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Prehistoric and Passerine Collection
Birds and dinosaurs, what more could a person want out of life?
For Those Who Dream of Stranger Worlds
Featured in this piece is the Ornithomimus Edmontonicus fossil from the museum in Canada's very own fossil hotspot- Drumheller. While not an accurate depiction of the dinosaurs size, I felt like doing something a little whimsical instead of biologically accurate. Sometimes its fun to have your head in the clouds rather than your feet on the ground.
Ornithomimus Edmontonicus was an ostrich - sized dinosaur that existed during the late Cretaceous some 66 million years ago. Several species of this dinosaur have been found, some with scaly skin and some with remnants of feathers. This dinosaur went extinct at the end of the Cretaceous era along with two thirds of all living things during the event known as the Cretaceous-Paleogene Extinction. This extinction was caused by the impact of a massive meteor estimated to be about 10 kilometres wide. With the exception of some crocodilians and turtles, most animals weighing more than 55lbs died.
Ornithomimus Edmontonicus was an ostrich - sized dinosaur that existed during the late Cretaceous some 66 million years ago. Several species of this dinosaur have been found, some with scaly skin and some with remnants of feathers. This dinosaur went extinct at the end of the Cretaceous era along with two thirds of all living things during the event known as the Cretaceous-Paleogene Extinction. This extinction was caused by the impact of a massive meteor estimated to be about 10 kilometres wide. With the exception of some crocodilians and turtles, most animals weighing more than 55lbs died.
Shoebill Stork
The shoebill stork is a large wading bird in the pelican family and is native to Uganda and other central African countries. Standing at nearly 5 feet tall with a wingspan of 7 feet and a face that is reminiscent of dinosaurs that have long since gone extinct, the shoebill stork is a menacing sight to some. Take comfort in the knowledge that shoebills are actually quite docile even in the wild and the only things that need to fear the shoebill are small aquatic animals and other shoebills. There are estimated to only be 3000 to 5000 left in the wild thanks to deforestation and pollution. Because of this number, the shoebill stork is considered endangered.
If you would like to see something cool, I recommend looking online at videos of the calls these birds make. They truly do look and sound prehistoric.
If you would like to see something cool, I recommend looking online at videos of the calls these birds make. They truly do look and sound prehistoric.
Baby Archeopteryx
Archeopteryx existed towards the end of the Jurassic era around 147 million years ago and only 12 fossilized specimens have been found, making them incredibly rare and valuable to the scientific community. Archeopteryx is considered to be the missing link between reptilian dinosaurs and modern day birds; their fossilized remains look like feather lizards!
Blue Heron
Blue Herons are a large wading bird that can be a common sight in marshes, ponds, and wetlands if you know where to look. Often confused for the great Egret, a noticeable difference between the 2 birds is that blue herons are much larger. Throughout my bird watching career I have only ever seen a blue heron once, though I am hoping to see more this upcoming spring.
Reference photo credit: Cal Calloway
Reference photo credit: Cal Calloway
Turtle Dive
There are approximately 328 species of turtle worldwide, with 57 species living in North America. The painted turtle is the most widespread turtle in North America, living primarily in slow moving waters from northern Canada to southern Mexico, Atlantic to Pacific. Fossil records show that painted turtles existed 15 million years ago and the three subspecies (eastern, midland, and western) evolved from a common ancestor during or after the last ice age. Turtles as a whole emerged approximately 290 million years ago during the Permian age according to fossil records.
Painted turtles are most vulnerable to predators while still young; egg nests are regularly ransacked by most carnivorous animals and baby turtles have soft shells than can easily be bitten through. In adulthood, turtles defend themselves by tucking their limbs into their bony shell and staying still until predators give up trying to eat them and leave.
Painted turtles are most vulnerable to predators while still young; egg nests are regularly ransacked by most carnivorous animals and baby turtles have soft shells than can easily be bitten through. In adulthood, turtles defend themselves by tucking their limbs into their bony shell and staying still until predators give up trying to eat them and leave.
Icelandic Puffin
Often thought to be the National Bird of Iceland, the puffin is actually not the countries national bird. In case you are curious, it is the gyrfalcon. Despite this however, puffins are very cute and puffy looking and tourists flock from all over the globe to Iceland's coasts to catch sight of these adorable birds.
Prairie Bird of Prey
Living Fossil
Though not a bird or dinosaur, I believe this ancient fish deserves and honorable mention.
The coelacanth is a rare marine fish that is a living ancestor of an ancient lineage of fish that was once abundant and common. Coelacanths have several unique physical characteristics that few or no other living fish have, such as functioning lungs, and fins connected to vestigial limbs.
Emerging as a species approximately 400 million years ago during the Devonian period, these fish were thought to have gone extinct along with the dinosaurs until 1938 when a fisherman in the Indian Ocean accidentally caught one in a net. Everyone was dumbfounded by this strange and alien-like fish and with the help biologists and paleontologists they came to the conclusion that this fish was actually not extinct.
Despite being a protected species, this beautiful species of fish is thought to have a population of only 500 or fewer individuals, giving it the Critically Endangered conservation status.
The coelacanth is a rare marine fish that is a living ancestor of an ancient lineage of fish that was once abundant and common. Coelacanths have several unique physical characteristics that few or no other living fish have, such as functioning lungs, and fins connected to vestigial limbs.
Emerging as a species approximately 400 million years ago during the Devonian period, these fish were thought to have gone extinct along with the dinosaurs until 1938 when a fisherman in the Indian Ocean accidentally caught one in a net. Everyone was dumbfounded by this strange and alien-like fish and with the help biologists and paleontologists they came to the conclusion that this fish was actually not extinct.
Despite being a protected species, this beautiful species of fish is thought to have a population of only 500 or fewer individuals, giving it the Critically Endangered conservation status.
Dodo Bird
Native to the island of Mauritius off the coast of East Africa, the dodo has been extinct since 1681. Often depicted in movies and other media as dumb, slow, and silly looking, the dodo is actually considered to have been an intelligent bird that was well adapted to its surroundings. The reason they went extinct only a mere 80 years after their discovery was because they had never before seen human beings and had no frame of reference as to the danger we posed to them. Since they didn't realize we were predators they were easy to hunt and kill due since they didn't feel fear when they saw humans. The dodo is often cited the one of the most well-known examples of human induced extinction.
Cerulean Jay
Blue Jay are a common sight in backyards all across Canada. Though they can be considered a bit tempermental and bullyish to other birds, they are a welcome sight by so many backyard birders thanks to their stunning blue feathers. Blue jays are part of the corvid family, meaning they are related to crows and ravens. Thanks to this relation, blue jays actually have the same mimicking capability as crows and ravens, meaning they can mimick the calls of other birds in order to trick them or scare them out of their territory!
Reference Pose Photo Credit: Carl Albro
Reference Pose Photo Credit: Carl Albro
American Flamingo
Pink, fabulous, and long-legged, the flamingo is one of the most well-recognized birds in the world. The get their distinctive pink feathers from the krill they eat!
Emperor Penguin
The emperor penguin is the tallest and heaviest of all the penguins and like the others it is flightless. It is capable of diving up to depths of 1700 feet and can stay submerged for up to 20 minutes. The emperor penguin survives in the coldest climate of all bird species, with Antarctic temperatures ranging from -10c at the warmest to -80c at the coldest. These unique and well adapted animals are at risk of endangerment due to climate change and the melting of the Antarctica ice shelfs and ice bergs which is causes loss of breeding ground, as well as the loss of food availability owing in part to climate change and industrial fishing. As of 2012 this species went from being classified as Least Concern to Near Threatened. It is currently under consideration for inclusion under the US Endangered Species Act.
Diplocaulus
The Diplocaulus is a large extinct amphibian from the Late Permian era. This amphibian could grow up to a metre and a half in length and was estimated to weigh around 60 lbs. Though there are many amphibians still alive today such as frogs, toads, newts, and salamanders, Diplocaulus has no living relatives. This ancient amphibian died out around 275 million years ago during the Permian-Triassic mass extinction, also known as The Great Dying- approximately 90% of all living things found on earth were killed off during this event.
Blue Whale
Blue whales are the largest animal to have ever lived on earth and have been around since the Pleistocene, around 4.5 million years ago. Other than humans, the only natural predator blue whales have are orcas. There are estimated to be only 10,000 to 20,000 individuals left in our oceans.
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