Author Archives: twilightbeasts

Just like the weather

Posted on February 18, 2015 by twilightbeasts

North America was a very different place during the Pleistocene. There were no skyscrapers, no highways, no concrete structures at all. Instead the landscape was wild, with grasses and white spruce forests dominating. This rich environment was filled with incredible creatures, including, … Continue reading →

Posted in American Lion, Short Faced Bear | Tagged American lion, Bison, cheetah, pronghorn, sabre-tooth cat, Short-faced Bear, Toxodon | 8 Comments

Down the rabbit hole

Posted on February 12, 2015 by twilightbeasts

“You’ve got no right to be growing here” said the Dormouse to Alice during her sojourn in Wonderland. “Don’t talk nonsense” Alice replied to the tiny, dozy rodent “You know you’re growing too”. To which the Dormouse retorted “Yes, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Giant Maltese Dormice | Tagged Alice in Wonderland, Andrew Leith Adams, Diprotodon, dormouse, Elephas mnaidriensis, FRAGSUS project, Gh’ar Dalam, Giant Maltese Dormouse, Glirideae, insular gigantism, Leithia cartei, Leithia melitensis, Mammuthus creticus, Megatherium, Messinian Salinity Crisis, Plantago lanceleota, Plantain, Richard Lydekker, Rumex, Short-faced Bear | 8 Comments

A big ass kangaroo

Posted on February 5, 2015 by twilightbeasts

Marsupials are cool mammals. The youngsters are born very, very early. So early in fact they are the size of a jelly bean. These pink wrinkly little joeys develop for several months outside of the womb protected inside a nice … Continue reading →

Posted in Giant Short-Faced Kangaroo | Tagged Antilopine Kangaroo, Brachycephalic, Darling Downs, Didelphidae, Diprotodon optatum, Dirty Dancing, Dolichocephalic, Dromiciops gliroides, Eastern Grey Kangaroo, Giant Short-Faced Kangaroo, Kangaroo, Koala, Lake Menindee, Macropodidae, Macropus antilopinus, Macropus fuliginosus, Macropus giganteus, Macropus rufus, Marsupial, Marsupial Lion, Megalania, monito del monte, Nullarbor Caves, Opossum, Pangaea, Patrick Swayze, Phascolarctos cinereus, Procoptodon goliah, Queensland, Red Kangaroo, Richard Owen, Sthenurinae, Thylacoleo carnifex, tree-kangaroos, Vombatidae, wallabies, Western Grey Kangaroo, Wombat | 8 Comments

The gentle giant

Posted on January 30, 2015 by twilightbeasts

I blame Belfast Zoo for my lemur addiction. It’s a rather super place with a remarkable success rate in breeding rare species. If you visit, you’ll find that part of the tour allows you to walk through a beautiful large … Continue reading →

Posted in Giant Lemur | Tagged Ampasambazimba, Antoine Fontoynont, Archaeoindris fontoynontii, Babakotia, Belfast Zoo, Charles Lamberton, Cheirogaleidae, Daubentoniidae, giant lemur, Herbert Standing, Lemuridae, Lepilemuridae, Palaeopropithecidae, Paleopropithecus, tretretre | 4 Comments

Joseph Leidy’s atrocious baby

Posted on January 22, 2015 by twilightbeasts

Talk about the American lion today and most people will think you mean the cougar (Puma concolor), a beautiful, lithe predator sadly extinct from most of the Eastern United States, but still doing well in the west, and in … Continue reading →

Posted in American Lion | Tagged American lion, Cave Lion, G. G. Simpson, jaguar, Joseph Leidy, Natural Trap Cave, Pleistocene, puma, Rancho la Brea, Sangamon, Smilodon fatalis | 15 Comments

A Very English Panda

Posted on January 14, 2015 by twilightbeasts

I was always rather glad that the delightful cartoon Kung Fu Panda gave suitable publicity to the Red Panda. Veteran actor Dustin Hoffman voiced the feisty little martial arts maestro of the film and I know from my own daughter … Continue reading →

Posted in Red Panda | Tagged Ailuridae, Ailurus fulgens, Arundinaria gigantea, Dinoflagellates, English Red Panda, Foraminifera, Kung Fu Panda, Matuyama event, Musteloidea, Parailurus, Parailurus anglicus, Parailurus hungaricus, Pliocene, Poaceae, Pristinailurus bristoli, Puma pardoides, Red Crag, Red Panda, Richard Owen, William Boyd Dawkins | 7 Comments

Paddington’s dangerous cousin

Posted on January 8, 2015 by twilightbeasts

North and South America were the last continents to be conquered by humans. We have been in Africa since we first evolved, Europe and Asia for over a million years, in Australia for about 60,000 years, but in the Americas … Continue reading →

Posted in Short Faced Bear | Tagged Arctodus simus, Arctotherium, Beringia, Big Bear Cave, Bison, Brown Bear, Caribou, Cave Lion, Clovis culture, DNA, Florida Cave Bear, Horse, Mammoth, Ozark Skeleton, Pararctotherium, Polar Bear, Rangifer tarandus, Riverbluff Cave, Scimitar Cat, Short-faced Bear, Speckled Bear, Tremarctinae, Tremarctos floridanus, Tremarctos ornatus, Ursus maritimus | 102 Comments

The bizarre elongated llama

Posted on January 2, 2015 by twilightbeasts

In the Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy, landscape manufacturer Slartibartfast likes to take elements of his favourite geological features and pop them together to make something extra special – allegedly how Scandinavia came about! On finding out about Macrauchenia, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Macrauchenia | Tagged Bahia, Camelidae, Charles Darwin, Great American Interchange, Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy, HMS Beagle, Isthmus of Panama, Macrauchenia, Macrauchenia patachonica, Mastodon, Monte Verde, Phorusrhacidae, Richard Owen, Ruminantia, Terror-Birds | 12 Comments

2014: A review of the Beasts

Posted on December 31, 2014 by twilightbeasts

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog. It’s been a busy eight months of beasts! Thank you all for reading and enjoying the posts and to our wonderful gust bloggers too (one of which … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

T’was the night before Christmas

Posted on December 24, 2014 by twilightbeasts

Head held down, the reindeer forced itself forwards. A strong, icy wind blasted against it’s thick hide. Straining to hear in the howling storm, there was no sign of the herd. Some moments earlier it had become separated from the group. Something had startled … Continue reading →

Posted in Reindeer | Tagged Alces alces, Arctic hare, Arctic lemming, Capreolus capreolus, Caribou, Cave Lion, Cervus elaphus, Clement Moores, Cueva de las Monedas, Dama dama, Devon, Elk, Fallow Deer, Father Christmas, Giant Deer, Horse, Hyena, Irish Elk, Kents Cavern, Lascaux Caves, Last Glacial Maximum, leopard, Mammoth, Mammoth Steppe, Megaloceros giganteus, Montastruc, musk ox, Plymouth, Rangifer tarandus, reindeer, Roe Deer, Rudolf, Sabre tooth cat, Santa, Wolf, Woolly rhinoceros | 10 Comments

	The most (and least)… on A very brief introduction to…
	The most (and least)… on The Nipple Tooth
	The most (and least)… on The burrowers
	The most (and least)… on The Stuff Of Night-Mares
	The most (and least)… on The beasts within

	The most (and least)… on A very brief introduction to…
	The most (and least)… on The Nipple Tooth
	The most (and least)… on The burrowers
	The most (and least)… on The Stuff Of Night-Mares
	The most (and least)… on The beasts within