The New York Times’ Trilobites column has a piece about the discovery of a new mammal from the late Jurassic of England. It’s called Novaculadon mirabilis, from novacula, the Latin word for razor for its sharp teeth.  The animal was about the size of a mouse and lived about 145 million years ago around what is now Dorset, England.  At that time, Dorset was beach front property as it is today.  You can find more details in the paper “A new multituberculate (Mammalia, Allotheria) from the Lulworth Formation (Cretaceous, Berriasian) of Dorset, England”, which was published in the Proceedings of the…

Science Alert has a story about the world’s rarest mineral. Kyawthuite is so rare there is only one known specimen.  It was purchased at a market in Chaung-gyi in Myanmar by gemologist Kyaw Thu, who thought the raw gem was a mineral called scheelite.  After cutting it, Kyaw realized it was something different.   Unable to match the mineral with anything known, he sent it to the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) Laboratory in Bangkok, Thailand. There, mineralogists were able to relate the stone to synthetic BiSbO4 – bismuth antimonate – though with the formula Bi3+Sb5+O4, an arrangement never before found in nature.…

Today at the Lizzadro Gemstones have dazzled humanity for centuries, symbolizing wealth, status, and personal expression. But what gives them their allure? Discover the science of gemology – the scientific journey into origins, properties, and mysteries of these natural treasures. Join Dr. Cigdem Lule for an introduction to the tools, techniques, and scientific scope of gemology. With strong interest, a series of in-depth workshops will be offered this winter, providing participants with practical experience using professional gemological equipment. 1:00 p.m. – 90-minutes – Students and AdultsRegular Museum Admission – Museum Members FreeReservations Recommended – Register at here

Science News has a story about dinosaurs,  A new paper in the journal Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology reveals that some herbivorous dinosaurs were probably “picky” eaters.  By analyzing calcium isotopes in 150-million-year-old tooth enamel, the authors determined the diet of these dinosaurs depended more on nutritional value and texture of their food than the size of the animal. “My big takeaway is that the herbivores had different diets, and it is likely that the parts of a plant that these animals eat [are] a more significant driver than height,” says Liam Norris, a paleontologist at the Texas Science & Natural History…

The New York Times has a story about the preparation of a special triceratops skeleton.  It’s a love story with dinosaurs… The 159th skeleton to come across Barry James’s desk was potentially one of the largest triceratops ever found. A colleague, Craig Pfister, had telephoned James, a commercial paleontologist, from Wyoming to discuss the astounding collection of bones, possibly worth as much as $25 million. Would James come out of retirement to reconstruct it? The discovery fueled James and his wife, April, his business partner and soul mate for 37 years. For months, in what James described as “dino mania,”…

Say what you will about the plot lines and stories in Jurassic Park, but the special effects can be… well special.  Here is a fun clip about the “new” T-Rex in the latest iteration of the Jurassic Park franchise” Five years after the events of Jurassic World Dominion, the planet’s ecology has proven largely inhospitable to dinosaurs. Those remaining exist in isolated equatorial environments with climates resembling the one in which they once thrived. The three most colossal creatures within that tropical biosphere hold the key to a drug that will bring miraculous life-saving benefits to humankind,” reads the film’s…

Media for Press Release: What caused the holes in SUE the T. rex ’s jaw? Probably not an infection Photographer(s): Unspecified (c) (c) Unspecified This Field Museum Press Release link is a little old, but still very interesting.  What caused the holes in the back of SUE’s jaw? SUE the T. rex is one of the most complete, best-preserved Tyrannosaurus rex specimens ever found. That level of preservation helps reveal details about SUE’s life. For instance, SUE lived to a ripe old age of about thirty-three, and in those years, suffered their fair share of injuries. SUE’s most mysterious ailment might be the holes…

Smithsonian Magazine has an article about the discovery of unexpectedly large shoes.  The shoes were excavated from the Roman fort called Magna in northern England. The footware dates to the time of Hadrian's Wall. More than 30 shoes of varying sizes have been found at the fort and about 25% of them are "oversized".  The largest of the old leather shoes measures more than 12.8 inches, about size 14 in the US.  Thousands of shoes have been found at the nearby fort of Vindolanda with just 16 of 3,704 shoes measuring more than 11.8 inches long.  Archaelogists are not sure…

Smithsonian Magazine has a story about a new dinosaur that gives us clues on how dinosaurs sounded. Pulaosaurus qinglong lived about 163 million years ago in what is now Qinglong, a Chinese county in Hebei Province. The nearly complete animal was described in a paper in the journal PeerJ.  The fossil includes its bony vocal organs, which are rarely preserved.  These organs are similar to the vocal anatomy of modern birds.   Today’s reptiles, in general, make sound using a larynx that contains cartilage. But modern birds’ vocal organ, called the syrinx, has both bone and cartilage components, allowing them to make complex…