Sunday, February 22, 2015

Deinotherium bozasi

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.

February 21st, 2015

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Titanoboa cerrejonensis

Titanoboa cerrejonensis (Head et al., 2009)
Sauropsida
Diapsida
Lepidosauria
Squamata
Serpentes
Boidae
Boinae

Paleocene
Colombia

Length: 13 m

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

February 8th, 2015

Sunday, February 1, 2015

Hatzegopteryx thambema

Hatzegopteryx thambema (Buffetaut, Grigorescu & Csiki, 2002)
Sauropsida
Diapsida
Archosauria
Avemetatarsalia
Pterosauria
Pterodactyloidea
Azhdarchoidea
Azhdarchidae

Late Cretaceous
Romania

Wingspan: 11 m

Standing as tall as a giraffe and tied with Quetzalcoatlus for being the largest flying animal ever, this giant of the skies towered above all other denizens of Hateg Island, an island of dwarf dinosaurs.

January 21st, 2015

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Tyrannosaurus rex

Tyrannosaurus rex (Osborn, 1905)
Dinosauria
Saurischia
Theropoda
Tetanurae
Coelurosauria
Tyrannosauroidea
Tyrannosauridae

Late Cretaceous
Western North America

Length: 12.3 m

What does the T. rex say? Lacking the syrinx found in modern birds, T. rex could've growled and hissed like modern crocodilians, but it almost certainly could not have roared. Sorry, Spielberg.

January 18th, 2015

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Tyrannosaurus rex

Tyrannosaurus rex (Osborn, 1905)
Dinosauria
Saurischia
Theropoda
Tetanurae
Coelurosauria
Tyrannosauroidea
Tyrannosauridae

Late Cretaceous
Western North America

Length: 12.3 m

What does the T. rex say? Lacking the syrinx found in modern birds, T. rex could've growled and hissed like modern crocodilians, but it almost certainly could not have roared. Sorry, Spielberg.

January 2015

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Dilophosaurus wetherilli

Dilophosaurus wetherilli (Welles, 1954)
Dinosauria
Theropoda
Dilophosauridae

Early Jurassic
Arizona, United States

Length: 7 m

The frilled and KY jelly spitting terror of greedy fat tech nerds everywhere was larger and less ridiculous in real life. 

December 9th, 2014.