El Pensieve de Dinorider

domingo, febrero 08, 2004

National Geographic - Dinorama

This was the first website I visited many years ago. It still exists! It was written in 1998!

sábado, febrero 07, 2004

viernes, febrero 06, 2004

jueves, febrero 05, 2004

Dinosaurios Sudamericanos

This site is cool! visit it!
http://www.geocities.com/dinoarge/

Deep within the Continent

Once upon a time there was an island in what today we know as South America, that island is nowadays known as Peru.

Curious! Isn’t it?

miércoles, febrero 04, 2004

martes, febrero 03, 2004

Deinonychus

They must have been wandering demons!

It is thought that they may have had some wings! Who knows!

lunes, febrero 02, 2004

Cynodont! Dino Flinstone in Late Triassic

The term "cynodont" refers to a broad group of extinct mammal-like reptiles, the Cynodontia. These include the direct ancestors of mammals. This animal has been modelled on fossils of another cynodont found in South Africa called Thrinaxodon. Thrinaxodon lived a little earlier and was about the size of a cat. Thrinaxodon's teeth were varied with canines, incisors and molars which are mammalian features. Small holes in the bone of the snout suggest whiskers. The presence of whiskers implies body hair and suggests that the cynodont was warm blooded. Being half reptile and half mammal the cynodonts represent the missing evolutionary link between these two groups. The cynodont and Placerias were distant relatives but the cynodont was more mammal-like. In the Petrified Forest, Arizona area in the USA only two molar teeth of a large cynodont have ever been found. These were similar to Thrinaxodon's but suggested a much larger animal.

domingo, febrero 01, 2004

Cymbospondylus

Cymbospondylus was an early member of the Icthyosaur group, which looked slightly like modern dolphins. Cymbospondylus had no dorsal fin and its tail was long like an eel's. Its long tail made it a powerful swimmer, it patrolled in deep offshore waters looking for prey.

Cymbospondylus had a skull 1m long with short, sharp teeth good for grabbing quite large reptiles but it favoured fish and cephalopods such as ammonites.
Cymbospondylus appears to have given birth to live young as it had no way to lay eggs.

sábado, enero 31, 2004

Cryptoclidus

At up to 8 metres long, Cryptoclidus was a medium-sized southamerican and european plesiosaur. It had a neck that was up to 2 metres long that did not seem to have been very flexible. It probably kept its bulky body away from its small head so as not to alarm potential prey. It had long pointed teeth, ideal for catching fish and squid. It had four broad paddle-shaped limbs, with which it either "flew" through the water in wave-like undulating movements, or swam like a porpoise by moving upwards on two flippers and gliding back down again on the other two.

viernes, enero 30, 2004

Cryolophosaur

Antarctica’s handsome bad guy was a classic sample of all the bizarre dinos that roamed Gondwana.

jueves, enero 29, 2004

land of Giants - Sarcosuchus

Big croc catches absent-minded dino!... big beasts ruled south america!

Sarcosuchus

Name Sarcosuchus meaning 'flesh crocodile'
Size 12 metres in length
Weight 8 to 10 tonnes
Diet Carnivorous, an ambush predator
Fossil Finds Sahara Desert, Brazil

If the land was the domain of the dinosaurs and the air the domain of the pterosaurs, then the rivers and lakes were controlled by the crocodiles. The king of these was Sarcosuchus. This twelve metre monster would have made light work of even the largest living crocodiles.
Whereas most Cretaceous crocodiles ate fish, Sarcosuchus was a meat-eater. It would have lived its life in shallow water, lying with its body hidden just underneath the surface. Waiting in ambush.

Like animals today, the Cretaceous wildlife would have needed to drink regularly and the best place to find water would be a river or lake. As the animal approached the water, Sarcosuchus would have been lying in wait with only its eyes visible above the surface. As the animal bent down to drink, its vision would be momentarily diverted.

Sarcosuchus would then strike, bracing its body against the riverbed and springing forward, its jaws wide open. The drinking animal would be at a disadvantage and as soon as Sarcosuchus' jaws clamped onto it, escape would be near impossible. Sarcosuchus would use its size and strength to drag the struggling animal under the water, where it would be drowned.

An adult Sarcosuchus would have been capable of attacking and killing quite large dinosaurs.

In many respects, much of Sarcosuchus' lifestyle would have been similar to that of living crocodiles. It would probably have hunted infrequently, preferring to gorge itself every few weeks (or months) and fast in-between. It would almost certainly have laid eggs in a nest and perhaps even have reared its young after they hatched.

One of Sarcosuchus' most noticeable features (other than its size) would have been its large bulbous nose. This would have given it a great sense of smell, possibly to alert it to the presence of prey or to help it locate rotting carcasses. The large nose may also have allowed it to make a deep bellowing noise that may have served as both a warning and a mating call. Sarcosuchus may lived a long time, maybe to 50 years or more.