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May 17, 2019

Dunkleosteus, a Nightmare Fish

Approximately 380 million years ago, the fish Dunkleosteus sowed terror in the Devonian seas. It belonged to a class of fish very common then, the "armored" fish, which had very hard scales, or part of their skeleton was very reinforced. In the case of the Dunkleosteus its huge armored head was provided with teeth like blades that differed from the teeth of the current sharks. A uniform and solid mass was what served this fish to cut its prey. Its fossils have been found in the United States, North Africa and Eastern Europe. As for its measurements we can guess...

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May 13, 2019

A cretaceous "swan" relative to Velociraptor

If we put in a shaker: the arms of a penguin, the neck of a heron, the head of a swan, the body of a goose and the hind legs of a Velociraptor; We would get something similar to the dinosaur presented this week by Philip Currie in the journal: Nature. Halszkaraptor is a relative of the Velociraptor, a dinosaur that was popularized after the movie Jurassic Park, but although they are related, they have so many interesting differences that make the Halszkaraptor a "different" dinosaur to all those known so far. The paleontologist Philip Currie and the National Geographic...

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May 13, 2019

The Devil Frog

The first fossils were discovered in 2007, and although they were scarce, were enough to know their surprising size. They were estimated more than 40 cm for that first found specimen. Given its dimensions, the chosen name could not be more appropriate: Beelzebufo or "Devil frog". In 2014, the number of fossils discovered was so large that the skeleton could be reconstructed with great precision. In addition, the data obtained from the skeletons of adult individuals revealed that there was a size difference of up to 20%. To explain this difference, the paleontologists, offer two main theories. There are those...

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April 11, 2019

Theropod Teeth Morphology - KemKem Basin

Theropod Teeth Morphology - KemKem Basin We present an interesting graphic documentation of the different morphologies within the isolated theropod teeth of the Ifezouane Formation (Cenomanian, middle Cretaceous of South Morocco). Normally, with isolated teeth it is very difficult to assign with certainty to the species to which they belong. That's without taking into account that these dinosaurs had heterodontics (the morphology of their teeth varies depending on the position in the jaw or maxilla).This magnificent dissertation has been published in FossilForum by one of its reputed members ( "Troodon" - Editing members - Arizona) about its particular collection of...

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April 10, 2019

Terror Birds To Trial: Carnivores or Herbivores?

When the dinosaurs became extinct, a hole remained in the trophic chain. The mega-predators disappeared, equivalent to the lions, tigers or wolves of today. Some mammals and reptiles competed in the highest levels of this chain, but in some places it was the non-flying birds that reigned and subdued the rest of living beings. Gastornis Recreation It is a group of birds with no current equivalent. Its presence is documented on all continents except Antarctica, but like its predecessors, the dinosaurs also became extinct. The skull in all cases stands out for its large size; the very robust and sharp...

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