Everything Dinosaur Blog - Dinosaur Models

10 09, 2017

A Review of the PNSO Age of Dinosaurs Triceratops Model

By Mike|2023-08-15T09:36:45+01:00September 10th, 2017|Categories: Dinosaur Fans, Everything Dinosaur Products, Main Page, Photos of Everything Dinosaur Products, Press Releases, Product Reviews|0 Comments

PNSO Age of Dinosaurs Triceratops Model Reviewed

Everything Dinosaur has recently added the PNSO range of prehistoric animals and the PNSO “Family Zoo” replicas to its already extensive range of figures. This series is not that well-known outside of China, but these models are rapidly gaining favour with serious collectors. Take for example, the PNSO Age of Dinosaurs Triceratops figure, one of the large dinosaur models within this particular range.

PNSO Age of Dinosaurs Triceratops

The PNSO Age of Dinosaurs Triceratops Model

The PNSO Age of Dinosaurs Triceratops. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The picture above shows this excellent horned dinosaur replica. We have placed the model on its box and put a geology ruler next to it so that readers can easily see the size of this figure. It measures thirty-seven centimetres from the tip of the brow horn to the end of the tail, making this one of the largest models of “three-horned face” available from a mainstream manufacturer. The box artwork is superb and the information leaflet found inside the box, folds out to create a poster of the front cover Triceratops artwork.

A View of the Other Side of the PNSO Age of Dinosaur Triceratops Replica

The PNSO Age of Dinosaurs Triceratops. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Triceratops Model Scale

Although, PNSO does not publish a scale for their models, our dinosaur experts have estimated that this Triceratops (T. horridus) is in approximately in 1:24 scale. It makes a spectacular display piece and there is a lot of detail to admire on the replica, most notably the intriguing skin texture, the folds of skin that indicate movement and that wonderfully painted skull and neck frill.

A Close View of the Head of the PNSO Age of Dinosaurs Triceratops Model

The PNSO Age of Dinosaurs Triceratops. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

To view the PNSO Age of Dinosaurs model series which is available from Everything Dinosaur: PNSO Age of Dinosaurs Model Collection.

Splashes of Colour

The splashes of orange on the head contrast with the greyish body. Palaeontologists tend to agree that colour was very important to dinosaurs and it makes sense for Triceratops to have a bright head and neck frill, this would have helped make the head and the large frill more eye-catching when it came to visual displays to intimidate rivals and to deter attack from predatory tyrannosaurs.

The PNSO Triceratops Replica (Anterior View)

A view from the front of the impressive PNSO Age of Dinosaurs Triceratops.

The PNSO Age of Dinosaurs Triceratops. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

To view the PNSO model range at Everything Dinosaur: PNSO Age of Dinosaurs Models.

The head is slightly lowered on the PNSO replica, it’s as if the animal is displaying or perhaps it is getting ready to lunge with its dangerous brow horns.

Fantastic Box Artwork (PNSO Age of Dinosaurs Triceratops Figure)

Beautiful PNSO Age of Dinosaurs box art.

The PNSO Triceratops box art.

All in all, this is a highly collectable Triceratops figure and we look forward to seeing how this model series develops.

PNSO have also introduced a range of extant animal models under the umbrella brand of “Family Zoo”. At the moment, three large models of living animals are included within this series. There is a Hippopotamus, an African Elephant and a gorgeous White Rhinoceros model. So, if ancient horned animals are not quite your thing, then why not grab a replica of the highly endangered African White Rhinoceros, a living example of a horned giant, a magnificent creature, that sadly, like the Triceratops some sixty-six million years beforehand, is now facing extinction.

The Beautiful PNSO Family Zoo White Rhinoceros Model

The PNSO White Rhinoceros model.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

To view the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

9 09, 2017

Has Human Evolution Tripped Us Up? Remarkable Discovery Provides a Fresh Insight

By Mike|2024-05-09T13:09:37+01:00September 9th, 2017|Categories: Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Main Page, Palaeontological articles|0 Comments

5.7 Million-year-old Hominin Footprints on Crete

The chance discovery of hominin fossilised footprints on the Mediterranean island of Crete, has challenged the accepted theory of human evolution. The footprints, which have been dated to around 5.7 million years ago, were formed when all other hominins known to science were restricted to Africa and they had much more ape-like feet. If the series of tracks prove to be accurately dated, then this challenges the idea that hominins (those species more closely related to us than they are to a chimpanzee), evolved in Africa. Has someone just rocked the “cradle of humanity”?

A Photograph of the Tracks (Ancient Hominin Footprints)

Fossilised hominin footprints from Crete.

Picture credit: Andrzej Boczarowski

The Out of Africa Theory

With the discovery of the Laetoli footprints in Tanzania in the mid 1970s (believed to have been made by a small group of Australopithecus afarensis), which were formed some 3.7 million years ago, our species (H. sapiens) and our direct ancestors were thought to have originated in Africa. These footprints, show very human-like feet with a distinctive shape, a big toe and a human gait.

The gait of these early humans was “heel-strike” (the heel of the foot hits first) followed by “toe-off” (the toes push off at the end of the stride), the same way that modern humans walk. Early hominins were thought to have remained isolated in Africa before dispersing to Europe and Asia, hundreds of thousands of years after they first evolved.

The discovery of approximately 5.7 million-year-old human-like footprints from Crete, published online this week by an international team of researchers, including scientists from Uppsala University (Sweden), overturns this rather simple picture and suggests a more complicated evolutionary path for our ancestors.

A Close View of One of the Footprints (right foot)

A fossilised hominin footprint from Trachilos (western Crete). The right footprint is estimated to be 5.7 million years old.

Picture credit: Andrzej Boczarowski

The picture above shows a close-up of one of the footprints, the big toe can be clearly seen. Our feet have a very distinctive shape. We have five short toes without claws, the hallux (big toe), is much larger than the other toes and our foot has a long sole. The feet of the great apes, are very different. They resemble a human hand with a thumb-like hallux that sticks out to the side. The Laetoli footprints, ascribed to A. afarensis, are quite similar to those of modern humans except that the heel is narrower and the sole lacks a proper arch.

The 4.4 million-year-old Ardipithecus ramidus from Ethiopia, the oldest hominin known from reasonably complete fossils, has an ape-like foot. The researchers who described Ardipithecus argued that it is a direct ancestor of later hominins, implying that a human-like foot evolved later.

The Trachilos Tracks

The newly described tracks from Trachilos in western Crete bear a close resemblance to a human footprint. The big toe has similar morphology and there seems to be a distinct “ball” on the sole, which is absent in primates. The sole of the foot is proportionately shorter than in the Laetoli prints, but it has the same general form. The prints do look as if they were made by a hominin.

The Foot of a Great Ape (Note the Position of the Big Toe)

The foot of an ape.

Approximately fifty tracks were made when bipeds walked across a sandy area and although many large apes are known from the Late Miocene of Europe, no hominin was thought to have migrated into Europe for millions of years after the tracks were made.

Professor Per Ahlberg (Uppsala University), the lead author of the study commented:

“What makes this controversial is the age and location of the prints.”

At approximately 5.7 million years, they are younger than the oldest known fossil hominin, Sahelanthropus from Chad, and contemporary with Orrorin (O. tugenensis), from Kenya, but more than a million years older than Ardipithecus ramidus with its ape-like feet.

This fossil find throws into question the hypothesis that Ardipithecus is a direct ancestor of later hominins. In addition, until this year, all fossil hominins older than 1.8 million years (the age of early Homo fossils from Georgia), came from Africa, leading most researchers to conclude that this was where the group evolved.

Studying the Hominin Prints

However, the Trachilos footprints are securely dated using a combination of foraminifera (marine micro-fossils) from over and underlying bedding planes, plus the fact that they lie just below a very distinctive sedimentary rock formed when the Mediterranean Sea temporarily evaporated around 5.6 million years ago. Coincidentally, earlier this year, another group of researchers, led by Professor Madelaine Böhme of the University of Tübingen, (Germany), writing in the Journal PLOS One, reinterpreted the fragmentary 7.2 million-year-old primate Graecopithecus freybergi from Greece and Bulgaria as a hominin.

Professor Ahlberg added:

“This discovery challenges the established narrative of early human evolution head-on and is likely to generate a lot of debate. Whether the human origins research community will accept fossil footprints as conclusive evidence of the presence of hominins in the Miocene of Crete remains to be seen.”

The eastern Mediterranean in the Late Miocene consisted of extensive, arid grasslands, the Sahara Desert did not exist and Crete was still part of the Greek mainland. Early hominins could have ranged along this habitat moving from Africa to south-eastern Europe, with one group leaving their footprints on the shores of the Mediterranean that would one-day form part of the island of Crete.

The scientific paper: “Possible Hominin Footprints from the Late Miocene (c. 5.7 Ma) of Crete?” Gierlinski, G. D. et al. 2017. published in the Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association.

Everything Dinosaur acknowledges the help of an Uppsala University press release in the compilation of this article.

Visit the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

8 09, 2017

How to Set Up an Account at Everything Dinosaur

By Mike|2023-08-13T18:22:55+01:00September 8th, 2017|Categories: Everything Dinosaur News and Updates, Main Page, Press Releases|0 Comments

How to Set Up an Account at Everything Dinosaur

With the launch of Everything Dinosaur’s updated website this year, lots of new customer friendly features have been added. Creating an account is very easy and intuitive, but we do appreciate the way opening accounts has changed, so here is a helpful guide to setting up an account with Everything Dinosaur.

How to Open an Account with Everything Dinosaur

Step by step guide to opening an account with Everything Dinosaur

How to open an account with Everything Dinosaur. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

You Don’t Need an Account to Make a Purchase (Check-out as a Guest)

The first point to make is that you don’t need to open an account/create your own personal space on our website to make a purchase. Visitors to our site can check-out as a guest, there is no need to open an account, simply put the items you want into your shopping cart, go to the check-out page and then proceed through the check-out process. You will get offered the opportunity to open an account, but this is not compulsory, just simply proceed without ticking the “create an account” box.

How to Open an Account

Add the items you would like to purchase to your shopping cart.
Proceed to the check-out page.
Enter billing address and/or delivery address (if delivery address is different from the billing address).
Just below the billing address, you will see a “check box” entitled Create an Account? – we have circled the check box in red in the picture below.

Tick the “Create an Account” Box Under the Billing Address

Opening an account at Everything Dinosaur.

Tick the box (circled) to start the account set up process at Everything Dinosaur. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

5. Tick the box by clicking on it, you will be asked to create a password, once this is done, just proceed through the check-out process.

You Will Be Asked to Create a Password for Your Account

Opening an account with Everything Dinosaur

Tick the box to create an account, then make up a password. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture Credit: Everything Dinosaur

For dinosaur and prehistoric animal models: Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal Models and Figures.

A Simple and Straight Forward Account Opening Process at Everything Dinosaur

That’s it, that’s all there is to it. You can create your own account on our website and it takes just a few seconds. Our customers and account holders can be assured that at Everything Dinosaur we take their on-line safety extremely seriously and our website has HTTPS status. This means that all communications between your browser and our website are encrypted. This is just one of the numerous safety measures that we employ to keep you and your data safe when shopping/visiting Everything Dinosaur’s websites.

If you have a query about account opening, or if you wish to contact a member of our team, just email us: Email Everything Dinosaur.

For dinosaur and prehistoric animal themed toys, models, games and clothing visit: Everything Dinosaur’s Website.

7 09, 2017

Threatened Species Day 2017 Remembering the Amazing Thylacine

By Mike|2024-05-08T20:44:00+01:00September 7th, 2017|Categories: General Teaching, Key Stage 1/2|Comments Off on Threatened Species Day 2017 Remembering the Amazing Thylacine

Remembering the Thylacine

Today, September 7th is “National Threatened Species Day” in Australia. On this day, in 1936, the last known Tasmanian Tiger (Thylacinus cynocephalus) died in Beaumaris Zoo, Tasmania. Thus, the largest marsupial predator of recent times became extinct.

Thylacinus cynocephalus

The Tasmanian Tiger, sometimes referred to as the Tasmanian Wolf or to be more correct, the Thylacine was once widespread throughout much of Australia and particularly numerous on Tasmania. However, with the arrival of European settlers the demise of this predator was accelerated and within a few decades the population was in terminal decline.

The Tasmanian Tiger (Thylacinus cynocephalus)

Stuffed Thylacine (Tasmanian tiger). Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Australia’s Unique Flora and Fauna

National Threatened Species Day encourages Australians to reflect on the unique nature of the country’s flora and fauna and to consider how best to conserve it. As the day is commemorated, it also highlights the amazing work that is being done by conservationists, researchers, volunteers and volunteers. It has been estimated that Australia is home to more than half a million animal and plant species, a large number of which are unique to the continent. Scientists estimate that over the last two hundred years, more than one hundred unique plant and animal species have become extinct and that includes the Thylacine.

Wombat – Unique to Australia but Vulnerable to Extinction

A stuffed Forest Wombat. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Iconic animals, such as the Wombat and the Koala, sometimes called the Koala Bear (even though it is only very distantly related to bears, is classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Habitat destruction and the loss of Eucalyptus trees along with severe drought has significantly reduced this arboreal herbivores numbers.

Hope for the Thylacine?

There have been numerous claimed sightings of Thylacines. Prompted by some plausible eye-witness accounts, researchers from James Cook University have set up camera traps in a remote part of northern Queensland in an attempt to capture footage of Thylacines. Everything Dinosaur featured the plans to hunt for Thylacines in a blog article published in the spring: Hunting for Tasmanian Tigers. Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, rained on the researcher’s parade somewhat when they calculated the probability of the Thylacine having survived at being about 1 in 1.6 trillion.

Extension Ideas

Have the class list animals and then look up their conservation status on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
Split the children into groups and have them research the story of various extinct animals – animals such as the Dodo, Thylacine, Moa, Passenger Pigeon, Great Auk.
With the collaboration of the “Forest School” organiser, what practical steps can the school take to set up their own wildlife conservation area.

Visit the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

7 09, 2017

National Thylacine Day A Very Special Day

By Mike|2024-05-09T13:33:30+01:00September 7th, 2017|Categories: Animal News Stories, Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Everything Dinosaur Products, Main Page, Photos of Everything Dinosaur Products|2 Comments

National Thylacine Day

Today, marks the 81st anniversary of the death of the last known Thylacine. The animal, nick-named Benjamin, died this day (7th September 1936), at Beaumaris Zoo (Hobart, Tasmania). The Thylacine (sometimes referred to as the Tasmanian Tiger, probably due to its prominent stripes), was the largest carnivorous marsupial of the Holocene Epoch. It was the last member of the once diverse and numerous Thylacinidae family, which once ranged over Australia and New Guinea.

Thylacine Models

Over the last few years, Everything Dinosaur has been able to add a couple of Thylacine models to its extensive range of prehistoric and extinct animal replicas. In 2016, CollectA added a female Thylacine model to its hugely popular CollectA Prehistoric Life model range. The model can be clearly identified as a female because of the very obvious pouch. The CollectA Thylacine model measures a fraction under twelve centimetres in length and the model’s head is some five centimetres off the ground.

The CollectA Thylacine Model

The CollectA Thylacine model.

To view the CollectA range of models: CollectA Prehistoric Life Models.

The distended pouch suggests that this particular Thylacine is carrying young. This impressive, hand-painted model has received excellent reviews. For example, a recent 5-star FEEFO review stated that this CollectA model was:

“Very high-quality product.”

Thylacinus cynocephalus

Aboriginal rock art records Thylacines and numerous fossil sites are known from Western Australia. The Tasmanian Tiger ranged extensively over Australia and Tasmania, a mummified carcass was discovered in the famous Nullarbor Cave in 1969 by a field team from the Western Australian Museum.

Mojo Fun also has a Thylacine replica in its model range (Mojo Fun Prehistoric and Extinct Animals), this replica is approximately the same size as the CollectA model and just like the CollectA replica, it is hand-painted. Everything Dinosaur added this model range to its portfolio as part of plans to expand the company’s extensive model range.

The Mojo Fun Thylacine Model

The Mojo Fun Thylacine model.

The Mojo Fun Thylacine has also received excellent reviews from collectors, such as this 5-star FEEFO rating – “Well-made model, exactly as presented on your web site.”

View Mojo Fun models: Mojo Fun Prehistoric and Extinct Figures.

Quality Thylacine Models

Such is the quality of these two figures, that we have supplied numerous scientists, academics and museum staff with these models.

To view the range of prehistoric and extinct animal replicas available from Everything Dinosaur: The Models Available from Everything Dinosaur.

September 7th is “National Threatened Species Day” in Australia. This day is dedicated to acknowledging the efforts of those hard-working conservationists who strive to protect Australia’s flora and fauna. It is also a day for remembering the Thylacine, our species Homo sapiens, was responsible for the extinction of this beautiful and little understood predator.

There have been several credible sightings in recent years, and prompted by some plausible eye-witness accounts, scientists from James Cook University have set up camera traps in a remote part of northern Queensland in a bid to capture irrefutable evidence that this enigmatic marsupial still exists. Everything Dinosaur featured the plans to hunt for Thylacines in a blog article published in the spring: Hunting for Tasmanian Tigers.

The idea that a handful of “Tigers” might be still in the outback, is a very intriguing idea, however, scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, put together a mathematical model to assess the probability of the Thylacine still existing. Having assessed all the sightings and other evidence, the most optimistic view is that the Thylacine might have persisted to around 1950 but the chances of finding a Thylacine alive today are extremely remote. How remote? About 1 in 1.6 trillion according to the mathematicians.

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

6 09, 2017

Evidence for Communal Roosting in Oviraptorids

By Mike|2023-08-13T17:18:36+01:00September 6th, 2017|Categories: Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Dinosaur Fans, Main Page, Photos/Pictures of Fossils|0 Comments

Communal Roosting in the Dinosauria

Attendees at the annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Palaeontology (SVP) in Calgary (Alberta, Canada), were treated to a presentation outlining the discovery of a trio of young oviraptorid dinosaurs that may have been preserved sleeping as a group. This might provide the first evidence of communal roosting, a practice seen in many extant animals today, where members of the same species sleep together for mutual protection and to help keep themselves warm. Communal roosting is seen in many species of birds, notable examples being starlings and rooks. Communal roosting is also known amongst primates, bats and butterflies.

Although, it is easy to misinterpret fossils of this nature, oviraptorids, members of the Maniraptora clade of dinosaurs which are closely related to Aves (birds), are believed to have been social animals and a spokesperson for Everything Dinosaur stated that behaviour of this nature is within the “realms of expectation for these dinosaurs”.

The Fossilised Remains of Three Oviraptorid Dinosaurs – Is this Evidence of Communal Roosting?

Block containing three oviraptorid fossils.

The three oviraptorid fossil skeletons within the single block.

Picture credit: Gregory F. Funston

The picture above shows the plaster-jacketed block containing the three individuals and a line drawing showing the location of each skeleton and the layout of the bones. Greg Funston (University of Alberta), who led the fossil study explained that the three sleeping dinosaurs were probably relatives, perhaps from the same brood. The fossil material first came to the attention of academics when Mongolian customs officials seized the specimen at an airport in 2006. The stone block was being illegally smuggled out of the country, sadly, there is a thriving black market in illicit fossils from Mongolia and China, despite the very best attempts of the authorities to stop this trade.

Identifying the source of such illegally acquired fossils is always tricky, but a geochemical analysis of the surrounding matrix by scientists from the University of Bologna (Italy), led by Federico Fanti, suggested that the fossil came from the Bugiin Tsav area of the Gobi Desert (Upper Cretaceous sediments associated with the Nemegt Formation – Maastrichtian faunal stage). Dr Fanti has also presented his findings at the SVP.

Sleeping Oviraptorids

Oviraptorids were extremely bird-like, feathered dinosaurs, with short skulls, beaks and deep lower jaws which were largely edentulous (lacking teeth). Several genera have been named and these dinosaurs lived in the northern hemisphere during the Late Cretaceous. Most of these dinosaurs were relatively small, around two-three metres in length (Gigantoraptor being an exception) and they were particularly abundant in Asia. Fossils of their nests have been found, along with adults incubating eggs. Most palaeontologists believe that these dinosaurs were social animals with similar behaviours to those seen in extant birds. The diet of oviraptorids is uncertain, these bipeds could have been mainly herbivorous, but omnivory and durophagy (eating hard-shelled items like nuts, seeds and molluscs) is not ruled out.

An Oviraptor Exhibit at a Museum (Frankfurt Natural History Museum)

An Oviraptor and its nest. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The three individuals are from the same species, which is new to science, these oviraptorids have yet to be formally named. Like several other oviraptorids, a prominent, domed skull crest has been identified. These types of dinosaurs seem to have been highly successful, the vertebrate biota of some Upper Cretaceous deposits of China are dominated by oviraptorids, for a case in point: Not Another Ganzhou Oviraptorid.

Juveniles Huddling Together

Two of the dinosaurs have been preserved crouched down on their stomachs, these two specimens, which are more complete than the third, have their necks curled back towards their bodies, whilst their arms cradle their heads, this is very reminiscent of a sleeping posture adopted by many types of living bird.

The fossilised remains of allegedly sleeping dinosaurs have been found before, perhaps most notably Mei long from the Liaoning Formation of north-eastern China. M. long was named in 2004 after a spectacular fossil showing a head tucked under an arm and a tail curled round the body was discovered. This little troodontid was either resting or sleeping when it was smothered by a layer of volcanic ash.

An Illustration of the “Sleeping Dragon” Mei long

A Mei long dinosaur figure.

Dinosaurs Roosting Together

This is the first fossil evidence to support the idea that some kinds of dinosaurs roosted together (communal roosting). Bone histology indicates that these animals were juveniles and roughly the same age when they died, it has been speculated that this fossil represents a “teenage gang” of sub-adult dinosaurs that died in their sleep.

If the layout of the fossils reflects their true posture and the bone position has not been affected by the fossilisation process, then the position of the three dinosaurs implies they were touching each other. The researchers think the youngsters were probably huddling for warmth. That suggests that the animals had tried to maintain a constant body temperature, or perhaps they were frightened and huddling together for protection and comfort. David Varricchio (Associate Professor at Montana State University), has commented that he wondered whether these dinosaurs were resting or taking shelter from harsh weather rather than sleeping.

Communal Roosting in Oviraptorids

Funston argues that modern animals that roost together don’t usually make direct contact except for warmth. Animals that died in events such as floods are preserved in very different positions from that of the oviraptorid trio, making it unlikely that the young dinosaurs were awake when they met their demise.

An Illustration of Roosting Oviraptorids

Roosting oviraptorids.

Picture credit: Mike Skrepnick

Fossils that are Difficult to Interpret

The three dinosaurs do seem to have perished together, their body positions indicate that the carcasses were unlikely to have been transported far before accumulating and forming this assemblage, but interpreting the fossil is difficult. Other researchers have expressed reservations about the communal resting hypothesis. For example, biologist John Grady (Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania), has stated that the dinosaurs may have huddled together to hide or merely because the location was “a great place to sleep.”

However, this fossil material is interpreted, it adds to the growing body of evidence that many types of dinosaurs, including Maniraptorans were highly social creatures and capable of exhibiting quite complex behaviours.

For a 2013 article that looks at evidence for oviraptorid courtship displays: Dinosaurs Shaking Tail Feathers and Strutting.

Canadian dinosaur helps to prove dinosaurs were show-offs: Fossil Discovery Reinforces Idea of Dinosaurs Displaying.

Visit the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

5 09, 2017

The End of the Road for Troodon formosus

By Mike|2023-08-13T17:08:00+01:00September 5th, 2017|Categories: Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Dinosaur Fans, Main Page|1 Comment

Troodon formosus – No Longer Valid

One of the first ever dinosaurs named from North America has officially bitten the dust in taxonomic terms as the troodontid Troodon formosus is no longer a valid genus.

This fast-running, bird-like dinosaur was first named and described in 1856 by the American palaeontologist Joseph Leidy and right from the very beginning there were problems over its description and classification. Troodon (T. formosus), a dinosaur whose name provided the inspiration behind the erection of an entire dinosaur family, the Troodontidae (part of the Deinonychosauria clade), was described on the basis of the discovery of a fossilised tooth.

Troodon formosus = Nomen Dubium

The teeth of these types of dinosaurs are recurved and have large serrations, unlike any dinosaur teeth found previously and so Leidy erected a new genus – Troodon (the name means “wounding tooth”). This staple of dinosaur books and academic literature for the best part of 160 years had been established on fairly shaky ground to begin with. Now thanks to some new research from University of Alberta graduate student Aaron van der Reest, T. formosus has been replaced by two taxa, one new one Latenivenatrix mcmasterae and one resurrected one.

As a result of this new study, which has led to the reclassification of North American troodontid fossil material, the species Stenonychosaurus inequalis, first described by Sternberg in 1932 and previously regarded as a junior synonym of Troodon has come back into favour.

An Illustration of the Bird-like, Sickle-toe Clawed Troodon (T. formosus)

A scale drawing of a typical member of the Troodontidae dinosaur family. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Hips Brought Everything to a Head

In the early summer of 2014, van der Reest discovered an intact troodontid pelvis in Dinosaur Provincial Park Formation of southern Alberta. This led to him conducting an in-depth analysis of previously collected troodontid fossils, including skull bones. His research concluded that the Dinosaur Provincial Park fossil record held two genera of troodontid and not one.

For most of the 19th and 20th centuries troodontid fossils from North America tended to be assigned to T. formosus. Based on this, Troodon ranged from Mexico in the south to Montana and beyond Alberta in the north and existed as a species through some fifteen million years. A contradiction indeed, when the rapid dinosaur faunal turnover of Laramidia in the Late Cretaceous is considered.

The shape of the pelvic bones, particularly the pubis led to the erection of the new species – Latenivenatrix. It comes from the upper Dinosaur Park Formation (Late Campanian) and following the student’s reassessment of troodontid fossil material from strata representing the youngest layers of the Dinosaur Park Formation, other fossil elements including partial skulls have been assigned to this species. Latenivenatrix (the name means “hiding hunter”), a reference to the muddle and confusion surrounding North American troodontids, was a relative giant amongst its kind.

Aaron van der Reest explained:

“This new species is the largest of the troodontids ever found anywhere in the world, standing nearly two metres at the head and close to 3.5 metres long. It’s about fifty per cent larger than any other troodontids previously known, making it one of the largest Deinonychosaurs (raptor-like dinosaurs) we currently recognise.”

An Illustration of the Late Cretaceous Troodontid Latenivenatrix mcmasterae

The giant North American troodontid Latenivenatrix.

Picture credit: Julius Csotonyi

Student van der Reest added:

“The hips we found could ultimately open the door for dozens of new species to be discovered. Researchers with other specimens now have two new species [Latenivenatrix mcmasterae and Stenonychosaurus inequalis] for comparison, widening our ability to understand the troodontid family tree in North America.”

Confusion Amongst North American Troodontids

Troodontids are known from both Asia and North America, the most complete specimens come from Upper Jurassic Strata of China, Lower Cretaceous strata of China (western Liaoning Province) and the Cretaceous of Mongolia. In contrast, troodontids from the western hemisphere, specifically Mexico, USA and Canada are very poorly known with a very fragmentary fossil record. Previously unassigned fossils from the lower part of the Dinosaur Park Formation have now been assigned to the resurrected troodontid species Stenonychosaurus inequalis.

A Comparison of Maniraptoran Teeth

No evidence of teeth adapted to seed-eating were found in the study.

Honouring Mum

For Aaron, being able to name a new dinosaur has been an especially emotional experience. The species name for Latenivenatrix mcmasterae honours his late mother, Lynne (McMaster) van der Reest who did so much to encourage him to pursue a career in palaeontology.

Thanks to this new study, the story of troodontids in North America is a little clearer. A distinct stratigraphic separation between Stenonychosaurus inequalis and the younger troodontid Latenivenatrix mcmasterae has been established. A phylogenetic analysis indicates that Latenivenatrix is more closely related to Asian Troodonts than it is to Stenonychosaurus, this suggests that the replacement of Stenonychosaurus may have resulted from an earlier Asian migrant into North America.

For the time being Troodon formosus is no more.

The scientific paper: “Troodontids (Theropoda) from the Dinosaur Park Formation, Alberta, with a Description of a Unique New Taxon: Implications for Deinonychosaur Diversity in North America” by Aaron J. van der Reest and Philip J. Currie published in the Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences.

Visit the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

4 09, 2017

Fantastic PNSO Pictures Pushes Pinterest Beyond 14,000

By Mike|2024-05-09T13:34:51+01:00September 4th, 2017|Categories: Dinosaur Fans, Educational Activities, Everything Dinosaur News and Updates, Main Page, Press Releases, Teaching|1 Comment

Everything Dinosaur Has 14,000 Pins on Pinterest

With the setting up of a special Pinterest board dedicated to the excellent Age of Dinosaurs range from PNSO, Everything Dinosaur has smashed through the 14,000 pins benchmark on this social media platform. Everything Dinosaur’s presence on Pinterest is dedicated to pictures of prehistoric animals and fossils as well as images of all the amazing dinosaur themed products in the company’s extensive portfolio. With the introduction of the PNSO Age of Dinosaurs range in August (August 2017), a new Pinterest board was created to accommodate images of this model series and this, along with the addition of several new blog articles, pushed the total number of pins on the site beyond 14,000.

A Total of 37 Images on the PNSO Pinterest Board Posted Up by Everything Dinosaur

A selection of PNSO prehistoric animal models, dinosaur toys and gifts.

A selection of the PNSO prehistoric animal toys.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Sixty Pinterest Boards

The Pinterest pins are spread out over a total of sixty Pinterest Boards, covering subjects as diverse as human evolution, crocodiles/crocodilians and pterosaurs. The board entitled “Fossils”, which incorporates more than fifteen hundred pictures of various fossils from museum collections and excavation sites, rivals the fossil collection of a small regional museum in its diversity.

The board entitled “Dinosaurs for Schools” in conjunction with the board that highlights the articles posted up on our special blog has a total of 874 pins posted. These provide a valuable educational resource for teachers and teaching assistants. There is even a board that provides images of fearsome “Terror Birds”, otherwise known as members of the Phorusrhacidae family, a group of large, flightless, carnivorous birds that were the apex predators in South America until the migration of members of the Carnivora into South America just a few million years ago.

Terror Birds (Phorusrhacids) Feature on Everything Dinosaur’s Pinterest Boards

A drawing of Kelenken. Phorusrhacids illustrated. The "Terror Birds".

The Kelenken in all its glory Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Everything Dinosaur and Terror Birds

The image above depicting a Terror Bird is typical of the many prehistoric animal drawings that get sent into our offices. Everything Dinosaur team members also post up pictures of the numerous dinosaur drawings we receive each week, so far, the Pinterest Board named “Dinosaur Drawings etc” has nearly 850 pins on it.

To view Everything Dinosaur on the Pinterest platform: Everything Dinosaur on Pinterest.

A spokesperson for the UK-based dinosaur company stated:

“There are many stunning visuals associated with palaeontology. Not only are there the amazing fossils to photograph and document, but many scientific papers these days are accompanied by life reconstructions of the animals the fossils represent. It is great to be able to utilise a platform such as Pinterest where we can post up these images, not only illustrations from professional palaeoartists but also from schoolchildren as well.”

To view the PNSO Age of Dinosaurs model range at Everything Dinosaur: PNSO Age of Dinosaurs.

Pins Providing Ideas for School Lessons and Educational Programmes are Popular

A pin on pronation helping to explain how our joints are different from the joints of dinosaurs. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Visit the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

3 09, 2017

Communal Roosting in Dinosaurs Described in New Study

By Mike|2024-05-09T13:35:22+01:00September 3rd, 2017|Categories: General Teaching|Comments Off on Communal Roosting in Dinosaurs Described in New Study

Communal Roosting in Dinosaurs

Palaeontologists attending the annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Palaeontology (SVP) in Calgary (Canada), were given a presentation by University of Alberta researchers outlining the discovery of a trio of young oviraptorid dinosaurs that may have been preserved sleeping as a group. Oviraptors were very closely related to the dinosaurs that were the direct ancestors of modern birds. Oviraptorids were very bird-like, with feathers and beaks and like most birds, they were probably highly sociable. The discovery of three young dinosaurs which died together in a sleeping posture suggests that some dinosaurs roosted in groups just like many extant animals today.

Roosting Dinosaurs (Fossil Find Indicates that Oviraptorids Roosted Like Some Birds)

Roosting oviraptorids.

Picture credit: Mike Skrepnick

Communal Roosting in Dinosaurs

This fossil find, which first came to the attention of academics in 2006, when it was confiscated from an airport as part of an anti-fossil smuggling operation, provides further evidence to suggest just how closely related to birds some types of dinosaur were. Communal roosting is seen in many species of birds, notable examples being starlings and rooks. Communal roosting is also known amongst primates, bats and butterflies.

Oviraptors and Other Types of Dinosaurs Might Have Used Their Feathers for Display

PNSO box art - Shanshan the Gigantoraptor.

Shanshan the Gigantoraptor PNSO box art. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The picture above shows the box art on the PNSO Gigantoraptor model.

To view the PNSO range of dinosaurs: PNSO Age of Dinosaurs.

A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur stated:

“Although care must be taken when attempting to interpret fossils of this nature, the idea that some types of dinosaur roosted communally is certainly plausible. The young dinosaurs preserved in this fossil could have huddled together to keep warm, or have roosted as a group in order to provide some protection against predators.”

Visit the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

3 09, 2017

New Devonian Fish Sidesteps Current Evolutionary Theory

By Mike|2024-05-09T13:35:45+01:00September 3rd, 2017|Categories: Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Dinosaur Fans, Main Page|0 Comments

Hongyu chowi – Convergent Evolution Or Did We Get It All Wrong?

The invasion of the land by vertebrates, the evolution of the first four-legged land animals (tetrapods), in the Late Devonian is regarded as one of the most significant periods in the history of the chordates.

Palaeontologists think that the first land animals with backbones, evolved from a type of lobe-finned fish belonging to the Class Sarcopterygii. Numerous fossils of sarcopterygians, including several types of transitional forms have been discovered from Eusthenopteron to Panderichthys, through to Tiktaalik and onwards to the stem tetrapods Acanthostega and Ichthyostega scientists have been able to piece together the evolutionary development of limbs and other terrestrial adaptations… or have they?

Hongyu chowi

A fossil from the Upper Devonian deposits of the Zhongning Formation in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region of central China just might have caused a few palaeontologists to take a step backwards. The newly described Hongyu chowi shows a combination of anatomical traits, some of which are found in more basal members of the Sarcopterygii, whilst other characteristics show an affinity to that group of sarcopterygians that are believed to have been ancestral to the tetrapods. This mix of anatomical features makes it difficult for scientists to place Hongyu chowi in the fishy family tree.

An Illustration of the Newly Described Late Devonian Sarcopterygian Hongyu chowi

Hongyu chowi (Devonian fish) illustration.

An illustration of Hongyu chowi. This Devonian fish is believed to have been an ambush predator.

Picture credit: Brian Choo

The picture above shows the 1.5-metre-long Hongyu chowi ambushing a group of placoderms (Antiarchs).

Writing in the academic journal “Nature Ecology & Evolution”, the researchers which include scientists from the Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology (IVPP), and Uppsala University (Sweden), describe Hongyu as a predator. It probably hunted in a similar way to extant Wobbegong sharks (Orectolobus maculatus). These sharks, sometimes referred to as Carpet sharks, lie on the bottom and wait for small fish to come near them before they rapidly spring up and try to grab the startled fish in their over-sized mouths.

A Fossil Fish That Doesn’t Fit In

The fossil material dates from approximately 370 million years ago, a time when the first tetrapods were evolving. Hongyu chowi looks like a rhizodontid fish, a group of basal sarcopterygians that are thought to have branched-off from the lobe-finned lineage of sarcopterygians that led to the first land vertebrates. However, it has the same shoulders and gill cover supports seen in the Elpistostegalia (otherwise known as the Panderichthyida), an Order of sarcopterygians that led to the Tetrapodomorpha, fish that had limbs capable of supporting them on land.

The Fossils of Hongyu chowi

The block which contained the fossil material (Hongyu chowi).

Picture credit: Nature Ecology & Evolution

The discovery of Hongyu chowi is certainly a “curve ball” when it comes to understanding the evolution of land living vertebrates. The fossil find implies one of two things:

H. chowi is a rhizodont that independently evolved the similar body characteristics to other distantly related sarcopterygians making this fish an example of convergent evolution (unrelated animals develop in similar ways as they are exploiting similar niches or resources, such as the evolution of wings in both birds and bats).
H. chowi is a rhizodont and subsequently, the Order Rhizodontida are more closely related to the Tetrapods and the Elpistostegalia (Panderichthyida) than previously thought. If this is the case, it suggests that there was a certain amount of independent evolution of similar features, because in a phylogenetic analysis, the Rhizodontida would be nested between two groups (tetrapods and the Elpistostegalia/Panderichthyida) which share many characteristics, which brings into sharp focus the idea that these two groups had to evolve similar features independently.

Commenting on the implications for this discovery, Neil Shubin (University of Chicago), who was not an author of the scientific paper, stated:

“The find confirms an earlier suspicion that there was independent or parallel evolution between the rhizodonts, the elpistostegids and the first four-legged animals. It has been a recurrent theme in the field.”

Visit the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.