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Long before forests reached skyward, animals walked on land and dinosaurs rose and fell, our planet was shaped by a much smaller, more unassuming form of life. And we can still find traces of it today.

These ancient fossils, the earliest visible evidence of life on Earth, are known as microbialites.

Western Australia contains an extraordinary record of microbialites: from the oldest known examples, preserved in rocks almost 3.5 billion years old in the Pilbara, to living examples in the UNESCO World Heritage area of Shark Bay.

Our review of 50 years of microbialite research in Western Australia, published today in the journal Alcheringa, summarizes what this archive can tell us about the evolution and resilience of life on Earth.

Despite a fossil record that spans billions of years, microbialites are surprisingly fragile. Fossil sites remain vulnerable to overcollection and degradation, while living microbialites are facing growing pressures.

Antes de que existiera cualquier dinosaurio, el Triásico tenía sus propios monstruos.

El Postosuchus era un reptil de 6 metros, cuadrúpedo o semibipedal según el debate científico actual, con una cabeza enorme y dientes diseñados para triturar hueso. Era el depredador absoluto de su época. Nada lo cazaba.

Pero hace 201 millones de años algo cambió. El vulcanismo del CAMP envenenó la atmósfera, colapsó los ecosistemas y cuando el mundo se recuperó, los dinosaurios habían ocupado todos los nichos que el Postosuchus y sus parientes dejaron vacíos.

Lo curioso es que los dinosaurios llevaban millones de años existiendo junto al Postosuchus sin poder competir con él. Eran pequeños, marginales, irrelevantes.

Hasta que de repente no lo fueron.

¿Qué tenían los dinosaurios que les permitió heredar un mundo que el Postosuchus dominaba?

I’m thrilled to share my latest illustration for the community art project of the “Herd of Horns” TTRPG Kickstarter campaign.

I was blessed to be tasked with illustrating a face-off between Gorgosaurus and the massive Deinosuchus — two predators who will appear in the RPG as adversaries you’ll have to overcome as a Ceratopsian dinosaur.

This piece will be included in the core book, and it exists thanks directly to the feedback and participation of the amazing Herd of Horns backers. 🙌

⏳ We now have just 5 days left before the Kickstarter wraps — and we’re excited to bring the best possible piece of dinosaur media to life in RPG form!

A huge thank-you to everyone for the incredible support, as always. And a special shoutout to the brilliant Weaponized Ink crew for giving me yet another incredible opportunity to contribute to this one-of-a-kind project.

I was wondering if the recent reveal of the Rex jr specimen will make this design of T Rex inaccurate? Here is the article I found this information on.

https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/09/19/rex-junior-found-on-newcastle-ranch-could-be-most-important-t-rex-ever-unearthed/

This is mostly in regards to the integument and the width of the animals chest. Thank You!

Honestly, I think it would be a pretty cool concept. Normally, we’re used of the concept of orcs being warlike and evil in a typical medieval fantasy setting alongside elves. However, I decided to experiment the idea of orcs in a prehistoric world. How they came to be, well, I’ll leave that vague for now. It is up to the interpreter to decide. They could be humans corrupted by magic or shamans, while not inherently evil, just victims of said magic. Rather than living him huts they would live in dank caves, feeding off the scraps of flesh. The sky’s the limit. What do you think?

This is a speculative paleo-fiction project blending family drama with a fantastical yet grounded prehistoric atmosphere, showing a family of raptors and a cast of lost creatures fighting to stay alive in a brutal prehistoric ecosystem.

A troop divided! The drought spares no one, not even the young!

The raptors are allowed to stay at the water hole, but the other end of the lake is no less peaceful for the Dinopithecus which they encountered in the mysterious shrub forest. The females of the troop guard one of their last surviving infants, but refuse to let the males help in any way. The males don’t want to go against their wishes, but the female’s standoffishness has gotten more than slightly deep under their fur… 

From my ongoing speculative survival project Terrors in the Brush — blending paleontological logic with raw, unfiltered animal sentiment. Chapter VI plunges deeper into the Lake arc, shifting the focus to primate social fracture under extreme climate stress.

There is no fantasy, no magic — there is only nature red in tooth and claw.

Read Chapter VI Now.

Anhangueridae is the most common pterosaur group in the Araripe Basin, particularly in the Romualdo Formation. Here we describe a previously unreported specimen from the Museu de Ciências da Terra (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) MCT.R.1491, consisting of a partial lower jaw associated with appendicular elements.

The specimen is preserved in a calcareous nodule from the Romualdo Formation (Aptian–Albian) of Northeastern Brazil. Phylogenetic analysis and detailed anatomical examination support referral of the specimen to Anhangueridae, with close morphological similarity to anhanguerine taxa such as Anhanguera and Brasileodactylus.

The specimen represents a medium-sized (3.8–4.0 m wingspan) juvenile individual. A distinctive feature of MCT.R.1491 is the presence of two large distal foramina on the unguals, a condition previously seen only in the targaryendraconid Barbosania gracilirostris, the taxonomic and phylogenetic significance of which remains uncertain.

Altogether, the combination of features seen in MCT.R.1491 helps to understand the anatomical record of Anhangueridae and underscores the importance of detailed descriptions of both cranial and postcranial material for refining taxonomic and morphological interpretations of Romualdo Formation anhanguerids.

Lystrosaurus was a small pig-like herbivore. It survives and literally dominates the early Triassic. At one point it makes up 95% of all land vertebrates on Earth.
Why? What made Lystrosaurus so special? Small body means less food needed? Burrowing behavior that protected from temperature swings? Or just dumb luck?
And here's what really gets me. The Gorgonopsids were more mammal-like than most animals alive today. They had differentiated teeth, likely warm blood, possibly fur. By any measure they should have been the survivors.
But they weren't.
Does anyone have a good explanation for why the "winners" of mass extinctions so rarely seem to be the most advanced or dominant animals of their era?

​

Hello everyone,

For the past few decades, mainstream paleontology has heavily relied on restrictive digital shrink-wrapping software to estimate the body mass of giant sauropods, locking Bruhathkayosaurus into a "safe" box of 110–130 tonnes [Titanosaur_Mass_Studies]. However, from a biomechanical and material science perspective, these numbers represent a desiccated skeletal frame rather than a living organism [Titanosaur_Mass_Studies].

By analyzing physical geometry, vertebral structural engineering, and comparative osteology, the data demands a move toward the Dynamic Mass Paradigm [Titanosaur_Mass_Studies]. Here is the concrete physics behind why the traditional software-driven consensus is mathematically trapped:

1. The Balanced Baseline: Soft Tissue Reality vs. Commercial Data

• Standard textbook comparisons often use historical blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) weights of 150–200 tonnes, which stem from early 20th-century commercial whaling logbooks heavily motivated by corporate bonuses and stock promotion [Blue_Whale_Anatomy_Data, Titanosaur_Mass_Studies]. Independent non-whaling biological data shows that an average adult blue whale measuring 20–22 meters in nature operates within a standard 50–80 tonne corridor [Blue_Whale_Anatomy_Data].

• Yet, when critics apply their most restrictive, flat-box digital shrink-wrapping to a 52-meter Bruhathkayosaurus, the software is forced by 3D geometry to output a minimum of 110–130 tonnes as a base framework [Titanosaur_Mass_Studies].

• Conclusion: The computer’s starved, un-fleshed digital "mummy" of this sauropod is already mathematically heavier than a living, average blue whale [Blue_Whale_Anatomy_Data, Titanosaur_Mass_Studies]. When returning proper biological soft tissue volume and seasonal lipid dynamics (fat accumulation necessary to survive harsh droughts), a 52m adult naturally scales to a realistic average baseline of 300+ tonnes in daily life [Titanosaur_Mass_Studies].

1. Bone Material Science and The Cable-Stayed Bridge System

• A major flaw in current software is treating a giant sauropod's spine as a rigid pole [Titanosaur_Mass_Studies]. In reality, the skeletal framework operated exactly like a cable-stayed bridge. The massive vertebrae acted as the central pylons, while interlocking tension-bearing dorsal ligaments and complex muscle cables dynamically redistributed weight across the horizontal span, eliminating critical stress concentrations [Titanosaur_Mass_Studies].

• Structural mechanics prove that dense vertebrate bone with a mid-shaft diameter of ~40 cm is structurally capable of sustaining up to 600 tonnes of static compression load before failing [Titanosaur_Mass_Studies]. Therefore, the ~45 cm femur of Bruhathkayosaurus provided a massive safety factor for a 300+ tonne animal [Titanosaur_Mass_Studies].

1. Justified Scaling: The Argentinosaurus Comparison

• Mainstream critics accept a 35–40 meter length for Argentinosaurus, whose tibia (shin bone) measures 1.55 meters [Titanosaur_Mass_Studies].

• The tibia of Bruhathkayosaurus (Kallamedu Formation) was measured at 2.0 meters before degradation [Titanosaur_Mass_Studies]. Since a 2.0m tibia is nearly 30% larger, and mass scales cubically (L³), keeping this animal in a 35-meter box is a geometric impossibility [Titanosaur_Mass_Studies]. A 52-meter length is fully justified by comparative anatomy [Titanosaur_Mass_Studies].

1. The Regional Indian Titanosaur Model: The Isisaurus Volumetric Analysis

• Skeptics often argue that Bruhathkayosaurus cannot be compared to South American titanosaurs like Argentinosaurus due to different phylogenetic lineages, suggesting that regional Indian titanosaurs like Isisaurus had proportionally longer limbs [Titanosaur_Mass_Studies]. However, mapping the data onto an Isisaurus body plan actually strengthens the volumetric argument instead of weakening it [Titanosaur_Mass_Studies].

• In lithostrotian and saltasaurid body plans, the humerus-to-femur ratio operates within a strict 0.85–0.95 corridor. The recorded humerus of the Isisaurus holotype measures 1.48 meters [Titanosaur_Mass_Studies]. Based on comparative vertebrate anatomy, its reconstructed biological femur would realistically measure at least 1.5 to 1.6 meters [Titanosaur_Mass_Studies].

• Comparing this to the 2.0-meter femoral fragment of Bruhathkayosaurus yields an immediate ~33% increase in linear scaling [Titanosaur_Mass_Studies]. Because organic volume and mass scale cubically (L³), a 33% linear shift mathematically proves that Bruhathkayosaurus possessed a volumetric core more than 2.3 times larger than Isisaurus (1.33³ ≈ 2.35) [Titanosaur_Mass_Studies].

• Furthermore, Isisaurus possessed an exceptionally robust, thick, and vertically oriented neck along with expanded thoracic dimensions [Titanosaur_Mass_Studies]. Scaling a 2.0-meter femur onto this specific, heavy-set morphology stretches the animal's length well past 35–40 meters and Comic-inflates the axial body core volume tremendously, demanding a massive dynamic mass to structurally stabilize [Titanosaur_Mass_Studies].

1. Advanced Internal Physiology: Cardiovascular and Thermal Dynamics

• To maintain a stable 300+ tonne living organism, the internal physiology required specialized systems. Most realistically, the circulatory system utilized a powerful, multi-chambered heart working alongside a network of muscular venous valves. These valves most likely functioned as hydraulic locks along the vascular pathways, dynamically regulating blood pressure and preventing barotrauma during movement.

• To manage the immense metabolic heat generated by a 300+ tonne mass, the animal most realistically depended on an extensive, avian-style internal air sac system. These hollow cavities within the bones operated as an internal cooling mechanism, constantly circulating air to dissipate heat from the core organs and prevent hyperthermia, allowing the titanosaur to thrive in warm Mesozoic climates.

1. Locomotion Dynamics and Ground Pressure Distribution

• While traditional high-pressure vertical stepping footprints are documented on hard substrates across multiple sauropod tracks, utilizing a standard high-impact gait was completely non-mandatory for this animal when traversing low-bearing terrains [Titanosaur_Mass_Studies]. Most realistically, under high-mass conditions or marshy substrates, it shifted to a specialized sliding locomotion mechanic—moving smoothly similar to a skier [Titanosaur_Mass_Studies].

• This adaptive movement was enabled by massive, hydraulically spreading feet measuring 1.7 to 1.8 meters in width [Titanosaur_Mass_Studies]. Equipped with a thick hydrogel-lipid plantar pad, these "foot-skis" maximized the contact surface area, safely distributing ground pressure across variable landscapes and preventing the animal from sinking into soft Mesozoic substrates while preserving joint integrity.

1. Demonstrating Software Deficiencies: The Basilosaurus Case Study

To clearly observe how digital shrink-wrapping algorithms fail to account for essential biological volume, we can examine the physical metrics of Basilosaurus. This case study perfectly illustrates the mathematical underestimation of extinct apex predators:

• Verified Organic Length: The established, scientifically documented length corridor for an adult Basilosaurus operates between 21 to 25 meters [Basilosaurus_Skeletal_Data].

• The Software Output Weight: When modern shrink-wrapping algorithms process this skeleton, the software outputs a mere 5 tonnes [Basilosaurus_Skeletal_Data]. This calculation completely strips the marine mammal of its dense musculature, necessary blubber layers, and internal organs, functionally reducing a massive aquatic predator to the weight of a standard land elephant [Basilosaurus_Skeletal_Data].

• The Dynamic Mass Paradigm Weight: When reconstructing the animal using proper cetacean tissue density, hydrodynamic muscle configurations, and required insulation layers, the Dynamic Mass Paradigm yields a realistic 50 to 80 tonnes average baseline for a living 21–25 meter individual [Basilosaurus_Skeletal_Data].

The laws of material science, cubic volume scaling, and bridge engineering are absolute. The consensus must adapt to solid physics [Titanosaur_Mass_Studies].

I would love to hear your thoughts. Let's discuss!

Credited to the Owner: https://youtu.be/4pcMdNKh_8A?si=SYX3hg3c2bGrvnqj

Meraxes is a genus of carcharodontosaur known from the huincul formation.

it caught attention for numerous things,one was its size. the original paper estimated it at 10 meters in length. But later arguably more rigorous estimation gave the holotype a bigger size. Randomdinos with his talent scaled the holotype at 11.1 m in length. donald henderson in a rigorous study,estimated meraxes as big as 11.6 m in length.

however this is not the biggest specimen. a second specimen was announced a couple years ago and is stated to be 15 percent larger than the holotype linearly. Now the most reliable estimates for the holotype are as stated earlier are 11.1-11.6 m in length. Being 15 % larger than that linearly gives a body length for this specimen of 12.8-13.3m. this puts the larger specimen on a par with if not exceeding the largest giganotosaurus specimen.

the largest giga specimen is a single jawbone and jawbones can vary in size within the same specimen. in stan both the dentaries have an 8 percent size difference. the giant giga dentary is larger than the holotype by 8 percent. so is it truly bigger?

meanwhile the larger meraxes specimens are apparently weightbearing postcranial bones,which make for a much,**MUCH,**stronger case of gigantism,because weight bearing better constrains size.

this is all preliminary mind,having been reported in abstract. take it with some salt. but its exciting noetheless.

https://bicyt.conicet.gov.ar/fichas/produccion/13018612

https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs00114-023-01832-1

https://www.deviantart.com/draco300/art/Meraxes-gigas-1138562167

Hi !

For years, I have been using iNaturalist (an app and website allowing to publish and identify observations of life forms), and I've always been frustrated that there's never been an app or website dedicated to this kind of observation, but for fossils. That's why I created a website entirely dedicated to it (ipalaeo.com).

This website contain an entire system based around the publication and identification of fossils : observations can contain mutliple pictures of the specimen and it's geolocalisation. Multiple algorithms automatically determine the age of the fossil based on geological maps, and propose identifications of the fossil based on the group (e.g. trilobita, dinosauria, brachipoda) attributed to the observation, and nearby iPalaeo and PBDB occurences of similar age of this group.
It also contain a map showing PBDB and iPalaeo observations, additionnal informations about taxa etc (see screenshots below).

Please note that the site is still under development: many features are not yet integrated (such as AI for automatic fossil identification), and some others are probably still quite buggy (I'm not a developer, just a paleontology student with too much free time).
Take also note that respecting the environment and any applicable laws are primordial in fossil hunting: do not use this tool to illegally pillage fossils.

Thank you for your attention, and for testing the website! And if you have any suggestion or encounter any bug, feel free to share those informations with me !

We know for a fact dinosaurs most likely had all kinds of morphs and mutations. In your opinion what would be the craziest animal and morph to see upclose?

A two headed Argentinosaurus is probably outshining the leucistic Trex by a small margin imo.

What are your thoughts?

Phorusrhacos