Too Many Choices
Probably because Simosuchus has such an interesting skull and teeth for a crocodilian relative there are a number of papers and studies of Simosuchus. The odd shape and the intriguing phylogenetic...
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New Old Animals
Sphenacodontids ("Wedge point tooth") are a group of synapsids that are known from fossils found across Europe and North America from ages between from the Late Pennsylvanian to the Middle Permian. The...
View ArticleNot A Dinosaur
Pelycosaurs are not dinosaurs. As Dimetrodon is a pelycosaur, Dimetrodon is also not a dinosaur. This has mostly been eroded from the popular psyche, though there are still vestiges of Dimetrodon's...
View ArticlePapers of Many Measures
There are many Dimetrodon papers. A significant number of those papers are descriptions of different finds of Dimetrodon from various different places. The original naming papers would be most...
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It Refers to Brambles
One might imagine that with a name like Rubeosaurus ovatus the person naming the dinosaur may have been poking fun at someone, but the name actually means "Bramble lizard" and references the appearance...
View ArticleTwo papers
There are two important papers that everyone interested in Rubeosaurus should take a moment to read today. These papers discuss, first, some interesting remains of "Styracosaurus" ovatus in which the...
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Early Feathers
We always love a fossil that we haven't talked about or a fossil that has had a lengthy absence and we are talking about it for the first time in a really long time. This may or may not be one of those...
View ArticleCaveats of the Internet
Any time that one searches for anything discussing birds, dinosaurs, and/or evolution, one must be aware of the confusing and argumentative cyclone of websites that are out there. Looking up an animal...
View ArticleIt's in the Name
It was mentioned earlier this week that Protarchaeopteryx, as a name, translates literally to "Before Archaeopteryx". This poses a small problem because Protarchaeopteryx is a Cretaceous...
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The Tallest Sauropod
Sauropods were enormous animals, for the most part. They certainly have a wide range of sizes, but the absolute largest sauropod ever known was discovered in southeast Oklahoma and described in 2000 by...
View ArticleVideos of Giant Sauropods
Invest a little time in learning a little bit about Sauroposeidon today with WizScience and Dinosaurs Unearthed:
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Celebrating Lyme Regis
©Dmitry BogdanovThe holotype of Temnodontosaurus platyodon (originally Ichthyosaurus platyodon) is approximately 6.1 m (20 ft) long and was discovered in 1821. Although the name means "cutting tooth...
View ArticleShort on Facts
I always find it to be a little odd when there are few places to find facts on what should otherwise be a fairly well-known animal. Considering Temnodontosaurus' place in fossil finding history and its...
View ArticleEnjoy some Images
Today, enjoy some imagery of Temnodontosaurus. Also, enjoy some toy reviews. The second video is a model from CollectA and is particularly interesting as it includes a pup in the process of being born;...
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Fossils and Parrots
When one searches fossil parrot two things appear. One is a report of a partial tarsometatarsus (a bone in the foot) from Siberia that was dated to 16-18 MYA. This is interesting, but it is a very...
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Animals Not Often Known
This week I decided that we really ought to get a little bit of knowledge into an odd group of animals that we have never looked at before. We have explored a lot of marine animals including fish,...
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Groundhog Day
In 2014 a fossil skull from Madagascar introduced us to a "groundhog-like" mammal of the Late Cretaceous. The animal was named Vintana sertichi in Krause et. al, 2014. This mammal was estimated to...
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Fancy Pets
The "Mexican Walking Fish" (Ambystoma mexicanum) is probably one of the first non-mammalian animals that I ever interacted with (aside from actual fish) in an extended capacity. My mother was tasked...
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Returns and New Beginnings
I am back to having the time to write a little bit here and there every day. There are many good animals to start with as we restart these (mostly) daily entries. I decided that, since this is the...
View ArticleWeek of Moving
When Keichousaurus came across my screen the first time I thought it was an impressive appearing nothosaur but that it had a funny little head. Then I realized everything about this aquatic reptile was...
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