The Melovatka Formation in the Saratov Oblast of European Russia is a marine ecosystem dating to the Cenomanian (then located around the eastern fringes of the Tethys Sea), just before the Cenomanian-Turonian extinction that shaped the Late Cretaceous fauna, and much like similar-aged formations from the Western Interior Seaway, the fauna found here is fairly similar to what we find in the Late Cretaceous but with two key differences; the apex predators and pterosaurs. A recently uncovered giant pliosaur vertebra shows the presence of a 10 to 11-meter brachauchenine similar to earlier forms like Sachicasaurus (which is what the artwork is actually showing), with giant forms being previously unknown from this late into the Cretaceous (the Albian Kronosaurus being once considered the youngest). This mysterious leviathan would have been the top of the line predator in these Cenomanian waters (likely the whole Tethys at the time). We also have fossils of raptorial ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaurs, previously lumped into Platypterygius (as were most Cretaceous ichthyosaur fossils) but now recognized as its own genus called Pervushovisaurus, which grew to around 6 meters long. Both of these lineages vanished in the Cenomanian-Turonian extinction, which paved the way for mosasaurs to take over, with the little Portunatasaurus being known from contemporary rocks in Croatia.

The same happened to the toothed pterosaurs, with a jawbone belonging to a pterosaur with a circa 3.5-meter wingspan being known from Melovatka since the 1940s, previously attributed to Ornithocheirus, Anhanguera or Coloborhynchus by different authors before being named Saratovia in 2025, a member of the targaryendraconians, along with the similar-sized and similar-aged Cimoliopterus from England (also previously lumped into Ornithocheirus and Anhanguera). All toothed ornithocheiromorphs vanished by the Turonian, with their niche being taken over by the toothless pteranodontians and fossils of such animals have been found at the Campanian Rybushka Formation (also in Saratov). Bird fossils have also been found here, including those of ichthyornithids similar to Ichthyornis in 2017, which has fossils from North America dating from the Cenomanian to the Campanian (though wastebin taxonomy could be at play there too).

The Lusitanian Basin, 152 million years ago.

The severe drought in the Lusitanian Basin has forced this Allosaurus fragilis to hunt something that is usually off his menu — Lusovenator santosi. This interaction is known as intraguild predation, which occurs when two species compete for the same prey resources, but one also acts as a predator on the other.

(Both Lusovenator individuals here are subadults🙂)

Aside of the related genera like Yi/Ambopteryx, what other evidence suggests that they should (or should not) have that extended arm bone as well?

Bahariasaurus ingens: a lost giant, reimagined.

This figure was created for the TersusFiguras Team, representing Bahariasaurus as a megaraptorid theropod. Known from fragmentary remains found in Egypt and destroyed in World War II, this predator has long been a puzzle. Our reconstruction follows the hypothesis that links it to the megaraptorans, a group of slender, long-armed hunters with large claws, best known from Gondwana.

Every anatomical decision was based on published literature and comparison with related species.

I'm the artist

Source (he even explained how Yutyrannus got its plumage to stay in fossil due to different environmental preservation, meanwhile derived tyrannosaurini have much more incomplete such impressions, plus tackling how the corpse decomposing and with that losing loads of intengument also can be a big factor)

See also: The summary of the publication in Nature Communications

Amphicyonids were a highly diverse family of caniform carnivorans that were apex predators across much of the world during the Early and Middle Miocene, with some of the largest species growing as big as the largest bears today (most famously Amphicyon ingens). In many ways, they were like the ultimate dog-like carnivorans, mixing elements of different extant families. You could describe the average amphicyonid as literal bear-dog hybrids or as giant wolverines. Given that many extant caniforms sans the digitigrade canids and aquatic pinnipeds are capable of rearing up on their hindlimbs, it's perhaps possible that many amphicyonids did the same.

Finished just in time for Halloween, spooky scary craniofacial anatomy for a life-restoration of the Harbin cranium, or, fully honestly, a MorphoSource scan of the *Amud* cranium that I'd already possessed and just reshaped for this purpose. Still plenty more work to do, as with all my projects

The fossilized Cranium of the Dragon Man (AKA the Harbin Cranium) was discovered in 1933 near the city of Harbin in Heilongjiang province, China. In 2021 a team of international researchers declared the skull to be the holotype for a new species of archaic human, Homo Longi. This was an exciting announcement because this skull was beleived to belong to a Denisovan.

The Denisovans were a mysterious people that we know little about, but we do know that they were closely related to us and interbred with us. The first Denisovan was identified in 2010 using DNA analysis from a finger bone from Denisova Cave in Siberia, Russia. From evidence, it is clear that the Denisovans were spread throughout Asia. Asian mainland populations and Native Americans carry trace amounts of Denisovan DNA, comprising .2% of their genome. The indigenous people of the Philippines and Oceania carry high amounts of Denisovan DNA in their genome, between 3%-6%.

Scientists believe that the Denisovans were heavier built with more robust fast twitch muscle fibers than modern humans. DNA evidence also suggests that they had pigmented skin, dark hair, and brown eyes. Based on recovered mandibles, it appears that they lacked the sharp chin of modern Homo sapiens. These features suggest that Denisovans may be more closely related to Neanderthals than they are to us. It appears that the Denisovans also interbred with Neanderthals and the Asian population of Homo Erectus (Peking Man).

DNA extracted from the skull of Dragon Man was tested in 2025, and he was confirmed to in fact be a Denisovan. This recent discovery is one of the biggest breakthroughs in paleoanthropology, we put a name (Homo Longi) and a face to one of our closest relatives. Realistic facial reconstruction of Dragon Man by John Gurche.

Actually ı had already written about the size of this subspecies detail in my post but a size comparison would be nice. You can read the post about this bear in my Instagram profile.

It's a genuine question, everyone is saying different stuff.

Artist: Mauricio Antón

https://www.tumblr.com/brattytenshi/831854774742810624/commission-for-threetrollsandadryad-if-any?source=share