stavrosskundromichalis - Tumblr blog

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Some hungry Abrictosaurus consors checking out a dried out river bed in Early Jurassic South Africa

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A gang of Chinshakiangosaurus chunghoensis take a well-deserved mud bath in Early Jurassic China

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Condorraptor currumili making dinner plans in Early Jurassic Argentina

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A young and an adult Berberosaurus liassicus quenching their thirst in Early Jurassic Morocco

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An Arcusaurus pereirabdalorum running for all it’s worth in Early Jurassic South Africa

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Happy anniversary Megalosaurus bucklandii! Two hundred years ago it became the first dinosaur to be named 🥳🦖🎉🍾

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Please welcome Franconiasaurus brevispinus!

A new plesiosaur from the early Jurassic of Germany and a important missing link in plesiosaur evolution! Congratulations to the three authors, here the paper for those who haven't seen it

I have a rather personal connection to this specimen because me and Sven were on a road trip to the EAVP meeting in Munich when we came across this fossil in Bayreuth. It was quite the surprise walking into the collection and finding this, already largely out of the matrix.

It was quite funny to see Sven dive right in and after roughly 15 min of looking at it proclaiming, "pretty sure that's a new genus", I think we had a name for it already on the drive back

Franconiasaurus wasn't an apex predator, that time hadn't come yet for plesiosaurs, but it fills an important evolutionary gap between basal and more derived plesiosaur clades of the Jurassic. Here a little overview of animals that lived with it. This formation, the Jurensismergel, isn't as productive as the underlying Posidonia shale, but it's also a thinner, and less studied formation. Quite a few fossils still await a proper description or a name. These Temnodontosaurus for example.

A little background for my illustration. The Jurensismergel appears to preserve largely a deep water environment but I wanted to show the animal not in a blue void or with some dark sludge near the bottom so I gave it a patch reef to rest on, sourced from some locally available Muschelkalk. The whole presentation is very much inspired by the collection of the Museum in Bayreuth. down to the Temnodontosaurus rostrum jutting out of the ground here. Saurichthys is known from the Jurensismergel but the Dapedium and other fish were burrowed from Posidonia.

when you zoom in you can see crustaceans climbing over and cleaning the Franconiasaurs.

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A couple of Anchisaurus polyzelus being extra romantic on an Early Jurassic Valentine’s day🌹

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A young Amygdalodon patagonicus lost in the woods of Early Jurassic Argentina 🇦🇷 🌲🦕🌲

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It’s Draw a Dinosaur Day!! 🦖🦕 This Antetonitrus ingenipes from the Early Jurassic of South Africa is as surprised as I am.. 🙃

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The iconic Tyrannosaurus rex on a Saturday morning 🦖 Realized that I haven’t made a serious attempt to draw t-rex since the nineties! 😳

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Thank you @darwinthepaleonaturalist and everyone who got me to 4000 reblogs!

A mildly irritated Adeopapposaurus mognai taking a hike in Early Jurassic Argentina 🇦🇷🦕

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A mildly irritated Adeopapposaurus mognai taking a hike in Early Jurassic Argentina 🇦🇷🦕

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A lone Blikanasaurus cromptoni gazes across the Late Triassic South African landscape. From my book ”De första dinosaurierna” (”The first dinosaurs”)

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A skittish Thecodontosaurus antiquus surveying its surroundings. From my book ”De första dinosaurierna” (”The first dinosaurs”)

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Two male Melanorosaurus readi eyeing each other in late Triassic South Africa. From my book ”De första dinosaurierna” (”The first dinosaurs”)

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An old and tired Lessemsaurus sauropoides wandering around late Triassic Argentina. From my book ”De första dinosaurierna” (”The first dinosaurs”)