Dark coats may have helped the earliest mammals hide from hungry dinosaurs. The spots and stripes familiar to us today didn't arise until later in mammalian evolution https://www.sciencenews.org/article/dark-coats-earliest-mammals-dinosaurs

#Mesozoic mammaliaforms illuminate the origins of pelage coloration https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ads9734

"Zebra stripes? Leopard print? Neither were in vogue among the earliest #mammals during the Age of #Dinosaurs. Early mammals and their close relatives probably sported dark, drab coats from snout to tail."

For the first time, fossilized soft tissues of a plesiosaur have been subjected to an in-depth study. What was the Holzmaden plesiosaur's skin like?

#paleontology #plesiosaur #mesozoic #fossil #prehistory #ancient #life #animals #science

https://blogorgonopsid.blogspot.com/2025/02/plesiosauri-byli-supinati-prvni-studie.html

Therapsids Originated in Tropical Rather than Temperate Regions https://www.sci.news/paleontology/mallorca-gorgonopsian-13515.html

Early–middle Permian Mediterranean gorgonopsian suggests an equatorial origin of therapsids https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-54425-5

"#Therapsids were a dominant component of #Permian terrestrial ecosystems, eventually giving rise to #mammals during the early #Mesozoic... #Paleontologists have discovered a #NewSpecies of early #gorgonopsian #therapsid that was part of an ancient summer wet biome of equatorial #Pangea"

Ancient #cicada wings evolved to deal with evolutionary changes in birds https://phys.org/news/2024-10-ancient-cicada-wings-evolved-evolutionary.html

Enhanced flight performance and adaptive #evolution of #Mesozoic giant cicadas https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adr2201

"in their earlier years, #cicadas typically had wingspans similar to modern butterflies... But over the course of approximately 160 million years, the wings across all species began to grow a little wider even as they became slimmer... to fly up to 39% faster"

New #venomous reptile species from the Late #Triassic unearthed in #Arizona https://phys.org/news/2024-10-venomous-reptile-species-late-triassic.html

A small venomous reptile from the Late Triassic (Norian) of the southwestern United States https://peerj.com/articles/18279/ by Helen Burch​ et al.

"We know very little about the origins of reptile #venom systems outside of living #snakes and# lizards, so Microzemiotes sonselaensis is a very exciting addition to a small handful of #Mesozoic envenomaters"

#Paleontologists discover #fossil #birds with teeth had #seeds in their stomachs, indicating that they ate fruit
https://phys.org/news/2024-09-paleontologists-fossil-birds-teeth-seeds.html

Direct evidence of #frugivory in the #Mesozoic #bird Longipteryx contradicts morphological proxies for diet: Jingmai O’Connor et al. https://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(24)01124-2

"Since #Longipteryx lived in a temperate #climate, it probably wasn't eating #fruits year-round... it had a mixed diet which included things like #insects when fruits weren't available."

Literally every time I google #Phylogeny stuff: 'shit, I forgot just how long the Cretaceous was'. It's like half the Mesozoic!

Introducing Asiatyrannus xui https://paleonerdish.wordpress.com/2024/07/30/introducing-asiatyrannus-xui/ by @Ferwen

Their colosal body size and deep snouts were key features of tyrannosaurid species from the latest stages of the #Mesozoic. In Asia, during the latest #Cretaceous, existed a derived group of long-snouted #tyrannosaurids called #alioramins... The new specimen reveals the coexistence of the long-snouted and deep-snouted tyrannosaurids in southeastern China.

Ancient marine #animal had inventive past despite being represented by few species https://phys.org/news/2024-07-ancient-marine-animal-species.html

Morphological innovation did not drive diversification in #Mesozoic–#Cenozoic brachiopods https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-024-02491-9

#Brachiopods were evolving in new directions but this did not become an evolutionary success in terms of the numbers of species... The findings shed light on some core principles of the #evolution of modern #biodiversity.

A random artwork from my gallery:

"Triceratops horridus" — 2013

The heroic Triceratops horridus, resister of tyrants. Never Forget.

https://johnconway.art/triceratops-horridus

A random artwork from my gallery:

"Shuvuuia deserti" — 2013

Shuvuuia deserti was a small maniraptoran theropod from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia. Its short, strong arm might have been used for digging, perhaps into insect mounds.

https://johnconway.art/shuvuuia-deserti

A random artwork from my gallery:

"Velociraptor mongoliensis" — 2019

A reboot of a paiting I originally did in 1997, age 16. I think at the time I considered it my first sucessful oil painting. I have added all the stuff to it that I originally intended to, but chickened-out (painting over skies in oil painting is scary,... [more]:

https://johnconway.art/velociraptor_1997

A write-along/TTRPG Playthrough stream!

You have awoken on a planet filled with dinosaurs.
Craft, fight, & explore to survive the wilds of this strange planet!

Join our adventure LIVE right NOW: https://youtube.com/live/q38pz90wySc

Did #dinosaurs pollinate some #Mesozoic #gymnosperms?
This is an idea I've had which is explained below, but there are some caveats to this, one of which being a lack of corresponding/ conspecific female organs also with suitable anatomy. Thoughts? #paleobotany #paleoart #plants

I painted Tapejara wellnhoferi, one of my childhood favourites, even before I watched Walking with Dinosaurs, thanks to the art in the "Dinosaurs!" series by DeAgostini.

#Paleontologists Are Still Unraveling the Mystery of the First Dinosaur https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/paleontologists-are-still-unraveling-the-mystery-of-the-first-dinosaur-180983672/ by Riley Black via @Smithsonianmag

"Two hundred years after it was first named, #scientists are just beginning to reveal the secrets of #Megalosaurus."

Locomotor Advances in Early #Dinosaurs Aided Their Survival and Success https://www.sci.news/paleontology/early-dinosaurs-12672.html

Locomotion and the early #Mesozoic success of #Archosauromorpha: Amy Shipley et al. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.231495

"from the beginning, not only were the dinosaurs and their close relatives bipedal and cursorial — which meant they had limbs adapted for running, they also showed a much wider range of running styles than some of their close competitors, called the #Pseudosuchia."

#Ornithomimus: Beast of the Week https://prehistoricbeastoftheweek.blogspot.com/2024/02/ornithomimus-beast-of-week.html #paleoart by Christopher DiPiazza

"It lived during the late #Cretaceous period, between 76.5 and 66 million years ago, and therefore was one of the #dinosaurs wiped out by the meteorite that ended the #Mesozoic. From beak to tail it would have measured about 3.6 meters long and was either an herbivore, or possibly an omnivore when alive."

A Stomatosuchus that I painted for my friend Michael. I depicted it dozing off a little, as crocodilians like to do with only one half of their brain active. I imagine it to feel like falling almost asleep but not fully while riding on a subway train.

#Insects that lived alongside with the last #dinosaurs in Patagonia
https://communities.springernature.com/posts/insects-that-lived-alongside-with-the-last-dinosaurs-in-patagonia

A #Maastrichtian #insect assemblage from #Patagonia sheds light on #arthropod diversity previous to the K/Pg event https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-023-05596-2

"Chitinous remains of three-dimensional preserved insects, are discovered in 70 million years old rocks in Southern Argentine Patagonia. They shed lights about insect communities that evolved previously to the end of the #Mesozoic Era"