Author Archives: twilightbeasts

The dragon down under

Posted on October 8, 2014 by twilightbeasts

Not so long ago an enormous lizard dragged it claws through the dried, dead leaves deep in the Australian woodlands. Longer than a black cab, this was the largest lizard (so far discovered) ever to walk on land. Its teeth were around … Continue reading →

Posted in Megalania | Tagged Australia, Diprotodon, Giant kangaroo, Komodo dragon, Komodo Dragons, Lake Callabonna, Megalania, Megalania prisca, Mihirung, monitor lizard, perentie, Richard Owen, Varanidae, Varanus priscus, venom gland | 9 Comments

An adorable goofy looking giant

Posted on October 6, 2014 by twilightbeasts

There’s a legend in Australia of a shadowy creature called the bunyip which lurks at watering holes, swamps: places which are just a little removed from everyday life. It’s described as having dark smooth fur, tusks or large prominent teeth, … Continue reading →

Posted in Diprotodon | Tagged Australia, bunyip, Diprotodon optatum, Genyornis newtoni, Koala, Lake Callabonna, Marsupial, New South Wales, Pleistocene, Pliocene, Spring Creek, Thomas Henry Huxley, Wombat | 10 Comments

The giant owl and those giant claws

Posted on September 25, 2014 by twilightbeasts

When we talk of megafauna we tend to think of the wild and wonderful mammals of the Pleistocene and Pliocene. Megafauna are all the fabulous big and familiar exciting beasts, like mammoths, giant sloths and sabre-tooths, right? Wrong. We don’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Giant Cuban Owl | Tagged Cuba, Giant Cuban Owl, Ground sloth, Guanahatabey, mammoths, Megalocnus rodens, Ornimegalonyx, owl, Phorusrhacid, Sabre tooth cat, Siboney, Sierra de Sumadero, Terror Bird | 7 Comments

An elusive giant

Posted on September 20, 2014 by twilightbeasts

For thousands of years traditional Chinese medicines have used all sorts of slightly bizarre ingredients. From enigmatic creatures of the animal kingdom, to the more toxic elements of arsenic and mercury, there is little that hasn’t been pounded, grounded and … Continue reading →

Posted in Gigantopithecus | Tagged American Museum of Natural History, Dragon bones, Franz Weidenreich, Gigantopithecus, Gigantopithecus bilaspurensis, Gigantopithecus blacki, Gigantopithecus giganteus, Homo erectus, J. Gunnar Anderson, Jianshi Cave, Longgupo Cave, Peking Man, Ralph von Koenigswald, Tham Khuyen Cave | 6 Comments

A home on the range

Posted on September 11, 2014 by twilightbeasts

Imagine an igloo. Now picture it with a crash helmet poking out the front, and a medieval spiked club sticking out the back. Elevate that image on four stubby legs, convert it into bone and flesh and you have a … Continue reading →

Posted in Glyptodon | Tagged Argentina, Doedicurus, Extinction, Florentino Ameghino, Glyptodon, Glyptotherium, Ground sloth, Hunting, osteoderm, Panochthus, Pleistocene, Smilodon fatalis, Smilodon populator, Xenarthra | 13 Comments

Antique water horses

Posted on September 6, 2014 by twilightbeasts

The year 2014: An enormous 64 foot long hippopotamus makes its way slowly down the River Thames. Longer than a double decker bus, it’s big soft eyes softly peer out of the water welcoming onlookers as it slowly glides past. … Continue reading →

Posted in Hippopotamus | Tagged Cave Lion, Cretan Dwarf Hippopotamus, European Hippopotamus, Florentijn Hofman, Hippopotamus, Hippopotamus amphibius, Hippopotamus antiquus, Hippopotamus creutzburgi, Hippopotamus major, HippopoThames, Homotherium, Palaeoloxodon antiquus, Panthera spelaea, Rhinoceros, Stephanorhinus hundsheimensis, Stephanorhinus sp., Steppe Mammoths, Straight Tusked elephants, Trowelblazer | 2 Comments

The hyena that was overshadowed by a Tyrannosaurus rex

Posted on August 28, 2014 by twilightbeasts

One of the wonderful things about being part of Twilight Beasts is that we are discovering new beasts all the time. Many beasts are familiar, like mammoths and sabretooth cats. Others not so much, like the unbelievably cute Great Jerboa, … Continue reading →

Posted in Hyena | Tagged aardwolf, American cheetahs, Barnum Brown, Beringia, Borophangus diversidens, Cave hyena, Chasmaporthetes ossifragus, Dino Dan, Great Jerboa, Homotherium, Hyena, Mammoth, Oliver Perry Hay, Peccary, Pronghor, Pronghorn Antelope, Smithsonian Institution, Tyrannosaurus rex, Woolly rhinoceros | 4 Comments

Ghosts of the desert

Posted on August 26, 2014 by twilightbeasts

The sun sets over the plains of Vizcaíno Desert, Baja California península, Mexico; a vast desert watered by fog from the Pacific Ocean. A group of peninsular pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana peninsularis) stretch and lay about in the cool afternoon, … Continue reading →

Posted in Pronghorn | Tagged American cheetahs, Antilocapra americana, Antilocapra americana peninsularis, Baja California peninsula, Bighorn sheep, Bison, camel, Canis dirus, Canis lepophagus, Chasmaporthetes ossifragus, Comondú archaeological complex, Cougar, Coyote, Dire Wolf, Grey wolf, Homotherium, Horse, Megantereon, Miracinonyx sp., Mule deer, Muskoxen, Odocoileus hemionus, Ovis canadensis, Peccary, Pronghorn Antelope, Protocyon, Short-faced Bear, Sierra de San Francisco, Smilodon, Tapir, Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve, Vizcaino Desert | 8 Comments

An unexpected river horse

Posted on August 19, 2014 by twilightbeasts

In the cool breeze, beneath the shady cover of beech trees in the valley of Kirkdale, North Yorkshire, quarry workers revealed a world long forgotten. It was the summer of 1821, when shrubs and trees were being removed to excavate … Continue reading →

Posted in Hippopotamus | Tagged Acer monspessulanum, Deluge, Elephant, fruit of the cocklebur, Great Flood, Hippopotamus, Hippopotamus amphibius, Hyena, Kirkdale Caves, Mammoth, Oodes gracilis, Oreston Caves, Rhinoceros, southern European maple, Trapa natans, water chestnut, William Buckland, Woolly rhinoceros, Yealmpton | 11 Comments

The deadliest Twilight beast?

Posted on August 14, 2014 by twilightbeasts

A long time ago, 1879 to be precise, a little girl and her father were exploring a cave in Spain when she gasped in amazement “ Look, daddy! Bulls!” The images she saw for the first time in about 16,000 … Continue reading →

Posted in Bison | Tagged Altamira, Beringa, Beringia, Bison, Bison bonasus, Bison priscus, Lascaux Caves, Le Morin, Mammoth, Mastodon, Tuc d'Audoubert, Villars Cave, Wisent, Younger Dryas | 16 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