Archelon (from Greek αρχελών meaning ruler turtle) is a genus of extinct sea turtles, the largest genus of sea turtles that has ever been documented, and the second-heaviest turtles documented behind Stupendemys.
The largest Archelon fossil measured more than 4 metres long, and about 5 metres wide from flipper to flipper. It was a marine turtle, whose closest living relative in the present day is the leatherback sea turtle. It lived at a time when a shallow sea covered most of central North America. Most of the known remains have been found in South Dakota and Wyoming. Though anatomically similar to the earlier species Protostega gigas, it was much larger. Unlike most modern turtles, Archelon did not have a solid shell, but instead had a skeletal framework supporting a leathery or bony carapace. Other distinguishing features include a pointed tail, a narrow skull, a relatively narrow, high-vaulted shell, and a pronounced overbite. The live weight of an Archelon is estimated at more than 2200 kg. They probably had a very strong bite, and were optimized for feeding on pelagic mollusc's such as squid.
Saturday, July 8, 2017
Friday, July 7, 2017
Quetzalcoatlus

Quetzalcoatlus (KWET-Sal-coh-AT-lus)
Was an azhdarchid pterosaur known from the Late Cretaceous of North America (Maastrichtian stage) It is a member of the family Azhdarchidae, a family of advanced toothless pterosaurs with unusually long, stiffened necks. Its name comes from the Mesoamerican feathered serpent god, Quetzalcoatl. With a wingspan of 12 metres and a weight of 65kg, Quetzalcoatlus was the largest flying animal ever. It probably soared over inland areas, looking for carcasses to eat.
Coelurosauravus
Thursday, July 6, 2017
Dimorphodon
Dimorphodon was a genus of medium-sized pterosaur from the early
Jurassic Period. It was named by palaeontologist Richard Owen in 1859. Dimorphodon
means "two-form tooth", derived from Greek ‘di’ meaning 'two', morphe
meaning 'shape' and ‘odon’ meaning 'tooth', referring to the fact that
it had two distinct types of teeth in its jaws - which is comparatively rare among
reptiles. The body structure of Dimorphodon displays many primitive
characteristics, such as a very small brain-pan and proportionally short wings.
The first phalanx in its flight finger is only slightly longer than its lower
arm. Its neck was short but strong and flexible and may have had a
membranous pouch on the underside. The vertebrae had pneumatic foramina,
openings through which the air sacks could reach the hollow interior. The Dimorphodon
had an adult body length of 1 metre long, with a 1.45 metre wingspan.
Its tail was long and consisted of thirty vertebrae. The first five or six were
short and flexible, but the remainder gradually increased in length and were
stiffened by elongated vertebral processes. Wednesday, July 5, 2017
The smart troodon

Tuesday, April 4, 2017
Diprotodon (rhinoceros-sized wombat)
Archaeologists have uncovered teeth from the extinct Diprotodon, a giant wombat-like marsupial, at Lancefield swamp north of Melbourne.
The Dipratodon was was the biggest marsupial that ever lived and was about the size of a rhino.
The teeth found are quite long (40mm) and wide. The fossils are dated between 50,000 to 80,000 years old from an animal that probably 'got bogged'.
Fossils were first located at the swamp in the 19th century, and there were previous digs at the site in the early 1990s, 2004/5. These animals are unusual with there meat shearing teeth. Todays wombats eat roots and the stems of leaves.
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
T=Rex stars in Minions
Trivia
The dinosaur can be seen again in a commercial video for GoPro based of the The Secret Life of Pets; in the video, Sweetpea flies in front of the television which is playing a scene with an alley full of hung clothes, and he hides himself into his cage when he sees the T-Rex dinosaur.
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