Time and Place: Between 76 and 75.6 million years ago, in the Campanian age of the Late Cretaceous
Nasutoceratops is known from the middle member of the Kaiparowits Formation in Utah
Physical Description: Nasutoceratops is a Ceratopsian – so, as with all Ceratopsians, it has an extremely distinctive head! Like other Ceratopsians, it would have been around 5 meters long or so, and had a very bulky body with a short, skinny tail. The legs of this dinosaur – as in others of its kind – were short, bulky, and had very padded and thick toes that made running easy for this animal. The really distinctive aspects of this dinosaur, however, were in its head – again, as in other Ceratopsians, which might as well all be Mr. Potato Heads with the different combinations of horns and frills as the exchangeable parts of the classic toy. Nasutaceratops sported a short frill, a short and high snout, and distinctively long horns. The horns on its brow were more horizontal than most, but they curved inward like those found on modern cattle! The nostril did not feature a horn, but was very high and ridged instead. Interestingly enough, there were extensive cavities in this rounded nose that may have been pneumatic, giving Nasutoceratops a very unique trait compared to other Ceratopsians. It had a very thickly overlapping upper jaw, which would have made it somewhat less flexible than other Ceratopsians. The frill had small round osteoderms all around the edge, and there isn’t a notch on the frill like in other Ceratopsians. As in its relatives, Nasutoceratops would have probably been primarily scaly, though it may have had feather-quills on the edge of its tail or elsewhere on its body. The frill would have probably been brightly colored, for display.
By José Carlos Cortés
Diet: Nasutoceratops would have primarily been an herbivore, feeding on low-lying and medium-level leaves and other plant material, all less than one meter tall.
Behavior: Nasutoceratops, like other Ceratopsians, would have been a very social creatures! These dinosaurs would have spent a lot of time together roaming their home in large herds, and used their frills and fancy horns to display to one another for communication and mating displays. This points back to their fairly complicated social groupings, where the young would have been protected by the adults from oncoming danger. The horns would have also been useful in telling apart Nasutaceratops from other dinosaurs that lived with it, such as the Chasmosaurine Ceratopsian Kosmoceratops. Like other dinosaurs, it would have been warm-blooded, and thus needed to spend a good chunk of the day finding food. It also may have fought with its horns, though that’s somewhat more controversial, especially given their odd shape – though a combination of the bumpy nose and horns . These horns may have had sheaths of fingernail material (keratin) over them, making them longer, but probably not more available for fighting. The colors of the frill may have been able to change, giving even more communication ability. These structures – the frills and horns – wouldn’t have been prominent in baby Nasutoceratops, but grew with the animal as it aged into sexual maturity. Nasutoceratops would have taken care of its young, which would eventually join the herd with the adults.
By Kathy Neenan, CC BY-SA 4.0
Ecosystem: Nasutoceratops lived in the Kaiparowits Formation, which would have been a very muddy jungle ecosystem, with a wide variety of animals living very near the Western Interior Seaway. A variety of swamps, ponds, and lakes frequented the entire area, which was surrounded on its other side by highlands and mountains, enclosing it against the sea. It was a very wet and humid environment, allowing for high animal diversity. Among those that lived with Nasutoceratops include other Ceratopsians like Kosmoceratops and Utahceratops, hadrosaurs like Gryposaurus and Parasaurolophus, the ankylosaur Akainacephalus, the Troodontid Talos, the Ornithomimid Ornithomimus, the Oviraptor Hagryphus, and the opposite bird Mirarce! That being said, the main predator of Nasutoceratops would definitely have been the local Tyrannosaur, Teratophoneus. There were also a variety of mammals, turtles, and Neosuchians in the environment, which all took advantage of the wet swampy conditions.
By Ripley Cook
Other: Nasutoceratops was a Centrosaurine, those Ceratopsians more closely related to the likes of Styracosaurus than to Triceratops. Interestingly enough, these Ceratopsians tend to do more weird stuff with their noses – usually giant horns, but Nasutoceratops seems to have gone for a more lightweight option. In fact, Nasutoceratops gave its name to a whole group of these animals, which retained the brow horns of the ancestral ceratopsians (where other Centrosaurines lost them).
Referred Species: U. africana (African Hoopoe), U. antaios (Saint Helena Hoopoe), U. epops (Eurasian Hoopoe), U. marginata (Madagascan Hoopoe)
Status: Extinct – Extant, Least Concern
Time and Place: Between 12,000 years ago and today, in the Holocene of the Quaternary
Hoopoes are known from all over the Eastern Hemisphere
Physical Description: Hoopoes are extremely distinctive birds! They have very long, thin, and curved bills that extend out greatly from their heads, and huge crests on their heads that are easily spotted. They have long, thin bodies, and feet built for perching. Their wings are very square-ish, and they have shorter tails than other birds. However, their coloration is decidedly where they are most distinctive of all. They have bright orange heads, with orange crests – but the crests end in very slight white bandings and then black tips. Their bodies are orange, but their wings and rumps and tails are black and white striped all over! They are such beautiful, distinctive birds. The shades of orange can differ in brightness or redness based on species (for example, the African Hoopoe tends to be redder than the Eurasian Hoopoe), but they do tend to be overall similar to one another in appearance. Living species range between 19 and 32 centimeters long; the extinct Saint Helena Hoopoe, though it had smaller wings, probably could have reached 36 centimeters long.
Madagascan Hoopoe by Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0
Diet: Hoopoes primarily feed on insects, especially larvae, though some larger animals are also fed upon by these animals.
Common Hoopoe by Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0
Behavior: Hoopoes are very curious, adventurous birds, spending a lot of their time foraginging on the ground – they’ll dig with their bills into soft earth, using them to turn over leaves and probing into the mud and dung for insects and other invertebrates. They’ll even use their bills to prise off the bark from trees, or forage for insects in lichen! Sometimes, these birds also smash their food against the ground to They’ll usually forage in pairs or alone, spending a lot of their days looking for food. Some Hoopoes – especially the Madagascan Hoopoe – will forage in even slightly larger groups, of up to six individuals. Fascinatingly, Hoopoes have their own version of Penicillin – Anting! They’ll find piles of ants and roll around in them, allowing the ants to cover their feathers. The ants then secret substances that will kill bacteria, fungi, and other insects – protecting the Hoopoe (and other birds that Ant) from illness! These birds also take dust and sand baths to clean themselves; they’ll also sunbathe by spreading out their wings and tail low to the ground and tilting their heads up!
Madagascan Hoopoe by Charles J. Sharp, CC By-SA 4.0
Hoopoes are distinctive in one very special way that lead to its name – their voice! They literally make calls that sounds like “hoo-poo-poo” and “hoop-oop hoop-oop” – leading to the name, Hoopoe, as well as the genus name, Upupa, and the species name of the Eurasian species, epops. Interestingly enough, the Madagascan Hoopoe does not make this sound – but rather, more cooing sounds, like doves. These birds will also make harsh, scolding calls, trills, and hisses, depending on the situation. The females and males will communicate primarily in trilling sounds while watching out for their nests. These birds are often sedentary, not migrating over long distance, but northern populations usually do come south in the winter to avoid colder climates, creating a variety of populations with very distinctive seasons and migrational patterns from one another within the species.
Saint Helena Hoopoe by Apokryltaros, CC BY 2.5
Hoopoes are monogamous each breeding season (which varies throughout the year as Hoopoes live all over the Eastern Hemisphere), forming strong pair bonds (that only last for that period of time). Males make very frequent calls to establish their territories, and they often fight with each other very brutally – including stabbings that can leave their opponents blinded. Females will then mate with the winners of these contests, and together they make nests out of holes in trees and walls with very narrow entrances. They usually aren’t lined with much. The female then incubates the egg, while the male defends her and the nest. Clutch size tends to depend on location, varying between 4 and 12 eggs per nest. They are incubated for nearly three weeks. At hatching, the chicks are very white and fluffy after a few days, and the crest develops after two weeks. The chicks are able to leave the nest after about a month, though they still stick with their families for a little while. Sometimes, when males defeat each other and replace each other in the mated pair, they will kill the offspring of the replaced male. Females can produce foul-smelling liquid, as do the babies, to protect themselves from predators – since they smell like rotting meat, they can fend off meat-eaters and parasites, and potentially fend off bacteria. Chicks in the nests also are able to literally poop at intruders, helping them to protect themselves! After leaving the nest, they stay with the parents for another week as they gain their bearings; they then become sexually mature between ages one and two.
Eurasian Hoopoe by Frank Vassen, CC BY 2.0
Ecosystem: Hoopoes live mainly in open country – pastures, orchards, steppe, dry savanna, wooded savanna, short grassland, and bare ground. They congregate near scattered, isolated trees for their roosting and nesting. They do need perches and shade, but they want the trees they get these services from to be rare in the environments – so they can go down to the ground to get their food! They are fed upon by herons, falcons, and many other birds of prey.
African Hoopoe by Derek Keats, CC By 2.0
Other: Most hoopoes are not currently threatened with extinction – they are extremely common, widespread birds, that are even protected in many localities (being highly venerated in many cultures – it’s even mentioned extensively in the Quaran – and made the national bird of Israel; it is also considered a pest controller and thus is protected on that front also. Some local populations, such as those in Morocco, are more threatened due to local practices (such as selling them for medicine), but overall they seem to be doing well. In fact, there are probably as many as 10 million Hoopoe around today, if not more. Still, in more northern countries such as Germany they are more endangered, primarily due to changes in habitat, hunting, and human activity giving pressure to the populations. The numbers in Madagascar are slightly vulnerable too, given forest clearance. Hoopoes are closely related to the Hornbills!
Saint Helena Hoopoe by Scott Reid
Species Differences: The four species primarily differ based on location: The African Hoopoe is found in Africa; the Eurasian Hoopoe is found in Eurasia; the Madagascan Hoopoe is known from Madgascar: and the late Saint Helena Hoopoe – now extinct – was known from the island of Saint Helena off the coast of Africa! The Saint Helena Hoopoe differed from the other species in other ways, too – it had smaller wings, was somewhat larger, and was probably flightless! A giant flightless Hoopoe! And, like most large flightless birds of the recent past, it went extinct due to human activity on the island – this time, sometime in the 1500s.
Time and Place: Between 70 and 66 million years ago, in the Maastrichtian of the Late Cretaceous
Rajasaurus is known from the Lameta Formation of Gujarat, India
Physical Description: Rajasaurus was an Abelisaur – so, a kind of theropod with a long body, almost nonexistent arms, and thick, powerful legs. Rajasaurus in particular differed from other Abelisaurs in having particularly short legs, making it even more… sausage-like… in appearance than even its close relatives. It had a boxy head and thick neck, which would allow it to have a very powerful bite and strength in the neck to hold down prey. It had a strong sense of smell, as well, to help it to find prey from farther away – allowing it to set up an ambush for said prey when it got too close. It had horns on its forehead, made of bone from the nose, which was probably not extended by skin. It was also a lot shorter than other Abelisaurids – which means that it was only about 7 or so meters long, and maybe only two meters tall, if that. It really wouldn’t have stood much taller than an adult man. Rajasaurus had an especially short neck, which may have allowed it to grab onto prey even tighter than other Abelisaurids. It had very short, four-fingered hands, with claws on the first three of them. Though the legs of Rajasaurus are short, it did have very robust, thick toes, giving it more support on the ground. As an Abelisaurid, Rajasaurus was covered in scales all over its body, with potentially round bumpy bits of bone (osteoderms) interspersed among the scales.
By Paleocolour, CC BY-SA 3.0
Diet: As a large Abelisaurid, Rajasaurus would have primarily fed upon larger herbivores, such as Titanosaurs.
Behavior: Abelisaurs were not the fastest animals – after all, if they ran too quicky, they wouldn’t have been very balanced – but what they were extremely agile turners. Being able to turn very quickly allowed them to be efficient ambush predators. Rajasaurus would have waited for prey to appear, and then charged – seemingly out of nowhere, by turning rapidly towards the prey – and then grabbing down onto the struggling prey with its strong, boxy jaws. Though Rajasaurus had small arms and hands, it traded those off for having a stronger neck – to better hold the prey steady with. Then, the stress would weaken the animal, along with blood loss. The horns on the head of Rajasaurus were probably for display and interaction between members of the species, with fights occurring to argue over carcasses or for mates via head-butting or neck-bashing. The horns would have also packed quite a bit of a cutting edge in these fights. It’s also possible that bright colors could have been used on the horns to display. While it doesn’t seem likely that Rajasaurus was particularly social, it did probably take care of its young, and may have formed small family groups while they grew up, in order to protect the young from the many other predators around.
By ДиБгд, CC BY-SA 3.0
Ecosystem: The Lameta Formation is a fascinating Late Cretaceous environment due to the fact that it was a grassland! Grasses evolved sometime in the Cretaceous period. While they did not spread rapidly until the Cenozoic, they did seem to be present in quite a few areas during the Cretaceous (to the point of some hadrosaur relatives evolving to eat them). India at the time was an isolated island, so grasses were able to thrive and diversify more there than in other locations where they did not gain as immediate of a foothold. There was a large amount of volcanic activity nearby, which probably added to its extensive biodiversity (before it made many of the animals present go extinct, via the explosion of the Deccan Traps). It was a lush environment filled with grasses resembling modern rice, flowers, algae, and ferns. This was an environment filled with many lakes, surrounded by extensive mud that lead to its fossil preservation. Rajasaurus was certainly not the only dinosaur of this environment, either! There were even other Abelisaurids – Indosaurus, Indosuchus, Rahiolisaurus, Lametasaurus, and their close relatives the (potentially piscivorous) Noasaurids such as Ornithomimoides, Laevisuchus, and Dryptosauroides. There were also other theropods, probably also Ceratosaurs – Jubbulpuria, Coeluroides, and Orthogoniosaurus. With all of these predators and fishermen, it makes sense that there were a lot of large herbivores for them to feed upon! And there seem to be at least three different kinds of titanosaurs there – Titanosaurus, a dubiously known one; Jainosaurus, a slightly better known one; and Isisaurus, the best known one that seems to be one of the main features of the environment. There was also potentially an ankylosaur – Brachypodosaurus! As for non-dinosaurs, there were large snakes, Sanajeh and Madtsoia; a variety of turtles; and some Dyrosaurid crocodylomorphs!
By José Carlos Cortés
Other: Rajasaurus was one of the Majungasaurines, which had longer holes in their snouts in front of their eyes than their close relatives the Carnotaurines – aka, they had lighter skulls – and having small crests widening the front of their heads; and, in general, longer snouts. This group of Abelisuarids underwent extensive island hopping, reaching places like India via rafting and other journeys across the ocean. Rajasaurus, being one of them, had ancestors that underwent such a journey!
Time and Place: Within the last 10,000 years, in the Holocene of the Quaternary
The Blue-Winged Goose is only known from the Horn of Africa
Physical Description: Blue-Winged Geese look very similar to other geese in terms of proportions – with round bodies, short tails, and long necks. Their heads are small, as in other geese, with small triangular bills. They also look like most non-canadian geese by being softer and rounder in general angles and shape. They differ from other geese primarily in color – they have grey heads and brown bodies, but the undersides of their wings are distinctively powder-blue in color, with black and green contrasting feathers around the blue. The males have brighter colors than the females, and are in general heavier – though they range between 60 and 75 centimeters in length in both sexes. The tails of these birds are usually black. The juveniles differ from adults in being duller in color still.
By Dick Daniels, CC BY-SA 3.0
Diet: Blue-Winged Geese feed mainly on grasses, sedges, water-edge plants, and sometimes invertebrates.
Behavior: Despite being geese – and even feeding on aquatic food from time to time – Blue-Winged Geese seldom swim! Instead, they will graze along the river bank, searching for food while keeping their feet firmly planted on dry land. They also mostly do this during the night, spending their days asleep! Even though it is reluctant to both swim and fly, it is good at both, but will rarely run away from humans approaching it. They are social birds, forming flocks year-round, which are filled with high-pitched whistles and penk-penk-penk calls. They do move flocks occasionally during different seasons – and go to higher altitudes during the dry winter to breed.
By Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0
They begin breeding during the dry season, usually forming single pairs to build nests on the ground hidden by the vegetation. The female does most of the incubation alone, laying four to seven eggs and incubating them for about a month. The chicks hatch very fluffy and brown-black, taking around three months to fledge. They then join the flock, and become sexually mature at around two years of age. These flocks can include hundreds of geese, and are a noticeable feature in the Ethiopian landscape.
Ecosystem: Blue-Winged Geese primarily live in grassy meadows and pastures at mid to high levels of elevation, usually near rivers and lakes and pools. It will avoid entering deep water, though it will venture into waterlogged soils with dense vegetation.
By Dick Daniels, CC BY-SA 3.0
Other: Blue-Winged Geese might be common, but they have a very unfortunately restricted range – which means there are probably less than 10,000 sexually mature individuals alive today, which are specially affected by drainage and habitat conversion by local populations. Luckily, local religious beliefs prevent it being hunted, however immigrants into Ethiopia are starting to hunt the Blue-Winged Geese which is causing increased pressure on this bird. Clearly, protection is needed and increased monitoring of its population. This is especially important as Blue-Winged Geese is actually a very unique bird – it’s not a goose at all, but a duck! It is closely related to Hartlaub’s Duck, another unique African species of waterfowl, indicating an isolated clade of African waterbirds evolved similarly to waterbirds around the world. More research is needed to better understand these birds – but they must be protected so we can do so.
Referred Species: G. aesculapii, G. moldovicus, G. beremendensis, G. tamanensis, G. kudarensis, G. europaeus, G. imereticus, G. meschtscheriensis, G. georgicus, G. varius (Green Junglefowl), G. sonneratii (Grey Junglefowl), G. lafayettii (Sri Lankan Junglefowl), G. gallus (Red Junglefowl and Domesticated Chicken)
Status: Extinct – Extant, Least Concern
Time and Place: Since about 6 million years ago, in the Messinian of the Miocene through today
In the past, Junglefowl were found throughout Eurasia, especially across Europe. After the last glacial maximum, they were restricted to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Eurasia, as well as many Pacific islands. Of course, today, domestic chickens are found all over the world. This map below shows the current range of wild Junglefowl in dark blue, and extinct Junglefowl in light blue; please note that domesticated and feral chickens are found everywhere.
Physical Description: Junglefowl are highly ornamented, beautiful, bulky birds, with the males being decorated in brilliantly iridescent feathers all over their bodies. The females tend to be more dull in color, in order to blend in with the environment; that being said, they can also have beautiful and distinct patches of brighter feathers in certain strategic places, such as the tail. The males also have combs on the tops of their heads, made out of skin and muscle, rather than feathers; they also tend to have bare red faces, and wattles underneath their chins also made of skin and muscle. Their tails tend to have long, curved ribbon feathers, colored with iridescence and usually in a blueish-greenish shade. The tails of the females are shorter and less distinctive. These birds are squat, with short legs and bulky bodies. They also have small heads and short, pointed beaks. In general, junglefowl males can range between 65 and 80 centimeters long; the females tend to be significantly smaller, ranging between 35 and 46 centimeters long.
Sri Lankan Junglefowl by Schnobby, CC BY-SA 3.0
Diet: Junglefowl are omnivorous birds, feeding on a wide variety of food such as such as insects, worms, leaves, berries, seeds, fruit, bamboo, grasses, tubers, and even small reptiles.
Grey Junglefowl by Yathin S. Krishnappa, CC BY-SA 3.0
Behavior: Junglefowl tend to forage in small groups, but they will also scratch around the ground for food alone, using their feet to release food that might be trapped under the most shallow layer of ground or leaf litter. They peck, very distinctly, at the ground – bobbing their bodies back and forth as they move around, pecking in short spurts to gather the food they look for. They are very opportunistic feeders, switching back and forth between different food sources based on what is more available in a given season. They can even associate, happily, with other birds and even mammals of all things, using the environmental disturbance they cause in order to find food.
Green Junglefowl by Francesco Veronesi, CC BY-SA 2.0
Junglefowl make some of the most distinctive calls of any bird, though of course, each language seems to have its own onomatopoeia to describe it. They make very distinctive clucks, cackling, and even cooing sounds depending on the situation. Males do make “cock-a-doodle-do” calls, though they can vary in tone and loudness, as well as the syllables involved, from species to species. These calls are actually advertising calls, made by the males, in order to attract females! The females tend to be quieter than the males, though domesticated female chickens are not quiet animals by a longshot. Junglefowl do not migrate, and tend to stay limited within their preferred habitats (though, of course, domesticated chickens have been bred to deal with a wider variety of climate better than their wild relatives.)
Red Junglefowl by Harvinder Chandigarh, CC By-SA 4.0
Junglefowl can breed throughout the year (it’s why they were domesticated), though some populations tend to favor the dry season over the wet season (primarily due to less danger with the daily weather – these guys do hail from the monsoon lands!) As a general rule, junglefowl are polygamous – males will mate with a variety of females throughout the year, with the females doing the bulk of the work in nest construction and child care (which makes sense, since they blend in so well with the environment). Some species – such as the Grey Junglefowl – do show monogamous behavior from time to time, with males sticking with one female for long periods of time. In a classic case of sexual selection, females tend to prefer males with more brilliant combs (rather than focusing on plumage color, though this could be different in non-domesticated species). The female will lay between 2 and 6 eggs (some species laying more than others) in a depression amongst dense vegetation; the female will incubate the eggs for three weeks before the chicks hatch. The chicks are extremely fluffy and cute when hatching, usually covered in soft brown feathers (though domesticated ones are more yellowish). The chicks are able to fly after one week, and males will become sexually mature sometime between 5 and 8 months. They are not the strongest fliers, usually preferring short bursts of activity rather than sustained flight.
Domesticated Chicken Chicks by Uberprutser, CC BY-SA 3.0
Extremely social birds, chickens have a very noticeable pecking order – with individual chickens dominating over others in order to have priority for food and nesting location. This pecking order is disrupted when individuals are removed from a flock; adding new chickens also causes fighting and injury until a new pecking order is established. This family structure was exploited by early humans, in order to become the “top chicken” and domesticate the species. Interestingly enough, chickens do gang up on inexperienced predators – foxes have even been killed in such encounters! Despite stereotypes to the contrary, chickens are extremely intelligent animals – studies have shown they have higher intellectual capabilities than human toddlers – they are self aware, are able to count, and do trick one another into actions (aka, they can lie and manipulate other chickens). What’s more, despite their pecking order fights, they are very affectionate and empathetic birds – prone to cuddling with other flock members, and checking in to make sure the flock is alright. They show very rapid learning ability, and are able to grasp basic number theory only after a few weeks from hatching. In addition to being logical with numbers, they can reason out many other things – including forming teams to play kickball! Bird-brain, indeed!
Red and Green Junglefowl by Francesco Veronesi, CC BY-SA 2.0
Ecosystem: Junglefowl primarily live in dense, humid rainforest and wet woodland. They can also be found in savanna, scrub habitat, coastal scrub, mountain forest, and also in human plantations and farmland (as wild species spreading into human-created habitat). They do prefer lower elevations to higher ones, as a general rule. They are fed upon by a wide variety of creatures – larger birds, predatory mammals, and large lizards and crocodilians. Of course, the biggest predator of junglefowl is probably People! Just, statistically speaking.
Sri Lankan Junglefowl by Steve Garvie, CC BY-SA 2.0
Other: Junglefowl are, thankfully, not threatened with extinction. In fact, they are extremely common birds throughout their range. Domesticated chickens even regularly go feral (ie, return to wild living despite being descended from fully domesticated populations), spreading into places far from their original range such as Latin America, Hawai’i, and Africa. There are many extinct species of Junglefowl; they used to have a much wider range into Europe, but went extinct during the last Glacial Maximum, when things got too cold for them everywhere but Southeastern Asia. They then thrived in those jungle habitats, before being domesticated by people during the Holocene.
Domesticated Chicken by Berit, CC BY 2.0
Chickens were domesticated from the Red Junglefowl sometime around 5,000 years ago in Southeastern Asia. It was probably domesticated multiple times – with hybridization occurring afterwards. It spread throughout the world, reaching Greece by the fifth century BCE, though they were in Egypt potentially one thousand years earlier (or even more!!!). They were domesticated due to their frequent laying schedule – made more so by selective breeding, of course – and easily exploitable family structure. They were domesticated to breed even more frequently, leading to an abundance of adult animals – and the females even lay unfertilized eggs, giving us another source of delicious food. They also have been bred to come in many sizes, shapes, and brilliant colors of plumage. Because of their high empathetic capacity, chickens are amazingly good pets – plus, they’re domesticated, which gives them a leg up over parrots. Docile breeds, such as silkies, are great pets for children, including children with disabilities. Chickens are so fundamental to human society, that aphorisms often feature them – and they serve as symbols on heraldry, their feathers are featured in clothing, and it’s hard to escape notice of chickens wherever we go in the world today.
Chickens are the most common bird in the entire world, being bred throughout the world and able to live in harsher climates than their original range (due to domestication and specially designed coops); there are probably over 50 billion members of the genus Gallus present on the planet today. They are so common that they are a model organism – in order to understand birds as a whole, scientists do extensive studies on chickens in order to understand avian evolution. The genes and development of chickens are probably better understood than any other living kind of dinosaur. This is of special interest to members of this blog, as chicken genes have been manipulated to give them teeth (though without enamel) and longer tails – much like their non-avian dinosaur ancestors. One study even raised chickens to walk around with plungers stuck to their butts like a bony tail – and showcased how the chickens changed their head-bobbing and walking to match the redistributed weight, which makes a decent hypothesis for how non-avian dinosaurs like Velociraptor and Tyrannosaurus were able to walk (see above)!
By Scott Reid
Species Differences: Among the living species, there are distinct differences in the coloration of the males. While the females all tend to be brown and black spotted, with some patches of red on the tails and wings in some species, the males have brilliantly different colors all over. Red Junglefowl – the wild kind – are a mid sized species, and are named accordingly for their coloration. The males tend to have reddish orange heads, with green wings and bellies; their backs and back of their wings are alls reddish, though they have brilliantly green tails. Sri Lankan Junglefowl are also reddish, but instead of having green undersides to their wings and green tails, they have blueish-grey feathers in those locations. The Sri Lankan Junglefowl is also one of the smallest living species. The Grey Junglefowl also has greyish-blue tail and wing feathers, except it has a firey orange underbelly and wing top. It has grey feathers all over its body, and orange and white and black speckles on its neck. It is the largest known species. Finally, the smallest species, the Green Junglefowl, is much more than green – it is almost a rainbow of colored feathers! Its tail is green, as is its neck; but the rump tends to be yellow, the top of the wing red, and the wattle and comb aren’t red – but purple, red, yellow, and even blue! Extinct species tend to blur the line between junglefowl and their close relatives such as Peafowl (see the oldest known species, G. aesculapii, above); but in many ways, they differ mainly by living in Europe and Western Asia, rather than Southeast Asia and India.
Time and Place: Sometime between 151 and 146 million years ago, in the Tithonian of the Late Jurassic
Chaoyangsaurus is known from the Tuchengzi Formation of Liaoning, China
Physical Description: Chaoyangsaurus was a small, bipedal herbivore – like so many other dinosaurs from the time – but differed from its close cousins in some important ways. Namely, it had a distinct top beak to go with the lower beak, that was slightly hooked; and in addition to that, it had a ridge on the back of its head. These two factors signal out the little guy for what it was – one of the earliest known Ceratopsians! This famed, iconic group of dinosaurs really got their start from such humble beginnings as Chaoyangsaurus. It would have had longer legs than arms, and run about bipedally – with a slightly larger head for the rest of its body. It may have been completely fluffy – like other small bipedal herbivores – or had distinctive quills on its tail, like it’s later relative Psittacosaurus. Either way, it would have had fluff in some form. Chaoyangsaurus was quite small, only about a meter long.
Diet: As a small Ornithischian, Chaoyangsaurus would have primarily fed upon low-lying plants such as ferns.
By Nobu Tamura, CC BY 3.0
Behavior: Chaoyangsaurus would have been a fairly skittish animal, running about in its environment attempting to avoid predators with speed rather than defense. Though that beak would have been good at snipping off tough vegetation, it wouldn’t have been the best in defense from larger predators. However, that ridge on the back of its skull may have provided extra defense for the head if something knocked into it. Chaoyangsaurus was probably at least a little social – since most small bipedal Ornithischians seemed to be so – using calls and notice from the other members of the flock to escape predators. The quills it may have had would have been good for display, so it could signal to each other that they were looking for mates and the like. It would have taken care of its young, which would have been even smaller! Too cute to process, really!
Ecosystem: Chaoyangsaurus lived in the Tuchengzi Environment, a late Jurassic environment from far western China. In fact, it is a transitional environment between the famed Daohugou Biota – a showcase for small, fluffy animals of the Mid Jurassic – and the even more famed Jehol Biota – a showcase for the small, fluffy animals of the Early Cretaceous. This transitional environment was not as lush, not as well preserved, and extremely dry – seemingly, semi-arid. This dry environment lead to the extinction of the unique and beautiful Daohugou auna. It was also more poorly preserved at this time, though clearly dinosaurs and other life forms were around (as Chaoyangsaurus was). Chaoyangosaurus was probably primarily preyed upon by a mysterious Raptor, from which we only have footprints; there was also a small general theropod present, and the small pterosaur Orientognathus. This environment would eventually grow lush again – and with it, small fluffy creatures would explode into amazing abundance once more.
By José Carlos Cortés
Other: Chaoyangsaurus shows the start animals like Triceratops and company really had – as these small, nippy bipedal creatures, running around in the undergrowth of the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous, trying to escape the larger predators! The quadrupedal stance, large frills, and horns would come much later – the giant horns, not until the Late Cretaceous.
Time and Place: 10,000 years ago, in the Holocene of the Quaternary
The Gabar Goshawk is known from most of sub-Saharan Africa, apart from the densest rainforest
Physical Description: Gabar Goshawks are small birds of prey, coming in two main morphs of colors – some are dark all over, with dark banding on their tails; while others are grey, with that same dark banding on its tail. The females are larger than the males, and they range between 28 and 36 centimeters long. Their feet have long claws and are orange, and they have short, curved beaks that are orange with black tips. So, in a lot of ways, they are somewhat Halloween themed birds of prey! The sexes tend to look the same. They also have white patches on their wings, most of the time. The juveniles tend to be brown, with streaks across their chests.
Diet: Gabar Goshawks feed mainly on other birds! Primarily, small birds such as guineafowl, coucals, and francolins. They also eat small reptiles and some small mammals – including bats!
By Bernard DuPont, CC By-SA 2.0
Behavior: The Gabar Goshawks will spend a decent amount of time actively pursuing prey, diving through the air to catch the flighted animals after which it chases. It will sometimes also wait in trees, or go into nests in order to get food – taking dozens of animals from sites at a time and bringing them back to their nests. It will hunt mainly in places of cover, sometimes in pairs, and sometimes with the help of falcons. They’ll tear into nests, grabbing whatever they can to devour the food inside. They are fairly silent birds, only making piping noises from perches when displaying to each other. These piping calls will also be made when feeding young – and when the young are asking for food.
Gabar Goshawks don’t migrate, but they do tend to move locally based on the dry season, and juveniles are a little nomadic and move in response to food. They tend to lay eggs at the end of the dry season, sometimes even breeding twice a year. The couple will do circles in the air around each other, and call to each other as a part of their mating rituals. They build nests together out of sticks in thorny trees, using earth and rootlets to bind the nest together. These nests are usually quite high off of the ground, and they’ll even have intentional spiderwebs on top to conceal the eggs. Two eggs are usually laid, and incubated for a little more than a month by the female; the male will help bring her food. The chicks are very white and fluffy, growing less and less white as they age. They fledge after another month or so, and tend to become more independent at that point.
By Lip Kee, CC BY-SA 2.0
Ecosystem: As indicated by their distribution, Gabar Goshawks live primarily in open thorn savannah and in some more open woodland habitats. They are preyed upon by tawny eagles, Wahlberg’s Eagle, and Ayres’ Hawk-Eagle.
Other: Thankfully, Gabar Goshawks are not threatened with extinction. They are common and widespread in a grand variety of habitats. Their range is even expanding, and in recent years they’ve been found in new locations outside of their natural range. There are some places where they are scarce, but by and large they are very common. They are brave birds, colonizing urban areas, though they are sometimes hunted by people due to being perceived as a threat (though they’re too small to be a problem for poultry!)
Time and Place: Between 40 and 38 million years ago, in the Bartonian age of the Eocene of the Paleogene
Mesetaornis is known from the Telm 7 member of the La Meseta Formation on Seymour Island, Antarctica
Physical Description: Mesetaornis is one of our early penguins – those long-billed weirdos of the first half of the Cenozoic, which paved the way for the adorable friends we known from the Southern Hemisphere today. It had extremely long toes compared to other penguins, and actually had the fourth toe (hallux), giving it very weird feet compared to its relatives. A small early penguin, it was much smaller than such species as Palaeeudyptes and Anthropornis, while probably around the same size as Delphinornis. This means it probably wouldn’t have reached taller than 70 or so centimeters in height (as a very rough estimate). Of course, this is just conjecture, as all we have of it are toe bones. Like other penguins, it would have stood upright, waddled about, and been more adept to life in the water than on land.
Diet: As in other penguins, Mesetaornis would have primarily fed upon fish and other aquatic organisms.
Behavior: Mesetaornis probably behaved like other penguins, spending most of its time near the water and diving about for food. Being closer to living penguins than earlier forms, it was probably not as good in the water as those today, but still better than those who came before. It could dive and fly through the water to some extent, using its flipper-wings to do so; it would have also been very awkward on land. As a penguin, Mesetaornis would have probably lived in large flocks, and taken care of its young with the help of others in the group.
By Ripley Cook
Ecosystem: Mesetaornis lived in a subtropical coast, right off the edge of Antarctica, which was teeming with life unique to the area while the rest of the world was covered in a (slowly receding) jungle. Instead, this coast would have been rocky and cooler, surrounding a system of estuaries and bays with plants such as magnolias and ferns populating the shores. This would have been an extremely fertile environment for penguins, and it shows in the fossil record! There were plenty of bivalves, gastropods, cephalopods, sharks, and fish, as well as a variety of turtles. There were mammals there, too, including small rodent ones and larger, more bulky forms. As for other dinosaurs, there were Pseudotoothed Birds, early Petrels, flamingo-ducks, and a truly hopeless number of penguins – including Delphinornis, Palaeeudyptes, Marambiornis, Anthropornis, and Archaeospheniscus – making this the place to go to see the early evolution of penguins!
Other: Mesetaornis is a very early derived penguin, grouped up with other early penguins like Delphinornis and Marambiornis. These were full penguins, not quite as weirdly loon-shaped as earlier forms like Waimanu, but they weren’t as big as later forms or had the same beak as living penguins. As such, it represents one of many early penguins that showcase the evolution of the group – and Mesetaornis was a weird one, since it had freakishly long toes!
Time and Place: 231.4 million years ago, in the Carnian of the Late Triassic
Pisanosaurus is known from the Cancha de Bochas Member of the Ischigualasto Formation in San Juan Argentina.
Physical Description: If a Silesaurid – as is currently thought – Pisanosaurus would have been a small, slender, and quadrupedal animal, only about 1 meter in length. It had an open hip socket, like dinosaurs, which may point to a very interesting phylogenetic position (see the Other section below). It had very elongated bones in its hands, and its upper hips were weirdly wide as well. Beyond that, we don’t know much about with Pisanosaurus may have looked like. It seems logical to suppose it would have had a small head with a little beak in the front of the mouth – as both Silesaurids and early Ornithischians (the other hypothesis for the type of creature Pisanosaurus was) have such structures for snipping off plant material. Given its small size, Pisanosaurus – like all other early members of the group of reptiles that would later include birds (Avemetatarsalia) – would have been covered with fluff all over its body. If Pisanosaurus was an early Ornithischian and not a Silesaurid, it would have been bipedal, with short forelimbs not used in locomotion.
Diet: Either way, Pisanosaurus would have been an herbivore, eating low-lying vegetation in its densely forested home.
Behavior: As a small, lithe herbivore, Pisanosaurus would have been very skittish – running at the slightest sign of danger, making sure to avoid the many large predators it shared a home with. It probably wouldn’t have been very social – given it wasn’t very abundant! – but it may have foraged in large groups of mixed herbivores, sticking together to rely on each other in the event of danger. This reliance would have allowed bulkier herbivores to notice and react to danger quicker (since the small lithe ones like Pisanosaurus would have already been running away) – and the smaller ones would have had large, bulky roadblocks to stop the approach of predators. As an early dinosaur, it most likely partook in some sort of care of its young, though of course, we do not know what.
(As an Ornithischian) by Michael B. H., CC BY-SA 3.0
Ecosystem: The Ischigualasto Environment is one of the more famous ecosystems of the Late Triassic – due to it being a hotbed of early dinosaur discoveries, including some of the earliest potential members of the group. In fact, it is such an important environment that today the rock formation is considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was an extensive series of rivers channeling through a large floodplain, erring towards the wetter side of the scale – mud was the name of the game, and there was a wide variety of plant material present, including a dense conifer forest, ferns, and horsetails. It did experience seasonal rainfall, with possible times of extremely heavy precipitation. Occasionally, everything would be buried in volcanic ash – leading to the beautiful preservation of the environment.
Pisanosaurus wasn’t the only Silesaurid here – there was also Ignotosaurus, the slender and small Silesaurid. There were also famous early dinosaurs such as Eoraptor – the small, bipedal early Saurischian(?), Herrerasaurus and Sanjuansaurus, the large taxonomically-confusing predators, and Chromogisaurus, one of the earliest known “prosauropods.” Of course, this being the Triassic, dinosaurs were only a small part of the ecosystem. The Ischigualasto – like most places of the time period – was absolutely lousy with other archosauriformes! Non-Dinosaurian Archosauriformes were extensively diverse at this time, making up a large chunk of the “large charismatic land animal” roles. There was Aetosauroides, an Aetosaur (sort of like a cross between an ankylosaur, an ant-eater, and a crocodile), Proterochampsa and Pseudochampsa – crocodilian-like creatures that were actually equally closely related to crocodiles and dinosaurs – both frequented the rivers of the environment. Saurosuchus, a large and bulky stem-croc, would have been a huge pain in the rear for herbivores like Pisanosaurus. Sillosuchus was a weird stem-croc, bipedal and strangely dinosaur like – with even, potentially, a beak – but utterly scaly, and bulky in stature! There was also Venaticosuchus, an Ornithosuchid (one of the most basal groups of stem-crocs), and Trialestes – a fast moving stem-croc, and one of the earliest Crocodylomorphs (the group of crocodilians and their closest relatives).
(Without Feathers) by Nobu Tamura, CC BY-SA 4.0
It being the Triassic, this wasn’t an environment free of non-reptiles! Temnospondyls – large carnivorous amphibians – were crawling about; as were a variety of Synapsids. Small, carnivorous dog-shaped cynodonts like Chiniquodon would have directly competed with the local dinosaurs; they even grew to be quite large and fast, like in Diegocanis and Ecteninion. They also came in large, bulky herbivorous forms, like Exaeretodon. Dicynodonts were present too, with their strange pig-like appearance: Ischigualastia was a common synapsid on the floodplains of Pisanosaurus’ home. In short, Pisanosaurus was surrounded with a cast of characters showcasing some – but certainly not all – of the weirdness that the Triassic had to offer.
Other: What Is Pisanosaurus? Back in the day, Pisanosaurus was a famous creature for being one of the earliest “Ornithischian” dinosaurs – one of two major groups of dinosaurs, famous for including such later iconic members as Stegosaurus and Triceratops. In fact, for the longest time, Pisanosaurus was… the only Ornithischian known from the Triassic. This is odd, to say the least – there are dozens of Triassic dinosaurs known, they’re just all from the other group, the Saurischians (containing such iconic later forms as Apatosaurus, Tyrannosaurus, and… all birds). So, for the longest time, Pisanosaurus stood as a focal point of dinosaur research – an important piece of the puzzle of the origin of this elusive, but important group.
By Nix
Except it isn’t an Ornithischian. Lately, studies have shown time and time again that Pisanosaurus actually more closely resembles the Silesaurids – a group of almost dinosaurs that were quadrupedal, active herbivores living around the world at the time of the Triassic, before going extinct at the end-Triassic extinction. This would make its appearance much different than what a “basal Ornithischian” would suggest – and, of course, the fact that Pisanosaurus is known from only a single fragmented skeleton does not make solving this problem much easier. Weirdly enough, there are some hypotheses which suggest that Silesaurids are… the earliest Ornithischians, (as per Pisanosaurus having an open hip-socket), representing a weird side-branch of the group from the Triassic. As this hypothesis gains traction, it may become increasingly true that Pisanosaurus was a Silesaurid – it was just also an early Ornithischian. Only time will tell in the solving of this mystery – for now, we must wait for more evidence.
Time and Place: Within the last 10,000 years, in the Holocene of the Quaternary
The Saint Lucia Black Finch is known only on Saint Lucia island
Physical Description: The Saint Lucia Black Finch is a small bird, about 13 to 14 centimeters in length, but fairly stocky in terms of body shape (as finches are wont to do). Their thick-set body shape is matched by their very thick triangular beaks, which are short and barely protrude from the mouth. The males are entirely black except for the small pink legs – even the beak is a dark black color. The females, meanwhile, have grey heads and beaks, brown bodies, and darker brown wings and tails. Their tails are fairly short, and their wings are also small and round. The juveniles look like females, with the males only growing the black plumage during puberty.
Diet: These birds feed mainly on insects, fruits, and seeds.
Behavior: Saint Lucia Black Finches will forage mainly on the ground, grabbing sources of food out of the dense leaf litter; they’ll sometimes perch about a meter off the ground in order to find food. They usually forage in mated pairs, singing high-pitched whistles to one another, and making sharp “tiiip tiiip” calls when danger is present. They do not migrate, and breed almost any time of the year. They make nests out of loose leaves and twigs, made into a sphere with a small entrance on the side. They’re placed a few meters off the ground, with two eggs laid inside.
By Joates9151
Ecosystem: These finches live in lowland evergreen rainforest and secondary forest – the wetter the better! Though they sometimes do spread out into drier forest.
Other: Saint Lucia Black Finches are very very uncommon and rare, and given their small native range, this makes them very endangered and limited in population – there are not more than a thousand of them left in the world. Thanks to habitat loss and habitat degradation, along with introduced predators, it seems that their population is on the decline. Mongoose will feed on both the adults and nests, causing major destruction to their populations. They are in some conservation areas, and efforts to stop forest cleaning, do seem to be making some impact in preserving the populations of these finches.
A Dinosaur A Day 