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September 4, 2022Dinosaur Entertainment / Information / UncategorizedEvery Dinosaur fan loves a good Dinosaur documentary. It’s a great way to learn more about dinos; how they lived, grew and (unfortunately) died. It’s also fun to think about what it would be like if they still roamed our planet! Out of the many film and tv series you can watch about dinosaurs, here are a few of our favorites to watch! Sky Monsters Sky Monsters is a 2005, TV film documentary about Pterodactyls. Made by National Geographic, this dinosaur film is based on the findings of a group of researchers from Stanford University. They studied the aerodynamics and feeding patterns of the prehistoric flying reptiles to show how these amazing animals could fly. A Pterodactyl was as big as a Boeing plane… That’s a big creature! Dinosaur 13 In 1990, paleontologist Sue Hendrickson and a team of geographical researchers discovered the largest, complete T-Rex skeleton ever documented in history. They name the dinosaur, “Sue”. Unfortunately, “Sue’s” discovery began a long legal battle over the findings. This 2014 film documentary by Todd Douglas Miller is a deep look into the T-Rex discovery near the Black Hills Institute in South Dakota, as well as the legal and political battle that took place afterward. Walking With Dinosaurs Walking with Dinosaurs is still one of the most highly regarded dinosaur documentaries ever made. It’s filmed like a real nature documentary, using animatronics and computer animation, making you feel like you are actually watching real dinosaurs roam. In fact, it’s so good, that it became the inspiration for the “Walking With…” series spin-off. Clash of the Dinosaurs This 2009 dinosaur documentary looks at the evolution of these prehistoric creatures over an entire century. It takes a deep dive into how they lived, using 3D images to show how they were built from bone to skin. The biggest thing this particular dinosaur documentary is known for is the scenes highlighting the body armor some dinosaurs had to defend themselves against predators. Prehistoric Planet A Dinosaur Documentary list wouldn’t be complete without Sir David Attenborough! This 2022 documentary series is narrated by the famous natural historian and is shot the same way as most of his other nature documentaries. Its high-end graphics and editing really provide an “immersive experience”. It’s also the first dinosaur documentary to ever focus on the long-debated idea that dinosaurs had feathers! The Ballad of Big Al If your favorite dinosaur is the Allosaurus, you’ll love this one. The Ballad of Big Al follows “Al” the Allosaurus throughout its life from hatching right up until its untimely death as a mature adolescent from injuries sustained during a fight. The BBC dinosaur documentary is a spin-off special from the Walking With Dinosaurs series creators and is based on an Allosaurus fossil found in Wyoming in the early 1990s. With back-to-school coming up quickly, it’s a great time to watch dinosaur documentaries! With there being so much to learn about these prehistoric creatures, dinosaur films and tv series are always on the top of my watch list! I hope you enjoyed our selection; if you have seen them too, or if I have missed your favorite, let me know! Send me an email or let me know on Instagram! We would love to hear about them! And don’t forget to sign up for our email newsletter! You will hear about fun dino stuff, and even get a dinosaur treat on your birthday from Vester the Velociraptor! [...]
August 28, 2022Dinosaur Entertainment / Dinosaur Food / Information / Uncategorized@shawnaodom Dinosaur cakes are my jam. I love to bake, and I love dinosaurs, so what could top a dinosaur cake? I have all kinds of ideas for dinosaur cakes and cupcakes. Kids love dinosaur cakes for their birthday party, for sure, but so do adults! I recently made a dinosaur cake for our Lead Illustrator, Kara. It’s a cake featuring dinosaurs who get trapped in a tar pit! Yes, some dinosaur cakes can be funny, right?! You can use Dinosaur cupcakes as a delicious addition to a craft night too! Trust me, I know this from experience! Here are a few favorite dinosaur cake ideas to get you started on your dinosaur baking adventures! IG: @merri.bakes Roaring T-Rex Cake: This dinosaur cake from @merri.bakes on Instagram is a pretty sweet dinosaur cake idea. Featuring a roaring T-Rex on the top, surrounded by some leaves and dirt would be a great cake for any celebration. Topped with a chocolate ganache drip and green frosting, it is sure to level up any party! Chocolate Dinosaur Eggs Cupcakes: This is a great Easter treat! There are so many ideas you can try with dinosaur cupcakes! These chocolate cupcakes have a thin layer of chocolate frosting and then are topped with chocolate sprinkles to make the nests. You could even mix chow mein noodles with some chocolate and peanut butter to make haystack cookie nests, or sprinkle crushed-up Oreo cookies. If you want to go extra fancy, you can use a #233 (grass) piping tip, and pip brown or green frosting to get a nest or grass look for your dinosaur eggs cupcake nest. The best dinosaur eggs are the malted milk easter eggs. They make great dinosaur eggs because they are speckled. You can also use mini eggs. chefclub.tv Cute Brachiosaurus Cake: For a simpler take on the dinosaur cake, this brachiosaurus is a really fun dinosaur cake idea. Make this dinosaur cake by baking a sheet (flat) cake, and then use a template to cut out the design of your dinosaur. Really, with a piece of parchment or cardboard and some buttercream, you could make any dinosaur cake you want! Then all you need to do is get some frosting to ice the cake and use candies to decorate it! The ideas for this dinosaur cake are limitless! This cake will be a hit at kids’ birthday parties, or really any party! Tar Pit Cake I hope you found some inspiration with these dinosaur cake ideas! Kids and adults both love dinosaur cakes; I know this because Vester, our Velociraptor Event Coordinator at the Dinoverse, and I both bake for the Dinoverse Team quite often! I will leave you with Vester’s favorite cake recipe; it’s so simple, that even a Velociraptor can bake it! And don’t forget to share your dinosaur cakes with us on Instagram! We would love to see them! To get more dinosaur info and fun activities, and to hear about the latest The Dinoverse promotions, sign up for our email newsletter! You’ll even get a gift from Vester the Velociraptor on your birthday! Doctored Up Boxed Cake Mix: So good, people will think you baked it from scratch! 1 box (1 box) white cake mix 5 oz (142 g) AP flour 1 cup (spooned into cup, not scooped) 7 oz (198 g) granulated sugar 1 cup 1/4 tsp salt 9 oz (255 g) sour cream 1 cup room temp 4 oz (113 g) melted butter 1/2 cup 8 oz (227 g) milk 1 cup room temperature 4 large (4 ) egg whites at room temperature (or 3 whole eggs) 1 tsp (1 tsp) almond extract (or whatever you want the cake to taste like) Instructions: This cake is really easy. Preheat your oven to 350ºF. Grease and flour 2 9” or 4 6” pans. This will also make about 36 cupcakes. Then just put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix it on medium speed for 2 minutes. Tada! Your cake batter is ready to use! Pour batter into your prepared pans, and bake for 30-40 min or until a toothpick comes out clean. For cupcakes, it’s about 18-20 min, but keep an eye on them. If you want to flavor your cake (we love coconut around the office), try adding different flavored extracts instead of the almond. This recipe also works great using lemon and strawberry flavored cake mixes! Recipe From: sugargeekshow.com [...]
August 14, 2022Dinosaur Entertainment / Dinosaur Games / Funny Stuff / InformationEveryone loves a song about dinosaurs. Dinosaurs are a big theme in kid’s music, and there are tons of options out there if you are looking for some good dinosaur songs to groove to with the kids on a fun afternoon. Here is a list of our favorite dinosaur songs to start your dinosaur dance party! Dinostory: The Ultimate Dinosaur Rock Opera This is our top pick. It has everything you could possibly want in your dinosaur songs! It’s a full album, with songs that are not only fun but educational as well. Even though it’s geared towards kids ages 4 and up, older kids and adults will enjoy the catchy tunes that tell a story about a young triceratops who gets separated from her family and learns to survive in a dangerous world by making friends. The Dinosaur Song – Johnny Cash You wouldn’t normally think of Johnny Cash as a children’s entertainer, but this dinosaur song from his 1975 album, “The Johnny Cash Children’s Album” is just plain fun. He asks, “…dinosaurs would be nice pets and friends to have around to run outside and play with every day, don’t you think?”. Perpetual Preschool Perpetual Preschool has some great Dinosaur song options for you to sing with the kids. Our favorite is the dinosaur version of “We Will Rock You”. It gets the kids involved by clapping their hands and stomping their feet, while singing, “We will, we will stomp you!” Each verse teaches about a different dino in the most rockin’ way! “Walk the Dinosaur” by Was (Not Was) Of course, we can’t talk about dinosaur songs without mentioning this gem! The lyrics, “Boom acka-lacka boom boom!” will get stuck in your head for days, and you will find yourself mindlessly shaking your hips back and forth to the rhythm long after it’s over. This particular song plays at all our get-togethers, and it has been a crowd pleaser since its release in 1988. This one will please older kids and adults alike, and should be on everyone’s playlist! Dinosaur songs can be engaging and educational, while also incredibly entertaining! Listening to music expands the brain and stirs creative energy, and including dinosaur themed music just makes it even more fun! These are just a few of the dinosaur songs out there; If I have missed your favorite dino song, send me an email or tag us on Instagram! Everyone here at The Dinoverse would love to hear about them! And don’t forget to sign up for our email newsletter! You will hear about fun dino stuff, and even get a dinosaur treat on your birthday from Vester the Velociraptor! [...]
August 7, 2022Dinosaur Entertainment / Information / Uncategorizedimage credit: Daisy Lin You know you are in dinosaur heaven when you are welcomed by a huge statue of a dinosaur, and when I say huge, I mean huge. The town of Erenhot in Northern China is home to what is known as the “Kissing Dinosaurs”, two enormous Brontosauruses, stretching their long necks over the highway, to meet in what looks like a kiss. The Brontosauruses are 34 meters wide, 19 meters tall, and together reach 80 meters across. That’s MASSIVE! It’s also, according to science’s best guess, larger than life. And make sure you stop to take pictures (duh!) before you pass the Kissing Dinosaurs! They have dino friends; dotting the surrounding area are smaller statues of other dinosaurs like T-Rex, Pachycephalosaurus, Triceratops, and avian dinosaurs. This amazing site is located on the Sino-Mongolian border, on the main highway. It was built in 2007 to remind the world of the town’s reputation as a fossil hub, and it really is! During the 1920s, dinosaur fossils were discovered in the Erlian Basin, and one of those fossils is still the biggest, and best-preserved fossil to have ever been found in Asia. People started calling it, “Dinosaur City”, and rightly so. The town of Erlian (sometimes called Erenhot) is definitely a dinosaur town. Not only do they have the huge Brontos to welcome you in, but they also have an amazing museum for you to see many of the fossils that have been found in the surrounding area. The town in Northern China was home to more than 20 different species of dinosaurs, with the most famous being the Gigantoraptor. This 8-meter-long birdlike predator was discovered in 2005. And as if that wasn’t cool enough, they even have a theme park; “Dinosaur Fairyland”. As far as Dinosaur holidays go, this is definitely one that should be on every dino lover’s list. Giant brontosauruses kissing, dino statues, a museum; even a theme park. Doesn’t that sound like a dino-mite vacation? It’s definitely on my list of places to see! If you have been to “Dinosaur City”, or have pictures of Erenhot to share, We would LOVE to see them! Send us an email or tag us with your pictures on Instagram! And don’t forget to sign up for our email newsletter! You will hear about fun dino stuff, and even get a dinosaur treat on your birthday from Vester the Velociraptor! [...]
July 31, 2022Dinosaur Entertainment / Funny Stuff / InformationI dino what to tell you; I love dinosaur puns. Nothing tricera-tops good puns or jokes about dinosaurs. Kids love them, and really, what’s more important than making kids laugh? I often get many eye rolls from my grown-up kids, but around the office, the staff love my dino-mite puns! Especially Tatum Tyrannosaurus Rex. As Happiness Director at the The Dinoverse, we can always call on Tatum to share a couple of good dinosaur jokes! Here are a few great dinosaur puns; I hope you don’t find them too pterable! via GIPHY Why did the Archaeopteryx catch the worm? Because it was an early bird. Scientists have discovered a fossilized dinosaur fart. They described it as a blast from the past. What do you call a Dinosaur who can’t accept defeat? A Saur Loser. What do they call dinosaur farts? An Ex-stink-tion. Dinosaurs can’t go on boats, they cause too many Ship Rex. What do you call it when a dinosaur has a car accident? A tyrannosaurus Wreck! via GIPHY What is the scariest type of dinosaur? A Terror Dactyl. What do you call the ghost of a dinosaur? A Scary Dactyl. What do you call a dinosaur with an extensive vocabulary? A Thesaurus. What do you call the dog of a dinosaur with one eye? Do-you-think-he-saurus rex. I hope you found my dinosaur puns as humerus as I do! Dino jokes can really make a boring day a lot more funny. If I have missed any of your favourite dino-mite puns, let us know on Instagram, and don’t forget to sign up for our email newsletter for more dinosaur facts and fun (you’ll even get a discount for The Dinoverse shop!) [...]
July 24, 2022Dinosaur Art / Dinosaur Entertainment / Dinosaur Stickers / Information / QuestionsIf you have seen Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, then you have sat on the edge of your seat watching Owen, Claire, and Franklin be attacked in the gyrosphere by this terrifying dinosaur, just hoping that the glass will hold the teeth back so they don’t get devoured! Until T-Rex saves the day by swooping in and killing the mighty Carnotaurs, allowing the humans time to get away. The humans probably would have been a tasty treat for the Carnotaurus! Although paleontologists have only found one, almost complete skeleton, that skeleton has taught us a lot about this fast dinosaur! Here are some fun facts about the Carnotaurus that we have learned from studying the fossils we have. Carnotaurus Was A Carnivore Carnotaurus had super sharp teeth and long, strong legs allowing them to easily catch and devour their prey. They probably had a weak bite, due to their small jaw, but that was ok! They would have used the horns on their heads like a club or hatchet to hurt or kill their prey like the Pachycephalosaurus before having their snack. (If you want to learn more about Pachycephalosaurus, check out this blog HERE!) Capri Carnotaurus – A super friendly character from The Dinoverse, who’s always ready with a high-five, a hug, or a wave! The Fastest Dinosaur Alive You wouldn’t have wanted to challenge this dinosaur to a race! The carnotaurus had long, large, and very strong lower legs, allowing it to run super fast. Scientists believe that this dino was very likely one of the fastest theropods in its 2000lb class! If You’re Happy And You Know It… Yup. All those T-Rex jokes? We really should be making them about the carnotaurus! The Tyrannosaurus had tiny arms, for sure, but T-Rex could use them, and their fingers and claws. The Carnotaurus? Not so much. In fact, the carnotaurus didn’t even have claws, and their fingers were fused together! This meant that not only could they not use them to grab or tear animals, but they also couldn’t even move them independently. Pretty useless back then, but if you want to see some adorable art and stickers of them, check them out here! Skin And Bones! Paleontologists have found an almost complete skeleton of Carnotaurus in South America, but not only that they have also found fossilized Carnotaurus skin in Argentina! This is a pretty rare find for a carnivore! This has given them some really cool information about the Carnotaurus; that it was scaly and more reptilian, like the one we saw in Jurassic Park. This is surprising for scientists because most Theropods of the late cretaceous period seem to have feathers. Even baby T-Rex may have had tiny feathers. The skeleton of Carnotaurus on display at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa. Photo by Nicholas Carter What’s In A Name? The Carnotaurus was named the “Meat Eating Bull” by Argentinian Paeleontologist Jose Bonaparte in 1985. Dr. Bonaparte was the paleontologist to find the Carnotaurus skeleton, among many other dinosaur fossils. José Bonaparte (1928-2020). Picture Credit: Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales, Bernardino Rivadavia The Carnotaurus was a powerful and fast carnivore, and quite a terrifying dinosaur, even if its tiny, little arms were a bit useless. I’m really glad that movies like Jurassic Park are featuring new and exciting dinosaurs. It gives us a chance to get to know them better! This dinosaur from the late cretaceous age with its horned head and scaly skin is definitely a dinosaur worth studying! Do you have any great Carnotaurus jokes? Here at The Dinoverse we LOVE dinosaur jokes (especially Tatum!). send us an email or tag us with your best joke on Instagram! We would love to hear them! And don’t forget to sign up for our email newsletter! You will hear about fun dino stuff, and even get a dinosaur treat on your birthday from Vester the Velociraptor! [...]
July 17, 2022Dinosaur Entertainment / Funny Stuff / Information / Questionsgetty images Have you heard about Baby Yingliang? Baby Yingliang is the name of one of the most exquisitely preserved dinosaur embryos that have ever been found. For a paleontologist to find a dinosaur egg or nest is rare, and those that have been found are usually incomplete, or the bones are dislocated. This is part of the reason we don’t actually know what baby dinosaurs look like before they hatch. With this discovery, researchers can hopefully get a better picture of that! And guess what? For the “Are dinosaurs birds or reptiles?” question, BabyYingliang is an oviraptorosaur. Oviraptorosaurs are part of a group of Theropods. Researchers believe that Theropods are closely related to birds, and with the discovery of Baby Yingliang, their theory is even more substantial! Baby Yingliang is shown to be in a “tucking” position, a position that is unique to modern baby birds before hatching. This doesn’t mean all dinosaurs are birds (check out this blog for more on that topic!), but it definitely gives us evidence that some dinosaurs were! Life reconstruction of a close-to-hatching oviraptorosaur dinosaur embryo, based on the new specimen, Baby Yingliang. Image Credit: Lida Xing Baby Yingliang was found in the Ganzhou region of Southern China and ended up in storage in a museum for almost 15 years before the museum staff of the Yingliang Stone Nature History noticed the exquisitely preserved bones through some cracks in the egg. They were sorting through some boxes that were in storage and discovered the fossils. What a beautiful thing to find in storage! I certainly don’t have anything like that in my attic! It’s amazing discoveries like Baby Yingliang that help us understand more about what dinosaurs actually looked like. Researchers now have an even stronger theory that today’s modern birds evolved over millions of years from Theropod dinosaurs. Hopefully, we can look forward to more discoveries like this one for more evidence of that hypothesis! For more interesting facts on dinosaurs, sign up for our email list! You’ll hear news on the latest discoveries and get all sorts of fun dinosaur stuff (you’ll even get a discount for The Dinoverse shop!) [...]
July 10, 2022Dinosaur Art / Dinosaur Entertainment / Dinosaur Games / InformationDoing Dinosaur crafts with the kids can make a rainy day or boring weekend much more fun! Here are some of our favorite easy dinosaur activities; grab your glue sticks and paper plates, there is something for kids of all ages! Dinosaur Eggs: This fun craft is perfect for older kids. Dinosaur eggs are so much fun, both to make and to break! It’s a fairly easy DIY activity, albeit a bit messy. (Read all about how to make this particular dinosaur craft, and get the recipe here!) However, the fun our kids got from breaking them open and excavating their dinosaur surprise from inside was totally worth it! Our older dinosaur fan even helped make the dinosaur eggs the second time around for his birthday party! (Read about that in another blog! Boy was that fun!) Jurassic Dinosaur Mural: This dinosaur craft takes me back to when I was a kid and is great for preschoolers and older kids to create! My dad used to hang a huge piece of paper on the wall, and then lay out all different types of craft materials on the table. We kids, (I had 5 brothers!) would then create a mural together. We did this for each season. I have very vivid memories of snowmen made from cotton balls and lots of white glue. The older we got and the better our motor skills, the more intricate the craft became! We always had so much fun together with these activities, that I continued this crafts tradition with my own kids! You can too; just add dinosaurs! Shop your local dollar store for ideas and get some foam dinosaur cut-outs, stickers, and other fun craft supplies you think would be great on your mural. Dinosaur printables are great too; color them first, then glue them on. You can get really creative with this one; you can even use potato stamps for trees! Dinosaur Footprints: Here’s a dinosaur craft that’s a bit messier, but worth it. What could be more fun than making dinosaurs out of your own footprints? Use paint on the bottom of your kids’ feet, and have them step on paper. Let it dry and then add extra craft supplies like googly eyes or draw-on teeth to make your dinosaur really ferocious! Kids of all ages will love to give these dino crafts as cards! Dinosaur Bath Bombs: Looking for a ‘clean” dinosaur activity? Make bath time fun with Dinosaur Bath Bombs! This is a great dinosaur birthday craft for older kids or toddlers and preschoolers to help make for their teacher! The dino bath bombs are pretty easy crafts to make, and you can use a variety of different scents! Kids love to watch them fizz and bubble in the water until they find the hidden dino in the middle of the egg! Dinosaur activities that make bath time a little more fun are always a winner in my home! Tissue Dinosaurs: You can make dinos easily out of paper, tissue, and glue! This dinosaur craft is one of the easy crafts on our list; perfect for a toddler or preschoolers to get their hands into (although big kids will like it too!). The bigger kids can have fun cutting out small squares of paper tissue, while the smaller kids can have the fun of gluing them onto paper dinosaur shapes! Add googly eyes or a paper eye, and you have your very own fun dinosaur friend to play with after! No matter which prehistoric craft project you choose to try, dinosaur activities are a fun way to pass some time on a rainy summer day or a Sunday afternoon. Toddlers, preschoolers, and older kids (even us really older kids) love to make our own dinosaur crafts! Get yourself some paper and scissors, and get dinosaur crafting! What’s your favorite dinosaur craft to brighten a boring day? Send us an email or tag us with your pictures on Instagram! We would love to hear about them! And don’t forget to sign up for our email newsletter! You will hear about fun dino stuff, and even get a dinosaur treat on your birthday from Vester the Velociraptor! [...]
July 3, 2022Dinosaur Entertainment / InformationThe lights dimmed and the audience hushed as the last of the Jurassic Park series movies started…. If you are like my partner and hate spoilers, stop reading and go watch the movie. If you are like me and like to know what you’re getting into first, read on! BEWARE! SPOILER ALERT!! The Dinoverse Team took a trip down to Victoria, BC to see this final Dinosaur spectacle on the big screen. It was really neat to see all the main cast from both the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World series’ together in one movie. Each has their own specialty and acknowledges the others for theirs, and even Dr. Lewis Dodgson (recast by Campbell Scott) shows up. You might remember him as the “secret agent” type guy who talked Dennis Nedry into stealing the dinosaur embryos (think Barbasol…). Speaking of that Barbasol can… Jurassic World Dominion gives honor to just about everything the Jurassic Park franchise fans have come to love. All those memes, jokes, and other things that have become a part of pop culture were included in one form or another. Ian Malcolm makes a very obvious gesture of doing up a button, and yes, the Barbasol can DOES make an appearance. What about redemption arks? Oh, there are those too! Ian Malcolm gets the chance to wave a fiery stick properly, saving the day, rather than making things 10 times worse. Biosyn sanctuary ends up truly a sanctuary for the dinosaurs, but the biggest redemption was with Dr. Wu. This ambitious scientist, starting from the very first Jurassic Park movie, has been involved with all the cloning and despite everything going horribly wrong every time, he just wouldn’t give up. Finally, at the very end, he gets it right. But are there Dinosaurs? Of course there are Dinosaurs! It is a Jurassic Park movie after all! They aren’t quite scientifically accurate, but we’ve come to expect that over the years, and we forgive them because the movies have introduced the world to many new and exciting species. A couple of our favorites from this particular movie are the baby carnotaurus (give us all the carnotaurus!) and the feathered Pyroraptor, although we all chuckled when the Pyroraptor suddenly turned into a penguin… So bottom line… Was this the best of the 6 movies in the Jurassic Park franchise? Probably not, but it was still a great movie, and they did a really good job of wrapping up the two and a half decades of dinosaur films. If like our Lead Illustrator, Kara, you saw the original Jurassic Park in the theater when you were a kid, it sparked a lifelong love of these prehistoric animals. Now, as an adult, it’s more than just your love of dinosaurs that takes you to this movie, it’s nostalgia as well. The filmmakers respected that, and all in all, they gave us a movie that definitely did the series justice. Have you had a chance to check our Jurassic World: Dominion yet? We’d love to know what you thought! Let us know on Instagram, and don’t forget to sign up for our email newsletter for more dinosaur facts and fun (you’ll even get a discount for The Dinoverse shop!) [...]
June 26, 2022Dinosaur Entertainment / Information / QuestionsThe simple answer is no, a scientist could not clone a dinosaur. Well, not yet, anyway, and it’s highly unlikely that scientists could clone a dinosaur from mosquito DNA. Let’s start by talking about the parts in the movie “Jurassic Park” where they got it right. Amber does exist. Amber is a tree resin that has been fossilized and preserved due to high pressure and temperature, covered by many layers of sediment over thousands of years. Eventually, it can harden to make a gemstone that is actually quite expensive, and people do turn the gemstone into jewelry! It is possible things could get trapped in the amber; scientists have indeed found mosquitoes and biting flies preserved in amber from the time of the dinosaurs, but unfortunately, the amber only preserves the outside, the “husk”, not the soft tissue. Any tasty snack they had before getting trapped doesn’t get preserved. Lebanese amber specimen from the Early Cretaceous Period There is fun news though! Scientists have found DNA residue inside prehistoric bugs! They just weren’t found in amber, they were found in the dinosaur bones! Dr. Susie Maidment and a team of scientists from the Natural History Museum in the UK have discovered what could be red blood cells inside a dinosaur bone from the cretaceous period, and in 2020, scientists from the US and China found cartilage that possibly contains Dinosaur DNA. Unfortunately though, just because you find blood cells in dinosaur bones, doesn’t mean you have found dinosaur DNA. Cloning a dinosaur isn’t that easy; DNA is super vulnerable. It breaks down rapidly and has to be handled in very strict conditions Here’s where Jurassic Park got the dinosaur cloning science a bit wrong. In order to clone something, you need an intact, living DNA cell, and a living host of the same species. Since dinosaurs are extinct, it would be pretty hard to use one as a host. In the movie, Jurassic Park, they took fragmented DNA, figured out where in the genetic code the holes were and filled the DNA sequence with frog DNA, then used a science lab to grow the dinosaur clone. The big problem with this is, if you don’t have the full sequence of the DNA already, you don’t know where the holes are! Even if you did, it wouldn’t help to fill it with frog DNA; you would need to use birds. Or you may use crocodiles, but to clone a dinosaur you definitely would not use frogs. Compsognathus: SMNS, R. Haring. & M. Aurich Scientists are giving cloning a go though. There are a few labs that are trying to reverse-engineer extinct animals (not dinosaurs…yet!). Scientists think this could be a way to bring back species that have gone extinct during the years that humans have inhabited our planet. For dinosaurs, you could in theory take a chicken and try to give it a long tail or teeth! Really though, would it be a dinosaur, if it was reverse engineered, and not grown from actual DNA? Would that not just be a really scary chicken, rather than a dinosaur clone? Scientists have successfully created a clone of certain animals already, but that’s because they already had the DNA of the animal (again, not a dinosaur clone 😞), and they are working on reverse engineering the genetic make-up of extinct species that we already know could survive living now with care and protection. Without finding perfectly preserved, complete dinosaur DNA, the chances of cloning a real dinosaur is basically impossible. Even if it was possible to clone a dinosaur, we’ve seen how that movie ends! Like Dr. Malcolm says, “Just because you can, doesn’t mean that you should.” To get more dinosaur info and fun activities, and to hear about the latest The Dinoverse promotions, sign up for our email newsletter! You’ll even get a gift from Vester the Velociraptor on your birthday! And don’t forget to follow us on Instagram! [...]
June 19, 2022Dinosaur Entertainment / Information / Questions / UncategorizedPangaea, sometimes spelled Pangea, was a supercontinent that made up the earth that existed millions of years ago. You can often hear people refer to Pangaea as the “home of the Dinosaurs”, but it was much more than that! According to science, it has existed for more than 100 million years! The name Pangaea, Greek for “all” (pan) and “Earth” (Gaia) came from Scientist Alfred Wegener, who introduced theories about how continents drift. The Earth is roughly 4.5 billion years old, and over this time, several different supercontinents have formed and broken up because of churning and circulation in the Earth’s mantle. The study of this movement is called “Plate Tectonics”. Scientists were studying plate tectonics way back in 1912, and since then, have learned a lot. This science of plate tectonics is just one reason we know how earthquakes and tsunamis happen. Alfred Wegener When Pangaea was formed, what we now know as Africa joined up with South America, with North America using Florida to get between them, kind of like when the kids join the parents in bed in the morning. The other continents kind of hung out on either side of them. Pangaea Scientists believe that Pangea started splitting apart about 200 million years ago to form the continents and oceans we know and love today. This is why we can find similar dinosaur fossils in different areas, even if they are continents apart! Stegosaurus fossils have been found in North America, Western Europe, South India, South Africa, and China! They sure did like to get around! Fossils of small, land-based reptiles have also been found on different continents, and since they wouldn’t have been able to swim long distances, it further gives us proof that the continents we have now were once all joined together. Before and After Pangaea, the famous home of the dinosaurs, probably won’t be the last of the continents to be a supercontinent. The Earth is always changing and drifting, and over millions of years, it is possible that the continents that we have now will form another supercontinent. If humans are still around when that happens, it sure will make travel a bit easier, right? With the science of plate tectonics, it is really interesting to learn about how our earth shifts and changes! To get more dinosaur info and fun activities, and to hear about the latest The Dinoverse promotions, sign up for our email newsletter! You’ll even get a gift from Vester the Velociraptor on your birthday! And don’t forget to follow us on Instagram! [...]
June 12, 2022Dinosaur Entertainment / Information / QuestionsDinosaur museums are the best place to learn about dinosaurs. Here in Canada, we are really lucky to have many museums that centre around Dinosaurs! If you travel to Drumheller, Alberta, where many dinosaur fossils have been found, you’ll get to experience a variety of dinosaur specimens. Canada has an amazing dinosaur history for you to explore, and new dinosaur fossils are being found all the time! George: Lambeosaurus at UBC You don’t have to travel to Alberta, Canada to see dinosaurs though! Almost all of the provinces in Canada have museums with dinosaur exhibits. Not only that, there are many universities that study dinosaurs too, like the University of British Columbia. Victoria, British Columbia also has a place called “Dino Lab“, where they restore dinosaur fossils and get them ready for exhibits all around the world! Read more about Dino Lab in this blog here! Dino Lab, Victoria Usually places where a large amount of dinosaur fossils have been found have the largest museums for dinos and dinosaur artefacts. The Jurassic Morrison Formation in the Western part of the United States has provided lots of dinosaur fossils, including stegosaurus and Tyrannosaurus Rex fossils! The Field Museum in Chicago has the largest, best preserved, and most complete of all the T-Rex fossils found. She is so well known, they simply call her “Sue”. Sue: Tyrannosaurus Rex at the Field Museum in Chicago Dinosaur museums are educational and fun for the whole family. There is so much to learn about dinosaurs, and we are really lucky to have so much access to what paleontologists have found over the last hundred years. If you want to take a trip to see dinosaur fossils, I’m sure you won’t have to travel very far! Royal Tyrrell Museum Drumheller, Alberta What dinosaur museums have you visited? Tag us on Instagram in your dinosaur adventures! We would love to see them! And sign up for our email newsletter to get more fun dinosaur stuff delivered to your inbox, including a discount to The Dinoverse shop! [...]
June 5, 2022Dinosaur Art / Information / QuestionsPachycephalosaurus is an interesting Dinosaur! This herbivore was first discovered between 1859 and 1860 by Palaeontologist Ferdinand Vandiveer Haydeen in Montana, and since then, fossils of the Pachycephalosaurus have been found in South Dakota, Wyoming and Alberta. They definitely liked what is now North America! Pachycephalosaurus lived during the Late Cretaceous period, along with the T-Rex, Triceratops, and Ankylosaurus. Scientists believe that they weighed up to 900 pounds. That’s about the size of a cow, or a grizzly bear, so Pachys weren’t the biggest dinosaur of their time! Most pictures and art you see today of Pachycephalosaurus makes them look rather adorable, wearing what looks like cute little hats! Those little hats are what helped American Palaeontologist Charles W. Gilmore give them their name, which means “Thick Headed Lizard” in Greek. That thick skull was also the reason that scientists once thought Pachycephalosaurus skull caps were actually the knee caps of other dinosaurs! Scientists believe that Pachycephalosaurus might have used their skulls to butt heads with other males, kind of like modern-day bighorn sheep do with their horns. This is still up for debate though; some scientists believe that Pachycephalasaurus use their skulls, which are 30 times thicker than a human skull, to attract a mate. Regardless of how Pachycephalosaurus used their little hat heads, I think they are pretty great! They are definitely depicted in art as one of the cuter and less dangerous dinosaurs to roam the earth, and that kind of makes me love them even more! Just like the saying, “Watch out for the quiet ones”, with their five-fingered claws, long powerful legs, and three-toed clawed feet, I think that these guys would have still been a force to be reckoned with! What do you think Pachycephalosaurus used their skull caps for? Send us an email or tag us on Instagram! We would love to hear your thoughts! And don’t forget to sign up for our email newsletter! You will hear about fun dino stuff, and even get a dinosaur treat on your birthday from Vester the Velociraptor! [...]
May 29, 2022Dinosaur Art / Dinosaur Entertainment / Funny Stuff / Information / QuestionsDid you know that Dinosaur poop is as important to science as dinosaur bones? When one of our Jr Paleontologists suggested I write about dinosaur poop, or scientifically called “coprolite”, I thought, “Ew.” I had images of Elly from Jurassic Park up to her elbows in Triceratops poop! It definitely seemed like a topic a kid would be interested in! However, after doing a bit of research, I found it quite fascinating! Coprolites are the fossils of ancient poop that have been fossilized over millions of years because it’s been buried in sediment like ash, mud or sand. While the poop of dinosaurs may not seem like a topic you want to focus on, in terms of science, it turns out, it’s incredibly important! Contains Plant Remains Coprolites can tell us about what food dinosaurs ate and what life was like back then. Entomologist Emmanuel Arriaga-Varela found at least 10 water beetles and about another 20 fragments of heads and wings in one square inch of dinosaur dung from a sample of coprolite in Poland. That’s a big deal! This helps science researchers to understand the different types of organisms that were living back then, and gives us evidence of what dinosaurs ate. It also helps us understand dinosaur behavior. Contains Bones & Teeth That image of Elly I mentioned? Well, sauropods produced over a ton of dung every day, but scientists find more fossils of carnivore poop because it contains bones and teeth. Bones and teeth are rich in calcium, and helped the dinosaur poop to become fossils easier. The largest coprolite scientists have found is 17 inches long and almost 7 inches wide. That’s a big poop! Because it contains a lot of bones, scientists think that the poop probably belonged to a T-Rex or other large carnivore. Barnum, T Rex Paleontologists have also found dinosaur poop in the bones of herbivore dinosaurs. They believe this is because some herbivores didn’t have the teeth they needed to properly break down what they ate. Stones would be swallowed by the herbivores to help the digestion process. Sometimes, they would mistake coprolites for stones and swallow those! You would think dinosaur poop would be easy to find, but coprolite is very rare. Paleontologists get really excited when they find dinosaur poop because feces decay so rapidly, it didn’t often get the chance to properly become a fossil. These “trace fossils” are just as important as “body fossils” to the science of dinosaurs. It helps us to learn how dinosaurs lived, where they lived and what they ate. Dinosaur poop, or coprolite, might seem like a strange thing to study, but clearly it’s just as important as the dinosaur bones themselves. I would have never in a million years thought that dinosaur dung was of use, but these fossils from the meals of the past are very special finds for science. When dinosaur poop is found, it gives us so much information about our favourite extinct animals. I’m glad I have Jr Paleontologists to keep me informed! If you have a favourite dinosaur topic you would like to read about, connect with us on Instagram! And sign up for our email newsletter for more fun stuff about dinosaurs! You will even get a discount for The Dinoverse shop! [...]
May 22, 2022Dinosaur Art / Dinosaur Entertainment / Dinosaur Graphics / Funny Stuff / Information@dinosandcomics Reading Dinosaur comics can make any day better! There are many new dinosaur comics available, and just like most comic strips, dinosaur comics can be great entertainment, while also helping you through a rough patch. Some softer dino comics will share something we can connect with, and some are just plain fun to read. Instagram and Twitter are great places you can search for new content that features various dinosaurs like T-Rex, Brontosaurus, and more! Here are a few of the best dinosaur comics that we like to read. @dinosandcomics Dinosandcomics: This is a relatable dinosaur comic that is really great at addressing the world of mental health. The art is a simple and clean style, and the writer has also created a softer world where you can relate to the dinosaur friends and their struggles. The dinosaurs in these comics show a lot of love and compassion for each other. After you read these short comic strips featuring a T-Rex and other dinos, you will come away feeling warm and fuzzy You can go to the Dinosandcomics shop to see all the various merch with the adorable dinosaur characters based on author K and her friend James, too! @Dinotoons DinoToons: You can often find dinosaur comics that explore important topics and make us think, while also entertaining us. This is a comic by Phoenix Baldwin about a dinosaur going through an important change and addresses various LGBTQ+ topics. The content in these comics can be a great tool to help us understand ourselves and others. The design of the dinosaurs is cute and great for both kids and adults. You can read the dinotoons book that’s available now too; the best dinosaur comics to enjoy with someone who needs a smile. @fossilfoolscomic Fossil Fools Comics: This dinosaur comic is just plain fun! You’ll find the art design to be great, and the content will make you laugh. Join the dinosaurs in these short comic strips while they live their lives, just generally entertaining you! This dinosaur comic by Alexander Fridlin is a perfect read to share with other people, so they can enjoy it too. You can enjoy their patreon at fossilfoolscomic.com where you will to get to read all the new things in this dinosaur world before everyone else! @theprimitivewar Primitive War: If you like to read more graphic novel-type adult comics, this new dinosaur book is the one you need! Based on the Primitive War novel series, this dinosaur comic is about what things would have happened if dinosaurs were made, Jurassic Park style, during the Cold War. Just picture a world with the ravages of war… and also dinosaurs. Things get a bit crazy. With amazing art by Babisu Kourtis & Maja Opacic, this dinosaur comic is sure to become a favorite of those who love to read a good graphic novel about T-Rex and other dinosaurs. This is a book about dinosaurs that is best for adults and teens. You can check out their website to get your claws on this one! @smbccomics A good book of dinosaur comics is a fun way to both get entertainment and to help us think about and deal with the problems we face every day like mental health issues. A comic about dinosaurs is best shared, around the office, with friends or with kids, or more serious content for adults and older teenagers. Dinosaur comics can be a little piece of therapy, a conversation starter, or even educational. I hope you check out the dinosaur comics we featured here! If there is a comic featuring T-Rex and other dinosaurs that you like, you can let us know on Instagram, and sign up for our email newsletter to get dinosaur news, activities and general fun dinosaur stuff! You will even get a discount for The Dinoverse shop! [...]
May 15, 2022Dinosaur Entertainment / Dinosaur Food / Dinosaur Games / Dinosaur Stickers / InformationIf you read last week’s blog about Internet Ninjaneer Lisa’s Dino Lab birthday party, you’ll already know that dinosaur parties are our favourite kind of parties here at the Dinoverse! I mean, any party that involves dinosaurs is the best kind of party, don’t you think? You can incorporate dinosaur ideas into any party really, whether it’s a kids dinosaur birthday party, an adults New Year’s Eve party, or just to set a fun theme for a summer get together! There are lots of really cool decorations on the internet you can shop for to use to bring dinosaurs to your party. You can shop Etsy for tons of cute dinosaur balloons, both shaped like dinosaurs, or dinosaurs printed on regular balloons. You can also decorate with a dinosaur banner, dinosaur garland, and different hanging decor. These options can really level up your dinosaur birthday party decorations! Every dinosaur party needs cake! No matter if you are having adorable dino cupcakes, or a Jurassic sized cake, dinosaur cake and cupcake toppers are an easy way to decorate for your dinosaur party! For more complex decorations, you can use chocolate moulds to make chocolate dinosaurs or fossils to decorate with. Dinosaur sprinkles are pretty fun decorations too! Of course you’ll need entertainment at your dinosaur party! There are lots of different dinosaur crafts you can make with the kids like dinosaur eggs (check out this blog for how to make them!). Playing dinosaur games is a lot of fun at a party too (read about our favourites here), and of course a dinosaur pinata is always a hit at a dinosaur party (see what I did there?). You can buy a pinata or make one yourself at home out of a balloon and lots of newspaper and glue; the internet is full of cool tutorials! Last, but certainly not least, the dinosaur goodie bags! There are a plethora of dinosaur party favors out there. Dinosaur stickers are the perfect addition to any treat bag, as well as these vegan, chocolate dinosaur eggs from @spencerofalltrades. They even have tiny dinos inside! You can get dinosaur lollipops, little plastic dinos, dinosaur shaped crayons or wine glass charms. Everyone at your party will be really excited when they get to excavate their personal collection of dinosaur themed party bag to see the neat gifts you have filled it with! A dinosaur party is definitely the theme I love best. Kara, Lead Illustrator for The Dinoverse, had a dinosaur themed wedding, so clearly dinosaurs aren’t just for kids birthday parties! All of us at The Dinoverse love to party Jurassic Style, and would love to see your dinosaur party photos! Send us an email or tag us with your pictures on Instagram! We would love to hear all about your dinosaur party! And don’t forget to sign up for our email newsletter! You will hear about fun dino stuff, and even get a dinosaur treat on your birthday from Vester the Velociraptor! [...]
May 8, 2022Dinosaur Entertainment / Dinosaur Games / Gifts / Information / UncategorizedI want to tell you about one of the greatest birthday parties I have ever been to. It was so much fun, and super educational too! And, yes, full of dinosaurs! The funniest part of this story is that the birthday party wasn’t for a kid. Nope; it was for our Internet Ninja, Lisa! She decided that the best way to celebrate her birthday was with dinosaurs (obviously!), and so she booked us all to visit Dino Lab in Victoria, BC, Canada. When she first called them, they asked her twice if she was sure this was for an adult’s birthday; I guess back then (it was in the “before times”) it seemed unusual for adults to have a birthday party at Dino Lab. Tours, yes, birthday parties? Not so much. Oh boy was it awesome! The two lovely people who met us in the shop to get us started for our tour knew everything about dinosaurs! They took us on the coolest tour, showing us many fossils, specimens, and even a giant T-Rex skull! There was so much to learn, and they were also incredibly patient with us. We all suddenly turned into 10 year old kids, asking a million questions a minute, and wanting to see everything. There was lots to touch, hold, and take pictures with; it was very exciting. The next stop on our tour was the actual lab itself, where we all got to don lab coats and spend time with the tools, gently sanding away rock to try to expose real dinosaur fossils! This was very serious work! And also a little loud. After we had a chance to grind away for a bit (unfortunately, none of us made any great discoveries), we went on to the party room, where we were met with a really fun dinosaur cake! Lisa blew out her candles all in one go (amazing!) and we had a really great time talking about all the cool dinosaur stuff we had just seen. Our last stop before heading out was the gift shop. Everybody loves a gift shop, especially when it is full of dinosaurs! A few of us purchased stickers, some purchased art, and one person even bought an actual fossil! It was the best shopping spree ever! Fun Fact: The Dino Lab shop now has exclusive stickers from The Dinoverse that you can’t get anywhere else! We had so much fun at the Dino Lab! If you haven’t been there yet, you really should put it on your list of things to do this summer. They have all different types of programs for kids and adults, including the opportunity to go on your own real dig! And if you haven’t guessed it yet, we here at The Dinoverse think Dino Lab birthday parties are definitely the best birthday parties! To get more dinosaur info and fun activities, and to hear about the latest Dinoverse promotions, sign up for our email newsletter! You’ll even get a gift from Vester the Velociraptor on your birthday! [...]
May 1, 2022Dinosaur Art / Dinosaur Entertainment / Dinosaur Games / Funny Stuff / InformationDinosaur eggs are a fun idea for a kids birthday party! They are really easy to make, and kids love to dig their little hands into the dinosaur egg to find the hidden treasure inside! We have a few jr. palaeontologists here at The Dinoverse, so of course I had to make dinosaur eggs! I used two different diy recipes to see which one would work the best for our dinosaur egg party. Both of them use coffee grounds, salt and flour, so easy ingredients to find! The second recipe calls for sand, so I used purple craft sand. Of course dinosaurs and other little fossil treasure ideas for the kids to dig out are needed. It was super fun making these diy dinosaur eggs! If you are like me, you brewed your morning coffee and then instead of putting the grounds in the compost, you saved them. If you aren’t a coffee drinker, or don’t have a coffee drinker in the house, that’s ok! Brew the coffee a few hours before you want to get started so both the grounds and the coffee have a chance to cool down before you use them. Get out a baking tray and line it with parchment paper. Then, when it’s time to start, get your hands in there! Mix everything together! It’s quite a fun sensory experience. We used pink craft sand that I bought at the dollar store, and it gave our Dinosaur eggs a lovely pinky-purple color! No one really knows exactly what color Dinosaur eggs really were, right? One recommendation; don’t add all the liquid at once. We found that recipe 1 with the sand was REALLY hard to work with when all the water was added. We ended up adding more salt, sand, flour and coffee grounds just to be able to cover our little dinos. Recipe 2, however, needed more coffee! It was quite dry; that could have been because my grounds were a couple days old, and quite dry. Once it’s all mixed up, start forming your Dinosaur eggs! Put a little mix into your hand. Place your tiny dino treasure in the center, and then cover it with more mix. Form it a bit to make sure the dino is hidden well, and then place it on your baking tray. Once all your Dinosaur eggs are made, you have 2 options. You can bake your dinosaur eggs in the oven at 200° , or just leave them out for about a week to dry. We baked ours for about 45 min in the oven. They came out firm and holding together nicely, but still fairly soft. We decided to let them sit a few days, to see if they would dry out some more. Recipe #1: With the Sand This one turned out much softer overall and so would be the one to go for if you are making them for younger kids or toddlers. Our preschool Jr Palaeontologist had an easy time cracking into this one, and the look of awe and surprise when she saw the plastic dinosaur in the middle was awesome! The dough for this recipe was much harder to work with, and the dinosaur eggs didn’t look much like a traditional egg shape, but is that really the most important thing when you have a chance to excavate your own dinosaur? Recipe #2: With Coffee This one was much more difficult to get into. After baking for 45 min, and then drying out on the counter for a week, our Jr Palaeontologists had to use metal instruments to get into them. Thank goodness our assistants had a chisel and hammer close by! The bright side of that is it was a much more realistic experience for the older kids. They got to chip away for a bit, rather than cracking the egg right away. It took a bit more effort, and therefore the DInosaur reward was that much more egg-citing for them! This recipe was much easier to work with when making the eggs too, and a bit more egg-looking. It would be a great one for an older kids birthday party, as long as you had enough supervision for the tools (or maybe didn’t let them dry for quite as long) Overall, this was a really fun activity. All our Jr Palaeontologists had a great time, excavating their dinosaur treasure from the eggs. We will definitely be doing this for a Dinosaur birthday party in the future. I highly recommend you give it a try if you have anyone who loves dinosaurs in your world! If you want to be notified when we have more exciting dinosaur activities on our blog, follow us on Instagram! And don’t forget to sign up for our email newsletter to have Tatum, the Tyrannosaurus send you fun dinosaur stuff! You’ll even get a discount in The Dinoverse shop! [...]
April 24, 2022Dinosaur Entertainment / Information / Questions / UncategorizedYou know that intense scene in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, where the guy is clinging to the ladder under the helicopter? They fly away, barely escaping a T-Rex, just to be then eaten by the mighty Mosasaurus? You heave a sigh of relief, just get it snatched from you mid-breath. Well, although it’s a really cool scene, and even more cool that the Mosasaurus is finally getting some attention in pop culture, they don’t have all the facts quite right. Mosasurus was not as big as Jurassic World would like us to think. They were actually not much bigger than Tyrannosaurus Rex! The largest discovered specimen had a length of up to 17 metres. The largest blue whales today are around 30 metres long, so the Mosasaurus wasn’t even the largest sea creature the earth has known. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t a terrifying creature! Mosasaurus had double-hinged jaws that would allow it to swallow its prey whole. It also had a second row of teeth on the top of its mouth, used to keep a strong hold of its meal. This apex predator from the Late Cretaceous period had a skull that was designed for crushing and they would make easy meals of other sea dwellers, such as fish, sharks and even other Mosasaurs. Technically Mosasaurus isn’t a dinosaur; they were prehistoric marine reptiles similar to modern-day lizards and snakes rather than dinosaurs, but for dinosaur lovers like me, that’s just semantics! The name Mosasaur was given to this mighty aquatic beast because it was first found in Holland, by the Meuse River, “Mosa”, and “Sauros” is Greek for “Lizard”. Mosasaurus was one of the very first dinosaurs ever discovered, way back in the 1700’s, however back then they didn’t know what dinosaurs were, and thought it was a whale. It wasn’t until the 1820’s when Georges Cuvier examined it, that scientists realised that extinct species had lived on the earth before us. It’s super cool to see different dinosaurs represented in movies and pop culture, even if they aren’t exactly accurate. To be fair, what we actually know about each dino often changes with each new discovery, so who knows? Maybe one day we will find larger fossils of Mosasaurus! Regardless, this massive sea monster is one of my favourite dinosaurs, even if it’s just a little bit scary! What’s your favourite Dinosaur? Send us an email or tag us with your pictures on Instagram! We would love to hear about them! And don’t forget to sign up for our email newsletter! You will hear about fun dino stuff, and even get a dinosaur treat on your birthday from Vester the Velociraptor! [...]
April 17, 2022Dinosaur Art / Dinosaur Entertainment / Dinosaur Graphics / Funny Stuff / UncategorizedA Dinosaur gif is a great way to add a little bit of fun into everyday communication. Dinosaur gifs are often the way my friends and I communicate. When talking about my kids running away from housework, a running dinosaur gif often shows up. Similarly, a roaring T-Rex gif usually makes it into that conversation! My husband likes the Jurassic World gif of Owen Grady and the Velocirators. Jurassic World gifs are abundant in our communications. Dinosaur gifs are also a way to make your messages more interesting. I am a bit of a language nerd, and find myself fascinated by the way how we talk evolves. Dinosaur gifs are a big part of that. Did you know that gifs have been around since 1987, and that there were even “protogifs” that date back to the 19th century? They weren’t as interesting, of course. 19th century protogifs weren’t triceratops gifs. Scientists are even using dinosaur gifs to punctuate their thoughts, or other types of gifs to show examples of their work. Just like dinosaur memes, dinosaur gifs are now a part of everyday written communication. Funny dinosaur gifs make a great way to lighten any message. How can you not laugh at the pole dancing dinosaur gif? Show your enthusiasm with a happy dinosaur gif or even say “I love you” with a kissing dinosaur gif. A simple “Hi” dinosaur gif will be sure to brighten anyone’s day. Dinosaur gifs and memes belong in almost every conversation. What are your favourite dinosaur gifs? We would love to see them all! Tag us on Instagram, and don’t forget to sign up for our email newsletter to get the news, activities and general fun dinosaur stuff in your inbox! You’ll even get a discount to The Dinoverse shop! [...]
April 10, 2022Dinosaur Entertainment / Dinosaur Food / Funny Stuff / Information / Uncategorized@spencerofalltrades What could be better than Dinosaur treats? Whether it’s in cake form, chocolate, or Rice Krispies, dinosaur treats are the way to this lady’s heart! Dinosaur treats can be a tasty addition to snack time, and can make your dinosaur party food even more special. Here are a few ways that you can add those Jurassic treats to your day! A dinosaur themed birthday party for kids can be made extra special with dinosaur cakes or cupcakes! Kids will love this tasty dino dessert, and the nice thing about these cakes and cupcakes is that you can usually buy them, so that makes them really easy! @twosisterscrafting Dinosaur cookies and rice krispies treats are also a great way to go anytime. Here at The Dinoverse, we looove rice krispie treats! These dino snacks are excellent for a treat tray, or for a dinosaur birthday party. Kids love the dinosaur shape, and if you are extra fancy, sprinkles, candy and icing can be used to make this food even more decorated! You can find many recipes for Rice Krispie treats online, and if you want a great recipe for DInosaur Cookies, check out this blog post for Vester’s favorite dinosaur cookie recipe! If chocolate is your treat of choice, @spencerofalltrades has got you covered! These delicious vegan dark chocolate dino eggs even have a secret! There is a tiny dinosaur inside! Kids and adults alike will love cracking these gluten, dairy and soy free dinosaur treats open to find the hidden dino treat within! Easter egg hunts will never be the same once the kids get to crack open that Jurassic treat! @spencerofalltrades Should you want to get really fancy at the next dinosaur party for the kids, you can print off your own chocolate bar wrapper. Just download the wrapper and wrap it around a standard chocolate bar. You can even personalise it! How creative is that? The kids at your party will love to get a chocolate dinosaur treat with their own name on it! @boobeandesign No matter what dinosaur treat is your favourite, treats that feature dinosaurs can make a snack time so much more fun! A dinosaur party for kids is made extra special with some of these food ideas, and you can add a little excitement to your regular snack time too! I hope you enjoyed our suggestions for dinosaur treats, and if you have other treats featuring dinosaurs you like, send us an email or tag us with your pictures on Instagram! We would love to hear about them! And don’t forget to sign up for our email newsletter! You will hear about fun dino stuff, and even get a dinosaur treat on your birthday from Vester the Velociraptor! [...]
April 3, 2022Dinosaur Entertainment / Dinosaur Food / Funny Stuff / UncategorizedDinosaur cookies may be the most yummy and fun way to enjoy dinosaurs! Dinosaur cookies are a great way to bring young palaeontologists into the kitchen with you. Kids love to bake along, and it’s a sneaky way to teach them math. Having them help weigh out ingredients like sugar in ounces and then having to add it to the bowl can stimulate those math skills! You can add food colour to the cookie dough to make them extra special, or add cute little sugar eyes. Sprinkles or other fun cookie decorations can be added to those dino cookies. If you are a really skilled cookie baker, you can even decorate your dinosaurs with some royal icing! I’m not the fanciest cook, so I just went with some food colour and these fun little eyes for my dinosaur cookies I found at my local Bulk Barn at Halloween. Here is Vester’s favourite recipe for dinosaur cookies; I hope you enjoy it as much as my family does! Vester the Velociraptor; Event Coordinator at The Dinoverse Recipe: Ingredients: 2¼ (281g) All-Purpose Flour ½ tsp Baking Powder ¼ tsp Salt ¾ cup (170g) Unsalted Butter, softened to room temperature ¾ cup (150g) Sugar 1 Egg, at room temperature (see my tip below on how to do this!) 2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract ¼ – ½ tsp Almond Extract (optional, but it makes your cookies so good!) Food colour, sprinkles, royal icing, sugar eyes – Whatever you want to make your dinosaur cookie dreams come true! Instructions: Combine your Flour, Baking Powder, and Salt in a bowl. Set aside. In a separate bowl, cream your butter and sugar together until it is light, smooth and creamy. Make sure you scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure that any extra bits don’t get missed! Add in the egg, and Vanilla Extract (and Almond, if you’re using it), and beat until it’s well combined. This is a good time to add colour, if you are colouring the full batch. If you only want to add colour to parts of it, wait until after the flour mixture is added. Don’t forget to scrape! Add the dry ingredients to the wet, mixing on low only until everything is mixed together. Your cookie dough will be soft. If it seems like your dinosaur cookie dough will be too soft to roll, you can add another tablespoon or two of flour, but it’s supposed to be really soft. If you are only colouring some of the dough, this is when you should divide it, and knead the colour in. Be aware, this method is messy! Lightly dust 2 pieces of parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Divide the dough into 2 equal parts, and place one on each piece of parchment. Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out to a ¼” thickness. Lightly dust one of your sheets of cookie dough with flour and then cover with parchment. Place the second piece of cookie dough on top. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, or up to 24; if you can wait that long! It’s important to chill your dinosaur cookie dough. It stops it from spreading in the oven. If you cook them right away like I did the first time (I was impatient and wanted cookies!), they spread out and they all stick together. My dinosaur cookies didn’t look much like dinosaurs. Don’t skip this step! After you have been VERY PATIENT, and waited the full 2 hours (or more? Wow, you’re good!), it’s time to get baking your dinosaur cookies! Preheat the oven to 350°, and line your cookie sheets with parchment paper. Take your cookie dough out of the fridge, one at a time. Carefully run your hand under the top sheet if it is sticking a bit. Be careful; it can be delicate. This is where it starts getting fun! Get out those dinosaur cookie cutters, and go wild! Stegosaurus, T-Rex, triceratops…How many different dinosaurs will you make? If you want to add decorations that bake on (like my eyes) add them now. As you cut out your dinosaur shapes, you can re-roll the excess cookie dough to get more cookies. Use it all up, don’t waste it! Place your dinosaurs on your cookie sheet, about 3″ apart and bake for 11-12 minutes, or until lightly browned. When you run out of cookies to bake, start cutting out the other sheet of cookie dough. It’s best to leave it in the fridge until you are ready to cut and bake it. If you can, it’s even better to place the cut out (and decorated) cookies in the fridge until they are ready to go in the oven. My cookie sheet just fits in my fridge, so while one is baking, I chill the next one. Place your dinosaur cookies to cool on a wire rack for 5 min before removing them from the pan. They will be quite soft right out of the oven. Once they are fully cooled, it’s time to add any additional decorations! You can store these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days, or in the fridge for up to 10. Honestly though, will they last that long? Mine never do! Bonus tips: To warm up your egg, place it in a bowl of warm (not hot) water for 5 min. It will warm up the egg to room temperature! To soften your butter: You can remove your butter from the fridge in the morning and let it soften on the counter for a few hours. However, if you are a last minute type baker like I am, this won’t work for you. Instead, boil your kettle. While the kettle is boiling, cube your butter and place it on a small plate. Once the water has boiled, fill a glass or metal bowl that is large enough to cover the plate with the hot water and let it sit for a minute. Pour it out, dry the hot bowl, and put it upside down over the plate for 3-5 min. The heat from the bowl will soften your butter! Happy Dinosaur Cookie Baking! To get more dinosaur info and fun activities, and to hear about the latest Dinoverse promotions, sign up for our email list! You’ll even get a gift from Vester the Velociraptor on your birthday! [...]
March 27, 2022Dinosaur Entertainment / Dinosaur Games / Funny Stuff / Gifts / InformationDinosaur board games can be great fun for the whole family! There are so many options now for dinosaur board games too. You can get great games for lots of players, or, if you or your kids are more solo players, there are dinosaur board games available that you can play on your own. A dinosaur board game can help to teach kids to work together, to learn about different species of dinosaur, and can create great family memories. Here are a few of the dinosaur board games that we at The Dinoverse have found exciting and fun to play! Happy Little Dinosaurs: This dinosaur board game is our number one pick. All players get a card, and then try to survive the disasters that come their way – meteors, tar pits, even really bad haircuts. Players get points depending on how well they dodged the disaster. First player to 50 points wins! This Dinosaur board game is great for kids 8+, and also really fun for adults, and the best part? You can buy all sorts of expansion packs to make it even better! Draftosaurus: Make you own Jurassic Park with this Dinosaur board game! Players try to make the best park by placing their dinosaur meeples in pens around their park. The play is to do it in a way to get the most visitors! But not all dinosaurs can go into any pen! It’s a super fast game that will only take about 15 minutes to play, so you can play several rounds before players get board (see what I did there?). Players 8+ will enjoy this game of strategy. Dinosaur Island: Imagine if you could build your own version of Jurassic Park! That is what players get to do in Dinosaur Island. This Dinosaur board game is great for kids and adults alike. Players get to run their own park, create dinosaurs, and (hopefully) build an amazing park! Just watch out that the dinosaurs don’t start to eat the visitors! Dinosaur Tea Party: This is a tea party, but with Dinosaurs! If you have ever played “Guess Who”, you will know how to play this game quickly. It’s a game of deduction; you will ask questions like, “Are you wearing a hat”, to try to figure out who you are having tea with. It’s lots of fun for both older players and young kids too! Dino World: The best part about playing a dinosaur is getting to eat things. With this fun dinosaur card game, that’s exactly what you get to do! Players flip cards one at a time, the large dinosaurs “eat” the small dinosaurs, and whomever has eaten the most dinosaurs when the cards run out, wins! It’s fun for young kids as there isn’t really any strategy involved, just lots of fun. Of course we can not talk about dinosaur board games without mentioning dinosaur meeples. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Meeples, they are cute little figures that you can buy to add to your board games in place of the regular figures. Dinosaur Meeples are the best Meeples, cause it means ALL your board games are dinosaur board games. Now when you play Monopoly, instead of a top hat, it’s dinosaurs that land on Park Place! That is the best way to play any game, if you ask me! Before I sign off, here are a few honourable mentions. These are great dinosaur board games too, we just haven’t had the chance to try these adventures! If you have, pop on to our instagram page and let us know! We would love to hear how you liked them so we can try them too! Raptor: Great for older players and adults Sos Dino: Perfect for younger kids, ages 5+ Fossilis: For the budding palaeontologists! Tiny Epic Dinosaurs: A fun game for strategy players! Clearly dinosaur board games are the best board games. Whether you have lots of players or a single player, a dinosaur board game can make your afternoon an exciting adventure! Kids and adults alike will enjoy a good game of anything you choose when it has dinosaurs in it! I hope you enjoyed our list, and if there is something you haven’t tried yet, I encourage you to check it out! For more fun dinosaur news, activities and general dinosaur fun, sign up for our email newsletter! You’ll even get a discount for The Dinoverse shop! [...]
March 20, 2022Dinosaur Art / Dinosaur Graphics / Dinosaur StickersDinosaur wall decals are a quick and fun way to add dinosaur art to any room. Decorate your walls with a T-Rex bursting out, or create a friendly scene of a Brachiosaurus grazing amongst some flowers and leaves. Dinosaur wall stickers are easily available, simple to use, and can make your room decor come to life! There are so many available options for dinosaur wall decals; both for kids decor and adults. For the baby nursery, you can get a sweet sticker that you can use as a mural. These ones often come in watercolor designs, and are made up of cute dinosaurs, roaming free amongst flowers. Add in a dinosaur egg or two and you have the perfect dinosaur nursery! For the growing palaeontologist, a more realistic dinosaur wall decal might be the thing to decorate with! A high quality jungle scene, or a stegosaurus amongst the trees is a fun idea! A kids bedroom is the perfect place for a large dinosaur mural; perfect for a growing imagination! Dinosaur wall decals are also a perfect way to decorate a playroom. They appeal to just about every kid, so it’s a great way to add a little magic to their space. Older kids can enjoy Dinosaur wall decals too! A more realistic dinosaur, bursting out of the wall is a great art option for a teen! Or maybe the entire herd, about to come alive right in their bedroom. A fun sticker mural of dinosaur art can include other pieces of prehistoric items too, like plants and flowers. Of course adults can get in on the dinosaur wall decal fun too! A more grown up dinosaur wall decal such as a skeleton or silhouette can make a nice addition to a living room or bedroom. Really, dinosaurs add a wonderful atmosphere to any room! Dinosaur wall decals are available in many different options. You can get high quality vinyl stickers, fabric decor or even a cute growth chart for the kids room or nursery. Dinosaur wall decals are quick to use and add a beautiful decorative design to any room! If you are looking for something a little smaller than a full wall mural, check out our Art Prints! They are made from original art and are perfect for framing! And don’t forget to sign up for our email newsletter, to get info, sales, and just generally fun dinosaur stuff, right to your inbox! [...]
March 13, 2022Dinosaur Art / Dinosaur Entertainment / Dinosaur Graphics / UncategorizedDinosaur coloring pages can be a great addition to any kid’s rainy day activities. You can find lots of different, free printable dinosaur coloring pages online. Some have cute little dinos, surrounded by their favourite nature. Others are more slightly real looking; a T-Rex or triceratops roaming the countryside. We don’t actually know what dinosaurs looked like, so kids can color them any color they like; red, blue or how about yellow? Why not have a yellow dinosaur? It’s possible! I love to see what comes out of a kid’s imagination. You can also find dinosaur coloring books for kids. They often will have different animals as well as dinosaurs. A coloring book is great for taking on vacation. They keep all the pages together unlike the printable coloring pages that could get lost. Your kids can enjoy coloring pictures of stegosaurus, t-rex or triceratops, while you wait for your flight or on a long drive. Coloring can be a real help to pass time when waiting to see family at Christmas or Thanksgiving. Here at The Dinoverse, we love to color! We can always find our Lead Illustrator, Kara, with some sort of coloring in front of her! We love coloring so much that Kara has designed some dinosaur coloring pages to share with you! You can hang these coloring pages anywhere. They qualify as art after all! Coloring these pages isn’t just for kids; for real, coloring pages are for all ages! You can download these cool dinosaurs, playing amongst their favourite nature. Just click the links below to get your free dinosaur coloring pages. I hope you have as much fun coloring them as I did! To get more dinosaur info and fun activities, and to hear about the latest Dinoverse promotions, sign up for our email list! You’ll even get a gift from Vester the Velociraptor on your birthday! (Check out that amazing Dinosaur Hoodie our Jr. Paeleontologist is wearing! You can find it and other great Napping Wolf handmade products here) Brachiosaurus Parasaurolopus Quetzacoatlus Spinosaurus [...]
March 6, 2022Dinosaur Entertainment / Dinosaur Graphics / Information / QuestionsThe easy answer is dinosaurs are both reptiles and birds! Was that helpful? Probably not. Dinosaurs lived back millions of years ago in the Mesozoic Era; also called the “Age of Reptiles”. Lots of them had scaly skin, like reptiles, and they hatched from eggs, like both reptiles and birds. Even the word “Dinosaur” means “Terrible Lizard”, and lizards are a type of reptile! Fossil of “Baby Yingliang” There were two main types of Dinosaur. The Ornithischian or “bird hipped” dinosaurs like the Triceratops, and the Saurischian, or “lizard hipped” dinosaurs, like Apatosaurus. Ornithischia dinosaurs are herbivores, while Saurischian dinosaurs can be both herbivores and carnivores, like Tyrannosaurus Rex. The main reason people ask this question is because we really want dinosaurs to still be living today. Dinosaurs have fascinated people for years! Wouldn’t you like to have your own dinosaur as a pet? Well, you can; sort of. There are still a group of living dinosaurs, and that’s where the bird part comes in! Over millions of years, birds evolved from theropod dinosaurs, like Tyrannosaurus Rex! There are over 100 traits modern birds share with these ancient animals. Things like hollow bones, three forward-facing toes and a fused collarbone, often called a wishbone. How would you like a Tyrannosaurus for your Thanksgiving dinner? And of course, feathers. Since the discovery that dinosaurs are related to birds, I have seen some amazing art of Tyrannosaurus Rex drawn to look like a chicken! Not all theropods could fly; I mean, can you imagine a flying Tyrannosaurus? Some theropods didn’t have the right skeletal structure, or their feathers weren’t quite developed enough. Scientists believe that for some Theropods, the feathers were likely used for mating displays, like the way peacocks do now. Penguins are also considered dinosaurs. Fossil penguin skin has been found in the Antarctic. So we really do have avian dinosaurs still around! If you are more of a lizard person, you can still have a modern day dinosaur as a pet. Crocodiles and turtles are also closely related to our dinosaur friends! You might not be able to have a crocodile as a pet though. Another lizard type dinosaur that might make a better animal for your home, would be a snake. Snakes are loosely related to dinosaurs. Photograph: JA Chirinos/Reuters I guess the answer to the question, “Are dinosaurs reptiles or birds?” really is both! It just depends on how many millions of years you want to wait. Animals like crocodiles and turtles possibly lived millions of years ago, whereas our modern birds evolved over millions of years and are related to dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus Rex. Regardless, it’s nice to know that even without a Jurassic World type park out there, we can still see modern day dinosaurs roaming the land today! [...]
February 27, 2022Dinosaur Entertainment / Dinosaur Games / Funny Stuff / Questions / UncategorizedDo you love dinosaur jokes as much as I do? I love a good dinosaur joke, and dinosaur puns are my favorite thing ever! Start a sentence with “What do you call…” and I’m in. I think it’s a mom thing. With the help of our junior paleontologists, I have compiled a list of the best jokes and puns about dinosaurs. I hope you like them as much as we do! Q: What do you get if you cross a dinosaur with a pig? A: Jurassic Pork! Q: Why do museums exhibit old dinosaur bones? A: Because they can’t afford new ones! Q: Who makes the best prehistoric reptile clothes? A: A dino-sewer. Q: What do you call a dinosaur that never gives up? A: Try-try-try-ceratops! Q: What do you call a dinosaur car accident? A: Tyrannosaurus wreck! Q: What should you do if you find a blue Dilophosaurus? A: Try to cheer him up! Q: Why did the Tyrannosaurus Rex cross the road? A: Because the chickens hadn’t evolved yet. Q: Scientists discovered a new dinosaur that is very intelligent. A: It’s called a thesaurus. Q: Do you know how long dinosaurs lived? A: The same as short ones. Q: What would happen if a 100-ton Brachiosaurus stepped on you? A: You’d be deeply impressed. Q: What is a dinosaur’s least favorite reindeer? A: Comet! Q: What dinosaur could jump higher than a house? A: All of them. Houses can’t jump. Q: Can a crappy dinosaur joke get a laugh? A: You bet Jurassican. Q: What do you call a dinosaur ghost? A: A Scaredactyl. Q: What do you get when a dinosaur sneezes? A: Out of the way as fast as you can. Q: What’s a dinosaur’s favorite quote? A: “Jurassic times call for Jurassic measures!” Q: Why did the Archaeopteryx catch the worm? A: Because it was an early bird! Q: How do you know if there is a dinosaur in your fridge? A: The door won’t shut! Q: What do you call a dinosaur who is a noisy sleeper? A: A Tyranno-snorus! Q: What do you call a smelly dinosaur fart? A: An ex-stink-tion! Q: What do you call a T-Rex who hates losing? A: A saur loser. Q: What sport is a brontosaurus good at? A: Squash Q: Do you think anything could tricera-top these dinosaur puns? A: I dino what to tell you, but probably not. Q: What do you call a short spiky dinosaur that’s fallen down the stairs? A: Ankle-is-sore-us. Q: What do you get if you cross a T- rex with explosives? A: Dino-mite. Q: What do you call a dinosaur that asks a lot of deep questions? A: A Philosiraptor. Q: What is found in the middle of dinosaurs? A: The letter S. Q: What’s the best thing to do if you see a T-Rex? A: Hope he doesn’t see you. Q: Which dinosaur had to wear glasses? A: Tyrannosaurus specs. I hope you had a great laugh as you read our list of dinosaur jokes and puns! If we have missed any of your favorite jokes about dinosaurs, please share them with us on instagram! To get more dinosaur info and fun activities, and to hear about the latest The Dinoverse promotions, sign up for our email newsletter! You’ll even get a gift from Vester the Velociraptor on your birthday! [...]
February 20, 2022Dinosaur Entertainment / Funny Stuff / Questions / UncategorizedEver since the first Dinosaur fossils were discovered years ago, people have been fascinated by them. Both kids and adults alike are interested to learn all they can about these amazing creatures that lived millions of years ago. Thanks to palaeontologists, facts about dinosaurs are available to everyone! Here are some of our favourite fun facts about dinosaurs; this is just a little taste of all the information out there! Sir Richard Owen, a Biologist from England, coined the name “Dinosaur”. It comes from the Greek words “deinos” meaning “big and terrible” and “sauros” meaning ”lizard” , even though dinosaurs are not actually lizards. The first recorded description of a dinosaur bone discovery was back 3500 years ago, in China. The people who discovered it didn’t know about dinosaurs though, so they thought the dinosaur teeth they found belonged to a dragon! In 1923, the first dinosaur eggs were found in the Gobi Desert by Roy Chapman Andrews, and in 2015, scientists discovered a new dinosaur species in Alberta, Canada. They named it “Hellboy” because of two facts: it has stubby horns above it’s eyes that looked like the comic book character and they also had a really hard time excavating it from the rock. After millions of years stuck in rock, of course it would be hard to get out! What a fun name! One of the most famous fossil hunters was Mary Anning. She found her first dinosaur fossil, an ichthyosaur skeleton, when she was only 12 years old! Even kids can be palaeontologists! She discovered many dinosaur related artefacts in her life, but unfortunately, back then because she was a woman, nobody took her seriously. Sometimes it wasn’t fun being a woman in the 1800’s. Now, there are many lady palaeontologists, like Blaire Van Valkenburgh and Louise Leakey, who get recognized for their hard work, and when they have discovered things millions of years old. Some dinosaurs are really weird and fun looking. One dinosaur called the Pegomastax looks like a cross between a parrot and a porcupine. It has a beak with teeth that sharpened themselves against each other. Another weird dinosaur is the Suzhousaurus. This giant rat looking dinosaur had a furry body, and could be an ancestor of the giant ground sloth. These are the types of fun dinosaur facts I love! Although dinosaurs went extinct millions of years ago, you can still have a dinosaur like pet! Many animals today are part of the dinosaur family! Lizards, turtles, snakes and crocodiles all come from the dinosaur family. Deinosuchus was a massive prehistoric crocodile that weighed about eight times as much as the crocodiles you see today, and had the strongest bite of all the dinosaurs. It was even stronger than the Tyrannosaurus rex! If you or your kids want an ancestor of a Theropod dinosaur, you can get yourself a bird! Fun Fact: You can then tell your friends that you have a type of Utahraptor as a pet! Although dinosaurs went extinct millions of years ago, you can still have a dinosaur like pet! Many animals today are part of the dinosaur family! Lizards, turtles, snakes and crocodiles all come from the dinosaur family. Deinosuchus was a massive prehistoric crocodile that weighed about eight times as much as the crocodiles you see today, and had the strongest bite of all the dinosaurs. It was even stronger than the Tyrannosaurus rex! If you or your kids want an ancestor of a Theropod dinosaur, you can get yourself a bird! Fun Fact: You can then tell your friends that you have a type of Utahraptor as a pet! Unfortunately, if you or your kids have a bird, you can’t tell your friends you have a Pterodactyl. The facts are true; Pterodactyls were not actually dinosaurs. These guys were flying reptiles that lived millions of years ago too. The difference is their hip-bones. Dinosaurs belong to two groups; Ornithischia and Saurischia. Saurischia dinosaurs were carnivores, with powerful jaws and tail, and short arms. The Saurischian dinosaurs were the carnivores, the meat-eating species, like Tyrannosaurus Rex, Allosaurus, and Argentinosaurus. The Ornithischian dinosaurs were more gentle, plant eaters. Dinosaurs like Triceratops, Iguanodon, and Stegosaurus have hip bones that point backward. There are over 700 different types of dinosaurs discovered so far, and I am sure we will find more! There are so many fun facts about dinosaurs out there now because of the hard work that scientists do. Fun facts like, did you know that “Velociraptor” means “speedy thief”? If you or your kids have ever seen Jurassic World, you will understand how fitting that is! Also, the dinosaur with the longest teeth was the Tyrannosaurus Rex (8 inches!), and still to this day palaeontologists have never found a dinosaur bigger than a blue whale. In millions of years, the blue whale is still the biggest mammal ever! I love to learn about dinosaurs, and I hope you enjoyed learning these fun facts about dinosaurs too! [...]
February 13, 2022Dinosaur Entertainment / Dinosaur Games / Dinosaur Graphics / Dinosaur StickersKids love dinosaur movies. Honestly, big kids love movies about dinosaurs too, but it’s generally when you are younger that you first learn to love the dinosaur world. A kid’s imagination is prime for great things like a T-Rex having a fight with a brontosaurus, or a Troodon as a train conductor. It all seems perfectly realistic. Dinosaur movies can also have a big impact on a kid’s life. Our Lead Illustrator, Kara, remembers quite fondly the experience of going to see the highly rated Jurassic Park with her dad. It was scary, but still the best! It’s this memory that started her love of Dinosaurs, and eventually specialising in Dinosaur art! Dinosaur movies for kids have been made for many years. Now that we have services like Netflix and Amazon Prime, there is no shortage of new dino movies to take us on a journey back in time. These dinosaur movies are among our favourites. Obviously any movie with a dinosaur is a good one, but these ones in particular are the movies that rated the prime spot in our movie collection. The Land Before Time (1988): This dinosaur kids movie is overall our staff’s top pick. No matter who I talked to, everyone loves this movie. Not only is it beautifully animated, but it’s a lovely story. It’s a wonderful story about friends who make an important journey, meeting new friends along the way. There are many sequels, but the first one is definitely the best rated. You can usually find this dino movie on Amazon Prime. We’re Back! A Dinosaur Story (1993): If you want an animated dinosaur movie filled with big names, this is the dino movie for you! Produced by Steven Spielberg, it’s filled with the voices of people like John Goodman and Martin Short. Some really smart dinosaurs come to help two lonely kids in New York City, and adventures ensue. Also, trouble. It’s a lot of good hearted fun that both kids and parents will love. You can try Amazon Prime or Apple TV for this one. The Good Dinosaur (2015): Pixar is well known for its top rated animated kids movies, and this dinosaur movie is no different. Journey back in time to join a young dinosaur and his human friend as they trek to find Arlo the dinosaur’s parents. It’s heartwarming and fun, and since it’s Pixar, you are likely to find it on Disney Plus. Jurassic Park: Of course no dinosaur movie list would be complete without this one! I’m sure just about every dinosaur lover has seen at least one version; either the original 1993 version, based on the book by Michael Crichton, or the 2015 reboot of the franchise, Jurassic World. Although it might be a little too intense for younger kids, the older kids will love it! All your favorite dinosaurs will be there. And can you imagine? A theme park, full of dinosaurs? What could be more amazing? Well, as the cliche goes, “I’ve seen the end of this movie, and it doesn’t end well…” Still, the journey through this prime rated park is probably one of the best times you’ll have in a dinosaur movie! (Also, if you are a Jurassic fan, check out our Rexy and Blue stickers! I believe they actually are really good friends!) Before I pop myself a big bowl of popcorn and head to my couch for dinosaur movie night, here are our list of honourable mentions! You might want to check these dinosaur movies for kids out too! Honourable Mentions: Dinosaur Train: The Movie (2021) Walking With Dinosaurs (2013) Bob the Builder: The Big Dino Dig (2011) Dinosaur (2000) [...]
February 6, 2022Dinosaur Art / Dinosaur Graphics / Dinosaur Stickers / Funny Stuff / GiftsDinosaur stickers are a fun way to add extra fun and inspiration to your space. They can be traded, collected, and you can use them to add a personal touch to your devices. Both my phone and my laptop are covered with T-Rex, stegosaurus and other dinosaurs. You can turn your favourite dino art into stickers. Dinosaur stickers also make a great gift for both kids and adults. I have a teacher friend who will exclusively give out dino stickers to the kids in her class as rewards. Her students know they have done really well when they see a dinosaur sticker on their homework! Here are some of our favourite dino stickers, created by some of our favourite dinosaur art creators! @thedinoverse The Dinoverse carries some of the best dinosaur stickers available. They are cute, fun little dino friends, usually with their favourite flowers or gems. A really nice thing about these dinosaur stickers, is when you purchase them you have two delivery options; you can have them packaged up, perfect for gift giving, or sent to your home like stationery, which is more friendly to the environment. @thedinoverse If you are looking for a pack of dinosaur stickers, Gummydragon has got you covered! These adorable dinosaurs are also fruit – fruitasaurs. Food as inspiration for dinosaurs and dinosaur art. How fun is that? You can also buy her dino sticker characters as stuffies! Check out the full collection of fruitasarus. The Banana Brachiosaurus is my favourite. Gummydragon also has lovely rainbow dino stickers too! @gummydragon For a dino skull or skeleton type sticker, check out this holographic dinosaur sticker from Animsaurus. A little more flashy, this dinosaur sticker can give your phone a fun Jurassic touch! Animsaurus also offers a variety of other neat dinosaurs in sticker form, and they sell in a neat pack! @animsaurus I love puns, so this dinosaur sticker from Rabbitasaur is one of my favourites. T-Rex – nope – Tree-Rex! Perfect as a gift in a card for Christmas, although it’s so great you can enjoy it all year. Rabbitasaur’s other dino stickers and art are just as cute and fun. @rabbitasaur Speaking of Christmas, if you want a great gift, dinosaur stickers and dinosaur cards are perfect. You can find dino stickers with matching cards in the Dinoverse shop! They are just the Jurassic way to say, “I’m thinking of you!” Check out the birthday dinosaurs she has available also! With their bright balloons, they are just dino-mite! @thedinoverse Dinosaur stickers are a great way to add a little dino fun into your day. Decorate your phone with some dinosaur art, give a sticker as a gift, or grab an entire collection to add a personal touch to your laptop! Do you have a favourite dinosaur sticker? Tag us on facebook and instagram! We would love to see your Jurassic art! @thedinoverse [...]