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Description
(Please download the image for a closer view, as the zoom in feature does not seem to work.)

What if video game characters were dinosaurs? With this series you can find it out. On today's episode: Super Mario Bros.

Plumbasaurus malleo: (Mario Plumber Lizard)
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A stocky pachycephalosaur that lived during the very end of the Cretaceous period. Its' diet consisted mainly of red and green mushrooms, and the youngsters of the species ate many of these mushrooms each day to double their size until reaching adulthood. They also ate the feces of larger herbivores, and would often travel to the places where giant dinos buried their waste - the sewers of the Cretaceous - thus earning them the title of "plumber lizards". The remains of P. malleo were discovered both in the Mushroom Kingdom and in Brooklyn, New York, suggesting that these two places were once part of the same landmass.

Plumbasaurus weegee: (Luigi Plumber Lizard)
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A species closely related to P. malleo, but taller and lankier like most pachycephalosaurs. It shared the same habitats, and probably the same habits, as P. malleo, but was far more abundant. This find led the charismatic Septimus, the mysterious leader of the notorious Cult of Weegee, to declare the P. weegee a sacred animal and an incarnation of the god Weegee. Furthermore, Septimus claimed that the reason P. weegee was more common than P. malleo is that this animal, like the god himself, could turn other dinosaurs into weegees by staring into their eyes, thus expanding its' population exponentially. But of course, such a feat is biologically impossible... Right?

Innoxiotyrannus flagellolingua: (Whip-tongued Innocent Tyrant)
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An unsung relative of Tyrannosaurus rex, I. flagellolingua was much smaller than its' famous cousin - about the size of a horse at most - and was an omnivore, using its lashing tongue to catch fruit and small animals and deliver them into its' waiting jaws. Its' favorite prey are tortoises, which ironically are the Plumbasaurs' greatest enemies due to competing on the same food resources. It has been speculated that the Plumbasaur populations centered around the the Innoxiotyrannus' territories, and perhaps even tamed the beasts.

Koopasaurus testudineus: (Tortoise-shelled Koopa Lizard)
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Named after the Kappa, a turtle-like creature from Japanese mythology, this giant ankylosaur had a spiky armor, like a snapping turtle's shell. Its' remains were discovered in regions which were low on Plumbasaurus fossils and high on tortoise fossils, leading several biologists to speculate that the Koopasaurs' bad temper had driven the Plumbasaurs away, and that it may have had a symbiotic relationship with the tortoises, though of which nature is yet unclear. Unlike other ankylosaurs, its' belly was not unprotected but rather covered in bony armor, making this herbivore nearly invincible.

Rhincodonorisaurus purpureus: (Purple Whale Shark-mouthed Lizard)
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This theropod, unlike any other known land animal, had a gaping, filtered mouth that resembled that of a whale shark. As such a mouth was extremely inefficient for hunting, the animal may have used it to filter insects, birds and small pterosaurs from the air, or fish, krill and shrimp out of the water. Strangely enough, this animal also had no cloaca, leaving the mouth as the sole orifice for eating, egg-laying, storage of reproductive organs, and excreting of waste - an evolutionary inconvenience which may have led to its' demise.

Next time: Minecraft!

Description
(Please download the image for a closer view, as the zoom in feature does not seem to work.)

What if video game characters were dinosaurs? With this series you can find it out. On today's episode: Super Mario Bros.

Plumbasaurus malleo: (Mario Plumber Lizard)
----------------------------
A stocky pachycephalosaur that lived during the very end of the Cretaceous period. Its' diet consisted mainly of red and green mushrooms, and the youngsters of the species ate many of these mushrooms each day to double their size until reaching adulthood. They also ate the feces of larger herbivores, and would often travel to the places where giant dinos buried their waste - the sewers of the Cretaceous - thus earning them the title of "plumber lizards". The remains of P. malleo were discovered both in the Mushroom Kingdom and in Brooklyn, New York, suggesting that these two places were once part of the same landmass.

Plumbasaurus weegee: (Luigi Plumber Lizard)
----------------------------
A species closely related to P. malleo, but taller and lankier like most pachycephalosaurs. It shared the same habitats, and probably the same habits, as P. malleo, but was far more abundant. This find led the charismatic Septimus, the mysterious leader of the notorious Cult of Weegee, to declare the P. weegee a sacred animal and an incarnation of the god Weegee. Furthermore, Septimus claimed that the reason P. weegee was more common than P. malleo is that this animal, like the god himself, could turn other dinosaurs into weegees by staring into their eyes, thus expanding its' population exponentially. But of course, such a feat is biologically impossible... Right?

Innoxiotyrannus flagellolingua: (Whip-tongued Innocent Tyrant)
----------------------------
An unsung relative of Tyrannosaurus rex, I. flagellolingua was much smaller than its' famous cousin - about the size of a horse at most - and was an omnivore, using its lashing tongue to catch fruit and small animals and deliver them into its' waiting jaws. Its' favorite prey are tortoises, which ironically are the Plumbasaurs' greatest enemies due to competing on the same food resources. It has been speculated that the Plumbasaur populations centered around the the Innoxiotyrannus' territories, and perhaps even tamed the beasts.

Koopasaurus testudineus: (Tortoise-shelled Koopa Lizard)
----------------------------
Named after the Kappa, a turtle-like creature from Japanese mythology, this giant ankylosaur had a spiky armor, like a snapping turtle's shell. Its' remains were discovered in regions which were low on Plumbasaurus fossils and high on tortoise fossils, leading several biologists to speculate that the Koopasaurs' bad temper had driven the Plumbasaurs away, and that it may have had a symbiotic relationship with the tortoises, though of which nature is yet unclear. Unlike other ankylosaurs, its' belly was not unprotected but rather covered in bony armor, making this herbivore nearly invincible.

Rhincodonorisaurus purpureus: (Purple Whale Shark-mouthed Lizard)
---------------------------------------
This theropod, unlike any other known land animal, had a gaping, filtered mouth that resembled that of a whale shark. As such a mouth was extremely inefficient for hunting, the animal may have used it to filter insects, birds and small pterosaurs from the air, or fish, krill and shrimp out of the water. Strangely enough, this animal also had no cloaca, leaving the mouth as the sole orifice for eating, egg-laying, storage of reproductive organs, and excreting of waste - an evolutionary inconvenience which may have led to its' demise.

Next time: Minecraft!