Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Jumbo the African Elephant

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African Elephant on the Serengiti

The African Elephant is the largest land animal currently on Earth.  An adult male can weigh up to 10.9 metric tonnes or 12 short tons.  They can get up to 13.4 feet tall...that is 4 meters tall.
Jumbo the African Elephant owned by P. T. Barnum was reportedly that size. Most African Elephants live on the Serengeti plains of Central Africa. 

Jumbo was orphaned as a calf and captured or rescued in Africa.  He lived in London at the zoo and many people were upset when he was sold to P.T. Barnum for the circus.  Jumbo lived and performed in the circus for many years but reportedly died when hit by a train.  One night after the performance was over Jumbo was being led back to the elephant area or tent. A small elephant calf was wondering near the train tracks.  Quite possibly Jumbo was thinking he was defending an elephant calf from the train. .  .  or maybe he went to lead it to safety.   But both ended up struck by trains... or at least a train engine.  The elephant calf, named Tom Thumb, got a broken leg but Jumbo was killed.

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Jumbo takes on the Train 

Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Gentoo Penguin




Gentoo Penguin Swimming

The Gentoo Penguin is the second smallest penguin.  Several can be seen at the Living Planet Aquarium in Draper, Utah.  This penguin, like all penguins, waddles on land yet swims like a torpedo when in the water.  The drawing was done today. 

Gentoo Penguins can grow to be up to 35 inches or 90 cm tall.  They can weigh up to 19 lbs or 8.5 kg.   They have a bright orange bill. Their underside is white and the majority of their feathers above the abdomen are black.  White feathers appear on top of the head and on the side of the head near the eyes.

You should notice that the land nearby is rocks, not ice.  The Gentoo Penguin breed on land in ice free areas...that is on the rocks.  In fact, males will make a collection of rocks.  They choose their rocks carefully and put on a rock collection show for the females.  The best rock show wins the female.  The breeding takes place on a few islands in the Southern Hemisphere.

We went to the Living Planet Aquarium yesterday and I took the pictures you see below.  I based my drawing on the pictures from the Gentoo Penguin habitat.  I also drew the Spider Crab from a different area of the museum.


Gentoo Penguins in Habitat at Aquarium




Spider Crab from Aquarium


REMINDER:  All drawings on this blog are Copyright Robin A. Lyman 2016-18.  Permission is granted for printing drawings for coloring purposes.  They can be printed by anyone wanting them for non commercial purposes.  However cruise lines, schools, museums etc. are free to use these pictures or drawings for children or adults to color.  

NOTE:  Printable versions of new drawings are found by clicking on the correct category button above and scrolling to the bottom of the drawings lists.  All drawings are found on the "All Printables" page.  Again, new drawings are on the bottom of the lists. 

Anomalocaris the Earth's First Super-Predator




Anomalocaris first Super Predator

Anomalocaris was the first super-predator to evolve on Earth.  It was about a yard or meter long.  It was an Arthropod...that is, it had an external shell like skeleton which is called an exoskeleton.  The chief prey for Anomalocaris would have been trilobites.  Trilobites were probably the very first animal with an exoskeleton and eyes.  The drawing shows two trilobites.  Anomalocaris could grab a trilobite and use huge armored tentacle-like arms to tear open the trilobites to get to the soft tissue inside.  OK...so the arms were only about a foot or .3 meters long, but compared to most trilobites that was a huge weapon being used against them.  Note that Anomalocaris also had eyes.

Anomalocaris lived in the Cambrian Period...this was the first Period of the Paleozoic Era.  "Paleozoic" means "Old Life."  During the Cambrian Period all life was in the ocean.  We went to the Living Planet Aquarium yesterday and we saw the below drawing of an Anomalocaris.  Of course they do not have a living Anomalocaris there.  The species has been extinct for around 500 million years.


We have also seen actual fossils of Anomalocaris in Canada's Yoho National Park...from the Burgess Shale fossil bed.  We have also seen these fossils in Venice.  Yes there are more than canals and gondolas in Venice.  The below models of Anomalocaris and the fosslized arm of Anomalocaris...are from the  Natural History Museum of Venice in Venice Italy.

Fossilized Arm of Anomalocaris


Notice that there were jellyfish back in the Cambrian Period too.  Jellyfish and Sponges are both seen in my drawing at the top of this post. The below jellyfish live at the Living Planet Aquarium.


Jellyfish from the Living Planet Aquarium
The last one is a "Lion Jellyfish."

NOTE:  Printable versions of new drawings are found by clicking on the correct category button above and scrolling to the bottom of the drawings lists.  All drawings are found on the "All Printables" page.  Again, all new drawings are on the bottom of the lists


Monday, January 29, 2018

Poison Dart Frogs




Poison Dart Frogs
(by a river)
Poison Dart Frogs are found in the rain forests (jungles) of Central and South America.  They are brightly colored.  Alfred Russel Wallace was an 18th century naturalist who discovered this kind of warning coloration.  The bright colors warn potential predators that the animal tastes bad or is poisonous.  In the case of poison dart frogs they are truly poisonous.  This bright warning coloring is called aposematism.  So the frogs are aposematic. Some bright colored butterflies, like the Monarch Butterfly, also are aposematic.

Some native tribes of South America use the frog skin poisons to dip their darts.  In other words, they boil down the frogs and the skin poisons are then used to dip their darts.  This makes their darts deadly.  The darts are used in blow guns.

There are many species of poison dart frogs and they come in many different colors so I suggest you look them up online and have some fun coloring this drawing.  The photos are of a Golden Dart Frog.  We saw it at the Living Planet Aquarium today...in Draper, Utah.  I used these photos as models for my frogs drawing, however I only left one of the frogs without spots so have fun coloring the spots.   The poison dart frogs come in several sizes but they are generally quite small.  Notice the lichen growing on the log.  Lichen is a living organism that lives in damp environment.  Lichen is made up of algae and fungus.  It can be many different colors.  The tree in the drawing also has lichen for you to color.   Feel free to make it pretty much any color you want.  Lichen can be red-orange, blue-green, black, green, silver, yellow, purple and etc.


The Following Photos are the Golden Dart Frog





NOTE:  Printable versions of new drawings are found by clicking on the correct category button above and scrolling to the bottom of the drawings lists.  All drawings are found on the "All Printables" page.  Again, new drawings are on the bottom of the lists

Sunday, January 28, 2018

Apostle James and Apostle John the Beloved

NOTE:  Printable version of these drawings are found by clicking on the "Religion" Button above or "All Printables" Button.  Scroll down to the bottom of the correct list.  In the Religion page these drawings are in the New Testament list.

The Apostle James
This is a new drawing in my series of drawings of the original 12 Apostles of Jesus Christ.  The Apostle James was the older brother of John the Beloved.  He is sometimes referred to as James the Elder.  James was known for fiery zeal and maybe a temper.  He was among the top Apostles of Christ.  He is also the only Apostle whose death or martyrdom is mentioned in the Bible...in Acts 8.  The Bible says little about the death of James, but tradition says the following:  James was killed by the sword in Greece by orders of a Roman leader who wanted to spare James.  Herod the King was persecuting the Christians.  The Roman leader in Greece told James that if  James would renounce his faith in Jesus Christ the James would be spared.  James refused to deny his faith and something remarkable happened.  The chief accuser of James was so impressed with the courage and faith of James that the accuser repented, begged forgiveness, and offered to die with James.  Both were executed.




Apostle John the Beloved Vision of a Fiery Mountain hitting the Sea

John the Beloved was the brother of James the Apostle.  He was also in the top tier of Apostles.  His love of Jesus is clear.  He eventually was banished to the Isle of Patmos.  There he saw one of  the greatest vision ever recorded in sacred scripture.  The Old Testament Prophet Isaiah also saw much of the end of the world.  The great visions were of the end of the world.  In my religion, (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) we have a scripture where the Prophet Nephi saw much of the vision but was forbidden to record the part that John was to record.  John wrote the Bible's Book of Revelations.   In Revelations Chapter 8 John saw a the second angel of 7 sound his trumpet and a great fiery mountain plunge into the sea.  1/3 of the sea turned to blood.  Now, thinking like the Geoscientist and amateur astronomer that I am. . . that sounds a lot like a very large meteorite hitting the ocean.  Meteorites are primarily made of iron so if one hit the ocean and exploded and atomized,  I wonder if the iron atoms would bond with oxygen from Earth and if that could turn the water red...like blood.  Did you know that the dinosaur killing meteorite is thought to have been the size of Mount Everest? So maybe both the Bible and modern Paleontologists and other scientists have compared a meteorite to a mountain.

We members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) believe that John the Beloved did not die, but that he was blessed to stay on Earth in a special state to be able to serve Mankind and teach truth until Jesus Christ's second coming happens...sometime in the future.   We also believe that Jesus had and additional 12 disciples in the New World or the Americas somewhere...and that three of them were permitted to stay on Earth as well...and not taste of death.  These three disciples could not be killed by wicked men and like John the Beloved, are on Earth now...somewhere serving God by teaching and helping out His children.

Argentinosaurus and Argentinadraco


NOTE:  The printable version of the drawing is found by clicking the Paleontology button or the All Printable button and in both cases scrolling down.  New drawings are listed last in the lists.


Argentinosaurus Feeding on a Cycad Tree

Argentinosaurus was an enormous Sauropod dinosaur.  It was a species of Patagonia.  Until a few months ago it was thought to be the largest dinosaur ever to live and walk the Earth.  Getting to see this dinosaur...well, its fossilized remains or its model of those bones was on my bucket list.  A bucket list is what you will do before you kick the bucket.  People like me with very serious health issues sometimes make a bucket list.  There is an excellent movie (in my opinion) that is actually called The Bucket List.

In Southeast Germany I got to see a bucket list item.  I got to see an Argentinosaurus.  I was so shocked that I actually cried a little.  This is a panoramic picture of me under the giant Sauropod's neck.   I am several feet in front of the neck so actually I come up to only just past the ankle of this huge animal.  I contacted my niece and her husband to find out the name of the museum.  It is near Ramstein Germany.  They just responded and the name of the museum is Gondwanna Praehistorium.  The museum also had an animatronic show of a larger sauropod defending her baby and fighting off two theropods.  The large Sauropod is a Argentinosaurus I think.  The first of the two Theropods is Mapusaurus.  The Gondwana Praehistorium is located in Schiffweiler (Sarland) in Germany.

Argentinosaurus vs Maposaurus Dino Fight

Argentinosaurus Skeleton


The Pterasaur in the drawing is from the same time period and the same part of the world as Argentinosaurus.  Both animals are named for the country of Argentina.  Its discovery was announced one year ago.  It has a very cool name:  Argentinodraco.  It had an unusual lower jaw.  This was not a Pteranodon but it was similar.  Argentinadraco means Dragon of Argentina.  The full scientific name is:  Argentinadraco barrealensis.


Goliath with a Philistine Helmet

We traveled to Europe late last year.  We went to many museums.  In the British Museum I saw a carving of a Philistine helmet.


Philistine with Helmet

This let me know that my previous drawing of Goliath was incorrect.  Not wanting to be historically incorrect I am adding this modified drawing with a correct Philistine helmet.



Goliath with a Philistine Helmet


I think it important to point out that David was not a great proven warrior, but he was a shepherd boy...of course he was a shepherd boy who had killed a lion and a bear that tried to raid his father's flock.  But he was still a shepherd boy, not a trained warrior.  His great skill with a sling can not be discounted, but his great faith in God was his greatest ally.  He went to face a giant that was at least 9 feet or 3 meters or so tall.  .  . yet David did not hesitate.  He got 5 smooth stones from the brook or creek and walked out to face Goliath's taunting and of course Goliath's huge spear and sword.  David appears to have calmly used his sling to knock Goliath out by targeting one of the only places there was no armor...Goliath's forehead.   Then David used Golaith's own skull to slay him.  The Philistine army fled in terror. 

 David would go on to be a great warrior and a great king.  David's psalms or songs are beautifully written.  He was also skilled at the harp.  David was not perfect and made some mistakes but it is important to realize that he did great things to help Israel conquer her enemies.  He also showed mercy to King Saul (before David became king) and spared Saul's life when Saul was in his hands.   The Lord, later in the Bible talks about David and it shows how much the Lord loved David.  

Friday, January 26, 2018

New Torvosaurus

NOTE:  New drawings are located at the bottom of the lists of printable downloads.  Click on the "Paleontology" button or the "All Printables" button to find the drawings to print and color.  The older drawings are located further up the lists.  These dinosaurs are all from the Mesozoic Era...so they are found on the Paleontology page and under the title of  "Animals from the Mesozoic Era". 

Torvosaurus on the Prowl
(New Drawing)

In the last couple of years a new Torvosaurus was unearthed in Western Colorado at the Skull Creek Quarry.  This fossilized skeleton had around 65% of the bones present.  This is a lot for a large dinosaur.  This was most likely the largest Torvosaurus ever found.  It had a skull that was around 36 inches long with a lower jaw that was  33  inches long.  It was very robust and the living animal was probably over 36 feet long.   A new discovery was made in this specimen.  It involved the shape of the Torvosaurus skull.  The skull was particularly flat on top so that is a change from my previous Torvosaurus drawing.  I drew the new drawings of the animal based on a drawing of the new found fossilized skeleton.   

Torvosaurus and Rhamphorhynchus
(Prevoius Drawing...notice the head is not flat.)

Torvosaurus was a Jurassic animal with a head much larger than any other predator.  This new specimen was approaching Tyrannosaurus rex size.  Yet it lived many million years before the Cretaceous Period T. rex.  .   .  so I am not going to draw Torvosaurus fighting a T. rex.  It never could have happened.  Tyrannosaurus rex was still larger and still had a stronger bite.  However,  I did do a drawing of a Torvosaurus fighting an Allosaurus.  They DID live at the same time and would have been rivals for the top predator spot.
Torvosaurus vs Allosaurus
(Older drawing with a Torvosaurus...with a head that is not flat enough.)


Torvosaurus as Feathered Theropod
(New Drawing)

There is a chance that Torvosaurus was a feathered Theropod.  We don't know this at this time though.  Still, as I have said before, some paleontologists think that eventually we will find that Theropods that were not form the Triassic Period may all have had feathers and eventually the fossil evidence will show up.  In other words, the Theropods from the Jurassic Period and the Cretaceous Period may all have had feathers.  But then again.... maybe not.  We DO know that some dinosaurs did have feathers. . . the Yutyrannus and several raptor dinosaurs.  This is why we think birds evolved from dinosaurs.  

Yutyrannus
(Older Drawing)



Microraptor flying through the Forest
(Older Drawing)

By the way, the tree with fan shaped leaves is a Ginkgo tree. It is the oldest broad leaf tree to evolve on the Earth.  Both new drawings from today have Ginkgo trees.   It was thought for years that Ginkgo trees were extinct...they were only known to Western Science by fossilized leaves and leaf imprints.  Then it was discovered that the monks in China were cultivating them.  They even grow wild in some parts of China.  


Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Water Dragons and Sea Monsters

NOTE:  Both drawings are new.  The Water Dragon and from Mythology and the Sea Monster can be found on the "Fantasy and Myths" button above and the Australian Water Dragon is on the "Animals" button or page.  All new drawings are at the bottom of the list of drawings on those pages.

Today we have a guest artists.  My high-school-aged grandnephew David drew this water dragon from mythology.  David has real artistic talent. Sometimes sea serpents are also called Water Dragons.   I added the background and darkened the lines to make this a coloring page drawing.  I have one more of his drawings I will post another time.  I hope he will send me more.  I like his style of drawing.

Water Dragon form Mythology
(new drawing)

There are also real water dragons.  They exist in Asia and Australia.  The following drawing is of an Australian species.  The Genus name for these lizards is Physignathus.  They have a vertically flattened tail...that they use like a fish uses it's tail.  They can and do swim very well.  They can hold their breath for long periods of time, like a crocodile or alligator.  Their cells can tolerate more Carbon Dioxide than ours can... allowing them to stay under water for long periods of time   Although they live on land and can go into the water, do not confuse Water Dragons with salamanders.  Water Dragons are not amphibians.  Water Dragons, like almost all reptiles, lay leathery eggs on land and breathe air through lungs their entire lives. . .  and Water Dragons do not have leaky skin like an amphibian.  An amphibian away from water will soon dry up and die as the water leaks out of its skin...kind of osmosis gone bad.   

The trees in the below picture are Eucalyptus and a special type of Eucalyptus called Ghost Gum Tree.  Both have white bark.  The fallen tree or the log the Water Dragon is on has no bark left on it.  Thanks to my wife Laurel for telling me about the trees of Australia.  She went there before I met her.  We hope to go there next summer....in the Australian winter.  By the way, I should have drawn a longer tail.   Oh well, artists don't complete a work or art, we just abandon it.  


Australian Water Dragon
(new drawing)

Of course Man has believed in sea monsters for many years.  Christopher Columbus probably faced the fear in his own crew of sea monsters while they sailed into the great unknown of the Western Atlantic Ocean.  



Sea Monster swimming by a ship


Anciently in prehistoric times, there definitely WERE sea monsters.  The giant marine reptiles were all clearly sea monsters.   Some marine reptiles grew to up to 70 feet long.  During the Mesozoic Era while dinosaurs ruled the land the marine reptiles ruled the oceans.  They included the Ichthyosaurs, the Plesiosaurs, the Pliosaurs, and the Mosasaurs.  The below older drawings of marine reptiles are from last year.   

Shonisaurus feeding
They were the largest Ichtyosaur at around 70 feet long.


Plesiosaur Surfacing
46 feet or 14 meters long


Liopleurodon in Shallow Sea
The size of these has been exaggerated but we now think they were about 20-25 feet long
That would be about 7-8 meters.  

Tylosaurs with Ammonites nTeeth
This is the biggest Mosasaur.  They were up to 55 feet or 17 meters long.


Tylosaurus with Pteranodon
New theories suggest that perhaps some Mosasaurs had tail flukes. 


Tylosaurus Tooth with the Root





Sunday, January 21, 2018

Ouranosaurus, Cronopio, & Mythunga


Ouranosarus was an unusual dinosaur from what is now Africa...from the Early Cretaceous.   It was an unusual animal because it had traits of other dinosaurs.  Although it was a herbiverous Iguanodon...a  bipedal and quadrupedal animal with a defensive thumb spike...it also had the mouth of a duckbill dinosaur.  Plus it had a sail like the Spinosaurs & the mammal-like reptile Dimetrodon had.

Having evolved traits that are similar to other unrelated animals is called convergent evolution.  
Since Spinosaurus lived  in Africa it is safe to say that it was a good thing to have a sail on your back, probably for temperature control.


Ouranosaurus, Cronopio, and Mythunga

If you have seen the Ice Age movies you know about Scrat, the saber toothed squirrel.  They have not found a saber tooth squirrel, but they have recently found a saber toothed marsupial from the Creatceous Period.  This is way before the ice ages started.  By the way, there were over 20 ice ages, not just one.

So Cronopio was a saber toothed ancestor of the modern day marsupials.  It was found in Australia so I admit that my drawing breaks some rules.  I don't usually make scientific mistakes in my drawings and since Ouranoasurus live in what is now North Africa and Cronpio is from what is now Australia...them being together in a drawing is scientifically inaccurate.  ...but it looks cool, right?

Another error is adding Mythunga with Ouranosaurus.  Mythunga is a Pterosaur from the early Cretaceous, so right time to be with Ourannosaurus, but Mythunga is a Pterosaur from Australia.  So if I deleted Ouranosaurus this would be a scientifically accurate drawing. . . because both Mythunga and Cronopio lived in Australia.  .   .  in the Early Cretaceous Period of the Mesozoic Era. 


David and Goliath Before the Battle and During the Battle

The printable version of these drawings are found by clicking the "All Printables" or "Religios" buttons above.  You will find new drawings listed at the bottom of the list in All Printables.  There is an Old Testament section of the "Religios" page where you will find the David and Goliath drawings.  

The story of David and Goliath in in 1 Samuel chapter 17.  .  . in the Holy Bible. 

David was a brave shepherd.  He went to the Israelite Army camp to bring food to his brothers who were in the army.  The giant Goliath (about 9 feet or almost 3 meters tall) was challenging King Saul to provide a champion to fight.  In that day sometimes battles were decided by two champions facing off against each other.  The winner of the one on one fight would win the battle for his whole army.

Goliath had been challenging the Israelites and their king for some time. (40 days)  None of the soldiers in the Israelite army wanted dared fight a giant.  When David heard Goliath challenging the king and the Israelite Army David was appalled.  He felt like Goliath was defying the army of the Living God.  So to David it was a religious thing.

David volunteered to fight Goliath.  His older brothers thought he was just being naughty.  .   .thinking that he just wanted to see the battle.  When Saul met David he thought David was being unrealistic about his chances against Goliath.  But David told of how he had killed both a lion and a bear to defend his father's sheep.

King Saul tried to give his armor to David to use.  But David said that he was not proved using that armor.  In other words, David was not used to fighting in this armor and he needed to fight using weapons etc. that he already was familiar with.

David bravely went to face Goliath.  In today's drawing we see David actually turning his back to Goliath to pick up some small smooth stones to use as ammunition for his sling.  Goliath can be seen a ways away mocking David.  Little did Goliath know that he was about to meet his doom.

David vs Goliath Before the Fight
(This is a new drawing.)

David had faith that he would have God's help to kill the giant.  In my opinion David was one of the bravest boys in all known history.  David also had skills with the sling.  He HAD prepared himself but he also had great faith.  This is a good lesson for all of us.  
                   "Do all we can, like it all depended upon us and pray like it all depended on God."                                     Brigham Young said that.  


David vs Goliath

Of course in the end David was successful.  David either killed or at least knocked out Goliath with a stone from his sling.  Think about it...a tiny smooth stone brought down a giant.  With Goliath lying there David took Goliath's sword and finished him off.  The Philistines fled in terror at the loss of their champion.  The Army of Israel won the battle and the war!

NOTE:  These drawings are independent.  Sorry that the characters do not match.  The new drawing of David and Goliath Before the Battle has a more accurate helmet for Goliath.  In the new drawing you see that Goliath had a "shield bearer." 

SECOND NOTE:  Got the sword added.  It was not in the first version of the new drawing. 

Friday, January 19, 2018

T. rex Chick, Yutyrannus, & Lythronax the Feathered Tyrannosaurs

T. rex Baby in Nest
This is one of the new drawings today.  

Many paleontologists think that T. rex babies or chicks, had feathers to keep warm.  The baby T. rex would need to keep warm on cool nights.  For adult T. rex it has been hypothesized that their problem would have been how to get rid of excess heat.  However, some Paleontologist think that one day we will find evidence that adult Tyrannosaurs had feathers.  Yutyrannus  was a smaller relative of Tyrannosaurus rex from what is now China.  It DID have feathers as an adult.  




Yutyrannus


Lythronax was an even smaller Tyrannosaur that lived in what is now Utah.  Lythronax argestes whose name means Gore King... was about 24 feet or 8 meters long and weighed 2.5 tons.  It is thought that it had some feathers as an adult...or at least some proto-feathers.  The fossilized bones and a great mural of this animal can be seen at the Natural History Museum Utah...located at or near the University of Utah Campus in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.


Lythronax The Gore King

Thursday, January 18, 2018

3 Cretaceous Dinosaurs

So, this post is about 3 Creataceous dinos but there are 4 new drawings to print and color.  Go to the "Paleontology" button above and scroll down to the bottom to find the free printable version.  


T. rex Hunts with Offspring

Tyrannosaurus rex is thought to be a good parent.  In fact, it is now thought that there were T. rex packs and that males and females may have mated for life.  So both parents may have cared for their offspring.  When Theropod (carniverous dinosaurs) eggs were found the baby dinosaurs inside had tiny teeth but clearly could not take care of themselves.  So, like birds, that evolved from Theropod dinosaurs, the Theropod dinosaurs were caring parents.  It is even thought that T. rex parents may have carried their chicks in their mouths. . . like modern crocodiles and alligators do.  Of course the adults would not have carried adolescents.  The above drawing is of an adult and an adolescent of about 5-6 years.  If they did indeed live in a pack then adults and older adolescents would have taught the younger T. rex to hunt.  That is what is being depicted in the above drawing.  

By looking at the inside of Theropod bones we know that a T.rex grew to adulthood in about 18 years.  Some new research has upped the size of the adult T. rex.  They think that adult T. rex might have weighed up to 18 tons.  These paleontologists estimate that a young T. rex chick grew 3,950 lbs per year.  That would be 1,790 kg per year.  These researchers used the Ford Motor Company ct (X-ray) scanner to scan the huge  3 foot (1 meter) skull of Sue, a South Dakota T. rex now housed in the the Field Museum in Chicago.  They also scanned the rest of the skeleton.  They then used digital technology to put muscles and skin etc. on the bones.  The results were a weight of T. rex of 9 tons or 18,000 lbs.  That would be 8,164 kg.  



T. rex Parent Caring for Chicks

Actually bigger than T. rex..was the enormous dinosaur known as Spinosarus.  There was more than one species of Spinosaur.  These dinosaurs are close to 60 feet or 18 meters long. They ate primarily fish.  There is a fairly new documentary available called Bigger Than T. rex.   It tells of how a new skeleton of Spinosaurus was found in Morocco.  This is very fortunate because during World War II the Nazi headquarters was right across the street from the museum where the only know at the time Spinosaurus bones were on display.  Allied bombers aimed to bomb the Nazi headquarters and also hit the museum so the original bones are lost to science.  This new specimine has told us a lot about Spinosaurus.  They were huge.  The biggest Theropod.  But they probably walked on all four legs most of the time AND they ate primarily fish.  They have sensors on the end of their snout to detect motion in the water.  This is an adaptation that crocodilians also have.  Spinosaurs are the only known dinosaurs to have this motion in water sensing organs.  Being Theropods, Spinosaurs also probably also took care of their young.  The below picture shows a Spinosaurus parent hunting with young.  Hunting would be something they would do if the fishing was poor. 


Spinosauruss Hunting with Young




Parasaurolophus Female

Parasurolophus was a Hadrosaur.  Hadrosaurs were the duck-billed dinosaurs.  Parasaurolophus had a long crest that was longer in males and shorter in females.  The crest was used as a sounding chamber so females had a higher pitched trumpeting voice than the males' deep bass voice.  The above young female Parasaurolophus would have had a smaller crest or sounding chambe than the males of the herd.