“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.
The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History has a new documentary and traveling exhibition titled “Titanoboa: Monster Snake”. The largest known snake lived about 60 million years ago in what is now Colombia, weighed over one ton and grew to a length of up to 48 feet.
Jessica Ball has some photos of a recent fossil collecting trip along the shoreline of Lake Erie. They found some nice corals, trilobites and brachiopods.
“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.
“When Sifrhippus sandae, the earliest known horse, first appeared in the forests of North America more than 50 million years ago, it would not have been mistaken for a Clydesdale. It weighed in at around 12 pounds–and it was destined to get much smaller over the ensuing millennia.” Quoted from the NSF press release.
Fifty-five million years ago, Earth underwent a very rapid global warming event. About a third of mammal species responded with a significant reduction in size during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum , some by as much as one-half.
In northern China, researchers have found a fossilcoal swamp that was quickly buried and preserved by a fall of volcanic ash approximately 300 million years ago.
The deadliest mass extinction of all took a long time to kill 90 percent of Earth’s marine life–and it killed in stages–according to a newly published report.
A collection of over 300 specimens collected by Charles Darwin and his associates – then forgotten for generations has be rediscovered at the British Geological Survey.
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.
The PLoSone online journal has an article about Acamptonectes densus, an ichthyosaur that survived the Jurasic-Cretaceous extinction event and suggests that the event had little impact on ichthyosaurs.
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 in southern Italy have found teeth associated with shell beads and other ornaments that date to between 43,000 and 45,000 years ago. These are older than any other physical remains found anywhere in Europe.
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?
Measurements from a small fossil fragment housed in the Natural History Museum of London for over 100 years were used to determine that some pterosaurs had a wingspan of up to seven meters!
Some of the most spectacular Eocene fossils are found in the Green River Formation of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming where fish, insects, plants and animals were preserved in intermountain lakes while the Rocky Mountains were still growing.
“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.
The new Earth Science Week newsletter is ready. It can help you get ready for the celebration on October 9-15, 2011. It includes the topics below and more….
* Earth Science Week 2011 Coming Soon: Get Ready!
* Under a Month Left to Enter Earth Science Week Contests
* Change Education With an Earth Science Week Toolkit
* More Geoscience Resources in Spanish and English
* ‘No Child Left Inside’ Day Comes to Your Area
* Visit DC’s National Mall for National Fossil Day Event
* Women in the Geosciences Day Coming in October
* Shine a Media Spotlight on Your Great Activities
* NGWA Webinar Targets Women in Geoscience
* SMILE for Activities Online for Science Teachers
* London Event Marks Earth Science Week 2011
* How to Put Your Event on the Map – Online
“University of Pennsylvania evolutionary biologists have resolved a long-standing paleontological problem by reconciling the fossil record of species diversity with modern DNA samples.” Quoted from the University of Pennsylvania press release.
Secrets from the age of the dinosaurs are usually revealed by fossilized bones, but a University of Alberta research team has turned up a treasure trove of late Cretaceous feathers, which have been discovered trapped in tree resin.
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.
As part of Earth Science Week, the National Park Service is running art and photography contests on National Fossil Day, October 12, 2011. The contests are open to any U.S. resident. This contest emphasizes the scientific and educational values of fossils to the public.
“In research that will help address a long-running debate and apparent contradiction between short- and long-term evolutionary change, scientists have discovered that although evolution is a constant and sometimes rapid process, the changes that hit and stick tend to take a long time.” Quoted from the Oregon State University news release.
“A well-preserved fossil discovered in northeast China provides new information about the earliest ancestors of most of today’s mammal species–the placental mammals.” Quoted form the National Science Foundation press release.
“Two ancient types of harvestmen, or ‘daddy long legs,’ which skittered around forests more than 300 million years ago, are revealed in new three-dimensional virtual fossil models published today in the journal Nature Communications.” Quoted from the Imperial College London news release.
A reindeer herder discovered a well-preserved baby mammoth in the Russian Arctic. This find is similar to the baby mammoth named “Lyuba” which was found in the permafrost of the same region in 2007.
Researchers in Australia have found microscopic fossils of what are thought to be 3.4 billion-year-old anaerobic bacteria. Analysis of nearby pyrite grains show evidence of metabolism that implies that the microbes were processing sulfur.
“We can now be really confident that Mesozoic terrestrial birds weren’t all thrush-sized or crow-sized animals – giant size definitely evolved in these animals and giant forms were living in at least two distinct regions. This fits into a larger, emerging picture that Mesozoic birds were ecologically diverse, with lots of overlap between them and modern groups.” Quoted from the University of Portsmouth press release.
“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.
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.
“A painstaking examination of the first direct and detailed climate record from the continental shelves surrounding Antarctica reveals that the last remnant of Antarctic vegetation existed in a tundra landscape on the continent’s northern peninsula about 12 million years ago.” Quoted from the Rice University news release.
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.
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