Portal:Cretaceous
(see more...) Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Box-header/colours' not found. Gorgosaurus is a genus of tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in western North America during the Late Cretaceous Period, between about 76.6 and 75.1 million years ago. Fossil remains have been found in the Canadian province of Alberta and possibly the U.S. state of Montana. Paleontologists recognize only the type species, G. libratus, although other species have been erroneously referred to the genus.Like most known tyrannosaurids, Gorgosaurus was a bipedal predator weighing more than two metric tons as an adult; dozens of large, sharp teeth lined its jaws, while its two-fingered forelimbs were comparatively small. Gorgosaurus was most closely related to Albertosaurus, and more distantly related to the larger Tyrannosaurus. Some experts consider G. libratus to be a species of Albertosaurus; this would make Gorgosaurus a junior synonym of that genus. Gorgosaurus lived in a lush floodplain environment along the edge of an inland sea. It was an apex predator (meaning that it was at the top of its food chain), preying upon abundant ceratopsids and hadrosaurs. In some areas, Gorgosaurus coexisted with another tyrannosaurid, Daspletosaurus. Although these animals were roughly the same size, there is some evidence of niche differentiation between the two. Gorgosaurus is the best-represented tyrannosaurid in the fossil record, known from dozens of specimens. These plentiful remains have allowed scientists to investigate its ontogeny, life history and other aspects of its biology. (see more...) Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Box-header/colours' not found. Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards: A Tale of Edward Drinker Cope, Othniel Charles Marsh, and the Gilded Age of Paleontology (2005) is a graphic novel written by Jim Ottaviani and illustrated by the company Big Time Attic. The book tells a slightly fictionalized account of the Bone Wars, a period of intense excavation, speculation, and rivalry which led to a greater understanding of dinosaurs in the western United States. This novel is the first semi-fictional work written by Ottaviani; previously, he had taken no creative license with the characters he depicted, portraying them strictly according to historical sources.Bone Sharps follows the two scientists Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Marsh as they engage in an intense rivalry for prestige. Ottaviani has Cope and Marsh interact and meet many important figures of the Gilded Age, from P. T. Barnum to U.S. Grant, as the two scientists pursue their hotheaded and sometimes illegal acquisitions of fossils. Unlike in his previous books, "the scientists are the bad guys this time". Upon release, the novel received praise from critics for its exceptional historical content, although some reviewers wished more fiction had been woven into the story. (see more...) Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Box-header/colours' not found. Fossil of the Late Cretaceous ammonoid Bostrychoceras polyplocum Photo credit: H. Zell Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Box-header/colours' not found.
Template:/box-header Epochs - Early Cretaceous - Late Cretaceous Landmasses - Baltica - Gondwana - Laurentia - Siberia Fossil sites - Beecher's Trilobite Bed - Walcott–Rust quarry Researchers - Charles Emerson Beecher - Charles Lapworth - Charles Doolittle Walcott Template:/box-header Featured Cretaceous articles - Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards - Bone Wars - Edward Drinker Cope - Geology of the Capitol Reef area - Geology of the Death Valley area -Geology of the Grand Canyon area - Geology of the Zion and Kolob canyons area Good Cretaceous articles - Chitinozoan - Coal ball - Dimetrodon - History of paleontology - Evolutionary history of life - Ornatifilum - Opabinia - Paleontology- Schinderhannes - Small shelly fauna - Temnospondyli - Tiktaalik - Waptia
Current Cretaceous FACs - none currently
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