Don’t mess with this fish! For Fossil Friday, let’s meet Dunkleosteus terrelli. It lived some 360 million years ago during the Devonian. Scientists think it was one of the first large jawed vertebrates in the ocean and an aggressive predator. The razor-sharp edges of bones in its jaws served as cutters, and as they rubbed against each other, the opposing jaw blades acted like self-sharpening shears. These bones continued to grow as they were worn down by use.
This specimen, on display in the Museum’s Hall of Vertebrate Origins, was found in Ohio. Spot Dunkleosteus and other prehistoric animals at the Museum! Plan your visit.
A mated pair of Psittacosaurus provide mouthfuls of feeds to feed their young 125 million years ago in what will one day be the Yixian Formation of China. Despite having emerged early in the evolution of the Ceratopsians, Psittacosaurus is one of the few dinosaur genera that showed a propensity for displaying complex behaviors related to nest-building and parental care, and was possibly one of the most intelligent and social non-avian dinosaurs.
In a monumental discovery for paleontology and the first of its kind
"Mummy of a juvenile sabre-toothed cat Homotherium latidens from the Upper Pleistocene of Siberia"
Abstract
The frozen mummy of the large felid cub was found in the Upper Pleistocene permafrost on the Badyarikha River (Indigirka River basin) in the northeast of Yakutia, Russia. The study of the specimen appearance showed its significant differences from a modern lion cub of similar age (three weeks) in the unusual shape of the muzzle with a large mouth opening and small ears, the very massive neck region, the elongated forelimbs, and the dark coat color. Tomographic analysis of the mummy skull revealed the features characteristic of Machairodontinae and of the genus Homotherium. For the first time in the history of paleontology, the appearance of an extinct mammal that has no analogues in the modern fauna has been studied.
For more read here:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-79546-1
Archovember 2024 Day 10 - Arambourgiania philadelphiae
Arambourgiania philadelphiae was a giant azhdarchid from Late Cretaceous Jordan, the largest known azhdarchid, and possibly the largest flying animal to ever exist. It was discovered before its more famous cousins Quetzalcoatlus and Hatzegopteryx, however, it is only known from a slender, 78Â cm (31Â in) long neck vertebrae and some other fragmentary wing bits. Based on the proportions of its cousins, this would give Arambourgiania an estimated wingspan of 10 metres (33Â ft). While the size of a giraffe, air pockets and hollow bones would have made it lighter than one, at around an estimated 227 kg (500 lbs). Like Quetzalcoatlus, it was probably still capable of flight, and based on the makeup of its humerus, was likely a soarer rather than a flapper. Also like its cousins, it was most likely a land-based, stalking predator of smaller animals, and would have only used its massive wingspan to escape threats and move to new hunting grounds.
Arambourgiania’s neck bone was found by a railway worker in the early 1940s, during repairs on the Amman-Damascus railroad near Russeifa. As far as I can find, it is not attributed to a specific formation, and Maastrichtian-age fossil remains in Jordan are scarce. It was likely a hunter of small mammals, lizards, dinosaurs, and amphibians, but its unknown what larger animals Arambourgiania would have encountered. During the maastrichtian, the common dinosaurs of the time would have been ornithopods, ceratopsians, ankylosaurs, pachycephalosaurs, titanosaurs, abelisaurids, ornithomimosaurs, tyrannosauroids, therizinosauroids, dromaeosaurs, troodontids, oviraptorosaurs, alvarezsaurids, and avialans.
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Pteranodon - a large Late Cretaceous pterosaur with wingspans over 6 meters. Known for its sexual dimorphism, males had long, backward-facing crests and were significantly larger than females, whose crests and body sizes were smaller.
Interestingly, not all males had large crests; only the largest, fully mature males displayed them. With female fossils outnumbering males 2:1, Pteranodon was likely polygynous, with dominant males mating with multiple females that took care of young, like elephant seals.
Pteranodon lacked teeth, a trait shared by many large Cretaceous pterosaurs. As a piscivore, it fed mainly on fish. Strong neck muscles and the ability to take off from water suggest it hunted by diving, similar to modern seabirds like pelicans and gannets.
With light bones and long wings, Pteranodon was adapted for dynamic and thermal soaring, enabling it to cover great distances with ease. This efficient flight likely expanded its hunting grounds and may have facilitated migration, similar to modern storks and condors.
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