Megalodon-The Fiercest Shark Around

Megalodon

Megalodon (MEG-a-la-don) is 50 feet long and weighing in 50 tons. You wouldn't want to go swimming with him. Megalodon is one of the large its shark in the world! It was probably two to three times larger than today's great white shark. Come on you gotta agree that is pretty huge! 

Megalodon  means "long tooth," because its teeth were not only long but wide and had serrated edges. Megalodon had an extremely sharp sense of smell and good eyesight. Could you imagine coming across one of them today? Megalodon is a meat-eater so its a lethal predator and an apex predator which means its at the top of the food chain in its home turf. Megalodon prey went from small seals to larger prey such as the giant squad and whales. Megalodon lives in ocean waters all around the world in these two Eras Miocene and Pliocene Eras (roughly 25-5 million years ago).  http://www.history.com/shows/jurassic-fight-club-archived/interactives/dinopedia

Gastonia Is Built Like A "Tank"

 Gastonia was a (gas-toh-nee-ah) ankylosaurid dinosaur and they were built like a tank. Gastonia stood three feet tall and was between 13 and 16 feet long, and weighed about one ton. His entire body was covered by bony plates and spikes of different shapes and sizes. You wouldn't want to pet him! 


He has lots of heavy armor so he moves slow. He had poor eyesight (bet he wishes he had glasses or a magnifying glass) but a strong sense of smell and hearing (sneaking up on him would not be easy). He has a solid bony plate over its hips, which allowed him to crouch down to protect his vulnerable stomach from attacking predators. The spikes covering his body and the spikes on his tail were used like "chainsaws" as offensive weapons to protect itself from an attacking predators like Utahraptor. 


Gastonia lived in the USA, North America in the early Cretaceous Period (142-127 million years ago) and Gastonia was a plant-eater. One of Gaston neighbor was a predator named Utahraptor. Talk about neighbors who don't get along! Eeeeep!!!! 


Gastonia was named after paleontologist Robert Gaston. He made the first discovery of Gastonia fossilized remains in Moab, Utah, in 1989. Thank you Robert Gaston!

Andrewsarchus

Andrewsarchus (and-rooz-ark-us) was as a big as a rhino! Its head looks like a wolf a not so nice wolf LOL! Used to eat meats like primitive whales and had strips like a tiger. Andrewsarchus names mean "Andrews' beast" because its named after Paleontologist Roy Champman Andrews who was the one who found Andrewsarchus. Roy was the role model for Indiana Jones  and how cool is that? Imagine if that was you? It must be pretty cool to have a movie series after you!!! Roy's last name Andrews was the first part for Andrewsarchus. Andrewsarchus weighs more then a car, 15 feet long, 6 feet high, and a skull around 33 inches. It used lived in what we currently call Asia.   

Nanotyrannus The Small Version Of The T-Rex

In 1942, Charles W. Gilmore discover the first fossils of the Nanotyrannus in Wyoming.                                                                                         

Nanotyrannus is the small version of T-Rex. Think of him a mine me T-Rex. I wouldn't want to meet either of them on the street! Would you? 

                                        

                                                          T-Rex and Nanotyrannus

 Nanotyrannus is know as the "tiny tyrant" He might of been "tiny" coming in at a mere 7 ft. in height, 17 feet long and weighing bout 1 ton. Tho, that's not my definition of tiny!

 Nanotyrannus lived in the United States in the Late Cretaceous Period 67-65 millions of years ago. Nanotyrannus was a great hunter, he had sharp claws and knife-like teeth, powerful neck muscles and was a swift and agile predator. Their favorite prey were the hadrosaurs that had the pleasure of living with them. They had great vision and depth perception due to their large eyes which looked forward. 

Many paleontologists now believe that Nanotyrannus was in fact a juvenile Tyrannosaurus Rex and not a separate genus of dinosaur. Partially because of the skull bones not being fused together indicating a young animal. Others believe that they might be a type of huge Dromaeosaur.  

                                                                                                                                                            

                    

http://www.history.com/shows/jurassic-fight-club-archived/interactives/dinopedia

                                           

                                                                                         

Diplodocus

DD

Diplodocus was a long-necked, whip-tailed giant, measuring about 90 feet (27 m) long with a 26 foot (8 m) long neck and a 45 foot (14 m) long tail, but its head was less than 2 feet long. It was among the longest land animals ever. Its nostrils were at the top of its head and it had peg-like teeth, but only in the front of the jaws. Its front legs were shorter than its back legs, and all had elephant-like, five-toed feet. One toe on each foot had a thumb claw, probably for protection. A fossilized Diplodocus skin impression reveals that it had a row of spines running down its back.

Lived Late Jurassic period, about 156-144 million years ago. Found in Western U.S.A.

Diplodocus was more lightly built than the other giant sauropods, and may have weighed only about 10-20 tons. Its backbone had extra bones underneath it, which had bony protrusions running both forwards and backwards (anvil shaped), a "double beam", probably for support and extra mobility of its neck and tail. It may have used its whip-like tail for protection. A recent Diplodocus skin impression was found, showing a row of spines running down the back.

Ceratosaurus

Ceratosaurus (Keh-RAT-oh-sore-us) which means "horned lizard", goes with out saying he had 3 horns one above each eye  and one above his nose. He weighed bout 2 tons and was about 20 feet tall.  He used his incredibly strong and flexible tail to swim after its prey like a giant fish, crocodiles, and alligators.  They also like to dine on plant-eaters like the iguandons, stegosaurus, and even the giant sauropods. It is not know if they hunted in groups or by themselves.

Ceratosaurus lived in is USA, Africa, and Tanzania during the Late Jurassic Period (159-144 million years ago). Ceratosaurus is slightly smaller then its rival Allosaurus but is still a fierce meat-eating hunter.  http://www.history.com/shows/jurassic-fight-club-archived/interactives/dinopedia 


Don't Forget About Mother's Day! 
 

KudoSurf Me!

Time Out For Mother's Day

Looking for some gifts for Mother's Day? I found some funny, some sweet, and some inspirational. Don't forget to get your mom and grandmother and all the other mothers in your life.

A mother's memorar 

A beautiful necklace that says
"A Mother Holds Her Child's Hand For A Short While And Their Hearts Forever"

Give mom a light up globe that says 'I love You'

First Mother's Day Picture Frame                                                         

Pentaceratops

Pentaceratops (PEN-tuh-SER-uh-tops) means "Five-Horned Face" it eats tough, low-growing plants and lives coastal floodplains, and the state it used to live in was New Mexico and Colorado. Pentaceratops were about 25 feet long, 7 feet tall at the hips, and 3-4 tons about the same as an Asian elephant.













A new genus and species of Ceratopsia from New Mexico, Pentaceratops sternbergii (American Museum novitates)

Brachiosaurus

Brachiosaurus name means "Arm Lizard", was one of the largest and tallest dinosaurs ever found. It had a long neck, small head, and a short, thick tail. Grows up to 40-50 feet (12-16 m) tall. Brachiosaurus lived in the middle to late Jurassic period, about 156-145 million years ago. Brachiosaurus was about 85 feet (26 m) long, and weighed about 33-88 tons. It had a claw on the first toe of each front foot had a claws on the first three toes of each rear foot (each foot had five toes with fleshy pads). Some dating estimates have Brachiosaurus surviving until 140 million years ago, during the dawn of the Cretaceous period. `
                                                 
Herds: Brachiosaurus probably traveled in herds and may have migrated when they wasted their local food supply. Eggs: Brachiosaurus have hatched from eggs, like other sauropods. Sauropod eggs have been found in a linear pattern and not in nests; presumably the eggs were laid as the massive reptiles was walking. It is thought that sauropods did not take care of their eggs. Brachiosaurus Life Span: Sauropod life span may have been as old as 100 years old. Brachiosaurus Defense: Brachiosaurus's best defense was size. In colluding, its long tail could whip away most predators. Also, Brachiosaurus had leathery skin, everyone though this wasn't much of a defense against predators, sharp Theropods teeth. They also had one claw on the front feet that were used protected  young.