Ice Aged Fun
Leptictidium is a fun little mammal. The people behind the Ice Age series of movies adapted Leptictidium to the series made one of the funniest characters in the world of mammals: Scrat (I have...
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Small Curved Animals
©Nobu TamuraDuring the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic therapsids called Cynodonts roamed the Earth and bridged gaps between what is a mammal and what is a reptile. One small animal (now classified as...
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That Jaw Connection
The jaw of Oligokyphus is odd. For all of the Mammalian characteristics that are present in the body and impression fossils (or carbon films) of Oligokyphus, the jaw is still reptilian enough to have...
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Motherly Care
©Michael LongDespite the questionable affiliation of Oligokyphus the general consensus on Cynodontia, mammalian and reptilian, is that the parents provided care for the young. Due to the generally...
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No Bodies in Motion
The video library of Oligokyphus is pretty much nonexistent, so that means that we have to improvise today (that is if I can spell anything; I had to retype that sentence numerous times). As such, I...
View ArticleWriting About an Enigma
Tritylodonts and Cynodonts are, as we have said many times over, rather interesting riddles. They have been written about many times over, and have also been the subject of studies that go with those...
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Weird Things
I was looking up something on Oligokyphus just now and apparently enough people have searched "Oligokyphus dinosaur" that it pops up on Google. We are here to teach, so of course my first response to...
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Full Circle
Oligokyphus has been quite an interesting little friend this week. Not quite mammal. Not all reptile. Certainly not a bird. Oligokyphus is a very interesting little transitional form; a so-called...
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Late Evening Post
I apologize for the lateness of this post ladies and gentlemen; I had some oral exams this afternoon and did not feel like writing this morning. I want to tackle a family this week, not a single genus...
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3 Each Day
Attribution: GFDLThere are 19 genera in the family Miacidae. This works out really well in that we can discuss three genera each day without really detracting from any given genus too much; sometimes...
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Slightly Less Known
Oodectes skull (L. lateral, ventral, and dorsal) and dentition.Three more genera today; Palaearctonyx, Miocyon, and Oodectes. Palaearctonyx consists of one species, Palaearctonyx meadi Matthew 1909...
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Skeletons Everywhere!
Paroodectes feistiGenera of the day: Paramiacis, Paroodectes, Procynodictis. Paramiacis consists of two species, P. exilis Filhol 1876 and P. teilhardi Mathis 1987. These species were united as one...
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Tap Dancing Today
Tapocyon robusts (T. occidentalis)I have to say, it is discouraging that articles are a bit more rare than I would like for the greater majority of the family Miacidae. Miacis is a member of the family...
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U and V Winding Down
Vulpavus ovatusUintacyon, Vassacyon, and Vulpavus are just a few more genera in the family Miacidae. Together they are comprised of 15 total species (8 in Uintacyon, 2 in Vassacyon, and 5 in Vulpavus)....
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Ending on A Sadder Note
Miacidae has been an interesting family to look at. Essentially they would have, had they been domesticated, the all around pet for everyone. If you like dogs, they are like dogs. If you like cats,...
View ArticleShort of A Prize
Thomas Huxley described and named Acanthopholis in the 19th century. Some of the writings he created in which the dinosaur is mentioned have survived long enough to make it online. However, these...
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Something New to Consider
In 1999 Superbiola and Barrett reviewed the materials attributed to Acanthopholis and determined that the material was not distinct enough to merit being anything more than fragmentary bits of the...
View ArticleDubious Favorite
Acanthopholis, meaning "spiny scales", is somewhat famous, despite being dubious in its distinctions, from time to time. Unfortunately, the debatable nature of things due to fragmentary remains as...
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Adding Up!
©Karkamesh (accuracy disputed)Adasaurus mongoliensis, meaning Ada's lizard, is a small theropod dinosaur described and named in 1983 by Rinchen Barsbold. Ada is a Mongolian mythological character...
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Being Average
Unknown but clearly based on the Timothy Bradley illustrationThe thing to know about illustrations of Adasaurus is that they all appear to be very uniform in terms of looking like Dromaeosaurids. They...
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