Europatitan eastwoodi

By Stolp

Etymology: European titan

First Described By: Fernández-Baldor et al., 2017 

Classification: Dinosauromorpha, Dinosauriformes, Dracohors, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Sauropodomorpha, Bagualosauria, Plateosauria, Massopoda, Sauropodiformes, Anchisauria, Sauropoda, Gravisauria, Eusauropoda, Neosauropoda, Macronaria, Titanosauriformes, Somphospondyli 

Status: Extinct 

Time and Place: Around 125 million years ago, at the boundary between the Barremian and Aptian ages of the Early Cretaceous 

Europatitan is known only from the Castrillo de la Reina Formation in Spain. 

Physical Description: Europatitan would have looked a lot like other basal titanosauriformes such as Brachiosaurus. The neck vertebrae of Europatitan are especially elongate and would have been heavily pneumatized by air sacs. Although not all of the neck is known, these indicate it would have been extremely long, similar to Giraffatitan or Sauroposeidon. The body of Europatitan would have been quite wide, as its ribs indicate, and its tail fairly short. The only limb elements of Europatitan known are a couple metacarpals, but even these are enough to show it had robust forelimbs. The head of Europatitan is unknown except for a tooth, but it would have likely been similar to that of Giraffatitan. 

By Scott Reid

Diet: As a sauropod, Europatitan would have been herbivorous. Its teeth were spoon-shaped, unlike the pencil-shaped teeth of diplodocoids and titanosaurs, indicating it probably had a different diet than them (which would have been useful to avoid competition with the contemporary Demandasaurus). Based on neck size, their target diet would have likely been at the tallest parts of trees.

Behavior: Europatitan would have spent much of its time eating leaves at the top of the forest tree-line as far as its neck could reach, and then moving to the next available spot for foliage. Like many sauropods, Europatitan likely spent time with others of its genera in order to reduce predation on the more vulnerable members of the group (such as sick, older, or younger individuals). While we don’t have any direct evidence for whether or not Europatitan actively cared for its young or not, the basal behavior shared among all extant archosaurs (crocodiles and birds) is some degree of parental care. 

By José Carlos Cortés

Ecosystem: Europatitan’s fossils were found in the Castrillo de la Reina Formation, which in the Cretaceous would have been a floodplain, with a river flowing in from the southwest. The Castrillo de la Reina environment was also home to the rebbachisaurid Demandasaurus, the earliest rhabdodont, other indeterminate ornithopods, theropods, and the lizard Arcanosaurus. We don’t know how many of these directly lived alongside Europatitan, though, as the specific site that Europatitan was found at has only yielded theropod teeth and fragments of an iguanodont.

By Ripley Cook

Other: Fun fact: the type species of Europatitan, E. eastwoodi, is named for actor Clint Eastwood. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, which he starred in, was filmed near where they found the fossil.

~ By Henry Thomas and Blaire Fei

Sources Under the Cut 

Aepyornithomimus tugrikinensis

By Scott Reid

Etymology: Elephant Bird Mimic 

First Described By: Tsogtbaatar et al., 2017 

Classification: Dinosauromorpha, Dinosauriformes, Dracohors, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoromorpha, Maniraptoriformes, Ornithomimosauria, Ornithomimoidea, Ornithomimidae

Status: Extinct 

Time and Place: Around 80 million years ago, in the Campanian of the Late Cretaceous 

Aepyornithomimus is known from the Tögrögiin Shiree environment of the Djadokhta Formation in Ömnögovi, Mongolia 

Physical Description: Aepyornithomimus was a large, derived Ornithomimosaur, much like the later Struthiomimus and Ornithomimus – indicating that these animals were present early on in the Latest Cretaceous. In fact, Aepyornithomimus was somewhat intermediate in form between earlier and later forms, indicating it was somewhat transitional. The size of this dinosaur is unknown, since so little of its skeleton is known, and it could have been anywhere between 2 and 5 meters long. It had unique feet, with fairly slender toes that were weirdly curved compared to close relatives. It also had longer toes than later forms – indicating said transitional nature. Unfortunately, the only parts of this dinosaur known are its legs and feet, so any weirdness elsewhere is currently unknown – though it stands to reason it may have looked different from other Ornithomimosaurs. It probably had a toothless beak, with a small head, long neck, and decently sized tail. As an Ornithomimosaur, Aepyornithomimus would have been covered in feathers all over its body, with wings on its arms (and potential ornamental feathers elsewhere as well). 

By Ripley Cook

Diet: It is more likely than not that Aepyornithomimus was an herbivore, as other Ornithomimosaurs were as well. 

Behavior: As an Ornithomimosaur, Aepyornithomimus would have been fast moving, primarily using speed to run away from predators rather than other means of defense. It probably would have lived in herds, or at least small groups, exploring its environment and feeding together. It is possible that it may have had adaptations in its mouth to aid in feeding on dry vegetation – since Ornithomimosaurs are usually wet-habitat dwellers, and stick to soft water-based vegetation, Aepyornithomimus is fascinating as a case study into how these dinosaurs adapted to different areas. As a dinosaur, it would have taken care of its young, potentially with the help of the rest of the flock. The wings would have been primarily used in communication – especially sexual and other forms of display. Brighter colors or weirder patterns on those feathers would have been used to indicate the health of the individuals involved. 

By José Carlos Cortés

Ecosystem: The Tögrögiin environment was a red, windswept desert, much like how the fossil formation where these animals are found is today. There wasn’t a lot in terms of water, though eventually the ecosystem would transition to a wetter environment during the time of the likes of Deinocheirus et al. There were oases and arroyos, but it would have primarily been very, very dry. This means it would have been filled with tough vegetation, and as such it wasn’t a very herbivore-heavy environment. 

This environment was filled with a wide variety of animals – especially lizards. There were Iguanas like Mimeosaurus, Temujinia, Zapsosaurus, Isodontosaurus, Flaviagama, Gurvansaurus, and Dzhadochtosaurus; skinks like Adamisaurus; and monitors like Cherminotus. As for mammals, there were the insectivorous stem-mammals like Barunlestes and Zalambdalestes, and the multituberculate Kryptobaatar. 

By Stolp

Of course, Aepyornithomimus wasn’t the only dinosaur here! This place was lousy with the Ceratopsian Protoceratops, which would have been a major competitor with Aepyornithomimus for plant food; and there were also plenty of Pinacosaurus, the Ankylosaur, which would have been able to reach for plants with its long and flexible tongue. Insectivores included Shuvuuia, the Alvarezsaur; and Elsornis, the Opposite Bird. Mahakala, an early raptor, was present as well – and it may or may not have specialized in feeding whatever animals were present at the oases and arroyos that were present, as it seems to have been closely related to the later Goose-Raptor Halszkaraptor. Finally, the main predator of Aepyornithomimus would have been Velociraptor – which was extremely common in this location as well! 

Other: Aepyornithomimus, as a potentially transitional Ornithomimosaur, helps to highlight some of the evolution of this group. It is entirely possible that Ornithomimids originated in Asia, before spreading out to North America – or, at least, went through a major portion of their evolution there. Aepyornithomimus also will help to show, as we study it further, how Ornithomimids may have handled the challenge of evolving for drier habitats. 

~ By Meig Dickson 

Sources Under the Cut 

Larosterna inca

By Cristóbal Alvarado Minic, CC BY 2.0

Etymology: Gull-Tern 

First Described By: Blyth, 1852 

Classification: Dinosauromorpha, Dinosauriformes, Dracohors, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoromorpha, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostaylia, Ornithothoraces, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Ornithurae, Neornithes, Neognathae, Neoaves, Aequorlitornithes, Charadriiformes, Lari, Larida, Laridae, Sterninae 

Status: Extant, Near Threatened 

Time and Place: Since 126,000 years ago, from the Chibanian of the Pleistocene through the Holocene of the Quaternary 

Inca Terns are known from the Pacific Coast of South America 

Physical Description: Inca Terns are extremely visually distinctive birds, thanks to their bright red beaks and weird villainous-moustache feather plumes. These birds range in size between 39 and 42 centimeters in length, and are grey over most of their bodies. Their tails are distinctively black, and the wings are grey before ending in a distinctive white band and then continuing to black tips when folded. Their beaks are bright red, large, and slightly curved. They have a small yellow patch of feathers under their eyes, and a very long, curly white feather ribbon going from right under their eye down their neck. Their legs are short and dark red as well. The juveniles tend to be more brown all over before becoming darker with age. 

Diet: Inca Terns feed primarily on small fish, plankton, and scraps. 

By Cristóbal Alvarado Minic, CC BY 2.0

Behavior: These terns will stick to fishing boats in large flocks, hovering around them in order to opportunistically feed off of food brought up by fishing activity. They often will detect large sea mammals and fly away – rapidly – to avoid them, and also to grab the food that is welled up by them. They can often live in flocks of up to 5000 members. They forage by plunging in the water and diving for food, as well as dipping a little on the surface. They do not migrate, and are extremely loud at their colonies – making a variety of cackling and mewing sounds. 

By Cristóbal Alvarado Minic, CC BY 2.0

Inca Terns breed throughout the year, with nests and eggs found in both the summer and the winter. Courting and mating birds are also found all over their range throughout the year. They build nests in fissures, burrows, and caves, as well as underneath rocks and boulders on the shore. They often build nests in mixed-species flocks with petrels and cormorants, though they will hide the nests more when vultures and other predators are present. They lay about two eggs which are incubated for four weeks, they hatch as small fluffy grey blobs that fledge in four more weeks. They are dependent on the parents for another month. The parents are monogamous, with both helping to take care of the young; interestingly enough, their fascinating plumage isn’t for sexual display, but rather to indicate the health of the individuals. In fact, the length of the villain moustache is the clearest indicator of individual health. These birds can live up to 25 years, though it is usually significantly less in the wild. 

By Josue Hermoza, CC BY-SA 4.0

Ecosystem: Inca Terns primarily live in rocky coasts or where sandy beaches are surrounded by cliffs, since those are their primary nesting habitats. They are fed upon by cats, rats, and sea lions, as well as some raptors like falcons, and large seabirds do feed on the nests. 

By Olaf Oliviero Riemer, CC BY-SA 3.0

Other: Inca Terns are considered near threatened, primarily due to fluctuations in food from El Niño – they have dramatic population drops in response, but then rebound quickly when it stops, indicating potential emigration rather than starvation. There is some hunting by humans, but not enough to cause these population drops. There are breeding programs present, especially in zoos, where Inca Terns do quite well. Inca Terns have actually been around since the last Ice Age, where their range was much more northward, indicating they have shifted their habitat with the warming of the planet. 

Sources Under the Cut 

Chiappeavis magnapremaxillo

By José Carlos Cortés

Etymology: Chiappe’s Bird

First Described By: O’Connor et al, 2016 

Classification: Dinosauromorpha, Dinosauriformes, Dracohors, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoromorpha, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostaylia, Ornithothoraces, Enantiornithes, Cathayornithiformes 

Status: Extinct

Time and Place: 120 million years ago, in the Aptian age of the Early Cretaceous 

Chiappeavis is known from the Jiufotang Formation of China, specifically in the Shangheshou Beds 

Physical Description: Chiappeavis was an Opposite Bird, ie the group of bird-like dinosaurs that were extremely diverse and widespread during the Cretaceous period. Chiappeavis is known from a nearly complete skeleton, including some feather impressions. It was a fairly large bird, probably around 20 or so centimeters (though this is a very rough estimate). It had a small snout, with small pointed teeth inside of it, and a fairly large head. Its body was long, and it had large wings – good for more powerful flying as opposed to tighter maneuvering in between trees. Interestingly enough, Chiappeavis had a giant tail fan, which was not actually universal among Opposite BIrds as it is in modern birds. It also had fairly thick, strong feet. 

Diet: It is probable that Chiappeavis fed mainly on arthropods and other hard invertebrates. 

By Ripley Cook

Behavior: It is uncertain what the behavior of Chiappeavis was, given that we do not have extensive skeletons of this dinosaur. Still, it probably wouldn’t have flitted about the trees as much as birds with wings better built for maneuvering. The tail fan of Chiappeavis probably would have been extremely useful in sexual display, as well as other forms of communication – especially since it does not appear to have been very good at generating lift during flight (hence it not being widespread in other Opposite Birds). As such, it is more likely than not that Chiappeavis would have been fairly social, living in groups of multiple birds which communicated and recognized each other with feather displays. This, therefore, leads us to yet another likely hypothesis: that it took care of its young, at least to some extent. Beyond that, the behavior of Chiappeavis is a bit of a question – though it may have been able to dig out insects and other grubs with its strong feet, and then bit into the tough exteriors of these animals with its many needle-like teeth. 

Ecosystem: The Jiufotang Formation was one of the Jehol Biota ecosystems, aka a group of extremely diverse and lush environments that preserved birdie dinosaurs of the Early Cretaceous with great detail. In that, Chiappeavis is one of many dinosaurs found in this location with extensive feather preservation. TheJiufotang Environment was a dense forest, surrounding an extensive number of lakes, and near volcanically active mountains. Still, it isn’t quite as well known as the earlier Yixian formation, and in fact doesn’t seem to have as many plants preserved to inform the exact environment and temperature. Still, it’s reasonable to suppose it may have also been a temperate ecosystem, like the earlier Yixian Formation, potentially even with snow. 

By Jack Wood

In this environment, there were an extremely wide variety of animals. There was a decent diversity of fish, quite a few kinds of mammals, and the weird, unclassifiable Choristoderes were represented by Philydrosaurus, Ikechosaurus, and Liaoxisaurus. This ecosystem was lousy with pterosaurs, featuring a variety of Chaoynagopterids – like Chaoyangopterus itself, Eoazhdarcho, Jidapterus, and Shenzhoupterus; Pteranodonts like Guidraco, Ikrandraco, Liaoningopterus, Nurhachius, Liaoxipterus, and Linlongopterus; Tapejarids like “Huaxiapterus”, (probably) Nemicolopterus, and Sinopterus; and the weirdly late-surviving Anurognathid Vesperopterylus. 

As for dinosaurs, there were many, and most were bird like! There was of course the Ankylosaur Chuanqilong, and the early Ceratopsian Psittacosaurus; there was also an unnamed titanosaur. There was a Tyrannosauroid, SInotyrannus, the Chickenparrot Similicaudipteryx, the raptor Microraptor, and tons of early Avialans like Confuciusornis, Dalianraptor, Jeholornis, Omnivoropteryx, Sapeornis, Shenshiornis, and Zhongjianornis. There were also “true” birds (ie, the line of dinosaurs that would evolve into those we see today) such as Bellulornis, Piscivoravis, Archaeorhynchus, Chaoyangia, Jianchangornis, Parahongshanornis, Schizooura, Songlingornis, Yanornis, and Yixianornis. However, the most diverse group of dinosaurs were the Opposite Birds, of which Chiappeavis was only one of many. There was Alethoalaornis, Boluochia, Bohaiornis, Cathayornis, Cuspirostrisornis, Dapingfangornis, Eocathayornis, Piscivorenantiornis, Pengornis, Gracilornis, Huoshanornis, Largirostrornis, Longchengornis, Longipteryx, Rapaxavis, Shangyang, Sinornis, and Xiangornis – just to name a few! As such the Jiufotange remains as a rich ecosystem in which to study the evolution of this fantastic group of Cretaceous dinosaurs. 

By Scott Reid

Other: Chiappeavis is probably not its own thing – it is one of a number of Opposite Birds described without substantial evidence that it was a distinct genus and, indeed, many researchers consider them to be members of other genera. In this case, Chiappeavis is probably the same as Pengornis. Still, until it is officially lumped in, it must be treated as its own genus. It had a lot of similarities to Pengornis, regardless, indicating the two may belong to a larger clade of Opposite Birds. In short, Opposite Bird Phylogeny is kind of a mess, and needs a lot more intensive work than has currently been done. 

~ By Meig Dickson

Sources Under the Cut 

Australovenator wintonensis

By Scott Reid

Etymology: Southern Hunter 

First Described By: Hocknull et al., 2009 

Classification: Dinosauromorpha, Dinosauriformes, Dracohors, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Megaraptora, Megaraptoridae 

Status: Extinct 

Time and Place: About 95 million years ago, in the Cenomanian of the Late Cretaceous 

Australovenator is known from the Phimopollenites Pannosus Pollen Zone of the Winton Formation in Queensland, Australia 

Physical Description: Australovenator was a Megaraptor, a group of fairly mysterious predatory dinosaurs that consistently confuse people since they were first discovered through today. The known parts of Australovenator are rather sparse – limbs and some parts of the torso, and a bit of the tip of the mouth. These elements show an animal with long legs, fairly long arms (for a theropod) with giant hand claws, and a slender jaw. The rest of our understanding of its size and shape is really based on its relatives. It would probably have been 6 meters long and 2 meters tall, weighing only 1,000 kilograms – making it a very lightweight, potentially fast predator. It had extremely flexible hands as well – more flexible than other theropods, almost able to pronate (ie, make “bunny hands”, which is not possible in other theropods). It also had extremely strong foot, built for kicking. Given that it was slender small, it would have probably been covered in fluffy protofeathers all over its body. 

By Ashley Patch

Diet: Australovenator would have been a major predator, able to eat a wide variety of small and medium sized animals in its environment – potentially even larger animals if it was able to work in groups. 

Behavior: The behavior of Australovenator is not greatly known, given how mysterious Megaraptorans are as a general group. However, the extremely strong foot bones found with extensive signs of breakage indicates that Australovenator did use its feet to kick at prey, similar to modern emus. This would have greatly bruised and damaged the prey, potentially even breaking bones and causing internal bleeding and organ damage. The extremely flexible arms would have allowed it to use them to manipulate objects, grab at food, and easily claw at prey. In fact, the very large hand claws are notable for the Megaraptorans, since they were originally thought to be the giant foot claws of giant Dromaeosaurs. This ability to claw at and maim prey would have helped Australovenator extensively in taking down prey. 

By José Carlos Cortés

Were Megaraptorans social? We aren’t sure. Australovenator was a powerful predator, clearly able to take down other animals in its environment without much help. It may have worked in small groups in order to get food larger than it, such as the sauropod Diamantinasaurus, since there weren’t larger predators in its environment. However, there is no direct evidence to support that. Furthermore, in plenty of locations, Megaraptorans are very rare, indicating they wouldn’t have grouped up together much. Still, they usually aren’t the largest predators in a place, so the jury is out for Australovenator. As a dinosaur, it would have probably taken care of its young, though in what way is a question. 

By PaleoEquii, CC BY-SA 4.0

Ecosystem: The Winton Environment was a river basin, next to the former inland Eromanga Sea. This was a highly forested ecosystem with extensive swamps, creeks, lakes, and estuaries leading back to the sea. The dense vegetation made it a hotbed for herbivores, which were all sources of prey for Australoveantor. In fact, Australovenator was found directly with Diamantinasaurus, a 15 to 16 meter long sauropod (indicating that Australovenator may have been scavenging, or worked in a group and was killed by a group member). Ther herbivores included the titanosaurs Wintonotitan and Savannasaurus, and the Somphospondylian Austrosaurus. There were a variety of Ornithischians there, though none were named, they may have been Rhabdodonts or Elasmarians; and there was at least one Ankylosaur (probably a basal Ankylosaurid). In addition, there was the large pterosaur Ferrodraco, and the narrow-snouted Crocodylomorph Isisfordia. 

By Ripley Cook

Other: Megaraptors like Australovenator are a taxonomical quagmire. They are either closely related to the Carnosaurs – animals like Allosaurus and Giganotosaurus – or to early Coelurosaurs such as the Tyrannosaurs. It’s possible they are Tyrannosaurs, full stop, but an early group of them. Honestly, the question is still up in the air – but they combine a lot of the characteristics of the earlier theropods with the more bird-like ones, which leads to this confusion. Regardless, Australovenator was a very late derived Megaraptor, nested deep within the group. 

~ By Meig Dickson

Sources Under the Cut 

Eudyptula minor

By J. J. Harrison, CC BY-SA 3.0

Etymology: Good Diver

First Described By: Bonaparte, 1856 

Classification: Dinosauromorpha, Dinosauriformes, Dracohors, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoromorpha, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostaylia, Ornithothoraces, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Ornithurae, Neornithes, Neognathae, Neoaves, Aequorlitornithes, Ardeae, Aequornithes, Austrodyptornithes, Sphenisciformes, Spheniscidae

Status: Extant, Least Concern 

Time and Place: From 12,000 years ago until today, in the Holocene of the Quaternary 

Little Penguins are known from the coast of Australia and New Zealand 

Physical Description: Little Penguins are some of the most adorable penguins alive today, and the reason is clear: they’re smol! Little Penguins range in size between 40 and 45 centimeters in length, and none weigh more than 2.1 kilograms. They are a blue-grey on their backs and white on their bellies and necks. They have very small flippers, which can be entirely blue or blue only in the center with white banding around it. They have short little tails and small feet, which are formed into lightly orange flippers. Their beaks are short and round, and either light in color or dark depending on the population. The juveniles tend to be a somewhat duller color than the adults, but usually very similar overall. 

By Magnus Kjaergaard, CC BY 3.0

Diet: Little Penguins feed mainly on fish that form schools in the pelagic zone of the ocean (rather than closer to the coast). They’ll also feed on cephalopods and crustaceans. 

By Francesco Veronesi, CC BY-SA 2.0

Behavior: These nocturnal penguins will capture their food via pursuit-diving, mainly swimming around schools of fish in tighter and tighter circles until finally – woosh! – they dive into the middle and grab as much food as they can. In shallower water, they do pursue the fish more directly. They can dive as deep as 50 meters underwater, sometimes more – including 69 meters deep. They go up to 62 kilometers away from the nesting and sleeping colony sites, though they can usually only go a fraction of that in a single day and longer distances are reserved for multiple day trips. Females tend to forage more than the males. They feed alone, though they do forage in groups. They are extremely noisy in their colonies, making a variety of trills, brays, growls, grunts, yelping, trumpeting, and wailing sounds to one another. They do not migrate, but do stay near the breeding colony extensively during the moulting and nesting season. Juveniles will leave the colony for a large amount of time, but do eventually return to breed where they were born. 

By Phillip Island Tourism, CC BY-SA 4.0

Little Penguins begin breeding in July and continue through December, though it varies from colony to colony and from year to year. They tend to stick to one nest site for their whole lives and are also fairly monogamous, though they do divorce from their partners around 76% of the time. If they are unsuccessful in raising any chicks one year, the next year they are more likely to divorce than not. The nests are made in a little bit far apart from one another in the colonie, usually a burrow in the sand lined with plant material. Usually two eggs are laid in the nest and are incubated for a little more than one month by both parents. The chicks hatch extremely fluffy and greyish-brown; they then molt to look dark brown and grey another month later. At this time young birds will form creches together for two more months, hanging out and learning from each other. They then fledge and become juveniles two more months later. They become sexually mature at two to four years of age, and can live for up to 20 years (though shorter is more common). The chicks and nesting colonies tend to feed at dusk. 

By Mark Nairn, CC BY 3.0

Ecosystem: Little Penguins live mainly in sandy and rocky coasts, usually near the bases of cliffs and in sand dunes. They will spend most of their time in temperate to sub-arctic marine waters, many miles offshore. They are preyed upon by cats, dogs, rats, foxes, lizards, snakes, ferrets, stoats, seals, and some other ocean predators. They are mostly affected by introduced mammalian predators at this time. 

By fir0002, GFDL 1.2

Other: While Little Penguins are, overall, doing alright and are even common in terms of population  management; however, a number of human-created threats are affecting certain colonies and bringing many of them to the verge of collapse. Uncontrolled hunting by domesticated dogs and cats are major causes of colony destruction, as are oil spills, fishing interactions (including being caught in nets), human interference and development, as well as cullings by humans attempting to manage populations of other birds. As such, Little Penguins are of major interest for ecological groups in order to preserve their populations in light of these threats. Fossils of this species are known from its current range from the recent ice age. 

~ By Meig Dickson

Sources Under the Cut 

Nanningosaurus dashiensis

By José Carlos Cortés

Etymology: Nanning City Reptile 

First Described By: Mo et al., 2007 

Classification: Dinosauromorpha, Dinosauriformes, Dracohors, Dinosauria, Ornithischia, Genasauria, Neornithischia, Cerapoda, Ornithopoda, Iguanodontia, Dryomorpha, Ankylopollexia, Styracosterna, Hadrosauriformes, Hadrosauroidea, Hadrosauromorpha, Hadrosauridae, Euhadrosauria, Lambeosaurinae 

Status: Extinct

Time and Place: Sometime in the Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous, between 72 and 66 million years ago 

Nanningosaurus is known from the Dashi Site in Guangxi, China 

Physical Description: Nanningosaurus is, sadly, only known from a very incomplete and partial skeleton, which does include parts of the skull and jaws. Thus, it is difficult to say what it would have looked like beyond being a Hadrosaur. It seems most likely that it was a Lambeosaurine, or Hollow-Crested Hadrosaur, though of course we don’t know if it actually had a crest or not. As such, all we can know is that it would have been a fairly bulky animal, covered in scales, with a duck-like beak and potential display or communication structures on its head. It also may have had hooves, like other hadrosaurs, on its front feet. Because of course they did. 

Diet: Being a hadrosaur, Nanningosaurus would have mainly fed upon soft, wet plants, such as those found around or in sources of water. It would have then used its thousands of teeth to mash it up into a paste, to make the leaves easier to swallow. 

Behavior: Obviously, we don’t know a lot about the behavior of Nanningosaurus because, again, we don’t have a lot of fossils of it. As hadrosaurs, they would have been very social animals, living in large herds. It would have taken care of its young, potentially in communal nesting grounds with large mounds to hold the eggs in and rotting vegetation to keep the eggs warm. It probably would have had somewhat complex social displays, potentially using color and sound, in order to communicate with other members of the herd and to find mates. It also may have used this communication to warn the herd of predators, though no predators were found with Nanningosaurus. 

Ecosystem: Nanningosaurus is not known from a very well studied fossil site – it doesn’t even have a formation name! It does seem to have been a muddy environment, indicating some sort of source of fresh water and probable frequent rains. Here, Nanningosaurus lived alongside the titanosaur Qingxiusaurus, which is also only known from limited remains. 

Other: While the exact nature of Nanningosaurus is rather murky, it is a very important fossil discovery – it’s one of the most Southern Asian Hadrosaurs! As such, as we learn more about it, we will be able to piece together the evolutionary puzzle of this wonderful dinosaur group a little clearer. 

~ By Meig Dickson

Sources Under the Cut 

Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus

By the USFWS, in the Public Domain

Etymology: Naked Nostrils 

First Described By: Wied-Neuwied, 1841 

Classification: Dinosauromorpha, Dinosauriformes, Dracohors, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoromorpha, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostaylia, Ornithothoraces, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Ornithurae, Neornithes, Neognathae, Neoaves, Inopinaves, Telluraves, Australaves, Eufalconimorphae, Psittacopasserae, Passeriformes, Eupasseres, Passeri, Euoscines, Corvides, Corvoidea, Corvidae, Cyanocoracinae 

Status: Extant, Vulnerable 

Time and Place: From 1.8 million years ago through today, from the Calabrian of the Pleistocene through the Holocene 

Pinyon Jays are known from the Southwestern United States 

Physical Description: Pinyon Jays are beautiful, distinctive blue birds. They range from 26 to 29 centimeters in length, making them somewhat small Corvids. The males tend to weigh more than the females. They are a beautiful blue color, fairly uniform all over their bodies, though they do have white and blue striped throat pouches. They have beady black eyes and long, black beaks. These beaks are very pointed and sharp, and the nostrils on them are completely without feathers – hence the meaning of the genus name. The juveniles tend to be more grey and become blue as they get older. 

By Seabamirum, CC BY 2.0

Diet: Pinyon Jays have evolved, specifically, to eat the seeds of Pinyon trees for food. These seeds are very heavy and not great for wind distribution, so they rely on animals to eat them and disperse them. As such, the Pinyon Jay fulfills this role. They’ll eat other seeds too, and supplement their diet with insects and other arthropods and grains. 

By John Drummond

Behavior: Pinyon Jays live in large, cooperative, synchronized flocks – of up to five hundred individuals – which move around their ecosystem together in search of their specialized food, usually gotten on the ground or in seed feeders. They make a wide variety of calls, probably more than fifteen of them, allowing them to coordinate their activities and recognize different individuals in the flock. The begging calls of juveniles are also unique per individual, allowing it to be clear to the adults who exactly needs food. These unique calls for each individual Pinyon Jay means that the individuals can recognize each other completely across these giant flocks. They make long, alarm calls that are combinations of other calls; and they can make very long rambling songs for twenty or more minutes at a time. These giant flocks will roam over large areas, moving nomadically in search of their favorite flocks. 

By Noah Strycker

Pinyon Jays do cache food, allowing for seeds to be grabbed when needed during development, courtship, nest building, egg laying, and incubation. They’ll fly many miles in order to cache seeds, usually in the Fall, and they’ll rely on these cached seeds during the cold months. They will often move the seeds as well, in order to avoid theft from other birds. They’ll cache them in the ground, usually buried in dead needles and twigs – so don’t throw out or pick up such piles!!! Let your fall leaves lie on the ground!!! They will switch to caching in trees when the ground gets too hard to dig into. They remember the location of their caches for at least a week, though it is possible they can remember these locations for longer collectively as a flock. 

By Albert Linkowski

These jays begin breeding in the early spring and continue through to autumn if food is particularly plentiful. They form monogamous pairs, possibly for their entire lives (at least as long as ten years), and they make nests together in very synchronized colonies as flocks. Previous children do help build nests, but it’s not as common as in other species. Both parents will build the nests out of a platform of sticks, with a middle layer of coarse grasses woven together, and the nest lined with finely shredded plants, feathers, and hair. They’ll usually place these nests in pine trees. The pair will lay between 2 and 5 eggs which are incubated by the female for two and a half weeks. Both parents will feed and take care of the chicks in the nest for three weeks. The fledglings then gather together in creches which are guarded by a few adults, as foraging resumes back to normal; the parents will return to their fledglings with food every hour. The young depend on their parents for two to three more months. They are then juveniles, learning from the rest of the flock for a few more years. Sometimes these juveniles will move to other flocks, but they usually stay with their parent flocks for their whole lives. Females will begin breeding at 2 years old, and males at 3 years, and they’ll create many broods throughout their lives. They can live for as long as 16 years, in the best of conditions. 

By Hal & Kirsten Snyder

Ecosystem: Pinyon Jays stick to woodlands and forests where there are pinyon-juniper trees. They’ll also go to chaparral and scrub oak forests, as well as locations of ponderosa and Jeffrey pines. They can also be found in city and town gardens. Pinyon Jays are highly preyed upon, though their flocking and colonial nesting helps to protect them; they also use pinyon, juniper, and ponderosa pine trees for cover, and rarely stray too far from these sites unless needed to for caching and food storage. These birds also mob potential predators, such as Great Horned Owls, Sharp-Shinned Hawks, Cooper’s Hawks, Red-Tailed Hawks, and Common Grey Foxes. They are also preyed upon by ravens, crows, Steller’s Jays, Abert’s Squirrels, Rock Squirrels, snakes, gray foxes, and domestic cats. Sometimes, these predators pull females from their nests while they’re incubating the young. 

By Seabamirum, CC BY 2.0

Other: Pinyon Jays are extremely common birds in their range, but they have undergone extremely rapid population decline due to the loss of its specific woodland habitat. The pinyon-juniper woodland is decreasing due to drought and tree-related diseases. Unfortunately, Pinyon Jays are very nomadic and social, which makes estimating the exact population of these jays fairly difficult. They do use bird feeders in urban and suburban habitats, which means they may be able to get by as their habitat decreases. Interestingly enough, fossils of this bird are known from the last Ice Age, indicating that they did not evolve recently, but have been a fixture of the Southwestern United States for millions of years. 

~ By Meig Dickson 

Sources Under the Cut 

Titanis walleri

By Scott Reid

Etymology: Titan 

First Described By: Brodkorb, 1963 

Classification: Dinosauromorpha, Dinosauriformes, Dracohors, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoromorpha, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostaylia, Ornithothoraces, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Ornithurae, Neornithes, Neognathae, Neoaves, Inopinaves, Telluraves, Australaves, Cariamiformes, Phorusrhacoidea, Phorusrhacidae, Phorusrhacinae 

Status: Extinct 

Time and Place: Between 5 and 1.8 million years ago, from the Zanclean to the Gelasian ages of the Pliocene through Pleistocene 

Titanis is known from the Santa Fe River and Nueces River Formations of Florida and Texas 

Physical Description: Titanis was a Terror Bird, one of the largest known Terror Birds, a group of large flightless predatory birds that terrorized the Americas during the Cenozoic Era, right up until humans would have appeared on the scene. Titanis is one of the latest members of this group, and the one that made the journey up to North America – most Terror Birds are from South America. It would have been 2.5 meters tall – much taller than a person – and would have weighed 150 kilograms. There was a lot of variance in size and height, however, indicating that Titanis may have had at least some sexual dimorphism. It had a short tail and round body, with long and powerful legs. In fact, it also had very robust toes – and one of the strongest middle toes known for a Terror Bird. It had very small, useless wings, that were very much locked in against the body – they didn’t have a lot of folding power compared to other birds. This indicates the wings really were… useless. They didn’t use them for raptor prey restraint or anything else, making them distinctly different from the Dromaeosaurids of long past. Titanis had a very thick neck, which would have supported a large head with a very impressive and terrifying hooked bill – complete with extensive crunching power! 

By Dmitry Bogdanov, CC BY-SA 3.0

Diet: As a Terror Bird, Titanis primarily ate large mammals – and some medium and small sized mammals, of course, but basically it was able to cronch anything around it. 

Behavior: Terror Birds are most closely related to modern Seriemas, and so a lot of their behavior has been guessed based on Seriemas today. As such – and given that it didn’t have much in the way of wings – Titanis probably mainly relied on its feet in kicking its prey to death. It would chase its food down, kick it, and potentially pin it down. Then, final death blows would have been delivered with the powerful cronch of its beak, though of course the hook on the beak would have allowed increased tearing and shredding. While modern Seriemas are solitary, it is possible that Titanis and other Terror Birds may have used groups to take down larger prey, though they probably would have been more groups of convenience than formal packs. It is possible they had similar breeding habits to living Seriemas, but even that is a question – their larger size, different niche, and general different time periods would provide large differences. And we don’t even know the actual breeding habits of Seriemas very well! So, that being said, Titanis would have probably been fairly territorial over their nests, and both parents were probably involved in the care of the nest and then the young, even after fledging. The young would follow the parents around until reaching maturity. As such, it’s possible that the parents may have hunted for the young, and brought food back for them until they were old enough to hunt for themselves. Then, upon leaving the parents, they probably would have been fairly solitary until finding a mate of their own. 

By José Carlos Cortés

Ecosystem: Titanis primarily lived in open grassland habitats in the southern parts of the United States, clearly extending from Texas through to Florida and probably found all over that range. It stuck to warmer, probably wetter habitats, though the exact environments it lived in aren’t very well studied in terms of general flora. Fauna, however, is well known. Titanis lived alongside a wide variety of other animals – in Citrus County, it was found with a variety of frogs, turtles, lizards, rabbits, horses, shrews, bears, dogs, mustelids, and cats (including Smilodon), armadillos, sloths, the Mastodon, cows, peccaries, camels, and deer. There were, of course, many dinosaurs as well – in addition to Titanis, there were waders (indicating a non-insignificant amount of water in this ecosystem, possible coastline, swamps, or lakes), vultures, pheasants, ducks, falcons, owls, pigeons (including the passenger pigeon), woodpeckers, blackbirds, corvids, sparrows, finches, flycatchers, cardinals, rails, grebes, herons, bitterns, and buzzards. Basically, a fairly typical array of North American birds! In Gilchrist County, Titanis also lived alongside similar creatures, including Smilodon, though without the Mastodon – though there was Rhynchotherium! Unfortunately, its Texan relatives aren’t well known, though it stands to reason that it would have been similar to other locations. 

By Ripley Cook

Other: Titanis is one of the largest known Terror Birds, and one of the largest known ones discovered early in our understanding of Terror Birds. In fact, we knew about Titanis so early on that there are a lot of old depictions of it – including ones where it has… hands. Clawed hands. That is very much wrong and cringy, but hey, there are pictures of it! Titanis is also fascinating because of its place in Earth’s History – it is one of the (only?) known Terror Birds from North America. This occurred due to the Great American Interchange, a sort of mini-columbian exchange where North America and South America combined, leading to the mixing of animals from both continents together. The traditional narrative says that Terror Birds went extinct because sabre-toothed cats came in from North America, but this is flawed for three very big reasons: 1) there were already Sabre Toothed animals filling that niche in South America, they were just Marsupials; 2) Terror Birds stuck around for a long time after the Interchange, and 3) Terror Birds reached North America in return! So Titanis helps to showcase that Terror Birds were doing just fine during this ecological exchange. So why did it – and other Terror Birds – go extinct? Probably the Ice Age, though for now, we can’t be sure. Regardless, they went extinct… probably before people got there. There are fossils that might be Titanis from 15,000 years ago, which would indicate they were still there when people got there. Which is terrifying. And also might point to humans being the cause of their extinction. Still, that seems unlikely, and they were definitely on the decline before then – so the Ice Age seems like the most logical explanation. 

~ By Meig Dickson

Sources Under the Cut 

Suskityrannus hazelae

By Ripley Cook

Etymology: Coyote Tyrant 

First Described By: Nesbitt et al., 2019

Classification: Dinosauromorpha, Dinosauriformes, Dracohors, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Tyrannosauroidea, Pantyrannosauria 

Status: Extinct 

Time and Place: Sometime between 93.5 and 89.3 million years ago, in the Turonian of the Late Cretaceous 

Suskityrannus is known from the Lower Member of the Moreno Hill Formation 

Physical Description: Suskityrannus was probably around four meters long in life – as both of the fossils that have been found of it are from juveniles, the sizes of these fossils (1 and 3 meters long respectively) were probably not the maximum size this dinosaur achieved. In fact, at least one of the known fossils was three years old when it died – and tyrannosaurs tend to age at a similar rate to people. That being said, it is more likely than not that Suskityrannus was a slender animal, similar to other early tyrannosaurs rather than the later bulky behemoths of greater fame. It actually had a fairly large brain, compared to its body, which may be an indicator that it was a smart little dinosaur. Finally, as an early Tyrannosaur, and a small one at that, it would have been covered in fluff all over its body, potentially even with fancier feathers on its arms. 

Diet: As a Tyrannosaur, Suskityrannus would have fed primarily on small animals, most likely smaller dinosaurs. 

Behavior: Given that multiple younger individuals were found together, it is likely that Suskityrannus was at least somewhat social, potentially living in family groups or small “packs” (in that they were groups of individuals that hunted together, but they probably wouldn’t have had anything resembling a sophisticated hierarchy within said grouping). As warmblooded animals, they would have been active frequently, and used that ability in order to catch their equally-lively food. And, in addition, they probably would have taken care of their young – especially if they were social. Beyond that, we need more fossil evidence to determine – though, the results could be interesting in determining how the later, larger tyrannosaurs also behaved. 

By Scott Reid

Ecosystem: Moreno Hill was a wet floodplain, filled with an extensive river system that flooded each wet season and dried up rapidly when the rains ended. An extreme amount of coal is known from this environment, and as such it is logical to suppose that it was a fairly dense (most likely coniferous) forest with a consistent underlying layer of ferns and lilies in the wetter, riverside areas of the environment. Despite this clear evidence of diverse plantlife, we know little about the animals present in the Moreno Hill Environment. Fish are known, and named, from here – including Melvius – as well as unnamed turtles and crocodylomorphs. Only three other dinosaurs are named from this environment, though they are some of the more fascinating dinosaurs from the “mid” Cretaceous of North America. They include Jeyawati, a weird looking almost-hadrosaur with a sloping-facep; Nothronychus, a pot-bellied therizinosaur and one of the few known from North America; and Zuniceratops, a stepping stone between ceratopsians like Protoceratops and the iconic large ceratopsids of the Late Cretaceous (such as Triceratops). Suskityrannus probably mainly fed on Zuniceratops, given both were of a smaller size than the other dinosaurs of the neighborhood. 

Other: Suskityrannus is an important stepping stone – an intermediate between the skinny tyrannosaurs of the Early Cretaceous and the bulky terrors of the Late Cretaceous. This makes the discovery of this dinosaur one of the more important ones in terms of understanding tyrannosaur evolution. While, for now, only young of this dinosaur are known, further study of Suskityrannus will allow for more understanding of how these animals went through their rapid evolution in the middle of the Cretaceous period. 

~By Meig Dickson

Sources Under the Cut