#Extinct

[new-dinosaurs]

Allosaurus anax Danison et al., 2024 (new species)

(Type postorbital [bone behind the eye] of Allosaurus anax, from Danison et al., 2024)

Meaning of name: anax = king [in Greek]

Age: Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian–Tithonian), between 145–153 million years ago

Where found: Morrison Formation, Oklahoma, U.S.A.

How much is known: A right postorbital (bone in the skull, behind the eye), two vertebrae, and some hindlimb bones. It is unknown whether any of these bones belonged to the same individuals.

Notes: A. anax is based on fossils formerly considered specimens of Saurophaganax, which was thought to be a large theropod closely related to Allosaurus. A new study finds that specimens previously assigned to Saurophaganax actually include a mix of sauropod and theropod bones. However, the authors were not able to definitively classify the type specimen of Saurophaganax (a partial vertebra) as belonging to either a sauropod or a theropod. As a result, they argue that the type specimen lacks distinguishing features that would allow additional specimens to be identified as belonging to the same genus, rendering Saurophaganax a dubious name that should not be applied to other specimens.

Furthermore, the authors found that many of the features that supposedly differentiated Saurophaganax from Allosaurus came from the sauropod specimens once included in the genus Saurophaganax. When only the definitive theropod bones are considered among the former Saurophaganax material, the authors deem it most likely that these fossils represent specimens of Allosaurus. Nonetheless, some of the theropod bones exhibit minor differences from previously recognized species of Allosaurus, such as by being larger (belonging to animals estimated to have weighed over 3.5 tons) and lacking a rough texture on the postorbital. The authors thus classify these fossils as a new species of Allosaurus, A. anax.

Reference: Danison, A.D., M.J. Wedel, D.E. Barta, H.N. Woodward, H.M. Flora, A.H. Lee, and E. Snively. 2024. Chimerism in specimens referred to Saurophaganax maximus reveals a new species of Allosaurus (Dinosauria, Theropoda). Vertebrate Anatomy Morphology Palaeontology 12: 81–114. doi: 10.18435/vamp29404

[fangtalksdragons]

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

[unita-n]

My old piece with quaggas.

watercolour on wallpaper back

[shamanicganja]

[sticksandsharks]

little cenozoic guys

(hyaenodon, langstonia, smilodon, dromornithidae, stegotetrabelodon, glyptodon, moropus)

[in-vyn-cible]

I’d like to remind everyone that a photo of a nestling Kaua’i ō’ō exist and should give a BIG thank you to John Sincock who also has an unpublished paper about the ō’ō and his trips to Alaka’i swamp. This is the only known photograph of a nestling ō’ō. You can find this photo on the birds of the world website (linked in citation)

Sykes Jr., P. W., A. K. Kepler, C. B. Kepler, and J. M. Scott (2020). Kauai Oo (Moho braccatus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.kauoo.01

I hope the rest of his photos are out there somewhere. I was super lucky to be able to find his unpublished paper as well as some memos (shout out to Daniel Lewis who was able to send me the memos AND wrote about sincock and the ō’ō in his book Belonging on an Island : Birds, Extinction and Evolution in Hawai’i)

[johann1220]

Greater Jaws

(All assets are done in Blender & made by me.)

[plushieanimals]

Anomalocaris plushie 🦐

[rgibson63]

Lost Americans wheel. Watercolor and ink.

[warandpeas]

Only Skeletons

[ornithologyorthodoxy]

5/29/24

[new-dinosaurs]

Archaeocursor asiaticus Yao et al., 2024 (new genus and species)

(Type femur [thigh bone] of Archaeocursor asiaticus [scale bar = 30 mm], from Yao et al., 2024)

Meaning of name: Archaeocursor = archaic [in Greek] runner [in Latin]; asiaticus = from Asia

Age: Early Jurassic (Sinemurian–Pliensbachian)

Where found: Ziliujing Formation, Chongqing, China

How much is known: A left femur (thigh bone).

Notes: Archaeocursor appears to have been an early ornithischian ("bird-hipped" dinosaur), the group of mainly herbivorous dinosaurs that includes the armored stegosaurs and ankylosaurs, duck-billed hadrosaurids, and horned ceratopsians, among many others (but confusingly, not birds). If so, it would be the oldest ornithischian known from Asia.

Based on microscopic examination of its bone structure, the type specimen of Archaeocursor was close to fully grown when it died. Like most other known Early Jurassic ornithischians, it was relatively small, probably around 1 m in total body length.

Reference: Yao, X., Q. Zhao, T. Ren, G. Wei, and X. Xu. 2024. New evidence for the earliest ornithischian dinosaurs from Asia. iScience advance online publication. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.111641

[danskjavlarna]

Source details and larger version.

I've collected some weird vintage bird imagery, from bird hats to bird people, ghost birds to giant birds.

[moonlight-wolf-archive]

Colorized Thylacines pt. 3

[actual-haise]

The Mists of Lourinhã Eousdryosaurus encounters Lusotitan.