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Tyrannosaurus
Genetic Sequencing Shows T. Rex and Birds Related
May 1 | National Science Foundation

Molecular analysis on a T. Rex femur revealed that the dinosaur’s closest modern-day relatives are chickens and ostriches. A similar study also linked mastodons and elephants.

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North Dakota
North Dakota Triceratops Sells for $942,797
April 28 | The Minot Daily News

A 25-foot-long, 65-million-year-old triceratops skeleton found in North Dakota was purchased by an American at a Paris fossil auction for $942,797.

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World’s Largest Living Lizard has Interesting Skull Structure
April 19 | Terra Daily

The Komodo dragon has dental characteristics similar to those of dinosaurs, in addition to similar feeding habits. Interestingly, the fearsome creature has a relatively fragile skull structure. How can it be such an efficient killing machine? Scientists found that it is a combination of the animal’s powerful muscles, razor-sharp teeth, and the particular way its bones are arranged that make it such a formidable predator.

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Fossils
Triceratops Skeleton and Other Fossils to be Auctioned in Paris
April 16 | Reuters

Christie’s is holding an auction today at which they will sell various prehistoric bones and fossils, including a 7.5 meter-long (24.6 feet) Triceratops skeleton. Since the auction of “Sue”, a Tyrannosaurus Rex sold in 1997, it is the first specimen of comparable quality to be put up for auction.

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Plesiosaur Fossil from Canadian Mine Represents New Genus
March 28 | National Geographic News

This new species, perfectly preserved in sandstone, has given scientists more detailed information than any other plesiosaur fossil to date. It has now been declared the first member of a new genus.

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Students in New Mexico Find a Triassic Fossil Mystery
March 18 | CNJ Online

Students in a Mesalands Community College paleontology class field trip found a hip bone from an unidentified Triassic period creature that lived about 200 million years ago. Although the bone has some similarities with a coelophysis, it is thought to represent a previously undiscovered early dinosaur or proto-dinosaur.

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Prehistoric Feathers Found Preserved in Amber
March 14 | National Geographic News

Paleontologists in France have been analyzing a lump of amber containing seven downy feathers. The perfectly-preserved specimens have given rise to the theory that some dinosaurs may have had downy feathers for insulation.

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Tyrannosaurus
Slideshow: Seven Deadly Dinosaurs
March 12 | MSNBC

Learn about some of the lesser-known killer dinosaurs that roamed the Earth. This illustrated slideshow describes the beasts’ hunting and dining habits.

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New Duck-Billed Dinosaur Discovered in Mexico
February 14 | MSNBC News

Researchers have found a new species of duck-billed dinosaur in the Coahuila region of Mexico. The new plant-eating hadrosaur has been named Velafrons coahuilensis.

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Dinosaur
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Pygmy Dinosaur Inhabited Bristol’s Tropical Islands
February 12 | University of Southampton

Researchers at the University of Southampton have shown that the Bristol Dinosaur, Thecodontosaurus, lived on subtropical islands around Bristol, instead of in a mainland desert as previously thought. The researchers believe that the dinosaur’s small size of two meters in length compared to mainland equivalents being ten meters might have been caused by island dwarfing.

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Birds Might Have Originated Earlier Than Thought
February 11 | University of Michigan

Researchers at the University of Michigan suspect that modern birds might have originated before the demise of dinosaurs.

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China
China’s Top Ten Science and Technology Achievements for 2007
January 23 | English People's Daily Online

Members of the Chinese Academy of Science and Chinese Academy of Engineering selected ten achievements for 2007. Three of them were related to earth science: Ultra-deep drilling rig developed, World’s largest bird-like dinosaur fossil found, and, “Chang’e-1″ successfully launched and clear moon surface images obtained.

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Uruguay
Giant Fossil Rodent Discovered in Uruguay
January 17 | BBC News

Scientists have discovered a fossilized skull of the largest rodent ever recorded in Uruguay. This rodent weighed a ton, was 3 meters long and lived between two and four million years ago.

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Dinosaur Tracks
Lots of Dinosaur Tracks Found in Washington DC Suburbs
January 13 | USA Today

Ray Stanford has an unconventional background for being one of the best dinosaur trackers on the planet. For the past 13 years he has been discovering dinosaur tracks in the Washington, DC suburbs.

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What Bugged the Dinosaurs
What Bugged the Dinosaurs?
January 5 | Princeton University Press

“What Bugged the Dinosaurs?” is a new book that proposes that insects and disease may have played a more important role in the demise of the dinosaurs. It is authored by George Poinar (Oregon State University) and Roberta Poinar (retired research scientist). It was published by Princeton University Press.

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whale swimming
Missing Link Between Whales and Four-Footed Ancestors
December 21 | National Science Foundation

Scientists have long known that whales are mammals and that their ancestors walked on land. Researchers have discovered and documented a series of fossils that reveal the evolutionary steps between land and sea.

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GEOTIMES
Geoscience Highlights for 2007
December 11 | GEOTIMES

GEOTIMES has 2007 highlights for six topics. These pages feature short stories and links to detailed articles that appeared through the year.

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dinosaur
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Discovery of the Soft Tissue Dinosaur
December 7 | Yale Daily News

There has been recent news about a mummified dinosaur - one with soft tissues preserved. This article gives some details about Tyler Lyson, the student who discovered the fossil, and tells the story from his initial sighting of it in 1999 at age 16 through the story being released through the media.

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The Geologic Wonders of Texas
Geologic Wonders of Texas
December 5 | The University of Texas at Austin

Here is an interesting site by the University of Texas at Austin. It features four locations in Texas and provides interesting content about them suitable for teachers and students. Featured are Franklin Mountains, Dinosaur Footprints, Central Texas and Galveston Island.

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dinosaur
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Dinosaur With Fossilized Soft Tissue Discovered
December 3 | BBC News

In North Dakota, fossil hunters have found a fossil of a 67 million-year-old duck-billed hadrosaur that has soft tissue preserved. Skin, muscle, tendons and other tissues are preserved in this specimen. This will provide a rare opportunity to check the accuracy of some of the previous ideas that have been inferred from skeletal information alone.

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Dinosaur Tracks
Photos: Dinosaur Ridge, Morrison, Colorado
November 23 | About.com:Geology

Andrew Alden shares some photos of sedimentary structures, dinosaur tracks, burrows, trackmarks, dinosaur bones and outcrops at his about.com Geology site.

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Dinosaurs in Their Time
New Dinosaur Exhibit at Carnegie Museum - Pittsburgh
November 16 | Carnegie Museum of Natural History

The Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh was one of the first public exhibits of dinosaur paleontology. Now, they are just four days away from reopening with a fully redone exhibit. Many of their specimens were completely remounted in ways that incorporate the most up-to-date understanding of dinosaur science.

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Futalognkosaurus dukei - Another Giant Dinosaur
October 18 | Yahoo! News

A new species of giant dinosaur has been discovered in 80 million-year-old, rocks of northern Patagonia. Futalognkosaurus dukei was a herbivorous dinosaur that reached lengths of up to 112 feet and is one of the three largest dinosaurs known. The specimen found is one of the most complete giant dinosaurs found to date.

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dinosaur tracks
Tyrannosaur Footprint Found in Montana?
October 15 | Live Science

A footprint found in Montana’s Hell Creek formation could have been made by a Tyrannosaurus rex about 65 million years ago. Based upon the shape and size of the print, researchers are confident that it was made by either Tyronnosaurus rex or by Nanotyrannus.

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dinosaur
“Missing Link” Dinosaur Discovered in Montana
October 7 | National Geographic

A new species of ceratopsian dinosaur has been discovered in Montana. It is thought to be a long sought link between the dinosaurs of Asia and those of North America.

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dinosaur-r
Ownership of a Tyrannosaurus rex Goes to Court
September 19 | KHOU.com

In 1998 a nearly complete skeleton of a juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex was excavated north of Belle Fourche, South Dakota, on leased land. Since then, ownership of the fossil has been in dispute. Was the lease valid or were the fossil hunters trespassing when they removed the fossil? Its finally going to court.

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Dinosaur Paleontology
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Uses of LIDAR in Dinosaur Paleontology
September 2 | Montana State University

Nels Peterson of Montana State University is developing methods to use LIDAR (light detection and ranging) that will produce a three dimensional computer model of dinosaur bones as they are excavated. This will provide valuable information about the animal’s resting place and perhaps some detail about how it lived or died.

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Dinosaurs USBM
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Some Dinosaurs May Have Survived The K-T Extinction
August 30 | Discover Magazine

James Fassett, geologist emeritus of the US Geological Survey has dates on a number of dinosaur fossils from New Mexico that date about one million years after the KT Extinction. Could they have survived the extinction only to die out a million years later?

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dinosaur
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Controversial Dinosaur Hunter
August 29 | Times Online

From the article: “His methods have upset numerous academics, but Larson has become the world’s most successful dealer in the bones of Tyrannosaurus rex and countless other prehistoric specimens retrieved from the great western plains of Montana, Wyoming and South Dakota. Ten years after his release from a federal prison when he fought off damaging allegations of bone-stealing, Larson is riding a new palaeontology boom.”

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dinosaur
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Dinosaurs Coexisted With Predecessors For 15+MY
July 31 | American Museum of Natural History

Paleontologists have long thought that dinosaurs coexisted with their immediate predecessors for a very short time before they replaced them as Earth’s dominant land animals. A new discovery by researchers of the American Museum of Natural History; University of California, Berkeley; and other institutions suggests that dinosaurs and their predecessors coexisted much longer than previously believed.

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dinosaur dig
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Dig Dinosaurs For A Day
July 21 | The Wyoming Dinosaur Center

The Wyoming Dinosaur Center has a program that allows anyone to join them for one day on a dinosaur dig at their Warm Springs Ranch. During that day you are introduced to the dig site, fossil stabilization, excavation, quarry mapping, and documentation. The participation fee is $150 for adults and $80 for children. If you are really good at the work you might be able to earn “Volunteer” status and participate in future digs without charge.

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Google Earth
Free High Resolution Satellite Images - Google Earth
Promotion | Geology.com
Google Earth is a free download that will allow you to view recent satellite images of Earth in 3D. Worldwide coverage. Fly over landscapes and cities, or zoom in on your house! This is the same program used by national news networks to give you great satellite images. Free download.


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