Pteranodon bones found

Source: http://search.creativecommons.org/

Possible Fossilized bones of a Pteranodon has been found in Texas by a amateur fossil hunter. This specimen was toothless and larger than most birds, with a wing span between 3.6 to 4 meters. And it is said to be around 89 million years old from the Late Cretaceous.

Because only a damaged humerus was found its not really certain if it was a Pteranodon

"If it wasn't crushed so badly, it would be possible to determine if it really is Pteranodon," Myers said. 

Source: http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2011/03/27/jun02.asp

Fossil pterosaur found with egg

Commons

In China (Liaoning) a Pterosaur egg and mother has been found. This helps scientists to determine the creature's gender for the first time. The Scientists can see it was a female very close to laying a egg when she died. So far scientist have had the theory that males have adornment on their skulls, but this sheds even more light on the gender question.

"The most important thing about this particular individual is that she has a relatively large pelvis compared to other individuals of the same pterosaur, Darwinopterus," explained Dr Unwin.

"This seems quite reasonable - females lay eggs, they probably need a slightly wider pelvis. And then the really exciting thing is that she has a skull which lacks any kind of adornment or decoration whatsoever. When we look at other individuals of Darwinopterus, we find quite a few individuals with a large crest on the skull.”

"We're very confident now that we're dealing with two genders here - males with big crests and small hips, and females with no crest on the skull and large hips”. 

Source:
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/161568.html
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/01/21/dinosaur-sex-riddle-sovled-new-fossil-discovery/

Interesting fossil found in Peru

Commons

Paleontologist have discovered an 85-million-year-old fossil in northeastern Peru 4100 meters above the sea level. It is a previously unknown squid species. It is 32cm long and 5cm in diameter.

"It is a new species of squid, totally new, that has not been seen in other parts of the world," paleontologist Klaus Honninger said.

"At the site, a sort of saltwater lake had formed that allowed these creatures to evolve independently," Honninger said.

Source:
http://www.northernstar.com.au/story/2011/01/21/85-million-year-old-fossil-found-in-peru/
http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/8690841/85-millionyearold-fossil-found-in-peru/
http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/TechandScience/Story/STIStory_626653.html

Oxygen impacts on Insects / T-Rex Cannibal?

Giant Dragonfly experiment with oxygen 

"ScienceDaily (Oct. 30, 2010) — The giant dragonflies of ancient Earth with wingspans of up to 70 centimeters (28 inches) are generally attributed to higher oxygen atmospheric levels in the atmosphere in the past. New experiments in raising modern insects in various oxygen-enriched atmospheres have confirmed that dragonflies grow bigger with more oxygen, or hyperoxia." (Source)

"Our main interest is in how paleo-oxygen levels would have influenced the evolution of insects," said John VandenBrooks of Arizona State University in Tempe. To do that they decided to look at the plasticity of modern insects raised in different oxygen concentrations. The team raised cockroaches, dragonflies, grasshoppers, meal worms, beetles and other insects in atmospheres containing different amounts of oxygen to see if there were any effects. (Source)

One result was that dragonflies grew faster into bigger adults in hyperoxia. However, cockroaches grew slower and did not become larger adults. In all, ten out of twelve kinds of insects studied decreased in size in lower oxygen atmospheres. But there were varied responses when they were placed into an enriched oxygen atmosphere. VandenBrooks is presenting the results of the work Nov. 1 at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in Denver. (Source)

"There have been a lot of hypotheses about the impact of oxygen on evolution of animals, but nobody has really tested them," said VandenBrooks. "So we have used a two-pronged approach: 1) study modern insects in varying oxygen levels and 2) study fossil insects and understand changes in the past in light of these results." (Source)

For more on this interesting subject:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101029132924.htm

Was T-Rex and Cannibal?

A few dozen T. rex bones have been looked at by a Yale University paleontologist. He found three foot bones and one arm bone that showed evidence of T. rex bite marks.

"It's surprising how frequent it appears to have been. We're not exactly sure what that means," Nick Longrich said in a Yale news release. (Source)

"Modern big carnivores do this all the time. It's a convenient way to take out the competition and get a bit of food at the same time," Longrich said. (Source)

"These animals were some of the largest terrestrial carnivores of all time, and the way they approached eating was fundamentally different from modern species. There's a big mystery around what and how they ate, and this research helps to uncover one piece of the puzzle," Longrich said. (Source)

More Articles:
http://www.healthscout.com/news/1/644428/main.html

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/10/101015-t-rex-cannibals-paleontology-science/
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2010/1016/1224281251723.html

Dinosaurs Not So Fierce After All / Small Fossil footprints / Giant penguin fossil

New Fossil Suggests Dinosaurs Not So Fierce After All

Sarahsaurus is a genus of basal sauropodomorph dinosaur as depicted above

ScienceDaily (Oct. 5, 2010) — A new species of dinosaur discovered in Arizona suggests dinosaurs did not spread throughout the world by overpowering other species, but by taking advantage of a natural catastrophe that wiped out their competitors. (Source)

The above mentioned dinosaur species is called Sarahsaurus. Sarahsaurus was 14 feet long and lived 190 million years ago.

By looking at the Sarahsaurus species scientist maintain that:

Dinosaurs did not spread throughout the world by overpowering other species, but by taking advantage of a natural catastrophe that wiped out their competitors. (Source)

"We used to think of dinosaurs as fierce creatures that outcompeted everyone else," said Rowe. "Now we're starting to see that's not really the case. They were humbler, more opportunistic creatures. They didn't invade the neighborhood. They waited for the residents to leave and when no one was watching, they moved in." (Source)

Source:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101006085240.htm
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-10/uota-nfs100110.php

Fossil footprints point to dainty dinos

 

Just for illustration - Source - Author: Jeff Kubina

In Poland tiny footprints of dinosaurs (Prorotodactylus mirus) have been found. They are believed to be the forerunners of triceratops and brontosaurus and they were four-footed. The tracks are around 249 to 251 million years old and are only two to four centimeters across and They were four-footed.

Source: http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-world/fossil-footprints-point-to-dainty-dinos-20101006-166wb.html

Giant penguin fossil gives evolutionary clues

Hector-palaeeudyptes.jpg

Illustrations of penguin bones produced for James Hector's 1872 article on fossil penguins.

LIMA (Reuters) - The preserved feathers and scales of a giant fossilized penguin discovered on Peru's central coast provide a glimpse of Peru's Eocene period, and how the species evolved to its modern state, paleontologists say. (Source)

The ancient penguin was around 1.5 meters  and is date to 36 million years ago. The penguin was named "Inkayacu paracasensis," which means "emperor of the water" in Quechua.

"Without doubt this is the most complete specimen of ancient penguins that exists," said Rodolfo Salas-Gismondi, the lead paleontologist and the head of the University of San Marcos' Museum of Natural History in Lima. (Source)

The findings were first revealed in the September 30 issue of Science.


Source: http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/technology/8077915/corrected-giant-penguin-fossil-gives-evolutionary-clues/

Ancient Plant "painting" discovered / Dinosaur head reconstructed

Ancient Plant "painting" discovered

A plant fossil that looks strangely like one of Vincent van Gogh's paintings has been found. Have a look at it HERE.

The plant is believed to be the ancestor of daisies and sunflowers and dates back to around 50 millions years. It was found in north-west Patagonia.

Source: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20100923/tsc-fossil-of-ancient-plant-discovered-4b158bc.html

Dinosaur head reconstructed

 

Ichthyosaur

English: Photographer: User:Ballista from Dinosaurland, Lyme Regis, England 

A old skull belonging to a Ichthyosaur has been pieced together by Mike Harrison, 47. It took him 2 years.  

You can view the Picture HERE. It looks creepily like a crocodile. 

The reason it took 2 years is that Mike found 21 shards of bone after a landslide and it took him 6 months to get all the pieces.

The find has been registered with the Charmouth Heritage Centre and will then be sent to a museum.

Palaeontologist Phil Davidson said: ''It's fairly common to find small isolated bones on the beach, but to find such an enormous skull is very rare.

''The time and effort Mike put into finding it, going back again and back again after the landslide is incredible.''

Ichthyosaurs could breath air like whales and had speed (estimated 40km per hour). They appeared around 245 million years ago and disappeared about 90 million years ago.

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/dinosaurs/8022622/Dinosaur-head-rebuilt-after-fossil-jigsaw-puzzle.html

2 new dinosaur species discovered!

I'm a little late with this news, but here it is:

2 New horned Dinosaurs!

Image just for illustration purposes.

In Utah scientists have discovered two new dinosaur species. They are said to be closely related to the Triceratops.

One of the dinosaurs has 15 horns on its head and would have eaten plants, it was named Kosmoceratops richardsoni. The other one only has 5 horns. It is however larger than the first and was named Utahceratops gettyi 

"The horns really are probably developed at puberty, because most likely these are signals for mate recognition, competition between males, things like that," Loewen said. "They're sexual signals and really that's how we think this group of dinosaurs divided." (Source) 

The Skulls will be on display at the Utah Museum of Natural History for the rest of the year. (Source)

For more info:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100923/ap_on_sc/us_dinosaur_discovery

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100923/sc_afp/sciencepaleontologydinosaurus_20100923154425

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-22/dinosaurs-with-15-horns-7-foot-heads-are-discovered-in-utah.html

Synagogue found, Bird Fossil found and a CT scan for a snake!

I have a lot of news for today so i decided to make a group post :) Some of you might already know about these.

Ancient Synagogue Found In Israel

Please note purly for illistraion purposes. Not a drawing of the one found. This is a Synagogue in Berlin.

A 1500 year old synagogue has been found by Israeli archaeologists close to Beit Shean (Jordan Valley). The synagogue was 5m x 8m, with mosaic decorated floors and in the center a Greek inscription reads: “This is the temple.”

They also found a Samaritan community next to the synagogue.

“The synagogue that is currently being revealed played an important part in the lives of the farmers who inhabited the surrounding region, and it served as a center of the spiritual, religious and social life there,” the archaeologists said in a statement. (Source)

Source: http://news.discovery.com/archaeology/ancient-samaritan-synagogue-unearthed-in-israel.html

Fossil Sets Wingspan Record

Source: Ryan Somma

An ancient seabird skeleton from northern Chile has been found. It shows that 5-10 million years ago giant birds were flying around. 

This specimen wing span would have been at least 5.2m and this skeleton is part of a group known as pelagornithids (Pelagornis chilensis). These birds had a lot of spiny, bony teeth.

“Bird watching in Chile would be thrilling if birds with more than five meter wingspans and huge pseudoteeth were still alive,” said Dr. Gerald Mayr of the Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg in Germany (Source)

“Although these animals would have looked like creatures from Jurassic Park, they are true birds, and their last representatives may have coexisted with the earliest humans in North Africa,” said Mayr. (Source)

“This specimen greatly improves our knowledge of the appearance of one of the most spectacular and fascinating animals that crossed the skies,” said Dr. David Rubilar of the Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, Chile. (Source)

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100918210719.htm

Ancient Snake gets a CT Scan

A snake named Clarisse that was found in the Fossil Butte region of Wyoming is perfectly fossilized in limestone. She is the only one that we know of and the best preserved Caenozoic snake known in a U.S. scientific collection.

"Most fossilized remains of snakes are individual pieces of bone," said Palentologist Hussan Zaher. "This is unique because it's a complete snake, which gives us an opportunity to study her makeup and hopefully learn more about her." (Source)

A CT Scan was then performed and a preliminary look shows no traces of limbs. This means that:

"That places it higher up the evolutionary scale, but the snake is still very old," Mager said. (Source)

Source:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100918212925.htm

Humpback Dinosaur found!

A Humpback Dinosaur has been found in Spain. The fossil is nearly complete and has a noticeable hump! It has been named: Concavenator corcovatu.

It is theorized that the creature could have communicated with others by using his hump, but it could also have been used to regulate temperature etc.

The Dinosaur stands at 6 meters and on two feet and it is the only fossil found of its type!

Also on the forearms of this Dinosaur they found evidence that it might have had feathers! It is only speculation at the moment though. We will have to wait and see.

Great Picture of the fossil:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/14/science/14obdino.html

More articles:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/sep/08/concavenator-corcovatus-humpback-dinosaur
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/sci-tech/worlds-first-humpback-dinosaur-discovered_100425537.html
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/scientists-find-humpback-dinosaur-20100909-151l4.html
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/09/100908-hunchback-dinosaur-science-nature-concavenator-corcovatus/
.