Current date/time is Fri Mar 29, 2024 12:05 am
Smithsonian - Fragmentary clue reveals Australia's first ceratosaur (blog)
Once again, Aussieland pulls another giant theropod out of nowhere!
Decades ago, scientists explained that a fossilized pregnant ichthyosaur exploded after dying. Today, paleotaphonomists revisit the exploded mother in a new light.
Explanation of the decades-old theory of explosion, and why it doesn't apply here:
Wired Science - Boom goes the ichthyosaur? (press release)
The new theory:
LiveScience - Ancient ichthyosaur mother did not explode, scientists say (press release)
Quaternary Extinction Event An amazing study from the field of paleomycology (the study of prehistoric fungus) reveals that Tasmanian aboriginees hunted megafaunal herbivores to extinction.
LiveScience - Human invasion ended reign of Australia's "Giants" (press release)
Crocodylomorpha: Goniopholididae Scientists digging in Dorset where excavations have gone on now for 200 years have done it again; this time it's a new species of crocodilian they've named after Rudyard Kipling, author of the Jungle Book.
Daily Mail - When dinosaurs ruled Dorset: New species of 130-million-year-old crocodile would have splashed in tropical lagoon near Swanage (press release)
Actinistia: Rebellatricidae, fam. nov. 2012 Here's a coelacanth that took a turn in lifestyle and decided to imitate the sharks!
Newswise - An ancient killer coelacanth from Canada (press release)
Curnoe's recent find spawns a question: What is it that makes us Homo sapiens? Darren Curnoe's recent discovery of a new form of human makes him think a little harder about whether to call it Homo sapiens or something else.
Australasian Science - Defining ‘human’ – new fossils provide more questions than answers (blog)
Paleoanthropologists have discovered a population of humans that's distinctively different from the ones that lived in that part of the world during that period of time.
Curnoe D, Xueping J, Herries AIR, Kanning B, Taçon PSC, et al. (2012) Human remains from the Pleistocene-Holocene transition of southwest China suggest a complex evolutionary history for East Asians. PLoS ONE 7(3): e31918. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0031918
Sauropodomorpha: Sauropoda Some swivel-chair paleontologists aren't quite the experts they think they are. Recently, one of them actually got their opinion published by journalists all over the world.
SV-POW! - Did sauropods support their weight by living in vast shallow lakes? (blog)
Sauropodomorpha: Sauropoda A primitive Cretaceous titanosaur of Spain has been redated using carbon dating, and scientists have discovered it to have been about 15 million years younger than thought.
UPI - New age is confirmed for Spanish dinosaur (press release)
Crocodylomorpha: Crocodilia A few weeks ago, we heard that Tyrannosaurus sported the most powerful bite of any land animal. Dunkleosteus sported the most powerful bite in all history.
Time for Rex and the bone-headed fish to move over. The king of all bite force and his royal family want to reclaim their glory. Enter Crocodilians, unquestionably the most powerful biters ever to live on the planet. Deinosuchus wasn't included in the study, but the analyses of living crocodilians leads the researchers to believe that Deinosuchus was obviously the most powerful biter ever.
Erickson...
Paleontologists have discovered the earliest known evidence of paleoindian hunting in Ohio-- a scarred femur from a ground sloth.
CMNH- Research reveals first evidence of hunting by prehistoric Ohioans (press release with photos)
Theropoda: Tyrannosauroidea The People's Republic of China has yielded one of our most anticipated discoveries-- an adult tyrannosaur that answers the question of whether feathers appeared on the larger adult theropods. Perhaps we'll find out about Tyrannosaurus soon enough as well?
AP - A warm and fuzzy Tyrannosaurus rex? New evidence surprises scientists (press release with life reconstruction, photo of tail fossil)
Scientific American - Gigantic feathered dinosaur fossils found in China (press release with life reconstruction (featuring Beiapiaosaurus...
Paleontologists have discovered a new type of technology-- 3-D printing. This technology allows a paleontologist to have a machine sculpt a bone, which allows the paleontologist to more accurately assess the physics of fossils.
UPI - Computers, 3-D printers aid dinosaur study (press release)
Using x-rays and a particle accelerator, Japanese scientists have discovered that conodonts (very primitive chordates) sported the sharpest teeth ever known to man.
Australasian Science - Tiny teeth evolution's sharpest (press release)
Carnotaurus had a large tail muscle that made it efficient at running. Watch out, smaller dinosaurs! However, the tail muscle was enclosed by a cagelike structure that meant the dinosaur was terrible at maneuvering when not running in a straight line.
UPI - Big tail muscle made dinosaur speedy (press release)
Manatees and dugongs today have ranges that don't overlap. But their ancestors were frequently sympatric; that is, there was a level of diversity in manatees and dugongs within a given ecosystem.
Velez-Juarbe, J., Domning, D.P., & Pyenson, N.D. (2012) Iterative evolution of sympatric seacow (Dugongidae, Sirenia) assemblages during the past ∼26 million years. PLoS ONE. 7(2): e31294. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0031294
Ceratopsia: Leptoceratopsidae Two new species of leptoceratopsid ceratopsians have been discovered in Alberta:
Cleveland Museum of Natural History - Scientists Name Two New Species of Horned Dinosaur (press release with photos, life reconstructions, and video narrative with Dr. Michael Ryan)
Theropoda: Carcharodontosauridae Tracks of dinosaurs never found before locally are turning up in an Arkansas expedition.
UPI - Dinosaur tracks studied in Arkansas (press release)
Leakey pleased to hear his prediction of oil in Kenya is correct Nearly 40 years ago, paleoanthropologist Richard Leakey found dinosaurs in Kenya and guessed there must have been a natural oil reservoir nearby. Kenya has just discovered Leakey's oil reserve, and Leakey is happy to hear this. But what else does he have to say on this?
Deutsche Welle - Richard Leakey sounds alarm bells over Kenyan oil find (press interview with photo)
By analyzing the teeth of prehistoric horses, researchers have been able to confirm the biggest determinant in changes in mammal size is global warming and cooling.
Scientific American - First horses shrunk by warming climate (press release with life reconstruction gallery)
Users browsing this forum: None
Moderators
None
Permissions in this forum:
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
Legend
- New posts
- New posts [ Popular ]
- New posts [ Locked ]
- No new posts
- No new posts [ Popular ]
- No new posts [ Locked ]
- Announcement
- Sticky
- Global announcement