Scientific Illustration

astronomy-to-zoology:

Genus Gerrothorax

(meaning wicker chest)

Gerrothorax was a genus of temnospondyl amphibians from Triassic Europe with fossils being found in Greenland and Germany. This genus is compromised of only one species G.pulcherrimus although some other species have been proposed. This animal was fairly large for an amphibian growing up to 3ft long, it also had a very flat body, presumably for helping it hide in mud, and a football shaped skull similar to the one of Diplocaulus. Fossil evidence shows that gerrothorax retained its larval gills through adulthood, similar to modern amphibians like the olm and axolotl. This animal also had a unique method of opening its mouth. rather than dropping its jaw to open its mouth it lifted its head up (like a toilet seat) to catch prey.

Phylogeny 

Animalia-Chordata-Amphibia-Temnospondyli-Stereospondyli-Pagiosauridae-Gerrothorax

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astronomy-to-zoology:

Genus Palaeotragus

(meaning Ancient Antelope)

Was a genus of primitive okapi-like artiodactyls (even toed ungulates) that lived in Miocene Africa and Eurasia. there are two currently described species; P.primaevus which was a smaller 2m animal which had no ossicones. and P.germaini  which had ossicones and was alot taller at 3m, resembling a tall okapi.

Phylogeny

Animalia-Chordata-Mammalia-Artiodactyla-Giraffidae-Paleotraginae-Palaeotragus

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astronomy-to-zoology:

Genus Shonisaurus

was a genus of large ichthyosaurs that lived in the late Triassic. This genus was one of the largest of the ichthyosaurs with species measuring up to 50 feet long. Shonisaurus had a long snout and longer and narrower flippers than other ichthyosaurs, these features suggest that the shonisaurs may be an offshoot of the ichthyosaur line.

Phylogeny

Animalia-Chordata-Ichthyosauria-Shastasauria-Shastasauridae-Shonisaurus

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astronomy-to-zoology:

Genus Leedsichthys 

was a genus of gigantic pachycormid fish that lived in the oceans of the Mesozoic. Largely considered to be one of the largest bony fish to ever live, this behemoth could grow up to 32 feet long (some estimates put it at 53 feet). This giant fish although it had alot of teeth was probably a gentle filter feeder like extant basking sharks. leedsichthys had no recorded predator with specimens known to escape the Liopleurodon which was the top predator of the time, their large and powerful tail probably helped them out run and out maneuver the giant reptile.

Phylogeny

Animalia-Chordata-Actinopterygii-Pachycorminformes-Pachycormidae-Leedsichthys

Image sources:1,2

aspectofadreamer:

Smiley by ~Dantheman9758

One of my favorite prehistoric hunters :3

ewilloughby:

Utahraptor stands in the shallows of the great early Cretaceous inland sea, looking out to the horizon as the sun rises. Utahraptor, though one of the largest dromaeosaurs, was certainly not always taking down large prey in a dramatic and bloody fashion. On this morning, these dromaeosaurs were not hungry enough to hunt, so they combed the beach for shellfish and protein minutiae washed in by the tide. A small flock of ornithocheiroid pterosaurs pass by above.

Considered making this my ‘All Yesterdays’ entry (a Utahraptor not being a big badass and ripping apart everything in sight? Unheard of) but ultimately decided to do something more original for that.

Commission for an individual customer. Photoshop CS4, 80+ hours.

(via rhamphotheca)

astronomy-to-zoology:

Genus Prionosuchus

was a genus of large Temnspondyl amphibians from Permian Brazil. Prinosuchus is the largest described species of amphibian ever found, with individuals growing up to 30 ft long! Prinosuchus while an amphibian looks and acts very similar to extant crocodiles like the gharial, as it had a long snout and body and short legs. They presumably had a similar lifestyle as well as they probably were ambush hunters and fed primarily on fish and aquatic animals.

Phylogeny

Animalia-Chordata-Tetrapoda-Amphibia-Temnspondylia-Archegosauridae-Prionosuchus

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rhamphotheca:

Fossils of Enigmatic Sea Creatures Surface

by Sid Perkins

New fossil finds reveal that an enigmatic seafloor dweller first described more than a decade ago was armored and much larger than its modern-day kin. Cotyledion tylodes had a goblet-shaped body that surrounded a U-shaped gut (dark feature in fossil at left; arrows denote flow of food), and the animal spent its life anchored to the seafloor or to hard objects that had settled there, such as the molted exoskeletons of trilobites (artist’s representation at right). C. tylodes was first described in 1999 based on a couple of fragmentary fossils unearthed from 520-million-year-old rocks in southern China.

Previously, some scientists have proposed that the tentacled creatures were related to cnidarians, a group that contains jellyfish. But analyses of the new fossils—hundreds of well-preserved specimens extracted from the same ancient rocks—reveal that the animals belong to a group called entoprocts, aquatic creatures that attach to surfaces and filter their food from passing currents, the researchers report online today in Scientific Reports…

(read more: Science NOW)               

(images: Zhifei Zhang et al., Scientific Reports)

(via mad-as-a-marine-biologist)

astronomy-to-zoology:

Genus Pycnosteus

Pycnosteus is an extinct genus of jawless fish from the Devonian period. these ancient aganathans probably cruised through the primal vegetation, eating any small invertebrates it displaces.

Phylogeny

Animalia-Chordata-Agnatha-Pteraspidomorphi-Heterostraci-Pycnosteidae-Pycnosteus

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astronomy-to-zoology:

Genus Rinchenia

is a genus of oviraptoid theropod dinosaurs from late Cretaceous Mongolia. Rinchenia is known solely from a single incomplete skeleton of its only species R. mongoliensis. Rinchenia has alot in common with its sister genus Oviraptor and was originally part of oviraptor until several features in its skull and skeleton were shown to be distinct. Rinchenia was around the same size as oviraptor at around 5 feet long, it also had a distinct casque unlike oviraptors whose casque is indistinct due to poor preservation. 

Phylogeny

Animalia-Chordata-Dinosauria-Theropoda-Oviraptoridae-Oviraptorinae-Rinchenia

Source

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