Europelta carbonensis

Note: A digitally colored version of the original, available here:
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Europelta carbonensis (Kirkland et al., 2013)
Sauropsida
Diapsida
ArchosauriaAvemetatarsalia
Dinosauria
Ornithischia
Thyreophora (Armored Dinosaurs)
Ankylosauria
Nodosauridae
Struthiosaurinae

Early Cretaceous
Spain

Length: 4.5 m

The most complete ankylosaur known from Europe, her remains were found in a Spanish coal mine.

Monday, September 28th, 2015

Jaekelopterus rhenaniae

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

Jaekelopterus rhenaniae (Waterston, 1964)Ecdysozoa
Panarthropoda
Arthropoda
Cherlicerata
Merostomata
Eurypterida (Sea Scorpions)
Pterygotioidea
Pterygotidae

Middle Devonian
Germany

Length: 2.6 m (3.6 m if chelicerae (pincers) extended)

One of the largest arthropods of all time, she prefers to hunt in freshwater rather than the saltier homes of her ancestors.

Monday, September 28th, 2015

Basilosaurus isis

Note: A digitally colored version of the original, available here:
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Basilosaurus isis (Andrews, 1904)Synapsida
Therapsida
Mammalia
Theria
Eutheria
Laurasiatheria
Cetartiodactyla
Whippomorpha
Cetacea
Basilosauridae

Late Eocene
Egypt and Jordan

12 - 20 m

This ancient predatory whale's strange name comes from the fact that her bones were initially thought to belong to some sort of enormous non-avian sauropsid (reptile for those less cladistically inclined). Having the strongest (calculated) bite force of any known mammal (about 16,400 pounds at her upper third premolar), she would have fed her young by biting open the skulls of juvenile Dorudon, another (smaller) ancient whale. (Source: journals.plos.org/plosone/arti…)

Friday, September 25th, 2015

Atopodentatus unicus

Note: A digitally colored version of the original, available here:
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Atopodentatus unicus (Cheng et al., 2014)
Sauropsida
Diapsida
Sauropterygia?

Middle Triassic
Yunnan Province, China

Length: 3 m

Her bifurcated premaxilla (split upper jaw) likely evolved for filter feeding, but honestly, your guess is as good as mine.

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2015

Carcharodontosaurus iguidensis

Carcharodontosaurus iguidensis (Brusatte & Sereno, 2007)Sauropsida
Diapsida
Archosauria
Avemetatarsalia
Dinosauria
Saurischia
Theropoda
Tetanurae
Carnosauria
Allosauroidea
Carcharodontosauridae

Early - Late Cretaceous
North Africa

Length: 10 - 13 m

One of the largest carnivores to ever walk the Earth, she has evolved serrated, blade-like teeth (the "serrations" actually being deep folds: www.nature.com/articles/srep12…), adapted for slicing through flesh with ease. Sadly, her genus's original remains were no match for British WWII bombers...

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2015

Carcharodontosaurus iguidensis

Carcharodontosaurus iguidensis (Brusatte & Sereno, 2007)Sauropsida
Diapsida
Archosauria
Avemetatarsalia
Dinosauria
Saurischia
Theropoda
Tetanurae
Carnosauria
Allosauroidea
Carcharodontosauridae

Early - Late Cretaceous
North Africa

Length: 10 - 13 m

One of the largest carnivores to ever walk the Earth, she has evolved serrated, blade-like teeth (the "serrations" actually being deep folds: www.nature.com/articles/srep12…), adapted for slicing through flesh with ease. Sadly, her genus's original remains were no match for British WWII bombers...

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2015

Brontosaurus excelsus

Note: A digitally colored version of the original, available here:
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Brontosaurus excelsus (Marsh, 1879)Sauropsida
Diapsida
Archosauria
Avemetatarsalia
Dinosauria
Saurischia
Sauropodomorpha
Anchisauria
Sauropoda
Neosauropoda
Diplodocoidea
Diplodocidae
Apatosaurinae

Late Jurassic
Morrison Formation
Wyoming and Utah, United States

Length: 22 m

If you needed further evidence that the Linnaean taxonomic system is broken and needs replacement, then Old Bronty here is your Huckleberry. More than a century after her genus was synonymized with Apatosaurus in 1903, a new study in 2015 revalidated Othniel Charles Marsh's original description of Brontosaurus being phylogenetically distinct from Apatosaurus (Apatosaurus had a fatter neck). Brontosaurus lives again!

Link to paper here (I apologize if there's a paywall!):
peerj.com/articles/857/

Sunday, September 13th, 2015

Tylosaurus pembinensis

Note: A digitally colored version of the original, available here:
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Tylosaurus pembinensis (Marsh, 1872)

Sauropsida

Diapsida

Lepidosauria

Squamata
Toxicofera

Mosasauroidea

Mosasauridae

Tylosaurinae

Late Cretaceous

Central / Western United States

Length: 15 m

More than a century after Cope and Marsh first dug up fossils of this giant sea lizard, our view of her has changed drastically. We now know that she swam mostly using an asymmetrical tail fluke, was countershaded, and lacked a dorsal crest.

Sunday, September 13th, 2015

Majungasaurus crenatissimus

Note: A digitally colored version of the original, available here:
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Majungasaurus crenatissimus (Lavocat, 1955)Sauropsida
Diapsida
Archosauria
Avemetatarsalia
Dinosauria
Saurischia
Theropoda
Ceratosauria
Abelisauroidea
Abelisauridae
Majungasaurinae

Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous)
Madagascar

Length: 8 m

When she's not busy sleeping, Majungasaurus dined on sauropods such as Rapetosaurus and, occasionally, other Majungasaurus.

Saturday, September 12th, 2015

Deinotherium bozasi

Note: This is a digitally colored version of the original, available here:
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Deinotherium bozasi (Arambourg, 1934)
Mammalia
Afrotheria
Paenungulata
Proboscidea
Deinotheriidae

Late Miocene to Early Pleistocene
Africa

Height: 5 m at the shoulder

Up until around a million years ago, our ancestors in Africa walked in the shadows of one of the largest land mammals of all time.

Sunday, September 6th, 2015

Titanoboa cerrejonensis

Note: This is a digitally colored version of the original, available here: 
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Titanoboa cerrejonensis (Head et al., 2009)
Sauropsida
Diapsida
Lepidosauria
Squamata
Serpentes
Boidae
Boinae

Paleocene
Colombia

Length: 13 m

The largest snake of all time, she prowled the swamps of South America a mere 5 million years after the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs.

Sunday, September 6th, 2015

Anomalocaris saron

Note: This is a digitally colored version of the original, available here:
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Anomalocaris saron (Hou, Bergstroem, & Ahlberg, 1995)
Stem-Arthropoda
Dinocaridida?
Radiodonta
Anomalocarididae

Early to Mid Cambrian
Chengjiang, Yunnan, China

Length: 2 m

At a time when most animals could fit in the palm of your hand, this close relative of arthropods was the largest apex predator of her time.

Sunday, September 6th, 2015