Paleontology - Blog Posts
All of the Prehistoric Pride guys in one collective post to celebrate pride month. Choose your fighter and have an awesome time :D
More suggestions are always welcome, I sadly was not able to cover everyone, but I will do more of these in the future!
I am going to add more and more to the collection as I get them done :D
If you would like to support my silly little dinosaur art, then you can buy any of these Prideaurs as stickers from my Etsy shop, which I just set up recently. I am pretty new to this entire business side of art things, but I am trying my best :D so a like or a reblog would go a long way. Thank you guys so much for all your kind words and support!
fun fact, did you know that sharks existed before the North Star even formed? they also existed before TREES!
i love sharks
DiNoSaUr!!!!
It’s Fossil Friday! Take a bite out of the weekend with Dilophosaurus wetherilli, a carnivorous dinosaur that lived some 194 million years ago during the Early Jurassic. This dino acquired its name, which means “double-crested reptile,” from the paired crests on its skull. They were possibly used for display. This specimen was found in 1942 at the Kayenta Formation in Tuba City, Arizona. You can see it in the Museum’s Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs!
Photo: © AMNH
currently analyzing way too intensely that one meme video from like over a decade ago that goes
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haa
ha ha
ha ha ha ha ha
ha ha
yee
If humans were reconstructed from nothing but bones, they would 100% give us fur. The idea of “hairless except for the top of the head where the hair is actually the longest in the entire animal kingdom” would never come up
@ofowlsdinosaursanddragons 👀👀👀👀
TRex posting bc it’s growing on me and slowly becoming my fav dinosaur
Ik i said i was done for the year bur….demons yk?(me and a friend were yapping abt dinosaurs and the autism took over(might also draw a gun later today too who knows). Not too proud of the lacrimal horns but aside from that it looks good :3
Hooray! It's always a blast to discover more jurassic species! And this one's a crocodile ancestor!
Jurassic-Period Crocodile Ancestor Unearthed in Chile
http://www.sci-news.com/paleontology/burkesuchus-mallingrandensis-09929.html
It’s Fossil Friday! Let’s swim back in time about 85 million years to the Late Cretaceous Period to meet Xiphactinus, a gigantic predatory fish. This species could reach lengths of 17 ft (5.2 m) and was capable of swallowing a 6-ft- (2-m-) long fish whole!
The Museum’s Xiphactinus fossils come from Logan County, Kansas, which is home to 70-ft- (21.3 m-) tall sedimentary formations. Though that might not sound like an ideal home for an ocean-dweller, the entire area was covered by a vast inland sea during the Cretaceous.
Photo: Image no. ptc-6634 © AMNH (circa 1996)
New Species of Ancient Giant Alligator Identified
http://www.sci-news.com/paleontology/deinosuchus-schwimmeri-08730.html
Sauropod Ceiling
Imagine being on a caving trip, looking up at the ceiling, and seeing something fascinating on the roof of the cave you’re in. Apparently that happened to one of the geoscientists who authored a paper on this set of enormous dinosaur tracks found in a cave in southern France.
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It makes me sad how no one ever seems to mention how wild the crocodilian-line archosaurs were. Dinosaurs get all the attention when there was equally crazy shit happening on the other branch of the archosaur tree.
There was a whole linage of bipedal crocodylomorphs during the Triassic that were basically identical to theropod dinosaurs, so much so that a lot of them were initially classified as dinosaurs!
Just fucking look at them!
And these weren’t just little lizard guys, there were some big lads running around.
Not to mention the long-legged ones that galloped around on all fours like some kind of terrifying reptilian dogs.
These crazy crocodiles aren’t just from the Triassic, either; there was a galloping, hoofed crocodilian that lived during the Eocene and likely hunted horses. (They were smaller and not quite as fast as modern horses, but still)
But don’t worry, they weren’t all meat-eaters! There were vegetarian and omnivore crocodylomorphs too! Just look at this guy!
He was an ankylosaur before ankylosaurs were cool (or even existed).
I had a really stupid idea and had to paint it for a friend.
Wow, it’s Friday! Have a great weekend.
Dunkleosteus model featured in ep. 12 of Shelf Life: 6 Extinctions in 6 Minutes.
RECORD BREAKERS
Life on earth, as magnificent and versatile as it is, is seemingly tame compared to the weird and wonderful creatures that once existed. All categories of life have reached unimaginable sizes, here are just a selection of prehistoric record breakers!
MEGALODON The biggest shark known to have existed, ruling over the oceans as recently as up to a million years ago. A length of almost 20 metres and weighing in at an estimated 48 tonnes, Megalodon could deliver a crucifying bite of up to 110,000N. It is no surprise that the Megalodon was dubbed the “whale killing shark”.
MEGATHERIUM Our early ancestors would have been quite familiar with Megatherium as they existed up to 8000 years ago, they were in fact the largest sloths to have existed. Sloths have a reputation as being lazy, slow and docile, but Megatherium was a 6 metre long, 4 tonne monster with a killer instinct and knife-like claws. Megatherium’s discovery came before that of the dinosaurs. Skeletons of these prehistoric beasts were a delight to the Victorian public and paved the way for the science of palaeontology.
ARCHELON Literally meaning “large turtle”, Archelon certainly was just that. Existing during the cretaceous, the time of the dinosaurs, Archelon could reach 4.5 metres long and may have lived to over 100 years old. Archelon could not compete with other cretaceous beings in speed and agility, but its blade-like beak was able to slice through flesh and crush though the toughest ammonite shells. Unfortunately Archelon appears to have been a popular snack for other marine dwellers, skeletons are frequently missing flippers or heads and covered in slashes.
TITANOBOA When the dinosaurs reign ended, a new era saw the rise of new super-predators, one was Titanoboa, the largest snake ever with a body up to 13 metres long, standing a metre off the ground and weighing up to 2500 pounds. Titanoboa was 30% longer than even todays largest species. Scientists believe this humongous snake hunted like its modern relatives, the boa constrictors, by winding around prey and suffocating them.
IRISH ELK Owner of the largest antlers of any animal, up to 3 metres wide, the Irish Elk gets its name from its frequent discoveries in Irish peat bogs. Existing up to 10,000 years ago, these would have been a common sight in grasslands for our ancestors. Many fossils indicate the animals died of starvation which is why the antlers are thought to have been part of elaborate mating contests between males, often resulting in one being fatally injured and unable to feed itself.
DEINOTHERIUM A distant relative of the elephants and mammoths, Deinotherium was more sinister, its name translates to “terrible beast”, they would have most likely caused trouble for our ancient ancestors around 1.5 million years ago. Deinotherium is actually considered to be the second largest land mammal of all time, behind Paraceratherium and is iconic in appearance due to its sharp, downward facing tusks.
ARCTODUS Known as the short faced bear, they were the biggest bears on record and one of the largest mammal carnivores to have existed. Whilst their skull was short, they were packed with piercing teeth that could deliver a bone crushing bite. Existing up to 11,000 years ago, out ancestors would have stayed well clear of this 900 kilogram predator, with slender limbs and knife-like claws, Arctodus was deadly.
SARCOSUCHUS One of the most infamous fossil discoveries in history, Sarcosuchus was the largest crocodile to walk the Earth up to 112 million years ago, this was a crocodile capable of killing dinosaurs. Sarcosuchus was twice as long as a saltwater crocodile, that’s 11-12 metres long and could reach over 8 tonnes. Its jaw was packed full of 66 teeth either side of its jaw and would have clamped down on prey that wandered too near.
ARGENTINOSAURUS One of the largest lifeforms that has ever stood on the Earth, Argentinosaurus could grow up to 30 metres long with its hind limbs standing 4.5 metres off the ground. They existed between 97-94 million years ago and at adulthood would have been virtually indestructible to predators. Its weight is estimated at a staggering 80-100 tonnes. There hasn’t been another land mammal on the same scale as Argentinosaurus since and it’s unlikely there ever will be.
SPINOSAURUS The largest discovered therapod ever, a group that includes Allosaurus and Tryrannosaurus. Spinosaurus remained an enigma to scientists for decades, the only discovered specimen was sadly destroyed during World War 2 and was not rediscovered until the 21st century. Spinosaurus is thought to have reached up to 16 metres long and weighed in around 12 tonnes, that is almost double the weight of a T-rex!
Can you believe this monster snake actually existed?
Titanoboa is an extinct genus of very large snakes that lived in what is now La Guajira in northeastern Colombia. They could grow up to 12.8 m long and reach a weight of 1,135 kg. Fossils of Titanoboa have been found in the Cerrejón Formation, and date to around 58 to 60 million years ago.
Titanoboa skeleton on display at Queensland Art Gallery
sauropod emojis, as rated by a palaeontology student
apple:
not a bad start here overall! this is recognisably intended as a brachiosaurid, and the skull shape and overall profile are pretty good (though they look a bit juvenile-ish). points off, though, for the inaccurate hands - rather than elephantine columns, they were more shaped like lima beans in cross-section. yes, really. they also only had one claw per hand (it was on the thumb). also points off for having the external fleshy nostril located on the dome of the skull; while this is the position of the bony external nostril, there is evidence that the fleshy nostril was probably located at the tip of the snout. its dead eye haunts me
score: 7/10 solid attempt
google:
google clearly went for a cartoonier approach, and to my view it served them well. still recognisably a brachiosaur - the shape of the skull and overall proportions make it resemble Europasaurus, a type of dwarf sauropod that lived on an island in what is now eastern europe. which immediately ups its score in my book. however, it falls victim to the same issues with elephantine hands as did the apple one, and as such i can’t give it a perfect score.
score: 9/10 friendly!
microsoft:
this emoji cleverly avoids any scientific inaccuracies by being extremely cartoony. i like the use of single colours rather than gradients. a little too simple for my tastes though. i can’t tell what find of sauropod, if any, it was intended to be - a brachiosaur, because of the upright neck? a mamenchisaur, maybe? i have little to work with.
score: 6/10 just too vague
samsung:
i don’t like her at all. clearly a brachiosaur - sensing a common theme - but something about it is just unpleasant to me. the body seems too fat, the limbs too short, the tail too noodly, the head too pointy. also messes up the hands again.
score: 3/10. please leave.
whatsapp:
at last, an emoji that bucks the brachiosaur trend!! this is clearly not a brachiosaur. in fact, it looks like a possible Cetiosaurus-type deal. whatever it is, it’s charming. the nostrils are at the end of the snout as they should be and - is it? - can it be? - it is! the hands are anatomically correct! each clearly has one claw, located on the thumb, and though we can’t see well, they don’t appear to be elephantine. i love them a lot.
score: 10/10 only shooting stars break the mold - oh god im so sorry i shouldve phrased that differently–
twitter:
a classic. what it lacks in detail it makes up in simplicity. it has pleasant lines and an appealing silhouette. it’s extremely vague and not based off of any real genus, and the tail is far too short, but for some reason this doesn’t bother me too much.
score: 8/10. exquisite
facebook:
hm. hmm. a lot of anatomical though was clearly put into this; overall the body form looks like a plausible sauropod. the proportions look a little weird, sure, but that seems to be perspective - after all, most sauropods were gigantic beings. beefy boys, if you will. its nostrils, upon close inspection, are correctly placed; however, its hands and feet are all messed up. i guess the real conundrum for me is that it seems to be a mish-mash of sauropods - remove the braciosaur-like domed skull, and it would be a great fit for an Apatosaurus.
score: 8/10 i’m conflicted
joypixels
what in the hell is joypixels? and what in the hell is this? i just…the hands and feet are plantigrade, meaning that the ankles touch the ground, when actual sauropods were digitigrade - walking on their toes. the shoulder and hip muscles aren’t there, and instead the limbs are just awkwardly connected to the body. it reminds me of a turtle, and not in a good way.
score: 4/10. uninspired and dull
openmoji:
they didnt try. nor will i.
score: 0/10 make an effort
emojidex
every emojidex emoji i have ever seen has just been awful. this is no different. this looks like a stereotypical loser from a meme, but as a dinosaur. the contrast between the decently moderate level of artistic detail put in and the blatant disinterest towards making it look like an animal is staggering. just awful.
score: -3/10 i just cant care enough about it to rate it lower
emojipedia:
excuse me? what the fuck? what the fuck is this? this is the main character from the low-budget ripoff of the good dinosaur. the head looks like a Corythosaurus and the body looks like barney in leapfrog stance. the gradients just make me feel a little sick. it’s awful. look at the hindlimbs and tell me that any love was put into drawing this. it’s like how a dinosaur would be drawn on tom and jerry but like, the bad charmless ones made in the 90s that were trying hard to emulate the originals. the hands look like green snowboots.
score: -500/10 i hate you i hate you i hate you i hate you i hate you i hate you
The Ammonoids The Ammonoids are a subclass of cephalopods that inhabited the oceans from the Devonian some 416 million years ago until they went extinct some 65 million years ago. The species evolved and dispersed rapidly around the world and so are some of the best guide fossils for dating the strata in which they are found.
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Scene from an ancient sea floor, as if it happened yesterday, however, these are from Permian period (~299–251 million years ago). Some of these fossilized bivalve shells are still articulated, meaning, left and right shells are still closed together. This tells you that particular animal specimen was undisturbed since its death, until now. The hard rock that envelops these shells was once a soft sediment in which these molluscs lived.
South coast NSW, Australia
Okay, the title of The Atlantic’s article might be a little click-bait-y. But the discovery is truly remarkable. A new bone has been analyzed from the already-famous cave in Russia, and it belonged to, per DNA analysis, the daughter of a Neanderthal mother and a Denisovan father.
These Are The Oldest Footprints On Earth
Found on a prehistoric sea floor, the oldest footprints ever found were left between 551 million and 541 million years ago during the Ediacaran period. That is hundreds of millions of years before the dinosaurs.
The trackways tell scientists it was left by a bilaterian animal — that is, a creature with bilateral symmetry that has a head at one end, a back end at the other, and a symmetrical right and left side. Its paired appendages, scientists did not call them legs, were used to raise the animal off the sea floor as it moved.
TOP 10 PREHISTORIC OCEAN PREDATORS
10. ANOMALOCARIS (~ 525 Ma) This one metre long invertebrate surely deserves to be included on the list, being one of the first complex oceanic predators to ever have existed. Anomalocaris stalked the Cambrian oceans, viewing the world with a deadly new evolutionary innovation - eyes. Complex eyes allowed this creature to storm its way to the top of the food chain, and with powerful appendages covered in spines it had no trouble devouring prey with tough carapaces. Whilst Anomalocaris is dwarfed by the other contenders on this list, it was still over 10 times larger than any other animal of its time.
9. KRONOSAURUS (125-99 Ma) Kronosaurus, a Cretaceous mosasaur, is named after the Greek titan, Cronus. Its name is well deserved as this ancient beast was a remarkably powerful being. Kronosaurus could reach up to 10 metres long and had a mouth full of sharp, conical teeth. Unlike most other mosasaurs its tail was relatively short, however, evidence shows that Kronosaurus has immensely powerful fins and a pectoral girdle making it an impressive swimmer and hunter.
8. HELICOPRION (290-250 Ma) Helicoprion has astounded scientists since its discovery over 100 years ago. It is iconic for its bizarre spiral of teeth, there are still debates on where exactly these teeth where on the shark with proposals stating they were inside the mouth, on the tip of the tail, the dorsal fin or hanging under the jaw. The most commonly accepted location of the teeth is inside the lower jaw enabling Helicoprion to cleanly slice its prey into pieces.
7. XIPHACTINUS (~110-70 Ma) Xiphactinus was an extraordinary fish that lived during the Cretaceous. It was an esteemed predator that could reach an incredible 6 metres in length and specimens are renowned for their stunning preservation. One such example was 4 metres long and found with another exceptionally well preserved fish just short of 2 metres inside it implying that this particular Xiphactinus individual died shortly after its last feast. Xiphactinus had immensely sharp, slim teeth and an unmistakable underbite which was a possible aid when snaring creatures from below.
6. TYLOSAURUS (86-75 Ma) Tylosaurus is considered a mosasaur and was a vivacious predator all be it smaller than its relative Mosasaurus. Tylosaurus could reach up to 15 metres in length and was one of the apex predators of its day. Fossilised stomach contents of Tylosaurus contain fish, sharks, turtles and other marine reptiles. Despite having an impressive set of teeth, the frontal areas of the jaws exhibit a large reduction in tooth size as well as a more heavily reinforced snout in comparison to other mosasaurs suggesting that Tylosaurus may have rammed into victims with immense force damaging prey internally.
5. MOSASAURUS (70-66 Ma) The mosasaurs ruled the Cretaceous oceans and Mosasaurus was no exception. It could reach up to 17 metres long, longer than most other mosasaurs. Mosasaurus had a strong jaw packed with numerous conical teeth, bite marks of which have been found in huge prehistoric turtles and ammonites suggesting that Mosasaurus was a formidable hunter capable of catching large prey. Mosasaurus was a profound swimmer with strong paddle-like limbs and a huge tail capable of rapidly accelerating the animal when required.
4. DUNKLEOSTEUS (382-358 Ma) Dunkleosteus terrorised the oceans around 370 million years ago and was part of a dynasty known as the placoderm fish (meaning armoured). Dunkleosteus could reach a whopping 6-10 metres in length and probably weighed over a ton. The skull was made up of huge, solid bony plates giving unrivalled protection allowing them to dominate the oceans. Placoderm fish were some of the first organisms to have a mobile jaw, as can be seen in Dunkleosteus’ impressive shearing plates which were used to slice cleanly through prey. Despite an revolutionary jaw, Dunkleosteus could not chew and several fossilised regurgitated remains of its meals have been found that the giant fish simply could not stomach.
3. DAKOSAURUS (157-137 Ma) Dakosaurus was the largest of a group of marine reptiles that were distant relatives of crocodiles. Dakosaurus could reach up to 5 metres long and had a streamlined body with large paddle-like fins and a long muscular tail implying that is was a very efficient swimmer. The diet of Dakosaurus consisted mostly of fish. The teeth of Dakosaurus are lateromedially compressed and serrated which is a similar morphology to modern killer whales indicating that Dakosaurus was an apex predator of the Jurassic oceans. Skull fenestrae provides evidence that Dakosaurus had very large adductor muscles (which are responsible for the jaw closing) and so it was certainly capable of a forceful bite.
2. LIOPLEURODON (160-155 Ma) Liopleurodon stormed the Jurassic oceans, its huge 7 metre long frame effortlessly cruised through the water. The skull itself could reach a massive 1.5 metres long with a jaw that was packed with teeth up to 10cm long and was capable of an immense bone-crushing force. Liopleurodon was a remarkable hunter with the ability to swim with its nostrils open and so could use its powerful sense of smell to track prey from afar, much like sharks do. Liopleurodon most likely had good camouflage such as a lighter underside and a darker topside so it would blend in with the water to prey above and below.
1. MEGALODON (~16-2.6 Ma) Megalodon rightfully deserves the top position of the greatest prehistoric ocean predators, ruling the seas for an incredible 14 million years. Megalodon has been estimated to reach up to 18 metres in length and weighing over 40 tonnes. Megalodon is known for its huge 6 inch teeth which were serrated on both sides for an efficient slicing action. Fossils of Megalodon’s prey have also been found, the shark appeared to have adapted its hunting tactics for different sized prey; for smaller prey they would just use their bone crushing bite to pulverise internal organs, but for larger prey they would bite or rip flippers off of creatures to immobilise them and then go in for the kill. The exact bite force of Megalodon has been estimated at around 110,000 N which was more than enough to shatter even the most robust bones. The hunting methods of Megalodon will unfortunately remain a mystery but it was been hypothesised that they swam at great depths and used short bursts of speed to swim up and tear into their preys vulnerable underbelly. Sharks have existed for over 420 million years and still continue to be some of the most successful predators alive, Megalodon is a perfect example of how deadly they can be.
QUETZALCOATLUS
Quetzalcoatlus goes down in history as the largest flying organism of all time, with a wingspan of 12 metres, which is larger than some planes. Quetzalcoatlus was the undisputed king of the Late cretaceous skies, so it seems fitting that its name is derived from an Aztec god, Quetzalcoatl. Although its wingspan is impressive, Quetzalcoatlus also had a huge 2.5 metre long skull, that is the average height of an Asian elephant! To get such a huge animal in the air, a complex system of air sacs was needed inside the bones, this meant that Quetzalcoatlus probably weighed no more than 250kg. Quetzalcoatlus, along with many pterosaurs, was originally thought to spend most of its time gliding over the oceans, skimming fish out from the surface of the water with their elongated beaks. However, due to the skull and beak morphology and the presence of fossils far inland it has become more widely accepted that Quetzalcoatlus stalked prey far below on the land. The fore and hind limb morphology of Quetzalcoatlus also suggests that they were competent walkers on the land, they would have stood up to 3 metres tall.
The feeding habits of Quetzalcoatlus still remain something of a mystery. It was originally thought to be more of a scavenger, but the blunt beak was unsuited to stripping and picking flesh of a bony creature. It is more likely that Quetzalcoatlus hunted like modern-day storks, stalking the land from the skies above for smaller animals and then swooping down to eat them whole.
WHY THE TRIASSIC????
What the FUCK is so WEIRD about the Triassic?
Well I will TELL YOU!
Okay so first of all, the Triassic is SUPER DUPER OLD. In the grand scheme of the Earth, sure, it happened relatively recently, but working on the scale of the entire geologic time span of the Earth’s existence is not exactly fair:
I mean, animals that we can recognize today didn’t show up until that line in the Phanerozoic (Hadean is the oldest stuff), so like, it’s smack dab in the middle of THAT
Look, basically, here’s what happened:
- The earth Formed. Life Appeared. Chaos reigned (4,600 million years ago until 4,000 million years ago)
- Life began to become more complex. Some life began to stick its blueprints inside of pockets so they’d be safer. They then swallowed other life forms that were better at getting energy, but kept them around like a buddy inside of them. Some of these guys could make a shitton of oxygen. This made the earth cool and a lot of shit die out super duper quickly. Extinction rate unknown. (4,000 million years ago until 2,500 million years ago)
- Climate change and fluctuating oceans allow life to start to group up together into SuperLife aka Multicellular Things. These multicellular things got more and more complicated. Some became animals and started moving around a lot. Some plants went on land. Some things were super weird looking and mysterious. LOTS of experimentation by life. Things start to change and a lot of these early experiments go extinct. Extinction rate unknown. (2,500 million years ago until 541 million years ago)
- Animals can suddenly burrow underground and go absolutely apeshit and diversify faster than you can say “wait a second whAT THE FUCK IS THAT”. Ice Age causes Death, 85% of species die out. (541-444 million years ago)
- Fish suddenly have a chance to be weird too and some of them decide, what the heck, let’s crawl onto land. Why not, right? Some other animals decide to join them. Plants make everything super cold, 75% of all species die out. (444-359 mya)
- Land-vertebrates start to diversify. They try out a lot of new things, but there aren’t a lot of them yet. So there’s still a lot of experimentation in body plans. Mammal-relatives are actually some of the most diverse ones. Reptiles are fairly rare. A GIANT MASS EXTINCTION CAUSED BY A GIANT LAVA FIELD EXPLODING KILLS ~95% OF LIFE ON EARTH. (359-252 mya)
- NEW animals get to try to diversify and do lots of crazy shit in the wake of SO MANY JOBS IN THE ENVIRONMENT GETTING CLEARED OUT. Reptiles diversify so fast you don’t know what the heck is happening. Other animals also take this opportunity to do new and weird shit. VOLCANOS EXPLODE, KILL ~80% OF LIFE (252-201 mya)
- Dinosaurs finally get to do fun things now that other reptiles are no longer being weird. Modern life starts to show up. (201 mya-today).
BASICALLY:
- Land Animals had only just started to diversify and try out new funky things with their bodies in order to cope with the challenges of terrestrial life
- Then a giant mass extinction killed everything. Mass exinctions are bad news for a lot of shit that’s specialized for the environment that’s been destroyed, BUT it allows things that make it through to have a chance to try out new shit to fill all those empty jobs in the environment
- So, generalist reptiles, who hadn’t had a chance to do jack diddly squat before, now suddenly had the whole planet to play with. And the other animals around them, from mammal-cousins to amphibians to fish to insects to other invertebrates, also got to try out some new stuff in this new world
- AND THEN ANOTHER MASS EXTINCTION HAPPENED RIGHT AFTER THAT RESET THE CLOCK AGAIN
This means that the TRIASSIC has some of THE MOST UNIQUE ANIMALS TO HAVE EVER EVOLVED IN EARTH’S HISTORY. Experiments were tried, rapidly, and MANY were lost RIGHT AWAY. It’s not like the life that evolved after that, which was honestly similar to what we see today - or those that evolved after the end-Cretaceous extinction, which was even more like today. These were weirdos that appeared and were wiped out before they could continue on to today
And, because this was a rapid evolutionary period, we see the starts of many of today’s modern groups of animals, and they’re super weird, too!
Honestly, the only weirder period in Earth’s history is the Cambrian Explosion, when animals first started doing anything notable at all
On top of THAT, the ENTIRE EARTH was ONE GIANT SUPERCONTINENT called Pangea! Everyone could go everywhere! There were no terrestrial barriers to movement! So many creatures spread all over the globe. It was a HOTSPOT of biodiversity and a major turning point in Earth’s History
But, because the dinosaurs that evolved in the Triassic were kind of Meh, it doesn’t get enough press!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So, we’re going to cover the Weird and Wonderful animals of the Triassic - we have a carefully curated list of Weirdos ready to take Tumblr by storm, and we hope you’ll enjoy learning about these amazing animals right along with us! You’ll have to wait till tomorrow to see them, though - don’t want to give away the surprises!
GET! PUMPED!
IT’S TRIASSIC TIME!
cosiscience
Walking dinosaur, Columbus Interactive Science Museum
“We don’t just have a skeleton,” said one of the nodosaur researchers involved. “We have a dinosaur as it would have been.”
Known as a nodosaur, this 110 million-year-old, armored plant-eater is the best preserved fossil of its kind ever found.
Source | Source
Isn’t it kind of bananas that for most of human history we’ve been completely oblivious to how utterly environmentally tumultuous the planet has historically been? Before the advent of paleontology, conventional wisdom posited that the earth has more or less looked the same for as long as its been around, but soon enough naturalists like Georges Cuvier came along and said, “well it actually turns out that most of the organisms that have ever existed are actually no longer with us,” thereby introducing the entire concept of extinction to the human race?? Do you realize how coconuts that must have sounded back then?
Not only that, but the more we delved into paleontology the more it became apparent that the Earth has spent so much of its existence (about a billion years) being completely unsuitable and even hostile to life as we know it. A significant stretch of the cosmic timeline classifies our planet as being an oxygen-poor wasteland constantly pounded by asteroids and brimming with active super volcanoes. Even after life on Earth started to stretch out its stubby little amphibious legs we’ve had like five mass extinctions events almost completely fuck it all up (including one known as the Permian extinction which killed off no less than 70% of the planet’s land-based life and 96% of its sea critters). Can you recognize how rare and unlikely it is that out of all the downright catastrophic times any of us could have existed as unfortunate little trilobites or dimetrodons we actually get to exist as humans beings who can learn about this stuff with the help of a scientific discipline that effectively allows us to peer back into the reaches of the past?? Anyway, here’s wonderwall