SpinoInWonderland
@spinoinwonderland.bsky.social
Interested in science, art, anime stuff, and more.
Note that the "Spino" in SpinoInWonderland does not come from the theropod Spinosaurus. It comes from the sauropod Spinophorosaurus.
Note that the "Spino" in SpinoInWonderland does not come from the theropod Spinosaurus. It comes from the sauropod Spinophorosaurus.
Update: The Dueling Dinosaurs tyrannosauroid, catalogued NCSM 40000, was recently formally described and published. Turned out to be an adult referrable to N. lancensis. And the genus got a second documented species too.
They weren't even recovered as tyrannosaurids.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
They weren't even recovered as tyrannosaurids.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Nanotyrannus and Tyrannosaurus coexisted at the close of the Cretaceous - Nature
Nature - Nanotyrannus and Tyrannosaurus coexisted at the close of the Cretaceous
www.nature.com
November 1, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Update: The Dueling Dinosaurs tyrannosauroid, catalogued NCSM 40000, was recently formally described and published. Turned out to be an adult referrable to N. lancensis. And the genus got a second documented species too.
They weren't even recovered as tyrannosaurids.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
They weren't even recovered as tyrannosaurids.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Must have been some really odd 'reptiles' they were hanging around with.
October 12, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Must have been some really odd 'reptiles' they were hanging around with.
I just wanted to put some content to my feed here, and push myself back to more active and productive in the palaeosphere again. My older post on dinosaur taxonomic diversity just came to mind, and it went from there.
And someone has to say it out here, might as well be me.
And someone has to say it out here, might as well be me.
October 12, 2025 at 6:05 AM
I just wanted to put some content to my feed here, and push myself back to more active and productive in the palaeosphere again. My older post on dinosaur taxonomic diversity just came to mind, and it went from there.
And someone has to say it out here, might as well be me.
And someone has to say it out here, might as well be me.
The arguments put forward to lumping Nanotyrannus with T. rex had so far not to my knowledge covered osteohistology of the holotype skull and entirely relied on morphological traits.
If the type skull truly was mature with an EFS, it then obviously cannot be a juvenile ontogenic stage of anything.
If the type skull truly was mature with an EFS, it then obviously cannot be a juvenile ontogenic stage of anything.
October 11, 2025 at 8:42 AM
The arguments put forward to lumping Nanotyrannus with T. rex had so far not to my knowledge covered osteohistology of the holotype skull and entirely relied on morphological traits.
If the type skull truly was mature with an EFS, it then obviously cannot be a juvenile ontogenic stage of anything.
If the type skull truly was mature with an EFS, it then obviously cannot be a juvenile ontogenic stage of anything.
And now more recently last year at SVP, Nanotyrannus, which had been strongly considered a synonym of T. rex, shaped up to be likely distinct.
Keystone to the position of synonymy was the apparent lack of adults for the former. However the type skull's hyoids showed indications of maturity.
Keystone to the position of synonymy was the apparent lack of adults for the former. However the type skull's hyoids showed indications of maturity.
October 11, 2025 at 8:35 AM
And now more recently last year at SVP, Nanotyrannus, which had been strongly considered a synonym of T. rex, shaped up to be likely distinct.
Keystone to the position of synonymy was the apparent lack of adults for the former. However the type skull's hyoids showed indications of maturity.
Keystone to the position of synonymy was the apparent lack of adults for the former. However the type skull's hyoids showed indications of maturity.
I've seen too many people claim that Argentinosaurus-grade titanosaurs had already reached the limit, and dismissing estimated 100+ t supersauropods entirely on the grounds of being 'too big'.
All based on nothing but headcanons based on personal incredulity and not on any quantitative methods.
All based on nothing but headcanons based on personal incredulity and not on any quantitative methods.
October 9, 2025 at 11:11 AM
I've seen too many people claim that Argentinosaurus-grade titanosaurs had already reached the limit, and dismissing estimated 100+ t supersauropods entirely on the grounds of being 'too big'.
All based on nothing but headcanons based on personal incredulity and not on any quantitative methods.
All based on nothing but headcanons based on personal incredulity and not on any quantitative methods.
For how much of the tail this is, up to 51 caudal positions are known from the animal overall (Wedel & Taylor 2013) and the full tail in life might have had as much as 60 or so. (Díez Díaz et al. 2020)
Tail reconstruction modified from Gunnar Bivens with first 18 caudals shaded blue.
Tail reconstruction modified from Gunnar Bivens with first 18 caudals shaded blue.
August 18, 2025 at 9:47 AM
For how much of the tail this is, up to 51 caudal positions are known from the animal overall (Wedel & Taylor 2013) and the full tail in life might have had as much as 60 or so. (Díez Díaz et al. 2020)
Tail reconstruction modified from Gunnar Bivens with first 18 caudals shaded blue.
Tail reconstruction modified from Gunnar Bivens with first 18 caudals shaded blue.
The est. population of bee hummingbirds is about 22,000-66,000 mature individuals based on this source: datazone.birdlife.org/species/fact...
Average adult masses of ~2.6 g for females and ~2 g for males. Even taking the high end of the population est. gives less than 200 kg for the total.
Average adult masses of ~2.6 g for females and ~2 g for males. Even taking the high end of the population est. gives less than 200 kg for the total.
Bee Hummingbird Mellisuga Helenae Species Factsheet | BirdLife DataZone
People are destroying and consuming nature at a devastating rate. Birds are our early warning system. BirdLife International is the largest international Partnership for nature conservation.
datazone.birdlife.org
August 3, 2025 at 5:16 AM
The est. population of bee hummingbirds is about 22,000-66,000 mature individuals based on this source: datazone.birdlife.org/species/fact...
Average adult masses of ~2.6 g for females and ~2 g for males. Even taking the high end of the population est. gives less than 200 kg for the total.
Average adult masses of ~2.6 g for females and ~2 g for males. Even taking the high end of the population est. gives less than 200 kg for the total.
The new Dempsey et al. publication estimates the body mass of NCSM 14345 at about on par with AMNH 5027. And here's their answer to the question: why did the giant carcharodontosaurids have such slim femora compared to similarly-sized or even much smaller tyrannosaurs?
May 10, 2025 at 7:27 AM
The new Dempsey et al. publication estimates the body mass of NCSM 14345 at about on par with AMNH 5027. And here's their answer to the question: why did the giant carcharodontosaurids have such slim femora compared to similarly-sized or even much smaller tyrannosaurs?
In regards to measurements, MUCPv-Ch1 has a 136.5 cm femur, an est. skull length of 163.4 cm (replicating Canale et al. 2022), and the mounted sacrum is 109.2 cm long (Coria & Currie 2016). MOR 1125/B-rex has a femur 115 cm long and a skull 123 cm long (Persons et al. 2019, Paul 2022).
May 10, 2025 at 7:19 AM
In regards to measurements, MUCPv-Ch1 has a 136.5 cm femur, an est. skull length of 163.4 cm (replicating Canale et al. 2022), and the mounted sacrum is 109.2 cm long (Coria & Currie 2016). MOR 1125/B-rex has a femur 115 cm long and a skull 123 cm long (Persons et al. 2019, Paul 2022).
Except for the fact that the Giganotosaurus type and B-rex have absolutely no business being placed on par or even close in terms of sheer mass with each other. Here's my reconstruction of the G. carolinii type compared with B-rex, represented by a modified Black Beauty from GetAwayTrike.
May 10, 2025 at 7:13 AM
Except for the fact that the Giganotosaurus type and B-rex have absolutely no business being placed on par or even close in terms of sheer mass with each other. Here's my reconstruction of the G. carolinii type compared with B-rex, represented by a modified Black Beauty from GetAwayTrike.