Mapping Dinos

DINOAPP.

3D Portal

WELCOME TO THE PREHISTORIC REALM OF 3D PRINTING!

Click on this link to be transported through the 3D Portal:

http://3dportal.metrics4d.com

Irish Dinos

This week St. Patrick's Day celebrates Irish culture. And to many dino fans it begs the question, what dinosaurs inhabited Ireland? While England boasts many dinosaur discoveries - including the first dinosaur fossil ever formally described, Ireland seems barren of dinosaurs, despite sharing nearly identical geographical and geological features with neighboring England.

And Ireland does not spring to mind when pondering the realm of dinosaurs.

Mythology tells us St. Patrick dispatched all snakes from Ireland, but makes no claim regarding dinosaurs. Did dinosaurs EVER inhabit the Land of Ire?

In fact, it seems they did! Although not necessarily green in color, dinosaurs are known to have inhabited the Emerald Isle, once upon a time...

Since the Mesozoic dinosaur era, Ireland has been largely underwater. This has contributed to successive deposits of marine sediments, ultimately responsible for the dramatic coastal cliffs seen today, as well as doing a good job of covering the remains of dinosaurs.

However, several locales in Ireland have revealed dino fossils, including the partial remains of a medium-sized Jurassic Period bipedal predator, an early ancestor of larger theropods, such as Tyrannosaurus rex. The most complete skeleton discovered to date is attributed to a heavily armored quadrupedal plant eater, Scelidosaurus, pictured here. Covered nearly head to tail in spikes of various sizes, Scelidosaurus was well-equipped to fend-off attacks from the predators sharing its environment. A bit of Irish luck would have come in handy, as well...

Tyrannosaurus Teeth

Terrifying Works in Progress

Leaellynasaurus: Enjoying the New Year Down Under

While northern polar regions of the Mesozoic Era endured extended winter darkness and chill, on the opposite side of the planet, southern polar regions were basking in the full flush of their summer heat and nearly 24 hours of daily sunlight. Here we see the lens of the Dino Cam focused on the dog-sized Cretaceous herbivore, Leaellynasaurus. Specimens of Leaellynasaurus have been found in a rich dinosaur fossil site on the southern coast of Australia called Dinosaur Cove. During the time of Leaellynasaurus, Dinosaur Cove was positioned even further south than it is today, lying fully within the Antarctic circle.

Winter Wonderland

This is the heart of the winter season - the time of year that the Northern Hemisphere of planet earth is in the grip of the coldest weather of the year. It is characterized by the shortest daylight and longest night of December 21 - the winter solstice, marking when the north pole is at its furthest tilt away from the sun. The earth had a similar tilt during the reign of the dinosaurs, and polar regions during the Cretaceous Period were subjected to alternating seasons of long days and short days resulting from the tilt combined with the journey around the sun, just as we experience today. However, the entire global climate of the Cretaceous was warmer than today, and the polar chill was less extreme. Dinosaurs inhabiting polar regions experienced a cool-down during winter months, but not nearly as cold as now.

Dinosaurs living above the Arctic Circle, or below the Antarctic Circle in the southern hemisphere, encountered an environment similar to the wet, lush yet cool rain forests of the "Pacific Northwest" region of modern North America. During the winter months, the main issue for polar dinosaurs was lack of sunlight: they would have been plunged into weeks of darkness when the sun dropped below the horizon. The sun wouldn't rise again until spring, similar to current-day northern Alaska and Siberia.

Dinosaurs did populate what is now the north slope of Alaska, and northern Alaska was in nearly the same latitude then as now: fossils found from above the Arctic Circle represent dinosaurs that actually lived above the Arctic Circle millions of years ago.

Pictured above is a midday scene from the north slope of Alaska, as it would have looked in December, 70 million years ago. Midday in December would be the heart of a dark winter's night. However, the Troodon seen here are well adapted for the long night, protected from chilled air by dense feathered plumage, and possessing especially large eyes that accommodated hunting at night. The teeth of Troodon were uniquely adapted for a mixed diet of meat and foliage - perfect for a lifestyle that required flexibility in a widely changing, seasonal environment.