Mammuthus columbi (Columbian Mammoth)

Note: A digitally colored version of the original, available here:
sounder1995.deviantart.com/art…

Mammuthus columbi (Falconer, 1857) (Columbian Mammoth)
-    Formerly = Mammuthus imperator? (Leidy, 1858)
- Formerly = Mammuthus jeffersonii? (Osborn, 1922)
Synapsida
Mammalia
Theria
Eutheria
Placentalia
Afrotheria
Paenungulata
Proboscidea
Elephantidae

Pleistocene to Early Holocene
North America

Height: 4 m at the shoulder

A (more) southern relative of the woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), the Columbian mammoth sadly is also no longer a resident of our home planet. Whether he’s a victim of climate change and/or overhunting by North American “native” humans (Both the mammoths and humans migrated to North America from Asia by crossing the Bering land bridge) remains contested.

Monday, October 19th, 2015

Lythronax argestes

Note: A digitally colored version of the original, available here:
sounder1995.deviantart.com/art…

Lythronax argestes (Loewen et al., 2013)
Sauropsida
Diapsida
Archosauria
Avemetatarsalia
Dinosauria
Saurischia
Theropoda
Tetanurae
Coelurosauria
Tyrannosauroidea
Tyrannosauridae
Tyrannosaurinae

Campanian, Late Cretaceous
Utah, United States

Length: 8 m

Despite being the oldest known tyrannosaurid, Lythronax already hunted her prey with full color binocular vision like her younger and larger sister, T. rex.

Monday, October 19th, 2015

Lythronax argestes

Lythronax argestes (Loewen et al., 2013)
Sauropsida
Diapsida
Archosauria
Avemetatarsalia
Dinosauria
Saurischia
Theropoda
Tetanurae
Coelurosauria
Tyrannosauroidea
Tyrannosauridae
Tyrannosaurinae

Campanian, Late Cretaceous
Utah, United States

Length: 8 m

Despite being the oldest known tyrannosaurid, Lythronax already hunted her prey with full color binocular vision like her younger and larger sister, T. rex.

Monday, October 19th, 2015

Arthropleura armata

Note: A digitally colored version of the original, available here:
sounder1995.deviantart.com/art…

Arthropleura armata (Meyer, 1853)
Arthropoda
Myriapoda
Diplopoda (Millipedes)
Arthropleuridea

Early Carboniferous to Early Permian
Northeastern North America and Scotland

Length: 2.6 m

One of the largest arthropods of all time, she grazed the jungles that once covered North America and Scotland.

Monday, October 19th, 2015

Kelenken guillermoi

Note: A digitally colored version of the original, available here:
sounder1995.deviantart.com/art…

Kelenken guillermoi (Bertelli et al., 2007)
Sauropsida
Diapsida
Archosauria
Dinosauria
Saurischia
Theropoda
Coelurosauria
Avialae
Aves (Birds)
Neognathae
Cariamiformes
Phorusrhacidae (“Terror Birds”)

Middle Miocene
South America

Height: Up to 3 m

Armed with sharp talons and the most massive skull of any known bird, this titanic predator towered over all other competition. She dispatched her prey with swift downward blows from her beak.

Sunday, October 18th, 2015

Qianzhousaurus sinensis

Note: A digitally colored version of the original, available here:
sounder1995.deviantart.com/art…

Qianzhousaurus sinensis (Lü et al., 2014)
Sauropsida
Diapsida
Archosauria
Dinosauria
Saurischia
Theropoda
Tetanurae
Coelurosauria
Tyrannosauroidea
Tyrannosauridae
Tyrannosaurinae
Alioramini

Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous
Southern China

Length: 8 m

This strange Chinese relative of T. rex (no wait, that’s me!) helped shed some light on the evolution and phylogenetic relationships of Mongolian sister Alioramus.

Saturday, October 17th, 2015

Qianzhousaurus sinensis

Qianzhousaurus sinensis (Lü et al., 2014)
Sauropsida
Diapsida
Archosauria
Dinosauria
Saurischia
Theropoda
Tetanurae
Coelurosauria
Tyrannosauroidea
Tyrannosauridae
Tyrannosaurinae
Alioramini

Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous
Southern China

Length: 8 m

This strange Chinese relative of T. rex (no wait, that’s me!) helped shed some light on the evolution and phylogenetic relationships of Mongolian sister Alioramus.

Saturday, October 17th, 2015

Torvosaurus gurneyi

Note: A digitally colored version of the original, available here:
sounder1995.deviantart.com/art…

Torvosaurus gurneyi (Hendrickx & Mateus, 2014)
Sauropsida
Diapsida
Archosauria
Avemetatarsalia
Dinosauria
Saurischia
Theropoda
Tetanurae
Megalosauroidea
Megalosauridae

Late Jurassic
Portugal

Length: 10 m

The largest carnivore to ever walk on European soil, she remained synonymous with her North American sister Torvosaurus tanneri until a new analysis in 2014 discovered enough oral differences between them to warrant her own separate species, in this case named after the writer and illustrator of Dinotopia, James Gurney. 

Saturday, October 10th, 2015

Torvosaurus gurneyi

Torvosaurus gurneyi (Hendrickx & Mateus, 2014)
Sauropsida
Diapsida
Archosauria
Avemetatarsalia
Dinosauria
Saurischia
Theropoda
Tetanurae
Megalosauroidea
Megalosauridae

Late Jurassic
Portugal

Length: 10 m

The largest carnivore to ever walk on European soil, she remained synonymous with her North American sister Torvosaurus tanneri until a new analysis in 2014 discovered enough oral differences between them to warrant her own separate species, in this case named after the writer and illustrator of Dinotopia, James Gurney.

Saturday, October 10th, 2015

2 Years...

It was a long, long time ago, on the night of Saturday, August 24th, 2013. It was my fourth day of university, and that night they had numerous activities set up around campus to welcome all the incoming freshmen/women. One of the activities was customizing a design for a transparent cup (the design was on paper and would be visible through the outer wall of the cup). Here, you see my customized design. It's supposed to be a silhouette of Django (from Django Unchained) riding atop his horse with a Ray Gun (from Call of Duty zombies). Meanwhile, the words of Leonard Nimoy (Spock from Star Trek) echo in the background...

More than two years later, a lot has changed. Nimoy is now dead, along with Paul Walker, John Nash, Nelson Mandela, Robin Williams, Wes Craven, Brian Rickard (Yoteslaya on YouTube), and probably a lot of other people that I am forgetting to mention. ISIS became the new big threat in the Middle East. NASA found water on Mars. The Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in the US. Islamic extremists gunned down twelve heroic cartoonists in the streets of Paris in broad daylight. Numerous African American deaths at the hands of law enforcement gained notoriety in the media. Crimea became Russian territory. A refugee crisis arrived on European shores. Vladimir Putin sent Russian forces into Syria. The list goes on...

It's amazing how quickly two years can go by and how much can happen during that time. I myself have changed drastically along with the rest of the world. As I get older and wiser and have to start thinking about post-university life, I will hopefully revamp the above design to create something epic... Hopefully with giant robots and dinosaurs... with lasers! Stay tuned... (ETA: Early 2016?)