Arsiniotherium - Ethiopia

The “Omo Remains” refers to a collection of bones excavated by archaeologists between 1967 and 1974. These remains are the earliest known finds of the first anatomically modern humans emerging from Africa, an event estimated as having occurred in the middle of the Paleolithic era, over 200,000 years ago.

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Arsinoitherium - Arsinoitherium was a dinosaur dating from the late Eocene and the early Oligocene epochs; 30 to 36 million years ago. It could be found in Northern Africa, a time when the region featured a tropical environment. Arsinoitherium resembles a rhinoceros in appearance, but is more closely related to the elephant. With two large horns sprouting from its head and another pair of knobby horns directly behind the larger ones, this robust animal was solidly built and presented a tough challenge to any predator.

Ankylosaurus - Alberta

The District of Alberta was creating in 1882. It had been part of the Northwest Territories and originally consisted of the southern section of present day Alberta. In 1905, Alberta was granted provincial status and was enlarged to its current size by absorbing the western portion of the District of Athabasca.

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Ankylosaurus was over 10 meters in length and featured a massive body propelled by powerful limbs. The upper body was protected by rows of spines and boney armored plating. The tail came to a tapered end and carried a heavy mass of bone on the tip. This club could be swung from side to side and deliver a stunning blow to any predator. Fossil remains of ankylosaurus were unearthed in the western regions of North America and have been dated to the Cretaceous period, over 60 million years ago.

Triceratops - South Dakota

The Dust Bowl of the 1930’s refers to a large section of prairie land subjected to severe ecological damage resulting from farmers using a deep plowing method on the thin soil. The uprooted grass holding the topsoil together was further eroded by a series of droughts and eventually blew away as massive dust storms.

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Triceratops - During the late Cretaceous period, triceratops, Greek for “three-horned face,” appeared and spread over much of North America. It was the largest and heaviest of the ceratopsians. Triceratops shared its environment with tyrannosaurus and was heavily armed with two enormous brow horns and a smaller nose horn. The estimated length of a triceratops was 8 or 9 meters and its height was about 3 meters. It became extinct through an asteroid impacting the earth during the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event.

Cryptoclidus - United Kingdom

The formation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has a complex history. The process began in 1175 with the Treaty of Windsor and reached its height in 1800 with the Act of Union. Scotland and Wales have reclaimed a new level of independence with their devolved parliamentary status.

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Plesiosauria - The genus Cryptoclidus consisted of medium sized specimens of the Plesiosauria order emerging during the Triassic period, over 200 million years ago. Cryptoclidus appeared during the late Jurassic period. It weighed 8 tonnes and grew to 8 meters in length. Despite having a bloated body, it may have been a fast and graceful swimmer feeding primarily on small soft-bodied animals. Cryptoclidus preferred the shallow oceans, but it has been suggested cryptoclidus may have heaved out of the water to breed.

Istiodactylus - Isle Of Wright

The Isle of Wright, once the center of the short-lived Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Wihtwara, is separated from the English mainland by the Solvent, a strait measuring 32 kilometers in length and a width ranging from 4 to 8 kilometers. The Hurst Spit, located on the western end of the Solvent, shortens the range to only 1.6 kilometers.

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Istiodactylus was a genus in the order of Pterosauria, an order whose named is derived from Greek and translates as “winged lizard.” Istiodactylus existed during the early Cretaceous period, about 120 million years ago. It had a wingspan of 4 to 5 meters, was heavily built, and featured a rounded snout resembling a duckbill. Despite the oddly shaped snout, the mouth was fitted with sharp teeth and allowed the animal to easily tear into any food source. A typical diet consisted mostly of fish, but istiodactylus was not shy in picking up food scraps from carrion.