Cryptoclidus was a 15 foot long plesiosaur which inhabited the prehistoric Tethys Sea, which once covered much of Europe, during the middle of the Jurassic Period 165-160 million years ago. Fossils of Cryptoclidus have been found within southern England and… Read More ›
Europe
Leptostyrax
Leptostyrax was a genus of prehistoric sand tiger shark measuring an impressive 20 feet long which lived in the oceans around North America, Europe, Africa, and Australia during the Cretaceous Period approximately 125-75 million years ago. Leptostyrax has a long… Read More ›
Dakosaurus
There were numerous kinds of marine reptiles which swam in the oceans during the Mesozoic Era, including the ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, and mosasaurs. Less well known are the marine crocodilians, or more accurately, crocodylomorphs. These animals are known as the thalattosuchians,… Read More ›
Orthacanthus
Orthacanthus, meaning “straight spine”, was a 10 foot long freshwater shark-like fish which lived during the late Carboniferous Period and early Permian Period roughly 315-275 million years ago. The genus Orthacanthus is divided into twelve different species, two of which… Read More ›
Pliosaurus
We all know that dinosaurs walked the earth in prehistoric times, and many of us are also aware that pterosaurs flew across the skies and fearsome marine reptiles swam in the oceans. Some of these marine reptiles (which weren’t dinosaurs,… Read More ›
Hylaeosaurus
Hylaeosaurus was a 15 foot long armored dinosaur which lived in England (and possibly elsewhere in Europe) during the early Cretaceous Period approximately 135 million years ago. The bones of this animal were discovered in July 1832 within Tilgate Forest,… Read More ›
Suchosaurus: The First Spinosaur to be Named
Introduction Suchosaurus, “the crocodile lizard”, was a spinosaur theropod dinosaur measuring approximately 25 feet long which lived in southern England from 139-132 million years ago. A fossilized tooth belonging to this animal was discovered in the early 1800s, and was… Read More ›
Martello Towers within the United States of America
Martello Tower #74, located in Seaford, England. Public domain image, Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Martello_Tower,_Seaford.JPG. Introduction General George S. Patton once said “Fixed fortifications are monuments to man’s stupidity”. That was certainly true in the 1940s with aerial bombardment and long-range heavy… Read More ›
May 10 – The Rosalia: The Ancient Roman Festival of the Roses
A wreath is laid at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery. Photograph by Connor Kurtz (June 10, 2007). Public domain image, Wikimedia Commons.https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tomb_of_the_Unknowns_crack.jpg. In ancient Rome, a festival known as the Rosalia, “the Festival of the… Read More ›
Synechodus
Synechodus was a genus of prehistoric saltwater shark which lived from the early Permian Period until the late Eocene Epoch of the Paleogene Period, 290 to 37 million years ago (Ivanov 2005, pages 127-138). Fossils of this animal reached around… Read More ›
DINOSAURS AND BARBARIANS 
