Meet Cassie. All she wants in life is to get her feet wet, and perhaps a fish or two. Yes, she would really like fish. Do you have some?
Critter of the Month: Castorocauda
Critter of the Month
Critter of the Month: Scutellosaurus
Meet Skittles. She might be all hard and pebbly on the outside, but on the inside she wants nothing more than a nice warm hug. Scratch just a little in between those rocky scutes, and she’ll roll on her back so you can rub her smooth, soft belly scales.
The tips of her clawed toes softly scratched stone as she walked. Her head tilted this way and that, like a lizard, large eyes wide as she stared at the straight, dead trees and clean, flat ground. Shiny loops and ledges stuck out from smooth, white walls. Stone? She sniffed the air. Stinging, acidic, not natural, but underneath it was the scent of warm earth.
Critter of the Month: Gargoyleosaurus
Meet Gertrude! She may be as tough and pokey as a gargoyle, but she loves to cuddle.
The little ballerina princess shivered as she stared up the sidewalk to Uncle Pete’s house. Tombstones rose up through the dense fog, and bones littered the ground. She nudged a giant rib with her toe, clutched her goodie bag and ribboned wand tightly, and stepped forward.
Critter of the Month: Hybodus
Meet Chum. He would love to go for a swim with you, especially if you have any treats! 🙂
The shark cruised the turquoise water, sunlight rippling through the waves to the soft sand below. A small school of silvery fish stirred up a cloud in the warm, shallow waters by the reef, but the shark turned away from them.
Critter of the Month: Archaeopteryx
Meet Tango. This bird likes to party, and loves being the center of attention even more!
Archaeopteryx has been a known fossil for quite some time. Ever since that famous feather discovered in German limestone in 1860, and then the first skeleton in 1861.
Critter of the Month?
Oops! Looks like our featured critter has flown the coop! I’m terribly sorry for the delay, but Pete’s on it and will bring him back as soon as possible. 🙂
While you wait, I found a few lovely old drawings and paintings of our feathered friend. And by old, I mean a part of history. In 1941 Manfred Reichel, a Swiss paleontologist, published an article on Archaeopteryx. I love how natural and lifelike his drawings are, unlike the chimeric feathered-lizard monstrosities most people have drawn for ages.
Manfred Reichel took some inspiration from reading The Origin of Birds, written by Gerhard Hellmann and published in 1926. Below is one of Hellmann’s beautiful paintings.
Come back soon! Hopefully it won’t take more than a day or two to catch our feisty dancer. 😀
Critter of the Month: Ichthyosaurus
Meet Flipper. He’s a happy-go-lucky guy who’s only ambition in life is to cruise the water for a bite of squid. He loves to greet new friends with a friendly splash.
It’s a dolphin! It’s a shark! It’s a…dinosaur? Continue reading
Critter of the Month: Brachiosaurus
Meet Elmer. He’s a little shy, and likes staying in his comfort zone, but he’ll be your best giant friend if you give him some greens and a big hug.
The best way to a dino’s heart is through his stomach, as they say… Continue reading
Critter of the Month?
Ooh, what are the mysterious eggs for? I’m sorry for the wait, but Pete and I are having a bit of trouble finding Elmer. I think he heard the rumor about getting a check-up with the vet…
In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this little preview sketch, and the picture below is probably pretty close to what Elmer’s habitat might’ve looked like. Only instead of grass there would be drought-hardy ferns, and cycads that look a bit like giant, prickly pineapples scattered about. 🙂
You’d think it would be easy to find a giant browsing in a savannah of ferns and araucaria trees! See you in a few days! I hope to have Elmer back here by next week at the latest. 🙂
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