Scientific Illustration

rhamphotheca:

Ancient ‘Killer Walrus’ Not So Deadly After All

by Megan Gannon

A “killer walrus” thought to have terrorized the North Pacific 15 million years ago may not have been such a savvy slayer after all, researchers say.

A new analysis of fossil evidence of the prehistoric beast shows it was more of a fish-eater than an apex predator with a bone-crushing bite.

Traces of the middle Miocene walrus, named Pelagiarctos thomasi, were first found in the 1980s in the Sharktooth Hill bone bed of California. A chunk of a robust jawbone and sharp pointed teeth, which resembled those of the bone-cracking hyena, led researchers to believe the walrus ripped apart birds and other marine mammals in addition to the fish that modern walruses eat today.

But a more complete lower jaw and teeth from the long-gone species were recently discovered in the Topanga Canyon Formation near Los Angeles. Researchers say the shape of the teeth from this new specimen suggest the walrus was unlikely adapted to regularly feed on large prey. Instead, they think it was a generalist predator, feasting on fish, invertebrates and the occasional warm-blooded snack…

(read more: Live Science)           

(images: Robert Boessenecker, PLOS ONE, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.005431)

(via lostbeasts)

ladyshaper:

n262_w1150 by BioDivLibrary on Flickr.

(via lostbeasts)

lostbeasts:

Pachyrukhos.
This was about as close as you can get to a rabbit without actually being one. It had long hind legs and feet, suggesting that it had a hopping method of locomotion. The skull is short with teeth adapted for feeding on nuts and tough plant material. It had large eyes and an ear structure that suggests it had long ears in life.

Mutpuracinus archibaldi reconstruction – Art by Dr Peter Murray

“Mutpuracinus archibaldi was a small carnivorous marsupial from the Middle Miocene of Riversleigh, northwestern Queensland, Australia and Middle Miocene of Bullock Creek, Northern Territory, Australia. It is distantly related to the now extinct Thylacine or Tasmanian Tiger, Thylacinus cynocephalus. Only 2 specimens of that species has been recovered, including a skull”

paleoillustration:

Phorusrhacos “Terror bird” by Antarctic Spring

paleoillustration:

Sand tiger and baby terror bird by Psithyrus:

“This paleo fantasy scene shows a sand tiger (tiger beetle larva) in his burrow offering some nuts to a Phorusrhacos chick (baby terror bird). He’s not so terrible though.”

paleoillustration:

Hiskatherium by Jorge Antonio González

paleoillustration:

Illustrations by Robert Nichols:

Mega Tooth Rising:

“The Miocene oceans were dangerous places to swim. Even the great baleen whales, such as Cetotherium, could fall victim to toothed physteroids and, of course, Carcharocles megalodon. Known to many simply as, megalodon, this 16m long predator possessed the size and strength to kill and eat the largest creatures on Earth.

ORIGINAL unavailable  PRINTS: £15.00  POSTER PRINTS: L=£80.00 O=£120.00 M=£160.00” 

Bait Ball:

“Commissioned by the Museum of Jurassic Marine. In a desperate attempt to avoid capture, thousands of Thrissops fish swarm together into a bait ball. Trachyteuthis, belemnites and Pectinatites ammonites also take action to leave the scene as three ichthyosaurs (unnamed) hunt for prey. The youngest ichthyosaur darts into the bait ball causing the Thrissops to separate and open a writhing circular window to the ocean surface above.

ORIGINAL (26cm x 56cm): £650.00  PRINTS: £15.00  POSTER PRINTS: L=£90.00 O=£135.00 M=£180.00”

(via paleoillustration)

lostbeasts:

(drawing by ~batworker)

Chalicotherium.
Seeing as that other Chalicotherium picture got so much interest!! These are some of my favourite prehistoric animals, on account of just how weird they were.

They were odd-toed ungulates, with long clawed forelimbs and stouter hindlimbs, that lived during the Late Oligocene to Lower (early) Pliocene. They would have used their arms to pull down vegetation, which would have been processed by gum pads (in place of upper incisors) and low-crowned molars. Evidence of their hand bones suggest that they walked on their knuckles, like a gorilla.

There have been strange animal sightings in Africa, of creatures dubbed “Nandi bears”, that fit the description of Chalicotheres. Though it’s improbable that they are still living in Africa today, these reports are still interesting!

lostbeasts:

Bullockornis.
“The demon duck of doom”, haha. It was around 8 feet tall, and lived during the Miocene epoch in what would become Australia.