Review and photos by Bokisaurus
An air of nervousness engulfs the once serine scene at the forest edge. Herds of herbivores that just minutes ago were busy playing, eating, and calling to each other now stood silently still, on high alert. Their sudden change in behavior is warranted. Although still unseen, a predator is on a hunt.
We’re all well aware that dinosaurs came, and still do come, in all manner of odd forms. But even the famous therizinosaurs, with their huge claws, bulgy bellies, and small heads, might well have considered tiny little Yi qi to be the oddest one of all.
“I’M BATDINO!”
Yi, which boasts the shortest name of any dinosaur, is part of a tiny clade of unusual maniraptoran coelurosaurs from Late Jurassic China known as scansoriopterygids.
When it comes to Tyrannosaurus rex, the first image that comes to mind is that of a snarling, blood-thirsty animal. As famous as it is, unfortunately in pop culture films and images, it is often depicted as a villain, a killer that is always on a rampage killing any helpless animal on its way.
So, the description of being cute is not often associated with it.
Species from the earliest parts of life on earth, the Palaeozoic, are very rare in toy form. Oh yes, there are plenty of Dimetrodon, Dunkleosteus and even Anomalocaris, but any of the smaller, crucial creatures to the story of life on earth are scarce. Enter Oumcraft, and her game LIFE: evolution of life in earth to put this right, with each game piece being perfect as collectable pieces of these ancient species.
Feathered dinosaurs are truly awesome and I adore them all, whether they’re from somewhere in the Mesozoic or still alive in the present, probing for earthworms on my lawn, swimming in the pond at the park, flying high in the sky, and so on. And certain of these extant dinosaurs are, of course, quite yummy to eat, especially when they’re from Swiss Chalet or Mary Brown’s.
When we think of the group of pterosaur knows as azhdarchid, the first thing that comes to mind are the large species such as Quetzalcoatlus and Hatzegopteryx for good reason. These two famous species are the largest of the pterosaurs and hold the record as the largest animal that have ever taken to the air.
While a lot of dinosaur names are quite a challenge for the laymen to be read and correctly spelled, the ones inspired by Chinese locations and names may even be a serious challenge to the dinosaur expert. Zhejiangosaurus comes as one of the easier names, but maybe one you do not really need to remember…..
Approximately 73 million years ago, Shendong Province of China was a land of rich floodplains that abounded in dinosaurs of all shapes and sizes. These included the ankylosaur Sinankylosaurus, the titanosaur Zhuchengtitan, the diminutive leptoceratopsids Ischiceratops and Zhuchengceratops, and the larger ceratopsid Sinoceratops with its royal frill. Also present was the prodigious Shantungosaurus, hugest of all hadrosaurs.
With the release of the Beasts of the Mesozoic Ceratopsian line, I wanted to look back at other attempts to recreate these marginocephalians. And who better to look at how not to do them then Geoworld. I have reviewed one of their Ceratopsians before, and was less than impressed.
It’s yet another scorching summer day, but Murmillo is finding relief by wading placidly in the murky shallows of a lake. A slight ripple in the surface catches her eye, but no matter, it’s probably just a fish or a turtle or—a gargantuan alligatoroid that explodes from the water and engulfs her entire head and neck in its murderous jaws!