Pronunciation: Pul-mon-oh-skor-pee-us. Meaning of name: "Breathing scorpion". Species: P. kirktonensis Size: 70cm long, three times the length of today's largest-living scorpion. Family: Centromachidae. Diet: Carnivore First fossils found: Known from several specimens discovered in the East Kirkton Limestone at East Kirkton Quarry, West Lothian, eastern Scotland. Named by Andrew J. Jeram in 1994. Lived: 336 to 326.4 million years ago during the Viséan and Serpukhovian stages of the Early Carboniferous in what is now eastern Scotland.
The largest living scorpion species is the Giant Forest Scorpion which reaches a length of around 23cm
Today I'll introduce you to an early amphibian that looks a lot like a giant tadpole: Crassigyrinus
Pronunciation: Crass-i-ji-ri-nus Meaning of name: "Thick tadpole". Species: C. scoticus Size: 2 metres long and weighing around 104kgs. Family: Crassigyrinidae Diet: Carnivore. First fossils found: Known from three skulls and several partial skeletons, the first of which were discovered in the Limestone Coal Group of Scotland in 1929. Named in the same year by David Meredith Seares Watson. Lived: 346.7 to 330.9 million years ago during the Viséan stage of the Early Carboniferous in what is now Scotland.
Today's animal is a very primitive whale: Ambulocetus
Pronunciation: Am-bu-loh-cee-tuss Meaning of name: "Walking whale". Species: A. natans Size: 3 metres long. Estimated to have weighed up to 230kgs. Family: Ambulocetidae Diet: Carnivore First fossils found: Known primary from a single, mostly-complete skeleton discovered by Mohammad Arif and Hans Thewissen in the Kuldana Formation of nothern Pakistan in 1991. Named by Mr. Thewissen in 1996. Lived: 47 million years ago during the Lutetian stage of the Middle Eocene in what is now northern Pakistan.
Today's animal somewhat resembles a cow-sized pig: Archaeotherium
Pronunciation: Ar-kee-o-thee-re-um Meaning of name: "Ancient beast". Species: A. mortoni Size: 2 metres long, 1.2 metres tall and weighing 150kgs. Family: Entelodontidae. Diet: Omnivore. First fossils found: Known from multiple specimens discovered across Eurasia and the United States (date of first discovery uncertain). Named by American palaeontologist, Joseph Mellick Leidy, in 1850. Lived: 33.9 to 24.8 million years ago from the Bartonian stage of the Middle Eocene to the Chattian stage of the Late Oligocene in what is now Eurasia and the United States.
Today's animal is an early rhinoceros and one of the largest terrestrial mammals that has ever existed: Paraceratherium (also known as Indricotherium and Baluchitherium).
Pronunciation: Pa-ra-cee-ra-thee-ree-um Meaning of name: "Near horn beast". Species: P. bugtiense, P. transouralicum, P. huangheense. Size: Between 7 and 8 metres long, 5 metres tall and weighing between 15 and 20 metric tonnes. Family: Hyracodontidae Diet: Herbivore. Fed on high-growing vegetation. First fossils found: Known from several partial skeletons discovered across Eurasia between China and the Balkan Peninsula. P. bugtiense named by English palaeontologist, Sir Clive Forster Cooper, in 1911. P. transouralicum named in 1922. P.huangheense named in 2017. Lived: 34 to 23 million years ago from the Priabonian stage of the Late Eocene to the Chattian stage of the Late Oligocene across what is now Eurasia.
Today's animal is a freshwater shark: Orthacanthus
Pronunciation: Or-tha-can-thus Meaning of name: "Vertical spike". Species: O. buxieri, O. compressus, O. donnelljohnsi, O. gibbosus, O. gracilis, O. milleri, O. minor, O. platypternus, O. pustulosus, O. texensis Size: 3 metres long and weighing around 45kgs. Family: Orthacanthidae Diet: Carnivore/piscivore First fossils found: Known from several specimens discovered in Europe and the United States. O. gibbosus, O. milleri, O.minor and O. pustulosus named in 1843. O. compressus named in 1856. O. gracilis named in 1875. O. platypternus named in 1884. O. texensis named in 1888. O. buxieri named in 1989. O. donnelljohnsi named in 2009. The spike on the back of the head is thought to have been a defensive feature to stop other predators from biting this area of the body. Lived: 315.2 to 290.1 million years ago from the Moscovian stage of the Late Carboniferous to the Sakmarian stage of the Early Permian in freshwater swamps in what is now Europe and the United States.
Today's animal is a dome-headed Chalicothere: Kalimantsia
Pronunciation: Ka-le-mant-se-ah Meaning of name: Named after a village in Bulgaria where the only known fossils were discovered. Species: K. bulgarica Size: Unknown due to a lack of fossils. Family: Chalicotheriidae. Diet: Herbivore. Likely fed on both high and low-growing vegetation. First fossils found: Known only from a skull discovered by Denis Geraads, Nikolai Spassov and Dimitar Kovachev near the village of Kalimantsi, Varna Province, eastern Bulgaria, in 1972. Named by Mr. Geraads, Mr. Spassov and Mr. Kovachev in 2001. Lived: 11.608 to 5.333 million years ago during the Tortonian and Messinian stages of the Late Miocene in what is now eastern Bulgaria.
Kalimantsia skull on display at the Asenovgrad Palaeontological Museum in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Have you done any research on Coelacanths @taliragreycrest, interesting the species is still around, although obviously rare. It was first discovered in 1938.
Coelacanths (seel-a-canths) were once known only from fossils and were thought to have gone extinct approximately 65 million years ago (mya), during the great extinction in which the dinosaurs disappeared. The most recent fossil record dates from about 80 mya but the earliest records date back as far as approximately 360 mya. At one time coelacanths were a large group comprising about 90 valid species that were distributed worldwide in both marine and freshwaters. Today, there are two known living species.
Yes, I've heard of the Coelacanth. The two living species are the West Indian Ocean coelacanth and the Indonesian coelacanth. The earliest fossil Coelacanths were discovered during the 19th century and they were considered extinct until the capture of a live specimen off the east coast of South Africa on December 23rd, 1938. Unfortunately, not much is known about them. Since these supposedly-extinct fish are still living, I sometimes wonder if it's possible that other supposedly-extinct animals might still be with us.
Anyway, today's animal is named after a queen of Ancient Egypt: Arsinoitherium
Pronunciation: Ar-si-noy-thee-ree-um Meaning of name: "Arsinoe's beast", after Queen Arsinoe 1st of Egypt. Species: A. zitteli, A. andrewsi, A. giganteus. Size: 1.75 metres tall, 3 metres long and weighing around 1 metric tonne. Family: Arsinoitheriidae Diet: Herbivore. Likely fed on low-growing vegetation. First fossils found: Known from several skeletons, some of which are almost complete, discovered in Oman, North Africa (Egypt, Libya, Tunisia), Saudi Arabia, southern Africa and eastern Africa. A. zitteli named by H. G. C. Beadnell in 1902. A. andrewsi named in 1903. A. giganteus named in 2004. This animal's most striking feature is the pair of massive horns on the head which were likely used for display. Males are thought to have had larger and more well-developed horns than females. Lived: Depending on species, lived between 36 and 27 million years ago from the Priabonian stage of the Late Eocene to the Rupelian stage of the Early Oligocene in what is now Saudi Arabia, Oman, North Africa, eastern Africa and southern Africa.
Pronunciation: Zy-go-mat-yur-us Meaning of name: "Large cheeks". Species: Z. diahotensis, Z. gilli, Z. keanei, Z. keani, Z. tasmanicus, Z. trilobus Size: 2.5 metres long, 1.5 metres tall and weighing between 500 and 700kgs. Family: Diprotodontidae Diet: Herbivore. Fed on low-growing vegetation. First fossils found: Known from several specimens discovered in south-western and south-eastern Australia. Named by Australian explorer, Sir George Macleay, in 1857. Zygomaturus is a smaller relative of the more famous Diprotodon. Lived: Between 7.264 million years and 11,700 years ago from the Messinian stage of the Late Miocene to the Tarantian stage of the Late Pleistocene in what is now south-eastern and south-western Australia.
Today's entry is a relative of modern-day elephants: Deinotherium
Pronunciation: Dy-noe-thee-ree-um Meaning of name: "Terrible beast". Species: D. bozasi, D. giganteum, D. indicum Size: Depending on species, measured up to 6 metres long, 4 metres tall and weighing between 8 and 13.5 metric tonnes. Family: Deinotheriidae Diet: Herbivore. First fossils found: Known from several specimens discovered in Romania, Pakistan, India and Kenya. D. giganteum named by German naturalist, Johann Jakob von Kaup, in 1829. D. indicum named by Scottish palaeontologist, Hugh Falconer, in 1845. D. bozasi named by French palaeontologist, Camille Arambourg, in 1934. Unlike modern elephants, whose tusks curve upwards and grow from the upper jaw, the tusks of Deinotherium curve downwards and grow from the lower jaw. It's possible they were used to uproot vegetation or strip bark from trees. Lived: Depending on species, lived from 15.97 to 1.806 million years ago from the Langhian stage of the Middle Miocene to the Gelasian stage of the Early Pleistocene in what is now Romania, India, Pakistan and Kenya.
Pronunciation: Sa-na-jeh Meaning of name: "Ancient gape." Species: S. indicus Size: 3.5 metres long and weighing between 11 and 23kgs. Family: Madtsoiidae. Diet: Carnivore First fossils found: Known only from a single, partial skeleton discovered coiled around a Sauropod egg in the Lameta Formation of western India (date of discovery uncertain). Named by Jeffrey A. Wilson, Dhananjay M. Mohabey, Shanan E. Peters and Jason J. Head in 2010. Lived: 72.1 to 66 million years ago during the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous in what is now western India.
Pronunciation: Ik-thee-or-niss Meaning of name: "Fish bird". Species: I. dispar Wingspan: 43cm (not including feathers). Body was around the same size as a seagull. Family: Ichthyornithidae. Diet: Piscivore First fossils found: Known from both adult and juvenile specimens discovered in Canada and the southeastern, southwestern and central United States. First discovered by Benjamin Franklin Mudge in 1870. Named by American palaeontologist, Othniel Charles Marsh in 1872. Ichthyornis was one of the first Mesozoic birds to be discovered and the first one known to have had teeth. Lived: 95 to 83.5 million years ago from the Turonian stage through to the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous in what is now Canada and the central, southeastern and southwestern United States.
Today's animal is one of the largest-known Eurypterids, which are also known as "sea scorpions": Pterygotus
Pronunciation: Teh-ry-go-tus Meaning of name: "Winged fish". Species: P. anglicus, P. arcuatus, P. barrandei, P. bolivianus, P. carmani, P. cobbi, P. denticulatus, P. floridanus, P. gaspesiensis, P. grandidentatus, P. impacatus, P. kopaninensis, P. lanarkensis, P. lightbodyi, P. ludensis, P. marylandicus, P. monroensis Size: The largest species, P. grandidentatus, measured around 1.75 metres long. Family: Pterygotidae. Diet: Carnivore. First fossils found: Known from several specimens, the first of which were discovered by quarrymen in Scotland and western England. P. anglicus named in 1849. P. arcuatus, P. cobbi and P. ludensis named in 1859. P. kopaninensis named in 1872. P.barrandei named in 1898. P. monroensis named in 1902. P. floridanus named in 1950. P. gaspesiensis named in 1953. P.carmani, P. denticulatus, P. grandidentatus and P. lightbodyi named in 1961. P. bolivianus, P. impacatus, P. lanarkensis and P.marylandicus named in 1964. Fossils have also been discovered in the United States, Australia and South America. Lived: Depending on species, lived between 439 and 370.6 million years ago from the Aeronian stage of the Early Silurian to the Famennian stage of the Late Devonian in what is now Europe, Australia, South America and the United States.