Paleo Profiles

For years palaeontology has been one of my great loves; so much so that I came very close in doing it as my degree at university. The creatures of the past have wowed peoples worldwide ranging from the monsters of the silver screen in Jurassic Park, Gojira, and The Valley of Gwangi to real life folklore and myths. With Paleo Profiles we look at different extinct animals ranging from dinosaurs to mammoths to giant bugs in order to understand what they were like when they roamed the Earth. This page will be a list of all the Paleo Profiles which we have managed to cover. I also want to prefix this by saying that I am a historian, not a palaeontologist. This is something which is a hobby to me and not my field of study so I am not an authority on palaeontology. The purpose of Paleo Profiles is for me to engage in one of my great loves; for newcomers to palaeontology to find out some interesting information; and for those with an active interest/actual authority to also find out interesting points. For any Paleo Profiles if you feel that I've got something wrong or left something out please tell me and I will add it in.

1. Megalodon. The megalodon was one of the largest sharks to swim the world's oceans. As our ancestors were coming down from the trees this shark devoured whales. What is fact and what is fiction about this monstrous shark?
2. Muttaburrasaurus. One of Australia's best known dinosaurs it was made famous by the BBC documentary Walking with Dinosaurs. With a unique nasal crest that possibly could make sounds it shows how diverse herbivorous dinosaurs could be.
3. Pterygotus. A giant sea scorpion, eurypterid, from a time before land plants and fish with jaws the Pterygotus could grow to the size of an alligator. It could be found everywhere from Scotland to New York.
4. Gojirasaurus. Named after the 'King of Monsters' this dinosaur stalked the New Mexico of the Triassic. It was a large carnivorous dinosaur, but recent palaeontological findings may suggest that it may not be its own genus...
5. Megatherium. Before dinosaurs dominated the halls of the Natural History Museum Victorian guests stared in awe at a sloth 6 metres long. Coming from South America the Megatherium reached the same size as an elephant.
6. Brachiosaurus. One of the largest animals to walk the face of the Earth, a giant of the Jurassic, and a star of Jurassic Park the Brachiosaurus is one of the most recognisable dinosaurs. Today we're looking at how these creatures once lived.
7. Yi qi. This little dinosaur was the size of a pigeon, lived in the trees of Jurassic China, and had bat like wings.
8. Meganeura. A giant relative of dragonflies from the Carboniferous, the Meganeura was the size of a pigeon and was a true giant.
9. Dilophosaurus. The famous crested dinosaur from Jurassic Park this early Jurassic carnivore was a unique predator.
10. Nasutoceratops. This car sized relative of the Triceratops has a large nose, and had curved horns making it the buffalo of the Cretaceous.
11. Elasmotherium. The 'Siberian Unicorn' this rhino lived in the plains of Russia during the Ice Age it is known for its giant singular horn.
12. Tiktaalik. A fish which started to go onto land, the Tiktaalik is one of the transitional fossils from when vertebrates started moving onto land.
13. Pikaia. Possibly one of the earliest back-boned animals, the Pikaia can show how vertebrates evolved over 500 million years ago.
14. Spinosaurus. Recent discoveries have found that this giant carnivorous dinosaur dominated the waters of Cretaceous North Africa like a monstrous crocodile.