Unlike flora and fauna, fossils connect each state to its deep geologic past, sometimes hundreds of millions of years before humans appeared.
The idea of adopting official state fossils in the United States grew out of the same impulse that led to the recognition of state birds, flowers, and trees: an interest in celebrating distinctive natural heritage and educating the public about local history and identity.
Dire wolves were among the largest canids to have ever lived.
The dire wolf (Canis dirus) is an extinct species of the genus Canis that lived during the Late Pleistocene and early Holocene epochs, approximately 125,000 to 9,500 years ago. Taxonomically, it belongs to the family Canidae, which includes modern wolves, coyotes, and domestic dogs.
Pronounced KY-roh-stin-OH-teez
Chirostenotes lived about 80 million years ago, during the late Cretaceous period. The first fossils of Chirostenotes, a pair of hands, were in 1914 found by George Fryer Sternberg near Little Sandhill Creek in the Campanian Dinosaur Park Formation of Canada.
Quarrelsome and Distrustful
The class “Dinosauria” was originally defined by “Sir” Richard Owen of the Royal Society, and Superintendent of the British Museum Natural History Department in 1842. This was based on a hypothesis. No dinosaur bones had ever been found. Twelve years later in 1854, Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden during his exploration of the upper Missouri River, found “proof” of Owen’s theory!
Professor Ben Garrod reveals new dinosaur facts from cutting edge research into the greatest animals ever to walk the planet.
When we’re young, we all have a favorite dinosaur but, as time passes, other aspects of life get in the way. This is ultimate guide for grown-ups who have lost touch with their favorite childhood dinosaurs.
I listened to the Audible Podcast “A Grown-Up Guide To Dinosaurs” on Amazon. It consists of 6 episodes, each about 30 minutes. It is narrated by Professor Ben Garrod, an English evolutionary biologist, primatologist, and broadcaster. He is a Professor of Evolutionary Biology and Science Engagement at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, since 2019.
They first appeared in a time called the Triassic period around roughly 250 million years ago
Scientists, in the UK, have found the largest and most complete Sea Dragon ever discovered there. In 2022, they found the 30-foot skeleton of the ichthyosaur in Rutland Water, Rutland. They have been known to grow 82 feet in length are over 180 million years old.
Assembling the past!
Fossilogic is the world leader in fossil preparation and mounting. They work with some of the worlds largest museums and institutions. I was watching the Television Series “Dino Hunters” and that is where they took their Tyrannosaurus Rex scull bones for assembly.
The first dinosaur? Well, maybe!
The Eoraptor was a small dinosaur, about the size of a Beagle. It was discovered in Western Gondwana, what is now Northwestern Argentina, South America, in 1991. The find was made by, University of San Juan, paleontologist Ricardo Martínez.
The duck-billed dinosaurs, Hadrosaurids, are members of the ornithischian family Hadrosauridae. They are identified by the flat duck bill appearance of their snouts.
