Showing posts with label fossil. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fossil. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Cretaceous wonders

Diabloceratops: 
Devil horned face seems pretty accurate.

While Triceratops is perhaps the second most famous dinosaur in the world, it doesn't seem to be very big in our imagination.  Almost always depicted interacting with T-rex, which is a huge predator, Triceratops seems small in comparison.  It was massive.  Triceratops was 9m long, it's skull alone was 2m, with huge legs to support its bulk; estimated between 6 to 12 tonnes twice that of a large male African Elephant.  
Seeing a herd of these animals would have been breath taking and rather intimidating, the adults were about 3 meters tall.

The reconstruction below was on a 1m high platform so as to not take up even more floor space.
Standing on the same level I would bump my head on its chin.

 No exhibition of triceratops and its relatives would be complete with the predator which likely ate many of them: Tyrannosaurus Rex.  Though to be honest it seemed rather spindly compared to the triceratops next to it.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Dinosaurs of Gondwana

The Osaka Museum of Natural History is currently exhibiting some extraordinary dinosaurs from the super continent of Gondwana.
They really grab your attention.

Malawisaurus Dixeyi, a smaller titanosaur, still huge.

Stegasaurus' head was about the same size as the head of a large dog.

Suchomimus (crocodile mimic), a relative of Spinosaurus, appears to be specialized in catching fish, and has teeth of the same kind and arrangement as modern crocodiles.

Aucasaurus Garridoi, looked to have even smaller arms than T. Rex.
It also appeared that most of the lower arm bones were fused together.
Rawr

Mapusaurus Roseae, a huge meat eating dinosaur, having larger arms and more blade-like teeth than T. Rex. The smaller dinosaur in the lower right is a juvenile of the same species.

Gigantosaurus carolinii, bigger than the Mapusaurus above, it was even larger than the Tyranosaurus Rex, with a skull 1.8m (6ft) long.


Not the biggest predator but certainly very fast and able to chase down whatever it wanted to, and long arms to grab its prey.
Deltadromeus agilis.

Unenlagia comahuensis, a dromaeosaur, which was feathered but did not fly. Rather, it ran around chasing other flightless bird like dinosaurs. At 2m in length it's a bit like a lion, only faster with arms and sickle like claws on its feet.

Anabisetia saldiviai, lunch for Unenlagai.

A recent find from Morocco,
Carcharodontosaurus saharicus, 'shark toothed lizard of the Sahara'

What Carcharodontosaurus would have looked like before it ate you.