Long-time fan of dinosaurs and prehistoric animals, Marc, who is also a long-time customer of Everything Dinosaur offered to write a short testimonial about his experiences purchasing from us.
What a kind thought especially in these difficult and challenging times.
Marc wrote:
“I’ve been an Everything Dinosaur customer for a number of years, and they’ve never once let me down. They’ve always had an excellent range of models, which has only improved with time with the addition of lines from Creative Beast (Beasts of the Mesozoic) and PNSO, among others. Service has always been personable and friendly but professional, and every package has arrived on time. I also (as a dinosaur nerd) really appreciate the effort they put into the educational side. Overall, ED is a business well worth supporting, and I hope they’re around for a long while yet.”
A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur thanked Marc for their kind gesture and stated:
“Our thanks to Marc and to every single one of our customers who support our company. These are exceptionally difficult times and we are doing all we can to maintain our high standards of customer service and to offer an even wider range of prehistoric animal models and figures.”
The spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur continued:
“We remain committed to bringing into stock even more models of prehistoric animals as we support our customers and fans of dinosaurs and other extinct creatures.”
Once again, our thanks to Marc for writing a testimonial for Everything Dinosaur.
A team of international researchers have named and described a new species of fearsome, meat-eating dinosaur based on a partial skull found in 2015 in Neuquén Province (northern Patagonia). The dinosaur is a member of the Abelisauridae family and it has been named Llukalkan aliocranianus. The genus name is from the local Mapuche dialect and translates as “one who causes fear”. Not only was Llukalkan a likely apex predator, its discovery helps to confirm that the abelisaurs were one of the most important and significant predators in South America during the Late Cretaceous.
Found in Close Proximity to Viavenator exxoni
The well-preserved skull was found in outcrops of the Bajo De La Carpa Formation at the La Invernada fossil site. The strata at this location were laid down approximately 85 million years ago (Santonian faunal stage of the Late Cretaceous) and the bones were found close to the location of an earlier abelisaurid discovery (Viavenator exxoni), which had been found by some of the scientists that also participated in the Llukalkan study.
Assessment of the lacrimal bone suggest that this skull material represents a sub-adult animal and comparison with other abelisaurids such as Carnotaurus indicates that Llukalkan may have been around five metres in length, making it slightly smaller than Viavenator which is estimated to have been around six metres long.
Writing in the peer reviewed academic publication the “Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology”, the researchers which included Federico A. Gianechini, Leonardo S. Filippi and Ariana Paulina-Carabajal identified a number of autapomorphies within the skull material that led them to confidently assign a new species. The trivial name is derived from the Latin for “different skull”.
Abelisaurids “Top Dogs”
Something like ten different genera of abelisaurid dinosaur have been discovered in Patagonia to date. The scientists state that Llukalkan and Viavenator were probably contemporaneous and they help to demonstrate the dominance of this type of theropod dinosaur in the Late Cretaceous of Argentina. Both Viavenator and the newly described Llukalkan were closely related, both have been assigned to the Abelisauridae clade – the Furileusauria which includes the geologically much younger and much larger Pycnonemosaurus (P. nevesi), fossils of which come from Brazil.
Megaraptors for Company
It is likely that these two furileusaurian abelisaurids probably shared their environment with another type of large theropod hypercarnivore. Fossils of the megaraptor Tratayenia rosalesi, which was described in 2018, are also associated with the Santonian-aged strata of the Bajo de la Carpa Formation, albeit the Tratayenia material was found at a different location.
At around eight metres in length (possibly even bigger), T. rosalesi was a formidable predator. Whether the abelisaurids were the “top dogs” when it came to the food chain remains uncertain. However, with the discovery of Llukalkan so close to the fossils of Viavenator, it does suggest that these types of theropods were extremely successful predators.
The scientific paper: “A New Furileusaurian Abelisaurid from La Invernada (Upper Cretaceous, Santonian, Bajo De La Carpa Formation), Northern Patagonia, Argentina” by Federico A. Gianechini, Ariel H. Méndez, Leonardo S. Filippi, Ariana Paulina-Carabajal, Rubén D. Juárez-Valieri and Alberto C. Garrido published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
Australia boasts a weird and wonderful flora and fauna. Millions of years of isolation has led to the land “down under” evolving a very unique biota, perhaps most marked by the abundance of marsupial mammals. Today’s fauna, remarkable as it might be, is overshadowed somewhat by the incredible megafauna that once existed on the continent.
Australia’s Giant “Thunderbirds”
For example, giant, flightless birds thrived and evolved into a myriad of different sized forms as climates and habitats changed. Some of these birds, members of the extinct family the Dromornithidae, were giants and have been nicknamed Australia’s giant “Thunderbirds” or even “Devil Ducks”. A newly published study examines the evolutionary development of “bird brains” in a bid to settle the phylogeny of these giant birds.
Mapping the Brains of “Mihirungs”
Scientists had puzzled over the phylogeny of these extinct birds for some time. Earlier studies suggested that they were related to waterfowl – hence one of their nicknames “Devil Ducks”. Researchers from Flinders University (Adelaide, South Australia), reconstructed the brains of a number of dromornithid genera in a bid to better understand the family’s origins and to learn more about their place in the Australian megafauna dominated prehistoric ecosystems.
One of the birds studied was the enormous Dromornis stirtoni, the largest of the “mihirungs” (the Aboriginal word for “giant bird”).
Plant-eater or Meat-eater?
Heavier than a polar bear (Ursus maritimus) Dromornis stirtoni is known from Upper Miocene deposits from Australia’s Northern Territory. Dromornis had a huge skull, more than half a metre long, but its brain was squeezed for space.
It possessed a big, powerful beak, but its diet along with the diets of other dromornithids remains a mystery. It could have fed on leaves, nuts and fruit, or perhaps it was a predator. The lack of a “hook” and the absence of talons in this and other species suggests that these flightless birds were probably not hypercarnivores.
Writing in the academic journal “Diversity”, the researchers examined the craniums of giant “Thunderbirds” looking at a variety of genera including the earliest Dromornis murrayi from the Late Oligocene to Dromornis planei and Ilbandornis woodburnei from the middle Miocene Epoch and Dromornis stirtoni, that roamed northern Australia around 7 million years ago (Messinian, the last stage of the Miocene).
Related to Gamefowl (Galliformes)
The researchers conclude that these birds were probably more closely related to gamefowl (Galliformes) than they were to waterfowl (Anseriformes).
Commenting on the research, one of the authors Dr Warren Handley (Flinders University) stated:
“Together with their large, forward-facing eyes and very large bills, the shape of their brains and nerves suggested these birds likely had well-developed stereoscopic vision, or depth perception, and fed on a diet of soft leaves and fruit. The shape of their brains and nerves have told us a lot about their sensory capabilities, and something about their possible lifestyle which enabled these remarkable birds to live in the forests around river channels and lakes across Australia for an extremely long time.”
An Evolutionary Experiment
The researchers suggest that the Dromornithidae were the result of birds distantly related to chickens getting a free reign in evolutionary terms on the isolated continent. They took a very different evolutionary path when compared to their relatives the megapodes which still exist in Australasia.
The researchers postulate that the range in body sizes exhibited by dromornithids were due to climate change and the availability of food within the ecosystem. The Late Miocene was a period of dramatic climate change with the continent becoming more arid and cooler. Rainforests retreated and were replaced by more open woodlands, these changes may have played a role in the evolution of giant forms such as D. stirtoni.
Everything Dinosaur acknowledges the assistance of a media release from Flinders University in the compilation of this article.
The scientific paper: “Endocranial Anatomy of the Giant Extinct Australian Mihirung Birds (Aves, Dromornithidae)” by W. D. Handley and T. H. Worthy published in Diversity.
Our thanks to Warhammer enthusiast Jeffery who sent into Everything Dinosaur some pictures of his customised dinosaur models that he had created so that they could participate in Warhammer miniature wargames.
Papo Dinosaur Models
Jeffery has used a range of Papo dinosaur models to create his stunning dinosaur army. There is the Papo Allosaurus, Acrocanthosaurus, Ankylosaurus and the massive Brachiosaurus in the ranks.
The models have been repainted and given bases and they look a very formidable fighting force. The level of detail is astonishing.
Warhammer
Warhammer is a tabletop, miniature wargame featuring an array of amazing creatures doing battle with each other. Players take turns to move their model warriors around a battle landscape, the warriors being a mixture of aliens, monsters, humans and fantasy figures including customised dinosaur models. Battles are won or lost depending on the roll of a dice. Warhammer is believed to be the most popular miniature wargame played in the world. Jeffery has used several Papo models to help create this amazing formation of fighting dinosaurs.
A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented:
“It is always a pleasure seeing how our customers use their prehistoric animal model purchases. We know that many of the models that we supply are used in various wargames and it was very kind of Jeffery to send into us his pictures of the dinosaur army he had created that was inspired by Papo models.”
PNSO have announced that they will be producing fifteen bronze statues of the pterosaur Thalassodromeus. Everything Dinosaur customers are being offered these once in a lifetime, 1:6 scale, bronze sculptures at £2,550.00 GBP ($3,500.00 USD) the price includes delivery.
Limited Edition Pterosaur Bronze Statue
Just a handful of these fantastic figures will be available outside of China. Once fifteen have been cast in solid bronze, no more will be made.
A Very Special Limited Edition Bronze Figure
A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented:
“This is a stunning bronze figure, superbly detailed and a once in a lifetime opportunity to acquire a truly remarkable statue. With only a handful being offered to customers outside China, this is a rare chance to purchase a pterosaur cast in bronze.”
As these figures are so rare, sales will be made to customers and on first come, first served basis.
To enquire about purchasing one of these extremely rare PNSO pterosaur figures email Everything Dinosaur: Contact Everything Dinosaur.
Today, the clocks have gone forward in the UK, this means that this is the official start of British Summer Time (BST). Whilst it might be pouring with rain outside and chilly, better weather and better times are hopefully on the way.
Tomorrow, some of the lockdown restrictions in England are being lifted. Restrictions have been lifted elsewhere within the UK, as the country begins to move cautiously out of the COVID-19 lockdown. We have noticed a small change in our customer’s buying habits over the last week. The Mojo Fun Dinosaur Backpack and Playscape has been selling really well.
A Sturdy Backpack with Dinosaurs Too!
This sturdy backpack which folds out to reveal a stunning prehistoric playscape is supplied with two dinosaur models. It can be used for carrying bits and bobs and yet, when unzipped the backpack transforms into a prehistoric play scape.
An Ideal Travel Companion
The bright and colourful front panel features two Mojo dinosaur models, the Mojo Fun Allosaurus and a fearsome Mojo Fun Tyrannosaurus rex. The panel itself is embossed and raised slightly providing a stylish three-dimensional effect.
A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented:
“We do understand how desperate families have been to get out for the day and to visit relatives. The increase in sales of the Mojo Fun dinosaur backpack and playscape has coincided with an easing of restrictions that had been imposed due to COVID-19. Perhaps this is merely a coincidence, but we like to think that for young dinosaur fans they will soon be going on some more dinosaur adventures.”
Whilst stressing the need to stay safe and to obey those restrictions that remain, the spokesperson added that team members at Everything Dinosaur were happy at the thought that this backpack would be used by lots of young people on their travels this year.
To view the Mojo Fun Dinosaur backpack and playscape and the rest of the figures currently available from Everything Dinosaur (more model stock due in soon): Mojo Fun Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animal Models.
Team members at Everything Dinosaur as fans of prehistoric animals themselves don’t mind helping out fellow collectors. For example, we often receive emails from prehistoric animal model enthusiasts asking us to select a particular replica for them. We are happy to take some photographs of the figure that we have chosen and then email the images to the potential buyer for their approval.
Rebor GrabNGo 02 T. rex Model
Recently, we received a request from one of our customers based in Europe to select a Rebor GrabNGo 02 T. rex dinosaur model. These vinyl figures are very popular and the first two versions of the Tyrannosaurus rex (02 and 03) have been retired and production has been discontinued. Our customer was keen to obtain the figure and asked us to check over the seams and the paintwork.
We were happy to take photographs of a Rebor T. rex model in one of our packing rooms. We made sure that we emailed over several images, each showing the dinosaur figure from a different angle. It was just like photographing a fossil specimen for a collection. When documenting a fossil, a number of photographs are taken, each one is carefully labelled identifying the specimen number and the angle of view.
When taking photos of dinosaur models, we tend to provide several shots of the head of the model, so that the potential customer can see the detailing around the mouth and any seams between the head and the body.
The customer was happy with the figure we had selected for them. This particular Rebor GrabNGo 02 T. rex dinosaur model is now safely stored on our reserve shelf in our warehouse so that when the customer places their order, the figure we chose can be despatched to them.
Researchers from the University of Bonn (Germany), in collaboration with colleagues from Liverpool John Moores University examined cranial material of the Plateosaurus species – P. trossingensis and discovered that the skulls of these dinosaurs demonstrated a high degree of variation. Just like people, this Plateosaurus species demonstrates a high degree of individual variation within a species.
Not All Dinosaurs of the Same Species Looked Alike
Plateosaurus from the Late Triassic of Europe is one of the most extensively studied of all the dinosaurs, thanks mainly to the huge bonebeds containing thousands of fossilised bones that have been found. It is by studying the fossilised remains that palaeontologists can put forward evidence to suggest the erection of a new species. However, this new study published in Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, suggests that the anatomy of Plateosaurus was significantly more variable than previously thought.
The picture (above) shows a CollectA Plateosaurus figure.
The researchers examined the complete skulls of fourteen individual Plateosaurus trossingensis specimens, eight of which had not been studied before, along with numerous other skull bones and discovered that there was considerable variation in the skulls. Such variation had been noted before and it had been suggested that the extensive bonebeds at Frick (northern Switzerland), Trossingen (south-western Germany) and Halberstadt (central Germany) might contain the fossilised remains of more than one species.
However, the researchers which included PhD student Jens Lallensack (University of Bonn), could not group these variations according to specific anatomical traits, locality or their stratigraphy. The team concluded that there was no evidence to indicate the presence of more than one species, but these types of dinosaurs showed considerable variation within their species (intraspecific variability).
Taking into Account Bone Deformation
The careful documentation of the skull variation will assist other palaeontologists when it comes to understanding the distinct individuality of dinosaurs within a given population. The team were able to distinguish these differences from those characteristics of the bones that are deformed and altered as a result of their fossilisation. Being able to attribute bone deformation due to taphonomy (the fossilisation process), is extremely useful in helping to determine unique anatomical traits that could lead to the identification of a new species.
The scientific paper: “New skulls of the basal sauropodomorph Plateosaurus trossingensis from Frick, Switzerland: Is there more than one species?” by Jens N. Lallensack, Elżbieta M. Teschner, Ben Pabst and P. Martin Sander published in Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.
Cephalopods those advanced sophisticated molluscs such as octopi, squid and cuttlefish evolved some thirty million years earlier than previously thought according to some new research published this week.
Cephalopods belong to the phylum Mollusca. Animals such as the octopus are regarded as highly intelligent, capable of complex behaviours and are regarded by many scientists as being as sophisticated, if not more so, than many vertebrates. The ancestors of the extant cephalopods around today originally possessed a chambered shell, indeed, the pearly nautilus still retains this feature (see above for a nautilus illustration). Researchers from Heidelberg University in collaboration with colleagues from the Bavarian Natural History Collections examined a 522 million-year-old outcrop from the Lower Cambrian Bonavista Formation exposed at Bacon Cove (south-eastern Newfoundland, Canada). Slices of the red sandstone which represent a shallow, marine depositional environment revealed tantalising glimpses of ancient Cambrian animals.
The Oldest Known Cephalopods
Tiny calcareous shells measuring no more than 14 mm high and around 3 mm wide discovered in cross-sections of the red sandstone rock are interpreted as representing phragmocones, part of the internal skeleton of a marine invertebrate. The researchers postulate that as similar structures are found in cephalopods, then these fossils represent the earliest evidence of the Cephalopoda.
An Extraordinary Find
Co-author of the research, Dr Gregor Austermann (Institute for Earth Sciences at Heidelberg University), commented:
“This find is extraordinary. In scientific circles it was long suspected that the evolution of these highly developed organisms had begun much earlier than hitherto assumed. But there was a lack of fossil evidence to back up this theory.”
Plectronoceras cambria
Although molecular studies had suggested that cephalopods evolved earlier than indicated by the fossil record, there was very little physical evidence to back this up. Many palaeontologists regard Plectronoceras cambria, fossils of which come from Texas limestones and date from the Middle/Late Cambrian as the earliest cephalopod. These Canadian fossils, if proved to represent the body fossils of cephalopods, push back the evolutionary origins of this important group by at least 30 million years.
The specimens described here may represent the earliest cephalopods capable of regulating the buoyancy of their shell through a siphuncle. This view supports the molecular studies that suggest that cephalopods originated in the Early Cambrian. These animals may have been the first to actively control their buoyancy and therefore to be capable of moving up and down the water column. It could be speculated that these fossils which are around 522 million years old, represent the remains of some of the first animals living above the sea floor (pelagic animals) and able to swim (nektonic).
The scientific paper: “A potential cephalopod from the early Cambrian of eastern Newfoundland, Canada” by Anne Hildenbrand, Gregor Austermann, Dirk Fuchs, Peter Bengtson and Wolfgang Stinnesbeck published in Communications Biology.
A study of the fossilised remains of an as yet unnamed species of ankylosaurid suggests that these dinosaurs were adapted for digging. Whilst it seems unlikely that these large herbivores could have lived in burrows, they may have been able to dig for roots and tubers, excavate wells in dried up rivers to reach subsurface water and dig into sediments to obtain supplementary minerals in a similar way that extant elephants do today.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Digging Pits to Protect Their Undersides
Furthermore, many palaeontologists have postulated that these armoured herbivores might have been able to hunker down to defend their limbs and undersides from theropod predators. If these animals dug shallow pits they might have been able to protect themselves from attack and make it difficult for carnivorous dinosaurs to spot them when they were partially buried. Horned lizards (Phrynosoma) have a similar flat body and lateral fringe scales as seen in some types of ankylosaurid, these extant reptiles adopt these types of defensive strategies.
Discovered in the Early 1970s
Remains of an armoured dinosaur was first reported by a joint Soviet-Mongolian expedition to the southern Gobi Desert of Mongolia in the early 1970s. The skeleton consisting of dorsal vertebrae, elements from the limbs, ribs parts of the pelvis and the pectoral girdle along with several armoured scutes, was partially prepared for removal, but the excavation was not completed. The fossil specimen remained uncollected but crated up until 2008 when it was taken away for preparation by members of a Korean/Mongolian research team.
Probably a New Species of Armoured Dinosaur
The sandstone sediments of the Upper Cretaceous (Middle to Late Campanian stage), Baruungoyot Formation have yielded the remains of three ankylosaurid taxa, namely Saichania chulsanensis, Tarchia kielanae and Zaraapelta nomadis. Writing in the journal “Scientific Reports” the researchers which include such luminaries as Phil Currie and Eva Koppelhus (University of Alberta), Michael Ryan (Canadian Museum of Nature) and corresponding author Yuong-Nam Lee (Seoul National University, South Korea), state the unnamed ankylosaurid has some similarities to S. chulsanensis, but there are anatomical differences. Unfortunately, very little postcranial fossils of Tarchia kielanae and Zaraapelta nomadis have been found making it impossible to undertake a direct comparison with this specimen (MPC-D 100/1359).
Adapted for Digging
The scientists speculate that several anatomical features identified in MPC-D 100/1359 could indicate that this ankylosaurid was adapted for digging. The bones in its front feet are arranged in a shallow arc, which could have enabled it to dig soft earth. The fused vertebrae and the reduced number of bones in its hind feet, compared to other dinosaurs, may have helped anchor the ankylosaurid when digging or moving its tail. The body shape of MPC-D 100/1359, which is wider in the middle and narrower at the front and rear, may have helped its body to remain straight when digging. These traits such as the narrow-wide-narrow body shape and the manus (hand) and pes (foot) bone configuration are also known in other ankylosaurids.
Dig Those Ankylosaurs
Digging for resources out of reach from other animals and excavating shallow pits as part of a defensive strategy might have been prevalent amongst these armoured dinosaurs.
The scientific paper: “A new ankylosaurid skeleton from the Upper Cretaceous Baruungoyot Formation of Mongolia: its implications for ankylosaurid postcranial evolution” by Jin-Young Park, Yuong-Nam Lee, Philip J. Currie, Michael J. Ryan, Phil Bell, Robin Sissons, Eva B. Koppelhus, Rinchen Barsbold, Sungjin Lee and Su-Hwan Kim published in Scientific Reports.