Gallery of Dinosaurs

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Youtube

Friday, December 21, 2012

Name:

Scutosaurus (Greek for "shield lizard"); pronounced SKOO-toe-SORE-us

Habitat:

Riverbanks of Eurasia

Historical Period:

Late Permian (250 million years ago)

Size and Weight:

About 6 feet long and 500-1,000 pounds

Diet:

Plants

Distinguishing Characteristics:

Short, straight legs; thick body; short tail

About Scutosaurus:

Scutosaurus appears to have been a relatively evolved anapsid reptile that was, however, far removed from the mainstream of reptile evolution (the anapsids weren't nearly as important, historically speaking, as contemporary therapsids, archosaurs and pelycosaurs). This buffalo-sized herbivore had rudimentary armor plating, which covered its thick skeleton and well-muscled torso; it clearly needed some form of defense, since it must have been an exceptionally slow and lumbering creature.

Some paleontologists speculate that Scutosaurus may have roamed the floodplains of the late Permian period in large herds, signaling to one another with loud bellows (a conclusion based on an analysis of this prehistoric reptile's unusually large cheeks).

Estemmenosuchus

Name:

Estemmenosuchus (Greek for "crowned crocodile"); pronounced ess-teh-MEN-oh-SOO-kuss

Habitat:

Woodlands of eastern Europe

Historical Period:

Late Permian (255 million years ago)

Size and Weight:

About 13 feet long and 500 pounds

Diet:

Probably omnivorous

Distinguishing Characteristics:

Large size; sprawling legs; blunt horns on skull

About Estemmenosuchus:

Despite its name, which means "crowned crocodile," Estemmenosuchus was actually a therapsid, the family of reptiles ancestral to the earliest mammals. With its large skull, sprawled, stumpy legs and squat, cow-like body, Estemmenosuchus wouldn't have been the speediest land animal of its time and place, but fortunately super-agile predators had yet to evolve in the late Permian period. As with other large therapsids, experts aren't quite sure what Estemmnosuchus ate; the safest bet is that it was an opportunistic omnivore

Inostrancevia

Name:

Inostrancevia (after Russian geologist Alexander Inostrantsev); pronounced in-oh-stran-SEE-vee-ah

Habitat:

Woodlands of Eurasia

Historical Period:

Late Permian (250 million years ago)

Size and Weight:

About 10 feet long and 500-1,000 pounds

Diet:

Small animals

Distinguishing Characteristics:

Large size; sharp teeth

About Inostrancevia:

Inostrancevia's claim to fame is that it's the largest "gorgonopsid" therapsid yet discovered, a 10-foot-long Permian reptile that looked ahead to the large dinosaurs of the Mesozoic Era, which was just around the corner, geologically speaking. As well-adapted as it must have been to its Siberian environment, though, Inostrancevia and its fellow gorgonopsids (such as Gorgonops and Lycaenops) didn't make it past the Permian-Triassic boundary, though the smaller therapsids to which it was related went on to spawn the first mammals.

Cotylorhynchus

Name:

Cotylorhynchus (Greek for "cup snout"); pronounced COE-tih-low-RINK-us

Habitat:

Swamps of North America

Historical Period:

Middle Permian (285-265 million years ago)

Size and Weight:

About 15 feet long and one ton

Diet:

Plants

Distinguishing Characteristics:

Large, swollen trunk; small head

About Cotylorhynchus:

Cotylorhynchus had the classic body plan of the large pelycosaurs of the Permian period: a huge, bloated trunk (the better to hold all of the intestines it needed to digest tough vegetable matter), a tiny head, and stubby, splayed legs. This early reptile was probably the largest land animal of its time (superannuated adults may have reached two tons in weight), meaning that full-grown individuals would have been virtually immune from predation from the much wimpier predators of their day. One of the closest relatives of Cotylorhynchus was the equally ungainly Casea, whose name is Greek for "cheese."

Ophiacodon

Name:

Ophiacodon (Greek for "snake tooth"); pronounced oh-fee-ACK-oh-don

Habitat:

Swamps of North America

Historical Period:

Late Carboniferous-Early Permian (310-290 million years ago)

Size and Weight:

About 10 feet long and 50-100 pounds

Diet:

Fish and small animals

Distinguishing Characteristics:

Large size; long, narrow head

About Ophiacodon:

One of the largest land animals of the late Carboniferous period, Ophiacodon may have been the apex predator its day, feeding opportunistically on fish, insects, and small reptiles and amphibians. This pelycosaur's legs were a bit less stumpy and splayed than those of its closest relative Archaeothyris, and its jaws were relatively massive, so it would have had little difficulty chasing down and eating its prey.

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Edaphosaurus

Name:

Edaphosaurus (Greek for "ground lizard"); pronounced eh-DAFF-oh-SORE-us

Habitat:

Swamps of North America and Western Europe

Historical Period:

Late Carboniferous-Early Permian (310-280 million years ago)

Size and Weight:

Up to 6 feet long and 100-200 pounds

Diet:

Plants

Distinguishing Characteristics:

Long, narrow body; large sail on back

About Edaphosaurus:

At first glance, Edaphosaurus looks a lot like its close relative, Dimetrodon: both of these ancient pelycosaurs (a family of reptiles that preceded the dinosaurs) had large sails running down their backs, which helped to maintain their body temperatures (by radiating away excess heat or warming them up in the sun) and were probably also used to signal the opposite sex.

Oddly enough, though, the evidence points to the late Carboniferous Edaphosaurus having been a herbivore and Dimetrodon a carnivore--which has led some experts (and TV producers) to speculate that Dimetrodon regularly had big, heaping portions of Edaphosaurus for lunch! (To be fair, some paleontologists believe Edaphosaurus specialized not in plants, but in small, shelled mollusks--which it could easily have cracked with its short, blunt jaws.)

Chitika Ad

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Youtube

Friday, December 21, 2012

Scutosaurus

Estemmenosuchus

Inostrancevia

Cotylorhynchus

Ophiacodon

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Edaphosaurus