Every year, hundreds of new dinosaurs, prehistoric marine reptiles and fishes are discovered, and among them are always a few really weird or beautiful species. 2013’s list includes a giant hedgehog, the oldest big cat species, a toothed platypus, dinosaurs, prehistoric fishes and birds.
11. Albertadromeus syntarsus, a small plant-eating dinosaur from the Cretaceous of Canada:
Life reconstruction of Albertadromeus syntarsus (Julius T. Csotonyi)
Albertadromeus syntarsus lived in what is now southern Alberta in the Late Cretaceous, about 77 million years ago.
This creature was about 5 feet (1.6 m) long and weighed 30 lbs (16 kg), comparable to a large turkey.
12. Concavispina biseridens, a species of thalattosaur from the Triassic of China:
Reconstruction of a thalattosaur (Nobu Tamura / CC BY 3.0)
Thalattosaurs were a group of prehistoric marine reptiles that lived during the mid and late Triassic period in North America and Eurasia. They resembled large, up to 13 feet (4 m) in length, aquatic lizards with long, flexible bodies and short limbs.
Reconstruction of Acrotholus audeti (Julius Csotonyi)
Acrotholus audeti was 6 feet (1.8 m) long and weighed about 40 kg. It lived about 85 million years ago in what is now Alberta, Canada.
This dinosaur walked on two legs and had a greatly thickened, domed skull above its eyes, which was used for display to other members of its species, and may have also been used in head-butting contests.
14. Chasmaporthetes gangsriensis, a species of cursorial hyena from the middle Pliocene of Tibet:
Life reconstruction of a pair of Chasmaporthetes gangsriensis. Image credit: Julie Selan.
Chasmaporthetes gangsriensis lived in what is now Tibetan Plateau during the middle Pliocene, 4.9-4.1 million years ago.
15. Acheroraptor temertyorum, a species of raptor from the Cretaceous of Montana:
This is an artist’s impression of the newly discovered Acheroraptor temertyorum, which lived at the same time as Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops. Image credit: Julius Csotonyi.
Acheroraptor temertyorum was a relatively large, carnivorous, two-legged raptor. It measured about 3 m in length and weighed in at about 40 kg. It had a long-snouted skull, dagger-like ridged teeth and was likely covered in feathers.
This raptor lived in western North America about 66 million years ago, at the same time as the giant Tyrannosaurus rex and the herbivorous Triceratops.
Niassodon mfumukasi. Image credit: Fernando Correia, dbio / UAveiro.
Niassodon mfumukasi lived in what is now modern Mozambique during the Late Permian period, about 256 million years ago.
17. Obdurodon tharalkooschild, a giant, toothed platypus from the Miocene of Australia:
This is an artist’s reconstruction of Obdurodon tharalkooschild. The inset shows its first lower molar. Image credit: Peter Schouten.
Unlike the living species of platypus, Obdurodon tharalkooschild had fully functional teeth that may have been used to kill and consume a wide range of animals that lived alongside it in ancient pools and lakes.
Based on the size of its tooth, it is estimated that Obdurodon tharalkooschild would have been twice the size of the modern platypus, around 3.3 feet (1 m) long.
18. Neoparadoxia cecilialina, a marine hippopotamus-like mammal from the Miocene of California:
This artwork shows a juvenile Neoparadoxia cecilialina in swimming posture. Image credit: Doyle V. Trankina.
Neoparadoxia cecilialina lived in what is now California about 10.5 million years ago. It belongs to Desmostylia, an extinct order of marine mammals whose closest living relatives are elephants, sea cows and manatees. Desmostylians were large-bodied herbivores with enhanced adaptations for life in water and bulk aquatic feeding.
19. Entelognathus primordialis, a fish from the Silurian of China:
Life restoration of Entelognathus primordialis. Image credit: © Brian Choo, aka Gogosardina, gogosardina.deviantart.com.
Entelognathus primordialis lived in what is now China about 419 million years ago, during the Late Silurian period. It was a 20-cm-long placoderm – an extinct class of armor-plated fishes, the first known animals to evolve true jaws.
20. High Arctic camel, a giant camel from the middle Pliocene of Canada:
Illustration of the High Arctic camel on Ellesmere Island during the Pliocene warm period, about 3.5 million years ago (© Julius Csotonyi)
The High Arctic camel lived in what is now Canada about 3.5 million years ago.
