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Post by Talira Greycrest on Jan 26, 2024 7:37:00 GMT
Dinosaurs weren't the only reptiles around during the Mesozoic era. The skies were ruled by pterosaurs of all shapes and sizes, whilst the oceans and shallow seas were home to dozens of different species of marine reptiles including Mosasaurs and long-necked Plesiosaurs. While often referred to as dinosaurs, all these animals actually belonged to separate groups. Name: PteranodonPronunciation: Teh-ran-oh-don Meaning of name: "Winged and toothless" Species: P. longiceps, though it's possible there may be a second species. Wingspan: Males had an estimated wingspan of between 5 and 7 metres. The wingspan for females is estimated to have measured between 3 and 4 metres. Weight estimated between 20 and 90kgs. Family: Pteranodontidae Diet: Piscivore First fossils found: Known from dozens of specimens, most of which are partial skeletons. First discovered by American palaeontologist, Othniel Charles Marsh, in the Niobrara Chalk Formation of western Kansas, in 1870. Named by Mr. Marsh in 1876. A distinguishing feature of this pterosaur was the crest on its head, which was probably used for display. Pteranodon was once thought to be the largest pterosaur until the discoveries of Quetzalcoatlus in 1971 and Hatzegopteryx in 2002, both of which had wingspans of between ten and twelve metres. Lived: 89.8 to 72.1 million years ago from the Coniacian stage through to the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous in what is now the midwestern, southeastern and western United States.
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Post by Admin on Jan 26, 2024 13:40:01 GMT
This is very interesting - thanks for sharing!
Humans didn't appear on Earth until around 5 to 6 million years ago, so humans would have never seen a live Dinosaur.
Thanks and keep posting! Michael
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Post by Talira Greycrest on Jan 27, 2024 5:04:04 GMT
This animal isn't a dino, but rather a very large marine reptile with an incredibly long neck: Name: ElasmosaurusPronunciation: Ee-lazz-mo-sore-us Meaning of name: "Thin plate lizard" Species: E. platyurusSize: Estimated to have measured around 14 metres long and weighed 2.5 metric tonnes. Family: Elasmosauridae Diet: Piscivore First fossils found: Known only from a single, partial skeleton discovered by American army surgeon, Theophilus Hunt Turner, in the Pierre Shale Formation of Kansas in 1867. Named by American palaeontologist, Edward Drinker Cope, in 1868. The most striking feature of this plesiosaur is its neck, which measured half of the animal's total body length, and contained 72 vertebrae. Lived: 80 million years ago during the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous in the Western Interior Seaway, which once covered what is now the western and midwestern United States.
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Post by Talira Greycrest on Jan 28, 2024 4:17:48 GMT
This is one of the largest flying animals to ever exist and is featured in 'Jurassic World Dominion': Name: QuetzalcoatlusPronunciation: Kwet-zal-co-at-lus Meaning of name: Named after Quetzalcoatl, the Aztec feathered serpent god. Species: Q. northropiWingspan: Estimated to have measured between 10 and 11 metres. Weighed between 200 and 250kgs. Family: Azhdarchidae Diet: Carnivore First fossils found: Known from at least four partial skeletons, the first of which was discovered by palaeontologist, Douglas A. Lawson, in Big Bend National Park, Texas, in 1971. Named by Mr. Lawson in 1975. Was originally thought to have had a wingspan of between 15 and 20 metres, however, studies have now lowered the estimated wingspan to 11 metres. Lived: 68 million years ago during the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous in what is now the south-central United States.
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Post by Talira Greycrest on Jan 28, 2024 21:43:39 GMT
Name: CymbodpondylusPronunciation: Sim-boe-spon-dil-lus Meaning of name: "Boat spine" Species: C. piscosus, C. buchseri, C. nichollsi, C. duelferiSize: Depending on species, measured between 6 and 10 metres long and weighing 4 metric tonnes. Family: Cymbospondylidae Diet: Piscivore First fossils found: Known from several specimens discovered in Germany and the western United States. C. piscosus named by American palaeontologist, Joseph Mellick Leidy, in 1868. C. buchseri named in 1989. C. nichollsi named in 2006. C. duelferi named in 2020. Lived: Depending on species, lived between 240 and 210 million years ago from the Ladinian stage of the Middle Triassic through to the Norian stage of the Late Triassic in the oceans and shallow seas that surrounded and once covered what is now Germany and the western United States.
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Post by xetwnk on Jan 30, 2024 15:56:58 GMT
I'd like to hear more on the subject of how pterosaurs and marine reptiles aren't dinosaurs. When I was a little kid, 50 years-odd years ago, all of these creatures were considered dinosaurs, basically because they were giant reptile and "a dinosaur" _was_ "a giant reptile." What new research and refinements, them, have been responsible for re-categorizing pterosaurs and marine reptiles as "not dinosaurs?" If they aren't dinosaurs, then what the heck are they? And what, then, is the new, apparently narrower, definition of a dinosaur? Inquiring minds are eager to understand this better.
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Post by Talira Greycrest on Feb 11, 2024 12:49:53 GMT
Not every prehistoric reptile is a dinosaur. Although pterosaurs are often called "flying dinosaurs", dinosaurs are defined as the descendants of the last common ancestor of the Saurischia and Ornithischia, which, to my knowledge, excludes both pterosaurs and the marine reptiles. What I like best about dinosaurs would have to be the huge variety of sizes. Some were tiny whilst others were as tall as a six-story building. Compsognathus is one of the smallest dinosaurs known from a complete skeleton, barely standing more than 30cm tall. At the other end of the scale, Giraffatitan is one of the tallest known from a mostly complete skeleton, standing around 12 metres tall.
Dimetrodon is another animal that often mistaken for a dinosaur, however, it's more closely related to mammals and went extinct at least 40 million years before the first dinosaurs evolved.
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Post by Talira Greycrest on Feb 13, 2024 3:43:28 GMT
Name: FresnosaurusPronunciation: Frez-noe-sore-us Meaning of name: "Fresno lizard" Species: F. drescheriSize: Estimated to have measured around 12 metres long. Weight unknown. Family: Elasmosauridae Diet: Piscivore First fossils found: Known only from the single, partial skeleton of a sub-adult discovered in the Moreno Formation of California in 1943. Named in the same year by Samuel Paul Welles. Lived: 72.1 to 66 million years ago during the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous in the warm oceans that once covered the Pacific Region of the United States.
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Post by Admin on Feb 13, 2024 18:29:53 GMT
<abbr>What is the relationship between modern day Birds and Dinosaurs?</abbr> <abbr> </abbr> <abbr>I think I read or heard somewhere that birds are modern day Dinosaurs - ?</abbr> <abbr> </abbr> <abbr>Michael </abbr>
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Post by Talira Greycrest on Feb 14, 2024 0:57:08 GMT
Birds are classed as avian dinosaurs, belonging to the group Maniraptora which icludes Dromaeosaurids such as Microraptor, Deinonychus and Velociraptor. One of the earliest known birds, Archaeopteryx, lived during the Oxfordian stage of the Late Jurassic, around 155 million years ago, and appears to have had a mix of both avian and non-avian features. It had feathers like modern birds, but it also had a long bony tail, claws on its wings and teeth rather than a beak.
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Post by Talira Greycrest on Feb 14, 2024 7:24:55 GMT
Name: QinglongopterusPronunciation: Kwing-long-op-teh-ris Meaning of name: "Qinglong wing" Species: Q. guoi Wingspan: Estimated to have measured around 34cm. Family: Rhamphorhynchidae Diet: Piscivore/Insectivore. First fossils found: Known only from a single, almost-complete skeleton discovered in the Tiaojishan Formation of Hebei Province, eastern China, in 2012. Named in the same year by J. Lü, D. M. Unwin, B. Zhao, C. Gao and C. Shen. Lived: 166.1 to 157.3 million years ago during the Callovian stage of the Middle Jurassic and the Oxfordian stage of the Late Jurassic in what is now eastern China.
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Post by Talira Greycrest on Feb 15, 2024 4:13:44 GMT
Name: CallawayasaurusPronunciation: Cal-la-way-sore-us Meaning of name: "Callaway's lizard", in honour of palaeontologist, Jack M. Callaway Species: C. colombiensisSize: Estimated to have measured around 8 metres long. Weight unknown. Family: Elasmosauridae Diet: Piscivore First fossils found: Known from two almost complete skeletons, the first of which was discovered by American palaeontologist, Samuel Paul Welles, in the Paja Formation of Colombia, South America, in 1962. Named by palaeontologist, Kenneth Carpenter, in 1999. Was originally thought to be a species of Thalassomedon.Lived: 125 to 113 million years ago during the Aptian stage of the Early Cretaceous in the warm oceans that once covered what is now Colombia, South America. Callawayasaurus skull
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Post by Talira Greycrest on Feb 16, 2024 5:06:31 GMT
Name: MacroplataPronunciation: Mack-roe-pla-tah Meaning of name: "Big plate" Species: M. tenuicepsSize: 4.5 metres long. Weight uncertain. Family: Rhomaleosauridae Diet: Piscivore First fossils found: Known only from a single specimen discovered in the Blue Lias Formation of southern, eastern and western England in 1930. Named in the same year by W. E. Swinton. Lived: 201.3 to 199.3 million years ago during the Hettangian stage of the Early Jurassic in the oceans and shallow seas that once covered what is now southern, eastern and western England.
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Post by Talira Greycrest on Feb 17, 2024 4:36:02 GMT
Name: ElanodactylusPronunciation: E-lan-oh-dak-tyl-us Meaning of name: "Kite finger" Species: E. prolatusWingspan: Estimated to have measured around 2.5 metres Family: Ctenochasmatidae Diet: Filter-feeder First fossils found: Known only from two partial skeletons, the first of which was discovered in the Yixian Formation of Liaoning Province, northeast China, in 2008. Named in the same year by Brian Andres and Ji Qiang. Lived: 125 to 113 million years ago during the Aptian stage of the Early Cretaceous in what is now northeast China.
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Post by Talira Greycrest on Feb 18, 2024 4:19:16 GMT
Name: AnurognathusPronunciation: An-yu-rog-na-thus Meaning of name: "Without tail jaw" Species: A. ammoniWingspan: 50cm. Estimated weight of around 40g. Family: Anurognathidae Diet: Insectivore First fossils found: Known only from two almost-complete skeletons, the first of which was discovered in the Altmühltal Formation of southeastern Germany in 1923. Named in the same year by Ludwig Döderlein. Lived: 152.1 to 145 million years ago during the Tithonian stage of the Late Jurassic in what is now southeastern Germany.
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