Carnotaurus sastrei

Note: A digitally colored version of the original, available here:

http://sounder1995.blogspot.com/2015/08/carnotaurus-sastrei.html

Carnotaurus sastrei (Bonaparte, 1985)

Sauropsida

Diapsida

Archosauria

Dinosauria

Saurischia

Theropoda

Ceratosauria

Abelisauroidea

Abelisauridae

Late Cretaceous

South America

Length: 8 – 9 m

The “flesh eating bull” in Latin, she has evolved a large caudofemoralis (muscle at the base of her tail), enabling her to run at surprisingly fast speeds for an animal of her size. Unfortunately, this came at the cost of smaller muscles for tail stability. To compensate, her proximal caudal vertebrae (tail vertebrae closest to her pelvis) interlocked with one another and her pelvis. This severely limited her ability to make tight turns, which likely led to many a pratfall. Luckily, her vestigial arms (proportionately the smallest in any known dinosaur, save for some flightless birds) meant there was not much to break in the event of a fall.

On the off chance anyone reads this, I’m taking a poll:

Who would win in a slap fight: this gal or a toddler?

“I hate Carnotaurus.”

-    Stephen Lang

Credit goes to http://robertfabiani.deviantart.com/  for the inspiration for the horn design.

Tuesday, March 29th, 2016

Anisodon grande

Note: A digitally colored version of the original, available here:

http://sounder1995.blogspot.com/2015/08/anisodon-grande.html

Anisodon grande (Lartet, 1851)

-    Formerly = Chalicotherium grande (Blainville, 1849)

Mammalia

Theria

Eutheria

Placentalia

Boreoeutheria

Laurasiatheria

Perissodactyla

Chalicotheriidae

Chalicotheriinae

Late Oligocene to Early Pliocene

Europe

Height: 2.5+ m at the shoulder

A knuckle walking relative of modern day horses, rhinos, and tapirs, A. grande (not to be confused with Ariana Grande) spent a lot of her time sitting in front of trees and eating their leaves like a gorilla or panda.

Tuesday, March 29th, 2016

Helicoprion

Note: A digitally colored version of the original, available here:

http://sounder1995.blogspot.com/2015/08/helicoprion.html

Helicoprion sp. (Karpinsky, 1899)

Chondrichthyes (Cartilaginous Fishes)

Holocephali

Eugeneodontida

Agassizodontidae

Late Carboniferous to Early Triassic

Worldwide

Length: 3 – 4 m

For over a century, bipedal apes scratched their heads in confusion as to where this fish’s dentition fit inside her mouth; being a cartilaginous fish, only her teeth managed to survive hundreds of millions of years of geological processes and hominid error. In 2013, newly described fossils, that included preserved cartilage, finally shed some light on her enigmatic oral features. It appears she likely evolved such unique dentition to help her more efficiently consume (and potentially shell) cephalopods. Yum! Who wants calamari?

Saturday, March 26th, 2016

Dakotaraptor steini

Dakotaraptor steini (DePalma et al., 2015)

Sauropsida

Diapsida

Archosauria

Dinosauria

Saurischia

Theropoda

Tetanurae

Coelurosauria

Maniraptora

Paraves

Dromaeosauridae (“Raptors”)

Eudromaeosauria

Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous

South Dakota, United States

Hell Creek Formation

Length: 5.5 m

Tied with Utahraptor for being the largest known “raptor,” this swift predator shared her home with the considerably more common (and far larger) Tyrannosaurus.

Saturday, December 26^th, 2015