Post by Deinobrontornis on Feb 23, 2012 17:29:47 GMT -5
2 Tyrannosaurus rex
Tyrannosaurus is a genus of theropod dinosaur. The species Tyrannosaurus rex (rex meaning "king" in Latin), commonly abbreviated to T. rex, is a fixture in popular culture. It lived throughout what is now western North America, with a much wider range than other tyrannosaurids. Fossils are found in a variety of rock formations dating to the Maastrichtian age of the upper Cretaceous Period, 67 to 65.5 million years ago. It was among the last non-avian dinosaurs to exist prior to the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event.
Like other tyrannosaurids, Tyrannosaurus was a bipedal carnivore with a massive skull balanced by a long, heavy tail. Relative to the large and powerful hindlimbs, Tyrannosaurus forelimbs were small, though unusually powerful for their size, and bore two clawed digits. Although other theropods rivaled or exceeded Tyrannosaurus rex in size, it was the largest known tyrannosaurid and one of the largest known land predators, measuring up to 12.8 meters (42 ft) in length, up to 4 meters (13 ft) tall at the hips, and up to 6.8 metric tons (7.5 short tons) in weight. By far the largest carnivore in its environment, Tyrannosaurus rex may have been an apex predator, preying upon hadrosaurs and ceratopsians, although some experts have suggested it was primarily a scavenger. The debate over Tyrannosaurus as apex predator or scavenger is among the longest running in paleontology.
Songhua River Mammoth - Mammuthus sungari
Mammuthus sungari, sometimes called the Songhua River Mammoth, evolved from smaller Siberian mammoths and occurred in Northern China during the middle Pleistocene (about 280,000 years ago). It survived until the beginning of the Late Pleistocene. The replica specimen on display at the Ibaraki Nature Museum in Ibaraki, Japan is 9.1 metres (30 ft) long, 5.3 metres (17 ft) tall, and has an estimated weight of 17 tonnes (19 short tons)- slightly smaller than Paraceratherium, the largest known land mammal. The original skeleton is at the Inner Mongolian Museum and it is based on two very large individuals found in 1980 at the Zhalainuoer Coal Mine in Hulun Buir City. These specimens indicate that it is the largest mammoth species found. M. sungari was described by Zhou, M.Z in 1959. Wei et al. (2010), who restudied the fossils referred to M sungari, considered this species to be a junior synonym of Mammuthus trogontherii (the steppe mammoth). The authors state that some of the fossils originally referred to M. sungari are referrable to M. trogontherii, while the others (such as the skeleton from Zhaoyuan County, Heilongjiang) can be referred to Mammuthus primigenius (the woolly mammoth), according to morphological characters and measurements.
Tyrannosaurus is a genus of theropod dinosaur. The species Tyrannosaurus rex (rex meaning "king" in Latin), commonly abbreviated to T. rex, is a fixture in popular culture. It lived throughout what is now western North America, with a much wider range than other tyrannosaurids. Fossils are found in a variety of rock formations dating to the Maastrichtian age of the upper Cretaceous Period, 67 to 65.5 million years ago. It was among the last non-avian dinosaurs to exist prior to the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event.
Like other tyrannosaurids, Tyrannosaurus was a bipedal carnivore with a massive skull balanced by a long, heavy tail. Relative to the large and powerful hindlimbs, Tyrannosaurus forelimbs were small, though unusually powerful for their size, and bore two clawed digits. Although other theropods rivaled or exceeded Tyrannosaurus rex in size, it was the largest known tyrannosaurid and one of the largest known land predators, measuring up to 12.8 meters (42 ft) in length, up to 4 meters (13 ft) tall at the hips, and up to 6.8 metric tons (7.5 short tons) in weight. By far the largest carnivore in its environment, Tyrannosaurus rex may have been an apex predator, preying upon hadrosaurs and ceratopsians, although some experts have suggested it was primarily a scavenger. The debate over Tyrannosaurus as apex predator or scavenger is among the longest running in paleontology.
Songhua River Mammoth - Mammuthus sungari
Mammuthus sungari, sometimes called the Songhua River Mammoth, evolved from smaller Siberian mammoths and occurred in Northern China during the middle Pleistocene (about 280,000 years ago). It survived until the beginning of the Late Pleistocene. The replica specimen on display at the Ibaraki Nature Museum in Ibaraki, Japan is 9.1 metres (30 ft) long, 5.3 metres (17 ft) tall, and has an estimated weight of 17 tonnes (19 short tons)- slightly smaller than Paraceratherium, the largest known land mammal. The original skeleton is at the Inner Mongolian Museum and it is based on two very large individuals found in 1980 at the Zhalainuoer Coal Mine in Hulun Buir City. These specimens indicate that it is the largest mammoth species found. M. sungari was described by Zhou, M.Z in 1959. Wei et al. (2010), who restudied the fossils referred to M sungari, considered this species to be a junior synonym of Mammuthus trogontherii (the steppe mammoth). The authors state that some of the fossils originally referred to M. sungari are referrable to M. trogontherii, while the others (such as the skeleton from Zhaoyuan County, Heilongjiang) can be referred to Mammuthus primigenius (the woolly mammoth), according to morphological characters and measurements.
