Are dinosaurs overrated?

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Another prehistoric creature that I like is Arizonasaurus.



It was kinda like a crocodile with a sail. Its similarity to Dimetrodon was due to convergent evolution.

I also like Mosasaurs.

Some Other Prehistoric Creatures Which Deserve More Attention

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meridiungulata
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placodermi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pachycormiformes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choristodera
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placodont

Sometimes, I like to think about prehistoric South America.

South America really is a land of great mystery. That continent was once home to the mighty Inca Empire ... but the continent was even weirder prior to the Great American Interchange.

Back then, the dominant herbivores on the continent were the meridiungulates. There were also giant xenarthrans such as Glyptodon and Megatherium. The predators were metatherian sparassodonts such as Thylacosmilus, as well as the terrifying phorusrhacids.

Even before then, South America gave rise to the largest dinosaur ever - Argentinosaurus. Before then, South America created some of the earliest dinosaurs ever - like Eoraptor.

Someday I should go to South America, just for the fossils.

I'm also really fond of cimolesta.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cimolesta

They evolved in the late Cretaceous and survived the K-T Extinction ... but then they went extinct 34 million years ago. Not all mammals that survived the K-T event made it to the present day.

Some Of My Favorite Cimolesta:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barylambda
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kopidodon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stylinodon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psittacotherium
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coryphodon

As you can see, some of these creatures were convergently similar to modern mammals. Other have no modern equivalent.

The cimolesta were closely related to placentals, but they were not within crown group placentalia. Thus, their exact reproductive method is unknown.

I also love phytosaurs.



Overall, I love crocodiles and anything that vaguely resembles a crocodile.

I was a huge fan of Steve Irwin when I was a kid. That's probably why.

I also like jawless fish. There was a great deal of beauty in these animals.



For example, the fish in the Osteostraci clade resembled living clothing irons. Those bars on the edges of their heads are pressure sensors.

I also think that heteromorph ammonites deserve more attention.



Kneel before your bizarre, tentacled overlords! RAWR!

Kneel or you shall be inked! Filthy deuterostome!

I'm glad that some people are beginning to appreciate non-mammalian synapsids nowadays. This is largely because of the appearance of gorgonopsids in Primeval, but I believe that biarmosuchians deserve some attention as well. They just look absurdly badass. All of them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niaftasuchus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biarmosuchus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proburnetia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hipposaurus

I'm especially fond of Proburnetia. It had headgear which would make a Carnotaurus jealous.

It's too bad that these great synapsids died out as the Permian drew to a close. I would have loved to see these creatures evolve into theropod-like or cetacean-like forms, but alas.

I also like to read about very primitive reptiles. Modern reptiles could not have existed without them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labidosaurus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hylonomus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protorothyris
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinoaequalis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orovenator

It's important to note that, although these creatures were stepping stones, they were more than just stepping stones. They were also wonderful animals in their own right.

I'm fond of all stem-crocodilians, but I especially love the metriorhynchids.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metriorhynchidae

The lived in the Jurassic seas and they coexisted with many other large aquatic reptiles such as ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, pliosaurs and pleurosaurids.

I guess woolly mammoths and saber cats are jealous...I mean a big shaggy elephant adapted to arctic conditions is cool man.

I also like Stomatosuchus. It was a very large stem-crocodilian which had a pelican-like pouch.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stomatosuchus

In my opinion, females may have used this pouch to protect their young.

I've always loved ichthyosaurs because the line of evolutionary descent is so clear.

Triassic: In the wake of the Great Dying, primitive, lizards-like neodiapsids take to the water, giving rise to Utatsusaurus.

Jurassic: New ichthyosaurs evolve, with a more shark-like body layout. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temnodontosaurus

Cretaceous: Ichthyosaurs become even more fish-like ... and then go extinct because they cannot compete with other sea reptiles. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platypterygius

It's also interesting to note that ichthyosaurs go back further than dinosaurs. Dinosaurs evolved in the late Triassic. Ichthyosaurs evolved in the early Triassic.