“Conventional wisdom holds that during the Mesozoic Era, mammals were small creatures that held on at life’s edges. But at least one mammal group, rodent-like creatures called multituberculates, actually flourished during the last 20 million years of the dinosaurs’ reign and survived their extinction 66 million years ago.” Quoted from the University of Washington press release.
“A pigeon-sized, four-winged dinosaur known as Microraptor had black iridescent feathers when it roamed the Earth 130 million years ago, according to new research led by a team of American and Chinese scientists that includes Museum researchers. The dinosaur’s fossilized plumage is the earliest record of iridescent feather color.” Quoted from the National Science Foundation research announcement.
The Smithsonian Blog has an article that reviews some of the important dinosaur discoveries of 2011. Check it out for new information on dinosaur growth, dinosaur senses, new species and more.
An post on the Smithsonian blog titled “Creating the Age of Reptiles” explores Rudolph Zallingers “Age of Reptiles” painting and its influence on dinosaur paleontology.
Four-year-old paleontoligist, Stella Hatton was not impressed with the accuracy of dinosaur toys at her local toy store. The Canadian Museum of Nature liked her critique of the toy so much that they sent her a correct triceratops model.
This is a great time to introduce kids to earth science with age-appropriate books. The geology.com store has children’s books on topics that include: dinosaurs, rocks, minerals, fossils, gemstones, volcanoes and more.
Based upon the proportions of two vertebrae and a femur of Alamosaurus sanjuanensis found in New Mexico, researchers believe that the bones are from the largest dinosaur ever found in North America.
Researchers from the Dallas Museum of Nature and Science have described a new species of horned dinosaur, Pachyrhinosaurus perotorum, recovered from the Prince Creek Formation of Alaska’s North Slope. This article at ArtDaily had a link to the formal paper at the bottom of the page.
Oxygen isotope levels in chronological layers of Camarasaurus teeth reveal that the dinosaur may have seasonally migrated great distances – at least 200 miles!
Smithsonian.com celebrated Halloween with an article titled: “Cinema’s Spookiest Dinosaur Scenes” that lists and describes the top five dinosaur scenes from the movies. Can you guess which scene earned position #1?
“Geographers first noticed the circular feature on the landscape, and a 1922 geologic expedition confirmed the origin of the depression. Several decades later, paleontologists made another find at Aniakchak: Dinosaurs once lived in the area, and they left behind some of their fossilized tracks.” Quoted from the Earth Observatory image release.
“The track site, found in southwest Arkansas, covers an area of about two football fields and contains the fossilized tracks of several species.” Quoted from the University of Arkansas news release.
The SciNEWS website has a new collection of resources that guide teachers in preparing learning activities for students that feature new research findings about some of the oldest-know feathers. These are based in part on an assemblage of Late Cretaceous dinosaur and bird feathers discovered in Canadian amber.
“Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine with help from an amateur fossil hunter in College Park, Maryland, have described the fossil of an armored dinosaur hatchling.” Quoted from John Hopkins news release.
“Observations from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer mission indicate the family of asteroids some believed was responsible for the demise of the dinosaurs is not likely the culprit.” Quoted from the NASA press release.
After years of negotiations the National Park Service has secured 26,000 acres of largely untouched private land that scientist are excited to explore.
MSNBC reports that researchers from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have identified an armored dinosaur hatchling that was discovered in College Park, Maryland 14 years ago.
“Paleontologists have discovered a group of more than 20 polar dinosaur tracks on the coast of Victoria, Australia, offering a rare glimpse into animal behavior during the last period of pronounced global warming, about 105 million years ago.” Quoted from the Emory University news release.
“Dog-sized dinosaurs that lived near the South Pole, sometimes in the dark for months at a time, had bone tissue very similar to dinosaurs that lived everywhere on the planet, according to a doctoral candidate at Montana State University.” Quoted from the Montana State University news release.
Quick excavations were done to recover a fossil thalattosaur that was only exposed during low tide at certain times of the year. The University of Alaska Museum of the North is now preparing the marine reptile for study.
Is Archaeopteryx the oldest bird? Analysis of the 155 million-year-old, chicken-sized Xiaotingia zhengi, found in China’s Liaoning Province seems to place Archaeopteryx in a different evolutionary line. Archaeopteryx, a 150 million-year-old fossil found in Germany in 1861, is considered by many paleontologists to be the most primitive bird known.
“Given the number and size of their teeth, the researchers believe these carnivorous crocs fed on animals of the same 15- to 20-foot size range – that is dinosaurs and fellow crocs from the region.” Quoted from the McGill University press release.
Here is a webpage that lists a number of impressive accomplishments by the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. Just to shout out a few, they: discovered 16 elements, identified good and bad cholesterol, confirmed the Big Bang, attributed the dinosaur extinction to an asteroid impact and determined the carbon path through photosynthesis. Nice work!
“A team of scientists has discovered the youngest dinosaur preserved in the fossil record before the catastrophic meteor impact 65 million years ago.” Quoted from the Yale University news release.
Here is a short video about Jimbo, a specimen of Supersaurus vivianae and the longest dinosaur found in Wyoming and possibly the fourth longest dinosaur found in the world.
“Human thigh bones have tiny holes – known as the ‘nutrient foramen’ – on the shaft that supply blood to living bone cells inside. New research has shown that the size of those holes is related to the maximum rate that a person can be active during aerobic exercise. Professor Seymour has used this principle to evaluate the activity levels of dinosaurs.” Quoted from the University of Adelaide news release.
“Researchers surveyed the heads of a large number of modern animals as well as one of the world’s best dinosaurfossils, the Stegoceras specimen from the University of Alberta. They found that the bony anatomy of some pachycephalosaur domes are better at protecting the brain than in any modern head-butter.” Quoted from the University of Calgary news release.
Callan Bentley found some interesting features that might be sauropod footprints while visiting the Two Sisters dinosaur dig in the Jurassic Morrison Formation of Colorado.
Paleontologists at the University of Portsmouth are investigating a fossil of a tiny dinosaur that lived during the Lower Cretaceous period and may have weighed as little as seven ounces.
A nearly complete skeleton of a juvenile Tyrannosaurs bataar was discovered in the western Gobi Desert of Mongolia. The fossil is revealing new information about the lifestyle of juvenile Tyrannosaurs.
“The movie “Jurassic Park” got one thing right: Those velociraptors hunted by night while the big plant-eaters browsed around the clock, according to a new study of the eyes of fossil animals.” Quoted from the UCDavis press release.
By reconstructing the family tree of lice, a louse taxonomist found that theropod dinosaurs, the ancestors of birds, might have been their first hosts. Lice have such great adaptation that when their hosts evolve so will the lice.
A Dinosaurfossil discovered in New Mexico has a short snout and over-sized teeth. These are characteristics of a predatory dinosaur which is uncommon for such an early point in history. The discovery also shows that dinosaurs made it into the Northern Hemisphere when Pangea existed.
The longest-known stretch of dinosaur footprints is located on the Dampier Peninsula of Australia. Chevron, Shell, BP and other companies want to develop a natural gas port that will be the first major development on the 80 kilometer footprint area.
A newly-discovered relative of Tyrannosaurus Rex is described in an article on the IOL website. Zhuchengtyrannus magnus was discovered in China and is one of the largest carnivorous dinosaurs ever found.
The newly-discovered dinosaur species Brontomerus mcintoshi had a hip bone much larger than those seen in other sauropods. This indicates that the Early Cretaceous creature could have delivered a powerful kick. This article includes a short video.
Most theropods had three fingers on each hand, however a dinosaur found in northeastern China, Linhenykus monodactylus, had only one finger which might have been used to probe termite mounds.
Was Tyrannosaurus rex a hunter or a scavenger. That debate has been going on for a long time. Now scientists at the Zoological Society of London have a computer model that indicateds Tyrannosaurus rex was a hunter.
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