William G. Pullin

Greetings. Tiliqua rugosa, commonly known as the shingleback skink, is a short-tailed species of blue-tongued skink endemic to the island of Australia. Three of its four recognized subspecies are found in the western parts of Australia, a fourth subspecies is the only one native to eastern Australia. Tiliqua rugosa has a short, wide, stumpy tail that strongly resembles its head, a physical characteristic that serves the purpose of confusing predators. The tail also contains fat reserves, which are drawn upon during brumation in winter, during which many lizards perform a behaviour similar to hibernation except they require water every day, but can go without food. The reptile's habitat includes shrub lands, eucalyptus forests, desert grasslands, and sandy dunes. They often shelter in the bush under low foliage. Being cold-blooded, these skinks are well known to have a strong preference for sun basking in open areas, and are often seen along roadsides or other cleared areas in its r...

Greetings. Concavenator is a genus of carcharodontosaurian dinosaur that lived in what is now Eastern Europe during the Early Cretaceous, about 125 million years ago. Named and described in 2010, the genus contains a single species, Concavenator corcovatus, known from several nearly complete skeletons collected from the Las Hoyas fossil site of the La Huérguina Formation.  Concavenator corcovatus was a medium-sized carcharodontosaurian, attaining lengths as adults of up to seven meters, with weights of about 450 kilograms posited by paleontologists. The species possessed several unique physical characteristics, including two extremely tall vertebrae in front of the hips that formed a tall, narrow, pointed sail or crest on the dinosaur's back. The function of the structure is currently unknown, although, as with all other sail-backed species, spirited debates and discussions continue unabated.  Concavenator corcovatus had structures resembling quill knobs on its ulna, a physica...