Brandneues

Extinct species

A dinosaur for your pocket

Dinosaurs and pterosaurs were true giants, that is the general opinion about the lizards of prehistoric times. The largest creature that ever lived on earth was the dinosaur Argentinosaurus. With a body length of 30 metres and weighing an incredible 70 tonnes, it surpassed the famous Tyrannosaurus rex by far. Its largest counterpart in the air was the pterosaur Quetalcoatlus. …

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The cave paintings of Andriamamelo

In the west of Madagascar, far from roads and larger cities, lies the dry forest of Beanka. Although by far not as well known as the world-famous Tsingy de Bemaraha a little further south, this area also has its own Tsingys. Malagasy Tsingy, that’s karst rock shaped like meter-high needle peaks. A complicated system of caves and gorges winds through …

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The giant sloth lemur

Just 500 or 1000 years ago – in the history of the earth, that’s just the blink of an eye – countless giant animals lived on Madagascar. Among them were the famous elephant birds, a giant tortoise, and a creature you would never expect to find in Africa: a giant sloth. Sloths, as we know them today, are only found …

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The life of elephant birds

Before the arrival of humans, Madagascar was home to animal giants that went extinct by and by with the existence of humans on the island: A giant lemur has lived in Madagascar, besides him a gigantic eagle, an oversized Fossa and of course, one of the largest birds that have ever existed on Earth. Actually, there was not only one …

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The dinosaurs of Mahajanga

In 2003, news of a dinosaur find in Madagascar went around the world: In an archaeological site about 30 km away from Mahajanga (French Majunga) in the west of the country, scientists had found the large, almost fully preserved skeleton of a flesh-eating dinosaur. Similar to the famous Tyrannosaurus rex, it was a dinosaur that walked on its feet with …

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