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

Anurognathus ammoni

Note: A digitally colored version of the original, available here:
http://sounder1995.deviantart.com/art/Anurognathus-ammoni-555849082

Anurognathus ammoni (Döderlein, 1923)
Sauropsida
Diapsida
Archosauria
Avemetatarsalia
Pterosauria (Pterodactyls)
Monofenestrata
Caelidracones
Anurognathidae

Late Jurassic
Germany

Wingspan: 35 cm

Long before drones and radio waves filled the air, Anurognathus soared amidst the trees of Germany, snatching up airborne insects with her small, sharp teeth.

Wednesday, December 16th, 2015

Ceratogaulus hatcheri (Horned Gopher)

Note: A digitally colored version of the original, available here:
http://sounder1995.deviantart.com/art/Ceratogaulus-hatcheri-Horned-Gopher-555848854

Ceratogaulus hatcheri (Matthew, 1902) (Horned Gopher)
Synapsida
Therapsida
Theriodontia
Cynodontia
Mammalia
Theria
Eutheria
Placentalia
Boreoeutheria
Euarchontoglires
Glires
Rodentia
Sciuromorpha?
Mylagaulidae

Late Miocene to Early Pleistocene
North America

Length (Quadrupedal): About 30 cm

The smallest horned mammal known to modern science, she has evolved bony (not just keratinous!) horns as a defensive measure. They are no larger nor more elaborate in her male counterparts.

The horned gopher. An animal so self-explanatory, she makes rocket launcher instructions seem like graduate school level calculus!

Sunday, December 6th, 2015

Opabinia regalis

Note: A digitally colored version of the original, available here:
http://sounder1995.deviantart.com/art/Opabinia-regalis-555848586

Opabinia regalis (Walcott, 1912)
Ecdysozoa
Panarthropoda
Stem-Arthropoda
Dinocaridida?
Radiodonta
Opabiniidae

Middle Cambrian
Burgess Shale
British Columbia, Canada

Length: 7 cm (9.4 cm with proboscis)

Long before plastic and radioactive garbage filled the oceans, Opabinia patrolled the seafloor, snatching up soft prey with her trunk and then shoving them into her backward pointing mouth on the underside of her head.

Saturday, December 5th, 2015

“Ain’t I seen you before? I think I remember those eyes, eyes, eyes!”
-    Usher

Yi qi

Note: A digitally coloured version of the original, available here:
http://sounder1995.deviantart.com/art/Yi-qi-555848292

Yi qi (Xu et al., 2015)
Sauropsida
Diapsida
Archosauria
Dinosauria
Saurischia
Theropoda
Tetanurae
Coelurosauria
Maniraptora
Paraves
Scansoriopterygidae

Middle to Late Jurassic
Hebei, China

Estimated Mass: 380 g

Unlike her sister paravians, Yi qi was too cool for pennaceous feathers, sporting absolutely none (unless they somehow failed to be preserved with her remains). Instead, she evolved a “styliform element,” made of bone or at least calcified cartilage, extending from her wrist to help support her membranous wings as she glided, if not soared, through the forests of Middle and Late Jurassic China.

Note: Colouration based on authors' analysis of melanosomes (pigmentation organelles) preserved in the fossil.

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2015