Dino Facts

@dinofacts.bsky.social

1125 Followers 378 Following

Fun Facts about dinosaurs - Formerly DailyDinoFacts on that other app. Paleo volunteer trying to break into the world of collaborating on research papers.

A tyrannosaur premaxillary tooth embedded in matrix. It was later extracted and the D-shape cross-section and serration patter were immediately diagnostic. ~76my old
A dirty, amber colored coprolite on a sandstone ledge.
Clearly a mirrored version of Raul Martin's piece of a Sarcosuchus and Suchomimus, but glowing under blacklight
A closeup, "portrait" picture of a Cryolophosaurus reconstruction. This mount was/is part of a traveling museum exhibit rented out by the Field Museum in Chicago - where the holotype is housed.
Photo of "Trix" (RGM 792.000) by AbstractionBlue on Wikimedia Commons.
Marsh, center back of picture, posing with 6 others (3 of which are brandishing rifles)
Photograph via Wikimedia Commons of Baron Franz Nopcsa in Albanian uniform and posing with a rifle. The Baron seems like he'd be fun at conferences
Riguetti et al, 2022. Figure 4 - known elements of Jakapil in white show it is known almost entirely from a lower jaw, a scapula, a few vertebrae, osteoderms, and various fragments of rib/leg/hip/upper-jaw/vertebrae/etc.
Photograph of the skull of BP/1/4779. Scale bar represents 10 mm. Photographs by Kimberley E.J. Chapelle (2019).
Figure 2: Three-dimensional model rendering from CT data for MOR 1627. (A) Left lateral view of entire skull with close-up (D) of the embedded tooth. (B) Dorsal view of entire skull with close-up (E) of the embedded tooth. (C) Anterior view of entire skull with close-up (F) of the embedded tooth. Dashed lines indicate the specimen midline. (Wyenberg-Henzler & Scannella, 2026)
Skeletal and reconstruction from Martz & Small (2019). Known bone elements indicated in lighter colors. File accessed via Wikimedia Commons
Public Domain Image from the US Forest Service: "Aerial view of the West Gold Hill Dinosaur Tracksite; view towards the west."
Adam RL - 2022 painting of a Rex + it's chick touching noses. A beautiful piece I knew I wanted for my child when they were born last year.
Illustration of a Megalosaurus femur dating back to the 1800s. The 4th trochanter is labeled "d". Why is the bone remolded at significant muscle attachments? Wolff's Law is my preferred justification.
A portion of Figure 6 from Klein & Sander (2006) studying Plateosaurus. This is a fibula (lower leg) and you can see the more tightly packed rings nearing the bone's perimeter - indicating the animals growth was slowing (ie approaching maximum adult size). They are wider on the interior from juvenile growth. The stage in ontogeny is determined in part by these rings. Fossil bone texture is also an indicator
From Delcourt (2018): Skin structures inferred for abelisaurids. Dorsal surface of the skull of (A) Rugops (MNN IGU1), (C) Carnotaurus (MACN-CH 894) and dorsal surface of the fused nasal of (B) Abelisaurus (MPCA 11908). Scales bar: 5 cm.
Fig. 2 from Horner & Makela, 1979. Maiasaura peeblesorum. a, Incomplete reconstructed composite skeleton of individual from test (PU 22400): 6 holotype skull (PU 22405), (Scale bar, 20 cm.)
A reconstruction of Weewarrasaurus by PaleoEquii on Wikimedia Commons. Note that this dinosaur is only known from jaw fragments, so this reconstruction may be proven inaccurate if more fossil material is ever found
From Yates et al: (a) Map of South Africa showing the location of Spion Kop 932. (b,c) Reconstruction of the skull of Aardonyx celestae gen. et sp. nov. in (b) lateral and (c) dorsal views. (d) Reconstruction of the skeleton of Aardonyx celestae gen. et sp. nov. scaled to the size of the smaller individual. (e) Histological sections of bones from Aardonyx celestae gen. et sp. nov. (i) shows a transverse section through a rib. The cortical bone consists of well-vascularized fibro-lamellar bone tissue with distinct lines of arrested growth (arrows) and several secondarily enlarged erosion cavities. (ii) shows a transverse section of a scapula fragment showing the zonal nature of the compacta. (iii) shows a longitudinal section of a scapular fragment with calcified cartilage at the articular edge of the bone (arrowed).
Public Domain: Petrified Forrest NP
Description per Lockwood et al 2025 "Istiorachis macarthurae gen. et sp. nov. holotype (MIWG 6643). Skeletal reconstruction. Scale bar represents 500 mm."
The condyle that was first exposed is the cleanest and most visible bit of this fossil. The rest is concealed by matrix or a dust/glue coating that will be removed in the lab.
A ziploc containing sun-warmed food. Sometimes, summers in the field require innovation like this so you don't have to eat sandwiches every day. This dish is called "camp jambalaya" but I don't think folks from Louisiana would like that name, given that it isn't what I would call jambalaya.
A whale vertebrae (genera unknown). The transverse process is set below the top of the vertebral centrum.
Photograph of Sinoceratops holotype, ZCDM V0010 skull in a) right lateral b) right laterodorsal views. The parietal is also shown in c) dorsal, d) posterior, and e) ventral views.
Here we find a rattlesnake in defensive posture. It acted all tough with the humans, but quickly slithered away when a truck drove by.
5 plaster jackets, each containing bits of dinosaur that are being prepared for transport back to a museum where they will be prepared and stored for future study
A 2022 picture of the post orbital horn of a Daspletosaurus. A part of the "Holger" specimen, it is housed at the Badlands Dinosaur Museum in Dickinson, ND, USA.
Daspletosaurus wilsoni skull (Warshaw et al 2022)
Buitreraptor silhouette shown at scale. The size estimate based on known material of this animal makes it ~60cm tall, coming up to the knees of an "average" human adult
Posted to Wikimedia Commons by Nobu Tamura. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
An Opisthotonic fluffy dino on a dry, cracked mudstone background
A representation of Algoasaurus from the Jurassic Park Wiki fan site.
The original Psittacosaurus mongoliensis specimen with intact integument, skin impressions, and cloaca (SMF R 4970). Published by Bell et al, 2022. Photo from the Naturmuseum Senckenberg posted to Wikimedia Commons by Daderot - Public Domain
Jeholosaurus shangyuanensis (IVPP V12530) posted to Wikimedia Commons
Bolong lower arm & hand - as shown in Wenhao and Godefroit, 2012
An arm of Beipiaosaurus preserved with feathers. Photo taken at the Paleozoological Museum of China by Wikimedia Commons user Jonathan Chen
A cast of Yutyrannus on display in New York. Picture taken by an unknown source. Shared online at https://prehistoricbeastoftheweek.blogspot.com/2016/04/yutyrannus-beast-of-week.html
Photo from Hone DWE, Tischlinger H, Xu X, Zhang F (2010) The Extent of the Preserved Feathers on the Four-Winged Dinosaur Microraptor gui under Ultraviolet Light. PLoS ONE 5(2): e9223. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0009223 The holotype of Microraptor gui, IVPP V 13352 under normal light. This shows the preserved feathers (white arrow) and the 'halo' around the specimen where they appear to be absent (black arrows). Scale bar at 5 cm
Posted to Wikimedia Commons by Tiouraren (Y.-C. Tsai) - "Fossil specimen of Sapeornis chaoyangensis, which is collected from Jianchang, Liaoning, China. The specimen (BMNHC Ph1206) is a collection of Beijing Museum of Natural History and was on display in the National Museum of Natural Science (Taichung, Taiwan) during a special exhibition"
Holotype specimen (GMV2128) of Dendrorhynchoides curvidentatus on display at the Geological Museum of China - posted to Wikimedia Commons by Jonathan Chen
Protopsephurus on display at the Tianjin Natural History Museum - posted to Wikimedia Commons by Jonathan Chen
Cretophasmomima fossils with wing and antennae remnants - Wang et al 2014.
A Xianglong specimen with gliding membrane impressions - from Li et al, 2007
(From Wang et al, 2022) - Figure 1. Holotype specimen of Cokotherium jiufotangensis (IVPP V23387). (a) Skeleton of Cokotherium jiufotangensis; (b) skull in ventrolateral view; (c) forelimb mainly in lateral view; (d) virtual reconstruction of the skull in dorsolateral view; (e) virtual reconstruction of the skull in ventrolateral view. Right side indicated by (r), left side indicated by (l). (d) and (e) at same scale.
Fossil specimen of Archaefructus on display at the Geological Museum of China - posted to Wikimedia Commons by Jonathan Chen
Figure 1 from Amiot et al (2011) showing the paleogeography during the time of the Jehol Biota. #5 indicates the approximate location of the Yixian Fm.
A scorpion fly (preserved intact with wing impression) attributed to the Yixian Formation - posted to Wikimedia Commons by Ciceron19
Note: Some of the Jehol Biota may also occur in the Korean Peninsula and further West towards Mongolia, but the best documented locations are all in NE China
Credit: Image by ZHENG Qiuyang An ornithomimosaur deceased on the shore of a shallow pond. A volcano spews ash in the background. Other dinosaurs and two pterosaurs are in the midground.
Public Domain - AMNH 5339: a fairly complete ornithomimid in Opisthotonic "death curl" pose Henry Fairfield Osborn