It’s nice to see that Palaeontology is getting a little attention.  But, this is really just wrong.  What is that a Knightia fossil from Fossil Lake next to a pterosaur head?  Also, convenient that the pterosaur bones were already prepped out.  Dr. Grant from “Jusassic Park” comes to mind… http://www.ispot.tv/ad/7MlV/eliquis-keep-digging Seems we have some educating to do.  Fossil hunting is so much more satisfying.  

  Brian Switek has a great article on bird evolution on the blog Phenomena at National Geographic.   The spark for this evolutionary explosion isn’t yet known. Flight could be a major factor, allowing birds to be adapted in starkly different ways from their earthbound ancestors. (Although, of course, nonavian dinosaurs like Microraptor found their own way into the air.) Paleontology thrives on such mysteries. For now, though, the new study underscores the fact that the change from dinosaur to bird is one of the most surprising and best-documented evolutionary transformations of all time. There is no sharp dividing line between dinosaur and bird. “Birds”,…

If you enjoy podcasts and palaeontology, you may find Palaeocast worth listening to!

  Mosasaurs have long been determined to be apex predators in the Cretateous oceans.   But still, there has been questions as to what they ate.  But now, from a mosasaur fossil found in 2008 in Alberta, Canada’s Korite International Ammolite Mine, there are some tantalizing clues.  It is summarized nicely by Brian Switek in he Phenomena blog over at National Geographic story.  The actual specimen is described in a paper in the Journal of Vertabrate Palaeontology.   Enjoy!  

The name of the extinct mammal is Jaggermeryx naida, or Jagger’s water nymph.  It was sort of a mix between a slender hippo and a long legged pig.  It lived about 19 million years ago in Egypt.  After scientists studied the bone structure of the skull, it was determined to have a large tongue and lips. They considered naming it after Angelina Jolie, but thought she wouldn’t be pleased, so they switched to Mick Jagger. Link This is the 3rd extinct animal for which Mick Jagger is the namesake.   – Aegrotocatellus jaggeri, a trilobite – Anomphalus jaggerius, a snail – Jaggermeryx naida, a…

From the ESCONI mailing list on Yahoo: CNN video on a new Cretaceous dino track site in Moab, UT. Check it out through the link below. http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/bestoftv/2014/08/22/dnt-fossils-unknown-species-discovered.cbc&hpt=hp_t4&from_homepage=yes&video_referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F#/video/us/2014/08/20/dnt-dinosaur-tracks-125-million-years-old-utah.ksl Very Cool!  

Interesting story by Darren Naish over at Scientific American. He unveils details of his paper in a recent issue of Science (August 1st, 2014).  As, he states theropod dinosaurs (the “meat eaters”) were shrinking in size and becoming more and more “birdy” as time passed. What about Tyrannosaurus rex, you say? T-rex (and his/her large friends) were the exception rather than the rule.   Some time round about 165 million years ago, the group of small, feathered dinosaurs that we call birds evolved from within the theropod radiation (theropods are the so-called ‘predatory dinosaurs’: the great group that includes animals like…