Altirhinus

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Altirhinus is a close cousin of Iguanadon & was regarded as a species of, (I. Orientalis.) Altirhinus differs from Iguanadon only in its greater number of teeth, a flatter wider bill, & the very prominent nose. Altirhinus was recovered from the Khukhtek formation at Mongolia in 1981. This showed it lived between 100-120 million years ago. It would've been 7-8 meters in length & 2 meters tall at the hip, with a foot-long skull.
 Altirhinus is stands out from other Iguanadonts in two ways: the large nasal cavity that probably shows a very good sense of smell, & the fact that it may be ancestral to the Hadrosaurs, a group of ornithopods that all have some form of ornamentation on their noses & includes the famed Lambeosaurs, whose hollow bony head crests have been a mystery since they were discovered.
Altirhinus must have looked very similar to the Australian Muttaburrasaurus, another dinosaur with a high nose, the highest part of their head. Muttaburrasaurus & Altirhinus were probably closely related & lived similar lifestyles.

For more information related to dinosaurs, visit rareresource.com.

Animantarx

Friday, April 27, 2012


The Animantarx dinosaur is a rather interesting dinosaur that lived during the late Cretaceous period. It was an herbivore that was indigenous to western North America and was also very slow moving. This breed of dinosaurs was cover with heavy armor scouts but did not have a tail club like other Nodosaurids. 
This dino is estimated to have been approximately 10 feet long based on its scull size which was measured at 10 inches long. The name was based on the Latin word animatus which means animated and fortress because of its extremely armored nature. 
There has only been one Animantarx discovered and the only parts that were found were the skull and parts of the vertebrae. According to the Yale review, this dino was discovered by Ramal Jones in 1914. Animantarx is characterized by a unique combination of features, including a highly domed skull back, small horns on the postorbital and quadratojugal bones of the skull, and a mandible which is only armored on half of its length. 
These fossil remains happened to be discovered in Cedar Mountain Formation in the eastern portion of Utah. Fossils in this region are often slightly radioactive, and remains of Animantarx were actually discovered following a radiological survey of the area, which registered a higher level of radioactivity at this particular location.

For more information related to dinosaurs, visit rareresource.com.

Ankylosaurus

Thursday, April 26, 2012


Ankylosaurus is a familiar animal, often purported in popular culture, needless to say inaccurately. It was one of last genera of non-avian dinosaurs to have existed, & would've lived alongside the Tyrannosaurus. This is not to say, however, that Ankylosaurus was prey to large animals; it was coated in bony armor unlike a turtle's shell, more akin to a crocodile.
Two chunks of bone on the end of tail acted as active defense, similar to Stegosaurus' tail spikes, only this 'club' would have broken bones instead of piercing flesh. Ankylosaurus has often been likened to a living tank, supported by experiments that show Ankylosaur's armor was bullet-proof, & at least one genus' armor was constructed in a very similar fashion to modern-day bullet-proof vests.
Consequentially their legs were strong & dense. Ankylosaurus was a Thyreopean, like Stegosaurus, & ate low-lying vegetation. It has not been found with gizzard stones, suggesting its jaw was powerful enough to break up plants, & it probably possessed more than one stomach, like a modern day cow.

For more information related to dinosaurs, visit rareresource.com.

Buitreraptor Gonzalezorum

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Buitreraptor Gonzalezorum At the very same site that the 7 ton Giganotosaurus was found, Buitreraptor was discovered by the Gonzales brothers, Jorges & Fabian. The fact that it is the oldest known Dromaeosaurid provides information about the evolution of Dromaeosaurids, making it seem likely that they evolved in South America & travelled across to other parts of the world.
Buitreraptor pushes back the evolution of Dromaeosaurids to the Jurassic, making it an exciting find. It had to be extracted from an 800 pound block of sandstone & took 10 days, the dig team being funded mainly by the Jurassic foundation & NASA, & also with donations by Michael & Jacqueline Ferro. Buitreraptor is the size of a large rooster. Its snout is long, even in Dromaeosaurid terms as is its tail, & its teeth are not serrated, making its exact diet hard to work out.
A very-well articulated & good-quality fossil has been uncovered that show it has long legs that make it likely to be very fast. A cousin of Buitreraptor, Rahonavis, has such long & light arms that in some circles it is considered to a flying dromaeosaurid, similar to Microraptor, the famed four-winged raptor that also holds the record for smallest adult dinosaur.

For more information related to dinosaurs, visit rareresource.com.

Carcharodontosaurus

Tuesday, April 24, 2012


Meaning: “Shark-toothed lizard”
Length: 26 to 44 feet (8 to 14 meters)
Height: 12 feet (3.6 meters) tall at the hips
Weight: 6 to 8 tons
Skull & Teeth: 5 foot 4 inch (1.6 meters) long skull with serrated teeth up to 8 inches long
Classification: Carcharodontosaurid theropod of the super family Allosauroidea (Allosaurus and all related)
Timeline: Lived during the Middle Cretaceous Period, about 110 to 90 million years ago
Description:
This carnivorous theropod was first identified from two teeth found by Charles Deperet and J. Savornin at the African Continental intercalaire in Algeria, North Africa, in 1927. However, these were lost before the dinosaur could be fully described. It was originally named Megalosaurus saharicus until, with the discovery of more fossils in the Baharija Formation in Egypt , it was further described and renamed by Ernst Stromer von Reichenbach in 1931. Sadly, these bones were also lost; destroyed during World War II by Allied bombings of Munich , Germany in 1944. Then, in 1995, more fossils in the form of skull fragments were uncovered in the Kem Kem Formation in Morocco by Paul Sereno. In 1997, another, slightly larger species, Carcharodontosaurus iguidensis , was discovered by Sereno and his colleague Stephen Brusatte at the Echkar Formation in Nigeria but was not named until 2007.
This carnivore was a true giant with a hugely muscular tail, massive body, and strong, heavy bones. It had short arms with three-fingered hands that were tipped with razor-sharp claws. Although slightly larger than Tyrannosaurus rex , its brain was actually smaller, making it a more primitive dinosaur when compared to Tyrannosaurus . Like most of the giant theropods, it is unclear whether this beast was an active hunter, a scavenger, or both. It was certainly well equipped for the role of predator, but its large size may have made it too slow to chase down smaller, more agile prey. Most likely this dinosaur normally preyed upon medium to large sauropods and spent the rest of the time scavenging carrion or stealing other predators' kills. Whatever the case may be, during its reign Carcharodontosaurus saharicus was most definitely a much feared and very successful North African Allosauroid.

For more information related to dinosaurs, visit rareresource.com.