Tag: dinosaurs
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NPR: College Student Discovers 65-Million-Year-Old Triceratops Skull
https://youtu.be/9rqOcg9aqIc NPR has a story about hunting dinosaurs in the Badlands of North Dakota. The post describes the adventures of college student Harrison Duran. He grew up visiting the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles and dreamed of finding dinosaurs. This year, he participated in a paleontology dig with Michael Kjelland, a biology professor…
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The Guardian: Perhaps the best dinosaur fossil ever discovered. So why has hardly anyone seen it?
The Guardian has an article about the so called “Dueling Dinosaurs”. The “Dueling Dinosaurs” are a large fossil plate that consists of both a 28 foot long ceratoptian (probably Triceratops horridus) and a 22 foot long theropod (possibly Tyrannosaurus rex or the controversial Nanotyrannus lancensis). Both skeletons are fairly complete, with exceptional preservation, fully articulated,…
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SciNews: New Bird-Like Dinosaur Unearthed in Wyoming
SciNews has an article about the discovery of a new bird-like dinosaur in Wyoming. The animal, Hesperornithoides miessleri, lived about 150 million years ago, during the Jurassic period. It has been nicknamed Lori and was about the size of a chicken. Its contemporaries were giant dinosaurs like Stegaoaurus, Diplodocus, and Allosaurus. The description appeared in…
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SciNews: Small horned dinosaur from China, a Triceratops relative, walked on two feet
SciNews has an article about a relative of the iconic dinosaur Triceratops. Auroraceratops rugosus lived about 115 million years ago in China’s Gansu Providence. It was discovered in 2005. And, in the intervening years, about 80 individuals have been found. Some recent analysis has led to the theory that Auroraceratops walked on two feet instead…
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SciNews: ‘Shovel-Billed’ Dinosaur Roamed Texas 80 Million Years Ago
SciNews has an article about the discovery of a primitive hadrosaur. The specimen was found and collected in the 1980s and 1990s in Texas and is called Aquilarhinus palimentus. It belongs to Hadrosauridae (duck-billed dinosaurs) a group of plant-eating dinosaurs from the Cretaceous period. The original paper appeared in the Journal of Systematic Paleontology. “Hadrosaurids…
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Palaeocast Episode 101: Organic Preservation of Dinosaur Bone
There’s a new episode of the Palaeocast podcast. It’s a discussion with Dr. Evan Saitta of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, who recently published a paper that investigates the controversial discoveries. Fossilisation of organic material was long thought to result in the complete loss of original content. However in the last 20…
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Smithsonian: Discovery of Raptor-Like Dinosaur Adds a New Wrinkle to the Origin of Birds
Smithsonian has a story about the discovery of a small dinosaur that sheds light on the origin of birds. While excavating a Supersaurus nicknamed “Jimbo”, Wyoming Dinosaur Center paleontologist spotted some small bones amongst the enormous bones. Named Hesperornithoides miessleri, the animal lived about 150 million years ago during the late Jurassic. The specimen is referred…
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PBS Eons: When the Synapsids Struck Back
PBS Eons has a great video about the ancestors and evolution of the mammals and the Permian Mass Extincton. Synapsids were the world’s first-ever terrestrial megafauna but the vast majority of these giants were doomed to extinction. However some lived on, keeping a low profile among the dinosaurs. And now our world is the…
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Mammals and their relatives thrived, diversified during so-called ‘Age of Dinosaurs’
Phys.org has an article about Mammals during the “Age of Dinosaurs”. In a paper in Trends & Evolution, a review paper summarizes the latest fossil evidence of the state of Mammals and their relatives during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. It seems that Mammals were flourishing and experienced a couple ecological radiations during this time.…
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Roy Plotnick: I am not Indiana Jones or why I am writing a book (it’s not for the money)
Roy Plotnick has an insightful blog post over on Medium. He discusses perceptions of paleontologists and Paleontology in general – who they are, what they do, and why it’s important. Check it out! If you’ve read any of his previous posts, you’ll know it’s a great read! The confusion with archaeologists is of somewhat understandable;…
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National Geographic: Gem-like fossils reveal stunning new dinosaur species
The National Geographic has a story about the discovery a new dinosaur in Australia. The animal, called Fostoria dhimbangunmal, lived about 150 million years ago. It’s an early member of a group that will eventually evolve into duck-billed hadrosaurs. The bones are opalized and was discovered near a town called Lightning Ridge, famous for brightly…
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Newly Discovered Bat-Like Dinosaur Reveals the Intricacies of Prehistoric Flight
The Smithsonian has a story about a new “bat-like” dinosaur from China. This animal lived about 160 million years ago in the middle Jurassic. It’s called Ambopteryx longibrachium and it’s seems to be related to Yi qi, which was described back in 2015. The description of Ambopteryx appeared recently in the jounal Nature. About 160…
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ScienceMag: Countries demand their fossils back, forcing natural history museums to confront their past
Science Magazine has a story about natural history museums having to re-assess how fossils were obtained in the past. Back during the colonial period, expeditions were launch to the vast corners of the world and many valuable specimens were brought back to Europe. Now, the countries that currently occupy those corners are asking for their…
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NPR The Indicator: Selling a T-rex on eBay
NPR’s “The Indicator” podcast has an episode about a baby T-rex for sale on eBay. They do a good job of describing the situation. The podcast is an excellent way to learn about the economics. They have short informative episodes daily. Check it out!
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Is “Scotty” the Biggest T. rex? Maybe Not!
Brian Switeck on his Laelaps blog has a great post that discusses why “Scotty” may NOT be the biggest T.rex. Our local favorite, “SUE” of the Field Museum has long been billed as the largest, oldest, and most complete T.rex ever found. There isn’t any doubt in the “most complete” title. But, largest and oldest…
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USPS: T-rex Postage Stamps Coming Soon To A Post Office Near You!
The USPS will be releasing a pane of T-rex postage stamps starting June 28th, 2019. Details are here. With this pane of 16 stamps, the Postal Service brings Tyrannosaurus rex to life — some 66 million years after its demise. One design illustrates a face-to-face encounter with a T. rex approaching through a forest clearing; another shows the same…
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NYT: ‘Scotty’ the T. Rex Is the Heaviest Ever Found, Scientists Say
The NY Times has a piece about Scotty the Tyrannosaurus rex. The specimen was discovered in Saskatchewan in 1991. A paper published in the scientific journal “The Anatomical Record estimates Scotty to have weighed 19,555 pounds, which would make it heavier than SUE – estimated between 12,000 – 14,000. Size and age are also seen…
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This Natural History Museum’s Most Underrated Collection Is Its Beer List
October has an interesting story about the Field Museum and its beer collection. Tooth & Claw from Off Color Brewing has been offered for a while. There’s currently PseudoSue and KingSue from the Toppling Goliath Brewery, with Dancing Dinos coming in April. A new exhibit at the Field Museum is called “Brewing Up Chicago” that…
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Happy Birthday, John Ostrom – The man who saved the dinosaurs!
For 30 years, Ostrom steadily and meticulously refuted critics of his theories. He is shown here in the Yale Peabody Museum, near a Deinonychus in mid-leap. Deinonychus in full sprint, as drawn by Robert Bakker ’67—a student of Ostrom’s and a crusader for the view that dinosaurs were active, dynamic animals. The drawing appeared in Ostrom’s 1969 paper…
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Reminder: ESCONI Paleontology Study Group Meeting, Saturday, February 16rd, 2019, 7:30 PM
The ESCONI Paleontology Study Group Meeting for February is on February 16th, 2019 at 7:30 PM. The topic is the movie “Dinosaur 13”, which is about the discovery of Sue the T-rex at the Field Museum. We might also review the Sue talk/discussion from January. Come on out and join us for some good discussion!…
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Sparkly, opal-filled fossils reveal new dinosaur species
National Geographic has a story about an opalized dinosaur fossil discovered in Australia’s Lightning Ridge. The fossils were found from a mine near Wee Warra in New South Wales and belong to a newly named dinosaur species called Weewarrasaurus pobeni. The animal was a herbivore about the size of a Labrador retriever. It lived about…
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PBS NOVA: The Day the Dinosaurs Died
PBS Nova has full video of the “The Day the Dinosaurs Died” episode on their website. It originally aired back in December 2017 and is a good one! 66 million years ago, a seven-mile-wide asteroid collided with Earth, triggering a chain of events that coincide with the end of the dinosaurs. But experts have long…
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New sauropod dinosaur species unearthed in Argentina – Lavocatisaurus agrioensis
The Guardian has a story about a new sauropod dinosaur discovered in Argentina. It lived about 110 million years ago and was found by a team of Spanish and Argentinian paleontologists. Lavocatisaurus agrioensis was described in the journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. A team of Spanish and Argentinian paleontologists have discovered the remains of dinosaurs that…
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Why Do Birds Have Colorful Eggs? Because They’re Dinosaurs
Gizmodo has an article about bird eggs. Why are they colorful? Well, dinosaurs had colorful eggs and birds are dinosaurs, therefore, birds also have colorful eggs. A recent study in Nature proposes that colorful dinosaur eggs had a single evolutionary origin. Birds are the only living amniotes with coloured eggs, which have long been considered…
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Chinese Cretaceous fossil highlights avian evolution
Phys.org has a story about a newly identified extinct bird species. The 127 million year old bird lived in what is now northeastern China. Its name is Jinguoforis perplexus and it provides new information about avian development during the early evolution of flight. Details are provided in a paper published in PNAS. Drs. Wang Min,…
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The Story of Tiny, Thornton Colorado’s Torosaurus
The city of Thornton in Colorado, just north of Denver, has a website about their very own Torosaurus. The website details the whole story, from discovery, to extraction, to display in the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, concluding with the legacy of the affair. There’s even a YouTube video with more explanation. Denver Triceratops…
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Newly Discovered Tyrant Dinosaur Stalked Ancient New Mexico
The Smithsonian has a post about a new tyrannosaur. Its name is Dynamoterror and it lived about 80 million years ago in what is now New Mexico. The paper, published in PeerJ, describes the 30-foot-long meat eater, which probably snacked on hadrosaurs, armored dinosaurs, and ceratopsians that lived in the hot, humid, and lush forests…
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PBS Eons: Did Raptorex Really Exist?
PBS Eons has a new video… Did Raptorex Really Exist? It discusses the controversy over when, where, and did Raptorex live.
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The Nastiest Feud in Science
The Atlantic has an article about Gerta Keller and her differences with the consensus view on the causes of the K-Pg mass extinction. It’s a good read, but there are some errors. Gerta’s position is that the meteor strike was just a bit player in the whole event. There are many good books on either…
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Scientists May Have Wildly Underestimated the Giant Dinosaurs of the Ancient World
LiveScience has an interesting story about sauropod dinosaurs. It seems that their leafy meals were probably a whole lot more hearty, wholesome, and nutrient packed than previously thought. This research appeared in the journal Palaeontology. The conventional wisdom about the big plant-eating dinosaurs, like Brachiosaurus and Argentinosaurus, is that they had to eat huge…
