Author Archives: Greg

Scientifically Authenticated Dinosaur Model Kits Now Online

Guest Post

For the Dinosaur connoisseur and collector, you will find what you have been looking for at Dinosaur Model Toys.com. The creator of all the works featured on this site is not only a gifted sculptor, but actually works with dinosaur fossils as a paleontological reconstruction artist, fossil preparator, and field technician at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles. His artwork is based on the latest scientific research, real fossil material, and years of hands on experience. This is why the work featured is regarded as some of the most scientifically accurate available to the public.

The new Dinosaur Galleries at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles will feature many of the artist’s creations. Most notable is the baby Tyrannosaurus rex estimated to have been two years old when it died, for which nearly ninety percent of the skeleton will be recreated for this mount. This sculpted reconstruction will be featured with two real T-rex specimens, one a six-year old, and the other the sub adult specimen named “Thomas” which Doyle Trankina helped collect, and prepare. Thomas is estimated to be about seventy percent complete, making it one of the top five most complete in the world. Our initial offering will be a series of cast resin models and limited edition bronze sculptures with both a highly detailed exterior view, and a rendition of the internal skeletal anatomy of an adolescent T-rex similar to the Thomas find.

As part of the Dinosaur Institute at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles Doyle Trankina has attended several field excavations in Montana, Utah, and the Mojave. While in the field Doyle prospected, and assisted in the collection of several specimens, most notably Thomas the sub adult Tyrannosaurus rex that will be gracing the museum’s new Dinosaur Gallery in 2011. Through his experiences with the museum with his private obsession with prehistoric life and the natural world, Doyle has produced several sculptures and illustrations for exhibition and publication. Doyle has an extensive list of sculptures to produce over the next two years. His work will require lots of observational study from the museum’s collection, and extensive extrapolation based on the latest research, and modern analogues like birds, and crocodiles.

After completing the preparation of Thomas, Doyle embarked on a half skeletal, half flesh reconstruction of an adolescent Tyrannosaurus rex at 1;24th scale. The detail and fidelity to the skeleton was accomplished by long study of the anatomy from several existing mounts, scientific publications, and photographs from the some of the best Tyrannosaurus specimens. The teeth were surfaced to provide the accurate thickness and semblance to where the tinny serrations would have lined the many teeth. Because the position of the serrations actually change on the teeth as they move back towards the throat, the ridge implies the appropriate location of the serrations. The scales were carved individually so that the skin wraps around the form in a realistic, and accurate way.

Doyle is currently working on a skeletal reconstruction of a baby Tyrannosaurus rex which will be mounted in the new Dinosaur Galleries with Thomas and an intermediate specimen as an illustration of age progression. The actual specimen is only known from a skull fragment from the snout of what is believed to be from a two-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex. There are no post cranial remains, and there are only a handful of examples that are believed to be that of baby dinosaurs. This project has just begun, and with Dr. Chiappe Doyle will be making history in presenting the worlds only mounted baby Tyrannosaurus rex specimen.

Fall of 2009 marked one of the biggest Paleontology news splashes, featuring N. America’s smallest dinosaur, Fruitadens haagarorum. Nearly 150 million year old, the tiny Fruitadens would have shared its life with such titanic beasts as Brachiosaursus, and Allosaurus in the late Jurassic. It is thought that the animal might have weighed as little as two pounds and measured only 28 inches in length. Fruitadens was discovered in Colorado in the late 1970s in a geological formation known as the Morrison, more specifically in an area called Fruita, for which the specimen was named after.

Artist reconstruction of the dinosaur Fruitadens

Artist reconstruction of the dinosaur Fruitadens

The strange dentition of this animal implies that Fruitadens might have been omnivorous, eating plants and at least insects if not small vertebrates. Doyle has produced the first and most accurate illustrated and sculpted reconstructions of this animal. Fruitadens belongs to a family of early dinosaurs called heterodontosaurids, which share many interesting features, one of which are the teeth. Fruitadens like other heterodontisaurids have varied dentition, and in the front of the mouth sits a canine like tooth on the lower jaw. His work was featured on every major news source in the world, and five of the sculpted Fruitadens will be featured in the new galleries in 2011. In his studio, Doyle is currently working on a scale Fruitadens, which will be approximately 30cm long . This will be the only scaled sculpture of the animal, and the first and only for sale. The full scale version is not for sale and can only be seen at the Museum.

Doyle is also concurrently working on Mamenchisaurus, a long neck dinosaur and part of the branch of Sauriscian (lizard hipped dinosaurs) known as Sauropods. As the prospects of obtaining a casting of the Chinese mamenchisaur skull proved too difficult, Doyle was charged with the task of reconstructing the skull from two dimensional reference and other dinosaurs like Camarasaurus for comparison, and to gain familiarirty with Sauropod skull anatomy. The rare skull was found in China and researchers provided a paper with a detailed description and several scientific illustrations. Sauropod skulls are rare because they are so frail in construction, have several small bones that usually disarticulated some time after the animal dies, and are not commonly preserved in fossilization, or are so disarticulated and in such small pieces that they are nearly impossible to find.

Doyle Trankina is a sculptor, illustrator and fossil preparator at the Los Angeles Museum of Natural History. For unique scientifically authenticated Dinosaur Art, Dinosaur Models and Dinosaur Resin Model Kits, visit his online store Dinosaur Model Toys.Com.

Many other interesting dinosaur facts can be found here at Boneblogger.

Knives For Hunting Also Have Many Other Uses

If you are gathering together the things you will need for an extended journey into the great out of doors, then any experienced outdoorsman will tell you that proper knives for hunting are essential. This is because having a quality knife near at hand will be very useful during your journey and not just for the obvious uses of cleaning and skinning any of the game you successfully bag. A good knife will also be very handy if you encounter a wild animal that might attack or for trimming branches in order to set up camp.

As with any other type of instrument for cutting, hunting and fishing knives must be well cared for and maintained in order to extend their life and to make them as useful as possible. When one is out on a hunting, fishing or camping expedition, it is important to be sure that the fixed blade hunting knives or folding hunting knives that you take along are ready at a moments notice to do their job. This means they should be clean and recently sharpened. In the instance of folding or pocket knives, they should be oiled so that the blade can be accessed easily and quickly.

For those who use their knives for hunting on a daily basis for other purposes, it is a good idea to clean the knife daily or after every use. This helps to keep not only the blade in the best condition possible, but the entire knife as well. If the hunting knife is properly cleaned, then you can see if there are any nicks or damages to the blade.

If you do see that the blade has been nicked, it is important to hone out that area as quickly as possible, and most certainly before using the blade again. This will keep the blade from becoming even more damaged and will also assure that you always have the sharpest cutting edge on your knife at all times. A dull blade can be dangerous to the user, as more pressure is required and in such circumstances the blade is more likely to slip and cause an injury to the user.

Hunt and fish knives typically end up being used to skin, gut and clean animals and fish that has been killed or caught, and as a result they can become very dirty, very quickly. Out in the wild it is not always possible to thoroughly clean a knife that has just been used, but at the very least the blade and handle should be wiped down to remove as much blood and tissue as possible.

Upon returning to camp, it is best to completely wash the knife with soap and water to rid it of any residue and dirt left on the blade and handle. There are also a number of cleaning solutions on the market which can be very useful in keeping the knives for hunting in good condition and which can easily be taken along on your next hunting trip. Visit www.lightsandknives.com/hunting_knife_sharpening.htm for tips on how to maintain your knives in good condition.

Want to find out more about knives, then visit Tim Frazier’s site on how to choose the best folding knives for your needs.

Also see what you should look for in a hunting knife.

Give Yourself An Edge With This Carp Fishing Gear

Guest Post

When it comes to fishing, the biggest draw to freshwater fishing right now has to be carp fishing. This is the same throughout America as much as Europe. People just can’t seem to get enough. There might not be a considerable difference between fishing for carp over fishing (rod and reel) for anything else, but there are some differences to be presented. One of which is carp fishing gear. If you are serious about catching carp, you ought to educate yourself on the necessities.

When you think about carp fishing gear, you should be thinking a few things specifically. These being: the rods, bait, and line.

Getting a rod to specifically go carp fishing is a possibility for the serious carp angler. The difference in these rod and reels over the competition of other fishing types is generally the length of the rod. Carp rods get to be about 12′ long and with very good reason. If you are pulling in a 45 lb. Monster carp, you don’t want to lose your rod to the tension and pull of the fish. A longer rod simply gives you more leverage. They start around $25 for a low-end rod, but the best rods will run you around $150. The difference is the makeup of materials, which greatly affects the rods endurance and overall durability in clutch situations.

Perhaps the most important part of fishing for carp exclusively is getting bait that carp exclusively enjoy. Granted, this is not to say that some other fish isn’t going to be enticed by what you have dangling in the water, but you will land more carp by getting the right baits. Some of the companies that make some great bait to land big carp are K-1 and Kryston. They both claim to have some great concoctions of proteins and enticing elements that carp simply cannot ignore.

Getting appropriate line is pretty crucial to your cause as well. If you have insufficient line, then you might not have the carp either. Some carp can get over 50 pounds, and so you have to have a line that can withstand the thrashing and evasiveness of a 50 pound fish. Most often carp range in the 10-20 pound range, yet you don’t want to plan for this being your maximum. Planning ahead can be the difference between the big carp and the big story about the big carp.

The most important aspect of carp fishing is technique and practice. No amount of great gear will live up to real experience and knowledge. Raw skill comes from practice, and no carp can resist the bait of an angler like that.

So if you are confident in your abilities and just want to get an edge, you should definitely check out some of this incredible carp fishing gear.

If you would like to know more about used cheap carp fishing gear, please feel free to visit that page or have a look at this carp fishing blog.

Niobrara Chalk

One of the most famous formations is the Niobrara Chalk. This formation is exposed in northwest Kansas and southern Nebraska. Formations are sometimes divided into members, subsections of the formation based upon its rock type. The Niobrara Chalk has two members: the lower Fort Hays Limestone and the upper Smoky Hill Chalk. It is the Smoky Hill Chalk which is best known for its fossils.

The sediments that comprise the Niobrara Chalk were deposited in the Western Interior basin during the Late Cretaceous. At that time sea levels rose and the interior of North America was inundated by a shallow sea, the Western Interior Sea. The sea cut North America in half by spreading from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian Arctic. Volcanoes to the west, in what is now Utah and Nevada, spewed ash into the sea and sediments eroded from mountains along the western coast were washed into the sea by rivers. What is today Kansas was much closer to the eastern shore of the sea, a low alluvial plain, also gently washing sediment into the sea basin.

Block diagram of the Western Interior Sea

Image from Hattin, 1982.

The upper member, the Smoky Hill, was deposited from 87 to 82 million years ago, so it preserves a five million year window into the past. Elsewhere we discussed that the Cretaceous sea had a wealth of planktonic organisms. Many of those organisms had calcium carbonate-based shells and body parts, which furnished a steady supply of material to sink to the sea floor. The consistent supply of sediment, both from land and sea, and conditions at the sea floor allowed for the excellent preservation of animals. Those that died and sank to the bottom were rapidly covered by the rain of sediment and entombed until today.

And the diversity of organisms preserved is amazing. In almost every museum with fossils that I have been in, I recognize fossils from Kansas. Giant marine reptiles (mosasaurs and plesiosaurs), flying reptiles (pterosaurs), great toothy fishes, large turtles, and toothed diving birds have all been found. Each of these groups has a very interesting story to share, and we will explore many of them here. An extensive website on fossils from the Niobrara Chalk can be found at OceansofKansas.com.

Pocket knife introduction

When I was growing up I was rarely without my pocket knife. I carried it everywhere, even to school, and never thought twice about it because it was such a basic tool to have available. Of course, today, I would guess that schools take a dim view to kids carrying pocket knives, and do not even think of carrying one through the airport security check. It is unfortunate that such a useful tool is getting left out of people’s lives more often these days.

Because of this perhaps, I find fewer people with experience in using and selecting good pocket knives. The choices are overwhelming: there are so many kinds of blades and gizmos you can get; so many gimmicky kinds of things; and so many down-right impractical bits of advice. As I read around the web in preparation for writing this article I saw some bits of “wisdom” that really made me wonder. Some people suggested you might want your pocket knife to cut wire, or hack up tree limbs that fell in your back yard(!), neither of which I would recommend to say the least.

There are many uses for a good knife and thinking about how you are likely to use it will be a good indication of what to look for. Most everyday uses fall into the light-duty category, cutting tape on boxes, opening those ridiculously hard-to-open plastic product packages, cutting string, etc. Everyone should have a good general-use pocket knife for these uses. Many women carry them in their handbags; men often carry them in a pants pocket.

For almost all these uses you will not need a blade longer than about 2 inches. A 4 inch pocket knife is about the largest you would want to carry in my experience. Please avoid the “Rambo” temptation to get a large, nasty looking knife simply for the macho factor. That might be cool when you are 12, but most of those knives end up too heavy to carry and too big to be really useful in everyday life.

I have several knives that I routinely carry depending up my mood. The one I carry most I have clipped to my keys. It fits easily into my pocket and has a very effective blade of just 1.5 inches. This knife, made by Kershaw, has two blades. The main blade folds out like a typical knife—the second folds out with the sharp edge toward the first, turning both blades into a handy scissors. This little knife has kept its edge very sharp through lots of use, and I highly recommend it for most basic needs.