The animals at herp society today got a grim reminder of their own mortality.

and then... well, then there's Kyle.

Sea turtle launches attacks on a scuba diver cleaning his tank only to be foiled time and time again.

Here’s one good thing to come out of 2020:

Paleontologists completed a life-sized replica of Sue, the most complete T. Rex ever found.

And she is freaking GORGEOUS!

As I read more about this beauty, I found out some new details regarding things I thought I previously knew about the beast that was Tyrannosaurus Rex, and I’m going to share them with you.

First, and most obvious, her size:

This is nothing new, we all figured T. Rex was big, but I for one never stopped to consider exactly how big it was. Nobody ever really knows what to imagine when they read about something the size of a whale that walked around and ate everything it could kill. 

Speaking of eating things, I just want to remind you all that T. Rex had–by miles–the strongest bite of any terrestrial animal living or dead, somewhere around six and a half tons of force. That’s over six times greater than the current estimate of what Allosaurus was capable of, and three times what was delivered by the highest measured reading of the living title holder–the estuarine crocodile. It didn’t have to waste time swinging its head open-mouthed like Saurophaganax for a little extra oomph, or grow fancy serrated teeth like Carcharodontosaurus to cut pieces out of its prey. It opted for the simplest approach: get its mouth around something and crush it to death; imagine the full weight of an elephant on whatever was between this thing’s jaws.

“How did it find something to eat?” I hear you asking. “It can’t see something if it doesn’t move, right?”

Listen, I love Jurassic Park too, but that’s a big crock of shit.

Notice how both her eyes face forward. That gives her binocular vision (the ability to focus both eyes on one target, like you and I). More importantly it means she has impeccable depth perception due to overlapping fields of vision from each, large, eyeball. Researchers agree that T. Rex not only had incredible vision, but that it was probably better than most modern animals–including eagles, hawks, and owls–and that she could likely spot something three and a half miles away. If something that big can see that well, it doesn’t matter if you move or not, she’d be able to tell if it was an animal trying to hide or a piece of vegetation. So pray she isn’t hungry if she lays eyes on you. And even if by some miracle she didn’t see you, she’d still smell you. 

If she decided you looked tasty, you probably wouldn’t hear her coming as much as you’d feel her. Modern science indicates that T. Rex didn’t roar like in Jurassic Park, but rather bellowed or maybe even hissed like crocodilians. If she were on to you, you’d most likely feel this sense of unease creep up your spine as a low-pitched rumble in the air permeated through you. You wouldn’t know what it was or where it was coming from until you hear her footfalls. By then it’s too late–you could try to run but she’d probably catch you. There’s plenty on YouTube that reconstructs what T. Rex may have sounded like, and it’s legitimately haunting.  

To wrap all of this up, the one bit of good that came out of the cursed year that is 2020 is that this wonderful child of science and art came into the world, and reaffirmed my respect and admiration for the eight ton slab of muscle and teeth that is this magnificent creature.

…and it is nothing if not magnificent.

@fnaf-is-awesome201 Lots of words but DINOSAURS!!!

I can finally share this!

these were done for the Evolving Planet exhibit at the Field Museum. there’s a peaceful ‘Before’ scene set in the late Permian, and a disastrous ‘After’ in the early Triassic, showing the effects of the End-Permian Extinction (aka the ‘Great Dying’).

the background, middleground, foreground, animals, and clouds were risograph-printed separately, then digitally assembled for use in a 2.5D animation. if you’re in Chicago, I highly encourage you to go check it out!

Damascus was a bad man at the vet and was very bitey so he got put in the lizard straight jacket for his x-rays.

#shame spa

How to Towel your Dragon

Unkar Delta

Check out the unconformity and the tilted grand canyon supergroup in this shot!

New dinosaur research alert from the Alf Museum! 

Our curator Dr. Andy Farke and Webb high school student Eunice Yip ‘19 just published their paper on the leg bone (femur) of a young Edmontosaurus annectens. It represents the first published example of a femur at this size of the species, and helps paleontologists understand how Edmontosaurus changed as it grew up.

The full paper is published in the peer-reviewed journal Vertebrate Anatomy Morphology Palaeontology. You can access it at: https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/vamp/index.php/VAMP/article/view/29347?fbclid=IwAR1WucYKn-lfo4EntVs1JxadGw-3g677ItliI0RV0LBY98uVuB8GWfP9wVU

The publication is the culmination of the collaborative work between Eunice and Dr. Farke as part of our museum’s Advanced Studies in Paleontology Program. The Advanced Studies program at The Webb Schools and Alf Museum is a unique curriculum designed to provide high school students with opportunities in hands-on research in the field of paleontology. The Alf Museum is also the only nationally accredited natural history museum on a high school campus.

Congrats to Eunice and Andy on the new pub!

The original fossil was collected under permit from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and is housed at the Alf Museum. Photo by Gabe Santos; infographic by Andy Farke; femur illustration by Phillip Krzeminski.

#FossilFriday repost!