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Pastel Paleotober Day 20: Castorocauda 🦫🦦💧
Castorocauda was a semi-aquatic mammal relative from the mid-Jurassic of China. Its beaver-like tail and otter-like teeth suggest that it lived similarly to the modern platypus.
Pastel Paleotober Day 19: Spinosaurus 🍐
Spinosaurus hunted in the banks and rivers of what is now North Africa in the late Cretaceous. At 15-16 meters in length, it was the largest theropod and therefore the largest terrestrial carnivore ever.
Pastel Paleotober Day 18: Triceratops 🌟
Triceratops is from the late Cretaceous North America. Despite common scenes of battles with T. Rex, the distinctive crest and three horns of the Triceratops were likely mainly for courtship and displays. It’s also my favorite dinosaur.
Pastel Paleotober Day 17: Anomalocaris 🦐
At up to 38 centimeters, Anomalocaris was a colossal apex predator for the early to mid Cambrian seas of Canada, China, and Australia. It used its curved mouth parts to catch prey and transfer them to its disk-shaped mouth parts.
Pastel Paleotober Day 16: Pygmy Mammoth 🐘
The pygmy mammoth evolved from a group of Columbian mammoths that settled the channel islands of California. While its ancestors were 4m tall, the pygmy mammoth only stood at 1.72m (5ft 7 in)—an example of insular dwarfism.
Pastel Paleotober Day 14: Drepanosaurus 🦎
Drepanosaurus was a Triassic reptile from Italy sporting a bird-like head and a clawed, prehensile tail. This strange combination of features arose during a burst of evolution following the most severe mass extinction in history.
Pastel Paleotober Day 12: Dimetrodon 🍋🍏
Dimetrodon was an early Permian carnivore, living mainly in the southern United States but with some species spread as far as Canada and Germany. The sail on its back was likely used in displays, much like the antlers of modern deer.
Pastel Paleotober Day 11: Glyptodon 💐
Glyptodon, a relative of modern armadillos, lived in South America in the Pleistocene. Glyptodon posessed a spikey armored tail that it may have used for defense or in territorial combat.
Pastel Paleotober Day 10: Procoptodon 🏵
Procoptodon, a genus of short-faced kangaroos, lived in Australia in the Pleistocene epoch. One species, P. goliah, was the largest kangaroo ever at 2m tall and 200kg. It was likely too large to hop and instead walked more like people.