Paleo Bites

(image source: https://images.dinosaurpictures.org/Orkoraptor_a0ab.jpg ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Lexi Ryan discuss  Orkoraptor , a dinosaur that has a fantasy race in its genus name and so Matthew managed to get a fantasy nerd to talk about it with him. From the Late Cretaceous, this 24-foot megaraptoran theropod has a confusing taxonomical mess of a history, having been classified b...

(image source: https://dinopedia.fandom.com/wiki/Bullockornis ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Laura Owsley discuss  Bullockornis , named after Australia's Bullock Creek but colloquially known as the Demon Duck of Doom. For real. I'm not making this up, even though it's totally on brand. From the Miocene epoch, this 8-foot-tall dromornithid was also known as the Thunder Duck, because one os...

(image source: https://dinosaurpictures.org/Sauropelta-pictures ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Natasha Krech discuss  Sauropelta , the spiky armored one with spikes slightly spikier than the other spiky armored ones. From the Early Cretaceous, this 20-foot long nodosaurid would make a very unappetizing meal for any wandering  T. rex ... since by the time the rex evolved,  Sauropelta  had...

(image source: https://www.scified.com/topic/32736 ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Lawrence Mack discuss  Dilophosaurus , the first dinosaur super-predator that got done real dirty by its single big movie appearance. From the Early Jurassic, this 19-foot theropod was so awesome that it didn't need any frills or poison spit; it could maim and brutalize with just grit alone! We salute you, ...

(image source: https://myths-made-real.blogspot.com/2011/11/creature-feature-velociraptors.html ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Lexi Ryan discuss  Velociraptor , the scaly man-sized door-opening movie monster, except it was feathered, it was dog-sized, and there were no doors back then for it to open. From the Late Cretaceous, this 6-foot dromaeosaurid was actually relatively obscure in po...

(image source:  https://artbyphil.blogspot.com/2011/09/ifferocious.html ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Ben O'Regan discuss  Majungasaurus , a meat-eating dinosaur from Madagascar that's seriously unpleasant. From the Late Cretaceous, this 25-foot abelisaurid is one of the few dinosaurs with direct evidence of cannibalism, which means this thing is just as ugly on the inside as it is on th...

(image source: https://prehistoricearthblog.wordpress.com/2017/02/15/leedsichthys/ ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Natasha Krech discuss  Leedsichthys , a really, really big fish, and that pretty much sums it up. From the Late Jurassic, this 59-foot fish is like, a really big fish. Seriously, imagine a big fish; Leedsichthys is even bigger than that. Whoa! Hey, didn't Tim Burton make a mov...

(image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Struthiomimus#/media/File:Struthiomimus_BW.jpg ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Lawrence Mack discuss  Struthiomimus , the dinosaur with a lot of skulls found due to them sticking their heads in the sand and dying... okay, that's not true, but whatever. From the Late Cretaceous, this 15-foot ornithomimid isn't as famous as it's cousin Gallimimus ...

(image source: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/vP31a ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Laura Owsley discuss  Denversaurus , the official sponsor dino of the mile-high city when the Rockies baseball team isn't shoving their stupid Triceratops  down our throats. From the Late Cretaceous, this 20-foot nodosaurid peacefully browsed the low-lying trees while trying not to get eaten by  Tyranno...

(image source: http://aikavaellus.fi/en/timeline/6ma/ ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Lexi Ryan discuss Argentavis , the biggest flying bird of all time, unless you think pterosaurs are birds, which if you do, you dumb. From the Late Miocene, this 23-foot-wingspan condor soared across prehistoric Patagonia and terrorized baby ground sloths and hoofed mammals. What a bully. Someone should r...

(image source: http://www.sci-news.com/paleontology/science-regaliceratops-peterhewsi-02879.html ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Natasha Krech discuss  Regaliceratops , a horned dinosaur with a very regal-looking frill, almost like it's in the name or something. From the Late Cretaceous, this 17-foot dinosaur hosted elegant garden parties and supported the troops while also being hunted by...

(image source: https://www.dkfindout.com/uk/dinosaurs-and-prehistoric-life/prehistoric-reptiles/ichthyosaurus/ ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Lawrence Mack discuss  Ichthyosaurus , the reptile trying to be a dolphin trying to be a fish; sheesh, pick a career path already. From the Early Jurassic, this 10-foot marine reptile dominated the early Mesozoic seas only to be replaced by more eff...

(image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beelzebufo by Nobu Tamura) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Laura Owsley discuss  Beelzebufo , a giant frog that preyed on baby dinosaurs, which is pretty messed up if you ask me. From the Late Cretaceous, this 1-foot amphibian terrorized the swamps of Madagascar more than any fossa ever did, or any lemur with a semi-automatic rifle. What documenta...

(image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Island_giant_moa ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Ben O'Regan discuss  Dinornis , a giant bird from New Zealand that could probably kick your stomach right out of your mouth like a rugby ball. From the Early Holocene, this 12-foot-tall ratite has the honor of being the most recent creature on this show, having been hunted to extinction only...

(image source: https://i.imgur.com/04g1MHn.jpg )  Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Natasha Krech discuss  Livyatan , the monster whale eighteenth-century sailors all feared despite it living millions of years ago and only being described in the 2010s. From the Late Miocene, this 60-foot cetacean ate other large whales for breakfast and was a direct rival of the monster shark C. megalodon . Wh...

(image source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/295337688043705239/ ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Lawrence Mack discuss  Pachyrhinosaurus , a horned dinosaur without a horn that lived up in the cold north. From the Late Cretaceous, this 25-foot ceratopsian had a nose not unlike your Uncle Earl and possibly a feathery coat not unlike your Aunt Edna. Possibly. The feather thing, not the aunt...

(image source:  https://images.dinosaurpictures.org/gasosaurus_b605.jpg )  Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Laura Owsley discuss  Gasosaurus , a poor schmuck of a dinosaur stuck with a name that'll make third-graders snicker the world over. From the Mid Jurassic, this 12-foot theropod has an unclear placement in the meat-eating dinosaur tree; it could be a carnosaur, a coelurasaur, a metriaca...

(image source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/793970609285301591/ ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Jennifer Grossman discuss LUCA, the most recent organism from which all others on Earth have a common descent, which is pretty out-there. From the Precambrian era, this single-celled organism had nothing noteworthy about it whatsoever other than all its descendants, so have hope, all you losers...

(image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesohippus ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Natasha Krech discuss  Mesohippus , an early form of horse that's just a pink recolor and tramp-stamp away from being on a little girls' merchandise-based cartoon show. From the Eocene epoch, this 2-foot-tall horse wasn't quite  Eohippus the early horse, nor like modern late horses, but just in the midd...

(image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liopleurodon by DiGbd) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Lexi Ryan discuss  Liopleurodon , an infamous sea monster whose size was heavily exaggerated by a certain British documentary, to the disappointment of kaiju fans everywhere. From the Late Jurassic, this 28-foot pliosaurid was still the top predator in its oceanic environment, but that can onl...

(image source: https://images.dinosaurpictures.org/Irritator-Andrey-Atuchin_efcd.jpg ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Laura Owsley discuss  Irritator , a dinosaur with a hilarious name and a not-so-hilarious backstory on how it got it. From the Early Cretaceous, this 25-foot spinosaurid shares a kindred spirit with little brothers everywhere, or at least this particular little brother. I ha...

(image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquilops  by Nobu Tamura) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Christina Eilert discuss  Aquilops , an absolutely adorable little critter and one of the best candidates for a dinosaur that would make a great pet. From the Mid Cretaceous, this 2-foot ceratopsian was a transitionary fossil between the more basal members of its family like Psittacosaurus ...

(image source: https://images.dinosaurpictures.org/Styracosaurus0001_0e99.jpg ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Lawrence Mack discuss  Styracosaurus , a dinosaur who spikes unsuspecting predators just as people at New Year's Eve parties spike unsuspecting drinks. From the Late Cretaceous, this 18-foot centrosaurine ceratopsian was the most famous horned dinosaur other than  Triceratops , whi...

(image source: https://images.dinosaurpictures.org/Amphicoelias_3a81.jpg ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Lexi Ryan discuss  Amphicoelias , a dinosaur once thought to have reached absolutely godly sizes but then science had to be all lame and progress. From the Late Jurassic, this 90-foot diplodocid sauropod is the biggest anticlimax in paleontological history, having been downgraded from a...

(image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigantopithecus ) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Natasha Krech discuss  Gigantopithecus , the closest nature has come to King Kong. From the Late Pleistocene, this 12-foot-tall ape lived in the few jungles that weathered the dry Ice Age climate and tore people's arms off if they beat them at space chess. Oh wait, that's Chewbacca. My mistake. Wan...