosaurs evolved into different forms and occupied a variety of niches in Mesozoic marine ecosystems.

Teaching Extensions

Linking to adaptation and inheritance, ask students to look at pictures of various crocodilians, paying particular attention to the skull and jaws.  What similarities can the students identify?  What differences can the students detect?  A clue – look at jaw shape and teeth.  How does the shape of the jaws and the size of the teeth relate to diet?

For educational themed prehistoric animal toys and games: Educational Prehistoric Animal Toys and Games.

Dinosaur Gets “Ghostbusters” Inspired Name

A team of researchers from the Royal Ontario Museum (Canada), have described a new type of Late Cretaceous armoured dinosaur.  The dinosaur has been named Zuul crurivastator after “Zuul the Gatekeeper of Gozer” a horned monster from the 1984 film “Ghostbusters”.

When it comes to researching armoured dinosaurs like Zuul crurivastator, who you gonna call?

 The New Dinosaur (Z. crurivastator)

Life restoration of Zuul crurivastator (Danielle Dufault).

Picture credit: Danielle Dufault

The Inspiration Behind Dinosaur Names – Zuul crurivastator

When team members are delivering dinosaur and fossil themed workshops in schools, we set a number of challenges to the children concerning the names of dinosaurs.  There are rules about giving animals names, these rules are set down and governed by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN).  So long, as an animal’s name meets the criteria, then virtually anything goes and in this case, the two pairs of prominent horns towards the back of the head reminded the researchers of “Zuul the Gatekeeper of Gozer” and that’s how this dinosaur got its name.

An Illustration of the Head of Zuul crurivastator

A life reconstruction of the giant armoured dinosaur from Montana Zuul crurivastator.

Picture credit: Danielle Dufault

The nearly complete fossilised remains of this armoured dinosaur, distantly related to the enormous Ankylosaurus, were found in Montana (USA).  This dinosaur lived between approximately 76.2 and 75.2 million years ago (Late Cretaceous).  The specimen represents the most complete Cretaceous armoured dinosaur known from North America.

A Member of the Ankylosaurinae Clade

Budding young palaeontologists will tell you that these kinds of armoured dinosaurs had bony tail clubs.  These clubs were used as weapons to help defend these herbivores from carnivorous dinosaurs.  The species name acknowledges the dangerous club tail of Zuul, it translates as “destroyer of shins”.  The back portion of the tail was stiff and the tip of tail was covered in large, sturdy, bony plates.  Together they formed a sledgehammer which would have made a formidable defensive weapon.  The club may also have been used in disputes between ankylosaurids (intraspecific combat), perhaps fights over territory or mates.

A Model of the Newly Described Dinosaur

The Wild Safari Prehistoric World Zuul dinosaur model in lateral view.

The model shown above is the Wild Safari Prehistoric World Zuul.

To view this range of models: Wild Safari Dinosaur Models.

Teaching Extension Ideas

• Challenge the children to design their own dinosaur, consider what it might have eaten, where might it have lived?  Link this to simple food chains and to adaptation and evolution.
• Cut out images of characters from recent films – Captain America, Wonder Woman, Buzz Lightyear, Groot etc.  Ask the class to describe the character, to look at their features, can they match these features to an animal they know?
• Research the dinosaur known as Dracorex hogwartsia – a dinosaur that was named after the Hogwarts school in the Harry Potter books.  Looking at images of Dracorex, is this “dragon king of Hogwarts” a good name for this dinosaur?
• Why do scientists give animal names using Latin or ancient Greek?  What are the advantages of using this naming system?

Visit the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.