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A formidable dinosaur — with strange small ineffective arms

2012-02-09T01:02:00.000-08:00

The huge, cannibalistic dinosaur had such uneven arms that it could not have grasped anything or even injured its own face, according to a new study published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

Tyrannosaurus rex and other well known greedy dinosaurs also had reduced forelimbs. While Majungasaurus, which lived 66 million years ago in Madagascar, was not a close T. Rex Relation, some lifestyle factors might have caused them to develop certain similarities.

"The development of small arms in greedy dinosaur’s relics a secrecy, but fossils like this are a significant clue in sympathetic the procedure," co-author Matthew Carrano, a paleobiologist at the Smithsonian Institution.

The forearm bones are only a district of the length of the higher arm bones, but would have been broad and brawny. The wrist bones, however, aren't even ossified, and the short fingers probably lacked claws.

"Only by discovering the stops foremost from 'normal' longer arms in the ancestral forms, to the small and strange ones in Majungasaurus and its close relatives, can we hope to explain the evolutionary series and its causes."

New dinosaur, Yueosaurus Tiantaiensis, found in China

2012-02-02T01:08:00.000-08:00

Scientists have recognized an innovative species of dinosaur, Yueosaurus Tiantaiensis or "Tiantai Yue Dinosaur," from a fossilized skeleton originate in eastern China.

It took five Chinese and Japanese researchers more than three years of concentrated study to recognize that the frame belonged to a divide species, according to geoscientist Zheng Wenjie of the Zhejiang Museum of Natural History.

They consider it is a before unknown species of ornithischian, or "bird-hipped" dinosaur, that lived throughout the Cretaceous period a number of 100 million years ago. It had a bill, ate plants and was intelligent to run fast on two legs to flee predators, Zheng said.

At concerning 1.5 meters long and less than 1 meter high, Yueosaurus is the minimum dinosaur yet exposed in the region.

Dinosaurs of its type – bipedal, herbivorous runners known as ornithopods – were exceptional in Asia; previously, only four such species had ever been establish on the continent.

Yueosaurus is the fifth new dinosaur species to have been found in Zhejiang.

Dinosaur footpath originate in Beijing’s community

2012-01-30T22:12:00.000-08:00

Hundreds of dinosaur footpath from the Late Jurassic (about 140 million to 150 million years ago) has been originate along the core zone of Yanqing Silicified Wood National Geopark by Zhang Jianping, a geologist from China University of Geosciences through his field work late 2011.

The tracks range in length from 15 to 60 centimeters and were laid about 150 million years ago in what is now the Yanqing Silicified Wood National Geopark, near 15 kilometers from the town of Beijing’s north suburban Yanqing county.

"As they are exceptional, high-speed theropod tracks disclose aspects of their paleoethology,” said Zhang Jianping. “The dinosaur tracks from Yanqing comprise the initial proof of dinosaurs in Beijing and as the mine continues, there could be more track findings.”

A dinosaur geopark will be built in the area where the dinosaur footpath is found, according to Yuan Guixu, director of Yanqing Tourism management. “Once the dinosaur park is finished, it will unlock to the tourists,” said Yuan.

New species of dinosaur discovered in museum

2012-01-21T01:18:00.000-08:00

Bone-bothering boffins have exposed a totally brand new species of horned dinosaur , in spite of having parts of its skull for the last hundred years.

The fossilized remains of parts of the skull of the Spinops sternbergorum were exposed in 1916 by father-and-son fossil-collectors Charles and Levi Sternberg. They thought they had establish a brand new species and sent the fossils to the Natural History Museum in London.

But the museum determined that the fossils were too little to be exhibited, so they were filed away for decades. Andrew Farke, guide author on the study that named the Spinops, said in a statement.

"My colleagues and I were enjoyably amazed to discover these fossils on the museum sill, and even more surprised when we resolute that they were a previously unidentified species of dinosaur."

The Spinops lived approximately 76 million years ago in Canada. The dinosaur was a plant-eating slighter cousin of the Triceratops that weighed approximately two tons.The primitive lizard had a solitary horn on its nose and a skinny neckline decoration that had at least two long, backward-projecting spikes as well as two forward-curving hooks, which are the sole skin that differentiate it from other horned dinosaurs.

Although Spinops' face looks very like to that of its close relatives Centrosaurus and Styracosaurus, the bony neck frill gives boffins a improved sympathetic of how this structure evolved.

"In particular, the fossils of Spinops explain the recognition of the extended frill spikes ordinary in some horned dinosaurs,"

Dinosaurs approaching to junior Museum of Memphis

2012-01-11T21:18:00.000-08:00

The museum announced Monday that the roving show, "Dinosaurs : Land of flames and frost," will open Feb. 11. The show is sponsored by Cordova-based Kronos power Solutions.The museum is being retrofitted -- with ramparts taken down and festivity accommodation prolonged to create liberty for what officials anticipate will be a rush in company.

"In the show world, this is measured a hit," said museum CEO Dick Hackett. "It'll have provincial magnetism."A $2 supplement will be additional to the usual $10 admittance cost throughout the exhibit's sprint through May 13.

School groups that create reservations by Jan. 31 will get an inexpensive tempo of $4.50 for each child.Along with the dinosaurs, the interactive show features a meadow investigate station, where visitors can expose fossils with brushes and make drawings of the antique reptiles, and the primitive dinosaur home, where children can wear bug costumes and discover a volcano.

The show was shaped by the Minnesota Children's Museum.Hackett said the museum has for years required to transport in a excellence dinosaur show one that doesn't now engage motionless dinosaurs that snarl and accredited Kronos with manufacture it probable.

"It's very good-looking not only to the young people, but also to the teachers and parents and adults that bring the children," Hackett said.

Supersede power ended Twin-Horned Dinosaur a very fast runner

2012-01-05T03:20:00.000-08:00

A meat-eating dinosaur that terrorized its plant-eating neighbors in South America was lots deadlier than first thought, a University of Alberta canvasser has found. Carnotaurus was a seven-meter-long marauder with a massive tail power that U of A paleontology mark off student Scott Persons says created it one in all the fastest running hunters of its time.

A secure assessment of the tail frame of Carnotaurus showed its caudofemoralis power had a sinew that emotionally involved to its higher leg bones. Flexing this power pulled the legs backwards and gave Carnotaurus more authority and speed in each footstep.

People assessment of the tail of Carnotaurus showed that along its span were pairs of high rib-like frame that interlocked with the after that couple in row. Using 3-D computer models, Persons recreated the tail muscles of Carnotaurus. He establishes that the strange tale ribs supported an enormous caudofemoralis power.

The interlocked bone arrangement the length of the dinosaur's tail did there one problem: the tail was unbending, creation it hard for the seeker to make rapid, liquid turns.

Persons say that what Carnotaurus gave up in maneuverability, it made up for in directly in face rate. For its size, Carnotaurus had the main caudofemoralis power of any known animal, living or dead.

Dinosaur fossil originate in Alberta in 1916 a new-fangled type

2011-12-28T05:45:00.000-08:00

After meeting dirt on a ledge for more than 90 years, two before unnoticed skulls have been recognized as an original dinosaur type which once roamed the plains of southern Alberta.

The skeleton of the recently named Spinops Sternbergorum were at first exposed southeast of Calgary in 1916 by a father and son science squad.

Charles and Levi Sternberg — who are now privileged in the original dinosaur's first name — sent two fractional skulls to London's Natural History Museum and even spoke a guess that the bones might point to a before unidentified dinosaur.

But those investigative the skulls at the British museum at the time disagreed labeled the fossils as "refuse" and the skeleton were punctually beyond for years.

Virtually a century afterward, a squad of global scientists rummaging through the museum's set of skeleton stumbled ahead the skulls, re-examined them intimately and set up that they belonged to a kind unidentified awaiting now.

"We had no plan that it was out there, that's why it was so astonishing to find it," said Andrew Farke, guardian at California's Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology and guide author of a learn which named the original dinosaur.

"When many colleagues and I dotted these specimens in the set, we right away knew it was amazing dissimilar."

The discovery of the original kind comes at a moment when scientists' facts of horned dinosaurs is "rising exponentially," said Farke, who further that Canada has a vital place to take part in the deepening of our information on the creatures that roamed the ground millions of years ago.

"Over the earlier 20 years or 30 years there's been an actual rebirth of paleontology in Alberta," he said. "I think Alberta is going to trait actually highly in the paleontology reports more than the after that little years."

Detection of dinosaur footpath at Red Rock excites scientists

2011-12-21T21:17:00.000-08:00

In an ocean of dunes stretching to the prospect, a size the dimension of a Doberman strode through damp sleek that squished between its talon-tipped toes. Where the creature was headed and why has been misplaced eternally down the health of geologic moment, however its mud-covered path march on in an exceedingly chunk of stonework twenty-five miles from the band.

Officials at Red Rock Canyon nationwide management space have established the detection of dinosaur footpath and alternative tracks laid down about a hundred ninety million years ago. The footpath was established in early on September by a number of usual company to Red Rock who also helper at the protection area.

Researchers established the find throughout a meadow journey to the place just before the start of a global paleontology meeting detained in Las Vegas early on this month.At least one of the three-toed prints is ringed with what looks like ripples caused when the animal's bottom marked behind in the mire."They pace down, the ripples go away, and it stays there for 180 or 190 million years. It's unbelievable," said Tim Wakefield, filed manager for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management at Red Rock.

It is the primary detection of its class inside the 195,000-acre maintenance area. Experts are vocation it the primary place of dinosaur tracks to be officially recognized anywhere in Nevada. At first flush, he said, the tracks emerge to approach from a two-footed, meat-eating dinosaur that was most likely no more than about 3 feet long from snout to tail.

But Breithaupt warned that it is "very hasty" to say about something with conviction about the person. The footpath was originated in a sheet of Aztec sandstone, the similar kind of rock in which fossilized dinosaur tracks have been discovered in Utah and Arizona.

Long-ignored fossil determined to be brand new species of horned dinosaur

2011-12-12T05:47:00.000-08:00

A set of dinosaur bones unearthed in Alberta in 1916 and left unexamined on a shelf in Britain's Natural History Museum for over ninety years has yielded a sudden and significant discovery: a brand new species of horned dinosaur that is forcing scientists to review the dividing line between two huge, plant-eating beasts associated with the well-known triceratops. The 75-million-year-old skull fragments from many people of the newly identified species were found during a first World War-era dig in an exceedingly dinosaur bone bed southeast of Calgary, inside or just outside of today's Dinosaur Provincial Park.

The specimens were collected by the renowned American fossil hunter Charles H. Sternberg and his son Levi.

The family, which later was instrumental in the creation of Dinosaur Provincial Park, created several pioneering paleontologists who went on to distinguished careers in Canadian science, including Levi with the Royal Ontario Museum and his brothers George at the University of Alberta and Charles M. Sternberg of the longer term Canadian Museum of Nature.

The Alberta bones delivered to Britain ninety five years ago were promptly dismissed as indecipherable "rubbish" by the London museum's geology curator. In 2000, when seeing photos of the fossils that suggested they could in fact, represent a brand new species, Canadian paleontologist Michael Ryan —currently curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History — visited the British museum solely to find that the bone fragments had been misplaced.

More recently, American dinosaur professional Andrew Farke contacted Ryan to mention that he'd found the Sternberg specimens and agreed that they marked an important but long-overlooked insight into the evolution of horned dinosaurs.

MSU lab manager shares microscopic pictures of dinosaur bones with growing audience

2011-12-05T20:41:00.000-08:00

dinosaur bone that Ellen-Thérèse Lamm produces and the colorful images taken of those fossils underneath a Montana State University microscope still gain new audiences. So far this year, the manager of the Gabriel Lab for Cellular and Molecular Paleontology at the Museum of the Rockies (MOR) has revealed analysis with MOR Curator of Paleontology and MSU's Regents' Professor Jack Horner during a French scientific journal, created a 2012 MOR calendar, been featured in a trade magazine and been chosen as a finalist in a global photomicrography contest.

The microscopic structure of dinosaur frills at completely different stages of growth was described and analyzed during a paper Lamm co-authored with Horner. The paper was published in April in Comptes Rendus Palevol a French journal of paleontology and evolutionary sciences. Lamm created the thin-section slides used in this research to capture the photographs for her and Horner's publication, which described the distinctive tissue growth strategies that Triceratops used to ultimately grow such a massive expanded frill.

The photomicrographs were taken with a polarized light-weight microscope, which enables scientists to control light-weight conditions to analyze the optical qualities of a sample, Lamm said. Polarized light-weight passing through a thin-section of bone is split at different angles depending on the structure and organization of the crystal structures. It is then re-collected by an analyzer and delivered to the attention during a variety of colors and patterns.

"The pictures are not only stunning and intriguing, but indicate differing kinds of biological tissue, as well as show the orientation of fibers in the original bone," Lamm said."The images are not stunning and intriguing, however indicate different types of biological tissue, as well as show the orientation of fibers in the original bone," Lamm said.

New dinosaur detect on Alaska's North Slope by Scientists

2011-11-18T23:36:00.000-08:00

There’s brand new kind dinosaur out there, and it lived in Alaska.Its bones, long turned to stone, are part of a cliff in northern Alaska. That’s where dinosaur-hunter Tony Fiorillo brushed dirt far from a little of its large skull, one thing that most of us would mistake for a rock.

The year was 2006. The month of August and summer had fled the Colville River, if it had been there at all. Dinosaur hunter Fiorillo, where he works at the Museum of Nature & Science, he visits Alaska each summer from Dallas, remembers climbing from his tent with a heavy head every morning.

On one wet, miserable day, Fiorillo was sticking to a hillside higher than the river; speak actually the soil gently with a trowel. Noticing an uncommon lump, he picked up a brush to softly whisk the dirt away. Suddenly, a complete skull came into focus, and he felt a warm flush of discovery. “When I had that moment of recognition, only (a large nasal bone) was exposed,” Fiorillo said. “But in my mind I could see the rest of the skull.”

Fiorillo was excited because he could tell the specimen was one of the rare ones intact enough to be displayed in a museum, and the Museum of Nature & Science in Dallas was then planning a new building. As he and his digging partners, including Paul McCarthy of the Geophysical Institute and the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geology and Geophysics Department, unearthed the skull and coated it in plaster for a helicopter ride out, Fiorillo didn’t know they had found a species unknown to science.

The dinosaur, that lived in northern Alaska about seventy million years ago, is a plant eater with an enormous shielded head that looked something like a Triceratops, only without a horn extending from its nose. Its mouth resembled a giant parrot’s beak.

Dinosaur Might Buried Alive

2011-09-22T04:03:00.000-07:00

Sauropodomorph an herbivorous, long necked dinosaur has been discovered at Utah's red rocks.

The dinosaur was seemed to be buried, perhaps while it was still living, via collapsing sand dune.

The buried residue symbolizes the Utah’s oldest most complete dinosaur.

A sand dune was collapsed during the Early Jurassic Period, at Utah's red rocks with such power that it might have buried alive a plant-eating dinosaur, by placing the dead body in the tomb and preserving the dinosaur upside-down for 185 million years, according to a novel published in the journal PLoS ONE.

The dinosaur has been named as Seitaad ruessi in which the first word represents a Navajo creation legend sand-desert monstrous that consumed individuals in the dunes. The next word honors the artist and explorer Everett Ruess, who died strangely at the age of 20 in the similar area during the 1930s.

Ruess' body has not at all been found, but the fossils of the original dinosaur froze the animal's ultimate moments. A CT scan makes known that the dinosaur was missing a particular toe and a lower leg bone, suggesting that it either died and was shortly thereafter swallow up by a collapsing sand dune, or was buried alive.

Plesiosaur – Gives Single Birth in Water

2011-09-07T04:18:00.000-07:00

Plesiosaur a kind of dinosaur is defined as one which has a giant, long-necked swimming reptile and has been lived for a period of about 78 million years ago. It is a kind of carnivorous marine reptile.

After the detection of plesiosaurs, it is said that it resembles a snake threaded through the shell of a turtle, even though they had no shell. Their skeletons were first found in England by Mary Anning before the period of early 19th century. And it is the first fossil vertebrates to be illustrated by science.

This unique dinosaur has determined a long-held secrecy about the animals and how they reproduced.

As per the scientists those marine livings of ancient seas such as modern whales and dolphins are actually gave birth to their newborns beneath the water one at a time, and could have cared for them much as modern whales do.

Many creatures in the marine reptile world of that period shows that they gave birth to a dozen or more at a time but plesiosaur is the first to show proof of a single birth and only in the water, according to the paleontologists.

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New species of Dinosaur found in India

2011-08-06T01:39:00.000-07:00

U.S. and Indian scientists said Wednesday they have exposed a new carnivorous dinosaur species in India after finding bones in the western part of the country. The new species of dinosaur was named Rajasaurus narmadensis, or "Regal reptile from the Narmada," after the Narmada River region where the bones were found. The dinosaurs were between 25-30 feet long, had a horn above their skulls, were comparatively heavy and walked on two legs, scientists said. They preyed on long-necked herbivorous dinosaurs on the Indian subcontinent for the Cretaceous period at the end of the dinosaur age, 65 million years ago.

"It's tremendous to be able to see this dinosaur which lived as the age of dinosaurs came to a close," said Paul Sereno, a paleontologist at the University of Chicago. "It was an important predator that was related to species on continental Africa, Madagascar and South America."A model of the assembled skull was presented Wednesday by the American scientists to their counterparts from Punjab University in northern India and the Geological Survey of India in a Bombay news conference.

Scientists said they expect the discovery will help explain the extinction of the dinosaurs and the shifting of the continents - how India separated from Africa, Madagascar, Australia and Antarctica and collided with Asia. The dinosaur bones were discovered throughout the past 18 years by Indian scientists Suresh Srivastava of the Geological Survey of India and Ashok Sahni, a paleontologist at Punjab University.

When the bones were scrutinized, "we realized we had a partial skeleton of an undiscovered species," Sereno said. The scientists said they consider the Rajasaurus roamed the Southern Hemisphere land masses of present-day Madagascar, Africa and South America. "People don't understand dinosaurs are the only large-bodied animal that lived, evolved and died at a time when all continents were united," Sereno said.

The cause of the dinosaurs' death is still debated by scientists. The Rajasaurus discovery may give crucial clues, Sereno said. India has seen quite a few paleontological discoveries newly. In 1997, villagers exposed about 300 fossilized dinosaur eggs in Pisdura, 440 miles northeast of Bombay that Indian scientists said were laid by four-legged, long-necked vegetarian creatures. Indian scientists said the dinosaur embryos in the eggs may have suffocated at the period of volcanic eruptions.

Era of Thalattosaur Skeleton

2011-08-02T03:58:00.000-07:00

Thalattosaur Skeleton

Thalattosaurs an ocean lizard which lived during the mid-late of Triassic period Belongs to a group of marine reptiles. Its fossil skeleton which was 20 million year old was found in Alaska along the sea shore of a low tide near Tongass National Forest. It is very unique that one could not expect to see on a day at the beach.

According to International Business Times, Alaskan scientists determined that the skeleton was of a rare marine creature and being sunken in water and rocks, called Thalattosaurs. The last survive of this creature was from about 200 million years ago.

The next is about scientists who are continuing to dig out the remaining of the fossils along with finding the skull which may be hidden deep into the beach rocks. They were able to excavate two huge slabs of rocks with fossils embedded. The digged slabs were sent to a museum lab in order to chip out the fragile bones in trust of enlightening one of the most complete Thalattosaur skeletons yet discovered.

Dr Jim Baichtal, a geologist and part of the discovery team, said The Daily Mail that finding the skeleton was a total surprise.

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Two-legged Dinosaurs were peace-loving veggies

2011-07-25T05:21:00.000-07:00

Most violent two-legged Dinosaurs became peaceable vegan, according to new research, writes Geoffrey Lean.

Scientists at Chicago's Field Museum studied the diet of 90 species of theropods – colloquially called "predatory dinosaurs", which in a lot of cases became the ancestors of modern birds – examining the teeth, fossilised dung (the mind boggles) and stones in the stomach that had been used to grind vegetation.

They establish that even though the therapods' bodies still made them ideal hunter-killers – which is how leading scientists had believed they remained until they became extinct – most species, in fact, turned vegetarian.

"Somewhere on the line to birds," says the familiar researcher, Dr Lindsay Zanno, "predatory dinosaurs went soft." Ultimately, they developed toothless beaks.

Another study, by the University of Texas, augments the image of the peace-loving dinosaur by challenging another conventional view – which they took over the world by driving out other animals. Instead, it seems, they were "humbler, more opportunistic creatures" that took benefit of a mass extinction 200 million years ago. "They didn't invade the neighborhood," says Prof Tim Rowe. "They waited for the inhabitants to leave and then moved in when no one was watching."

Skeletons of dinosaurs sell for $2.75m

2011-07-21T01:54:00.000-07:00

The skeletons of three large dinosaurs are among a treasure trove of natural history artifacts that have sold at a sole auction in Dallas.

The quality stars of the Heritage Auctions bidding were a "fighting pair" of dinosaur skeletons that sold to a museum for $2.75 million (£1.7m), and an enormous, 19-foot-long triceratops that fetched $657,250 (£400,000) from a private collector.

The sale included more than 200 items, including meteorites, minerals and other fossils.

The fighting dinosaurs - an allosaurus and a stegosaurus - were offered mutually because of their discovery in a Wyoming quarry with the jaw of the allosaurus wrapped around the leg of the stegosaurus, leading to speculation that the two were engaged in a predator-prey battle.

Heritage Auctions declined to reveal which museum picked up the pair, though the organisation did say the museum was outside the United States.

"I'm ecstatic that 'the fighting pair' establishes such a great home," David Herskowitz, director of natural history at Heritage Auctions, said in a statement. "These are important and iconic Jurassic-era specimens, which science did not even know existed together at the same time, and now they will be going to a final end where the public will get to enjoy them and where they will be of maximum benefit to science."

In Argentina Pint-sized ancestor of Tyrannosaurus rex was discovered

2011-07-14T02:47:00.000-07:00

The ancestor of Tyrannosaurus rex, who lived when dinosaurs were the underdogs 230 million years ago, has been discovered by scientists in Argentina.

Eodromaeus was four feet long from nose to tail-tip and weighed just 10 to 15 pounds.

Nonetheless the two-legged dinosaur predated the biggest and most fierce land predators that ever lived, including T. rex.

Fossil bones of two of the creatures were unearthing side-by-side at a desert site known as the Valley of the Moon in northern Argentina.

Researchers pieced together a near-complete skeleton of the new species which they illustrate today in the journal Science.

Study leader Dr Paul Sereno, from the University of Chicago, US, described: "It really is the earliest
look we have at the long line of meat eaters that would eventually culminate in Tyrannosaurus rex near the end of the dinosaur era.”

Dinosaur with Single-clawed

2011-07-11T05:37:00.000-07:00

A dinosaur with one-fingered and a single large claw on each hand has been discovered in China.

Scientists believe Linhenykus monodactylus, which stood just 2ft tall and weighed about the same as a huge parrot, may have used its dino-digits to dig into insect nests.

The biped creature belongs to the alvarezsauroids, a branch of the ''theropod'' family of carnivorous dinosaurs.

Theropods gave rise to modern birds and included well-known names such as Tyrannosaurus rex and Velociraptor.

But researchers found Linhenykus had one remarkable feature not seen in any of its relatives, a single functional finger on each hand bearing a large claw.

Michael Pittman, from University College London, one of the scientists who illustrate the find today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, said: ''Non-avian theropods begin with five fingers but evolved to have only three fingers in later forms.

Dinosaur the size of a giraffe could fly large distances and even cross continents

2011-07-06T04:33:00.000-07:00

A dinosaur the size of a giraffe was able of launching itself into the air and flying for thousands of miles, scientists have discovered.

Dr Mark Witton, a palaeontologist from the University of Portsmouth and Dr Michael Habib from Chatham University USA, has studied how the giant pterosaur, which was as big as a giraffe, could get off the ground.

They said they had disproved claims that enormous prehistoric winged beasts could not fly, with new evidence showing how they handle to get themselves airborne.

They found that the reptiles took off by using the powerful muscles of their legs and arms to push off from the ground, efficiently pole-vaulting over their wings.

Once airborne they could fly large distances and even cross continents, the scientists claim.

According to Dr Witton : ''Most birds take off either by running to pick up speed and jumping into the air before flapping wildly, or if they're small enough, they may merely launch themselves into the air from a standstill.

Previous theories suggested that giant pterosaurs were too large and heavy to perform either of these manoeuvres and therefore they would have remained on the ground.

But when investigative pterosaurs the bird analogy can be stretched too far.

These creatures were not birds they were flying reptiles with a definitely different skeletal structure, wing proportions and muscle mass.

They would have attained flight in a completely different way to birds and would have had a lower angle of take off and initial flight trajectory. The structure of these creatures is unique.

Adult Dinosaur Skull Secrets

2011-05-19T04:59:00.000-07:00

Wilson an assistant professor in the Department of Geological Sciences and an assistant curator at the U-M Museum of Paleontology said that a dinosaur Diplodocus by name had an unusual skull.

The small Diplodocus skull, however, suggests that the most important changes taken place in the skull throughout the animal's life.

Examination of the youngest and most absolute dinosaur skull of any kind of tyrannosaur discovers significant differences between the young and old of the same species.

A 2-3 year old Tarbosaurus skull was discovered in Mongolia in the year 2006 which is 29 centimeter long skull which is a part of an almost entire skeleton that’s missing only the neck and a part of the tail. It tends to be a close relative of the North American Tyrannosaurus Rex a giant meat-eating predator that lived 70 million years ago.

Ohio demonstrated the structural distinction between the youthful predators and their fearsome elders with the assist of CT scans. It is examined that the skull is relatively delicate and wouldn’t have been able to hold up the kinds of thrashing about and powerful sorts of actions that the adults have. So what this creature must have done is have a very different kind of hunting approaches.

The adults use their supremacy and mass to kill large prey. Witmer says the adolescent were alert and skillful individuals.

There is a clue from a Tyrannosaur species is that some of these young animals actually palled around in groups of juveniles which is a sort of rambling gangs of young tyrannosaurs potentially avoiding the adults.

A sophisticated picture of ecosystems gives us a clear idea in terms of who was eating whom.

In the past it has been said that the Tarbosaurus as a class was the one predator.

But right now it has been thought that Tarbosaurus in fact presented in a sense, multiple kinds of predators.

Witmer expects more secrets will be revealed from the young Tarbosaurus skull.

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A Visit to Dinosaur Park

2011-04-18T05:00:00.000-07:00

A Visit to Dinosaur Park

Even though Dinosaur died out there are abundance of tourism target to see Dinosaur fossils, eggs and much more. Here are the most excellent dinosaur tourism destinations in world.

Dinosaur Valley State Park, Glen Rose Texas - situated near the Glen Rose, Dinosaur Valley State Park is well-known for the well sealed tracks of dinosaur. The tracks are along the Paluxy River. Along with the tracks there are educational shows and two replicas of dinosaurs.

Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta - The Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta, Canada is an exclusive journey destination that attracts more than 350,000 tourists per year.

George S. Eccles Dinosaur Park, Utah - The George S. Eccles Dinosaur Park in Ogden has over 100 life mass copy of the dinosaurs. This is a great set to take you kids where they can slide down the snout of a dinosaur or mount inside the head of Triceratops. The park also provides in turn on dinosaur’s findings in Utah. The best movement in the park is to dig out real dinosaur bones in the sand along with paleontologists.

Dinosaur National Monument, Jensen - The best characteristic of the Dinosaur National Monument is the Douglass Quarry at the Dinosaur Quarry Visitor Center where tourists can observe well preserved 1500 dinosaur fossils uncovered in the cliff. Douglass Quarry yields one of the best photos of Jurassic Period dinosaurs in the world.

Balasinor Jurassic Park, Gujarat - The little city of Balasinor is often described as Jurassic Park of India. The place is famous for the 150 million years old dinosaur remnant and eggs. The is the only place on Earth where tourists can hold a 150 million year old dinosaur egg in their hand. Around 9 type of dinosaurs are extracted at Balasinor.

Outsized Species

2011-04-05T05:02:00.000-07:00

The Zhuchengtyrannus magnus, a newly revealed giant theropod from China, is considered to be the biggest plant-eating dinosaurs forever identified by paleontologists.

Its enormous dimensions draw closer in at four meters tall and 11 meters long and its weight is around 6 tonnes.

Magnus was an element of the tyrannosaurines collection immense, bipedal theropods like the Asian Tarbosaurus.

It is believed to be roamed around North America and eastern Asia all through the late Cretaceous Period which is about 99 to 65 million years ago.

Zhuchengtyrannus is recognized by its exclusive characteristics in its skull and teeth.

It was originated in the Chinese city of Zhucheng which lies in the eastern Shandong Province.

This tyrannosaurine, along with the T. rex, fit into a group of massive theropods known as “beast-footed” dinosaurs.

They were called so since they known for their bone-crushing jaws.

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Detection of T-Rex’s kin

2011-04-01T04:48:00.000-07:00

The sixth member of the Tyrannosaurus relations which is about 11 meters long called as small cousin of T-Rex was discovered in London.

A fresh dinosaur species that resembles the well-known marauder has been discovered in China by an Irish biologist.

Dr David Hone, a lecturer at UCD's School of Biology and Environmental Science, chief of an international team of scientists including one of the world's foremost paleontologists who newly recognized the new dinosaur.

Their conclusions will be in print in the scientific journal Cretaceous Research.
The new dinosaur Zhuchengtyrannus magnus remains were found after the area in Shangong province in eastern China.

After the foundation of the fractional skull and jawbones scientists consider that the creature would measured 11 meters long, stood four meters high and weighed almost six tonnes similar in size to the infamous T-Rex.
It is also believed to be one of the largest rapacious carnivores ever known by the scientists.

Along with this new one another species Asian Tarbosaurus by name joins an elite club of gigantic dinosaurs called tyrannosaurines that are whispered to have roamed North America and eastern Asia during the late Cretaceous Period between 65 and 99 million years ago.

They were gigantic beasts characterized by huge bone-crushing jaws, small arms and two-fingered hands.

Dr Hone said that it is hard explain he overall size of this animal with some skull and jawbones.

He also added that the frame is few centimeters smaller than the equivalent ones in the largest T-Rex specimen. So there is no distrust that Zhuchengtyrannus was a huge tyrannosaurine.

He said that the new dinosaur can be renowned from a new tyrannosaurines by a combination of exceptional features in the skull.

The new genus was named as Zhuchengtyrannus magnus which gives the meaning as Tyrant from Zhucheng

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Dinosaur with distinctive cranial crown

2011-03-27T22:30:00.000-07:00

Lambeosaurus a hadrosaurid dinosaur lived about 76 to 75 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous Period in the region of North America. This bipedal or quadrupedal, plant-eating dinosaur was recognized for its unique concave cranial crest It is about 15 meters long. The Mexican species L. laticaudus was considered to be one of the highest ornithischians.

Lambeosaurus was tardily described by William Parks in 1923.Twenty years later the first matter was premeditated by Lawrence Lambe. The genus had a difficult taxonomic record since small-bodied cranial hadrosaurid were recognized as infantile and thought to belong to own genera and species. At present, a variety of skulls are allocated to the type species L. lambei and the interpretation shows the age differences and sexual dimorphism between the skulls.

Lambeosaurus directly relates to a species name Corythosaurus, which is found vaguely in older rocks. All had strange crests, which are served for some social functions like noisemaking and identification. Lambeosaurus was pretty parallel to the famous Corythosaurus in everything except in the form of the head decoration. In comparison with Corythosaurus, the crown of Lambeosaurus was moved ahead, and the concave nasal passages are at the front of the crest and stacked vertically.

Lambeosaurus move on two legs as well as with four which is exposed by footprints of related animals. It had an elongated tail stiffened by hardened tendons that is used to prevent it from sagging. The hands consist of four fingers lacking the innermost one of the comprehensive five-fingered tetrapod hand. The second, third, and fourth fingers were clustered together with weary hooves suggesting that the animal could use the hands for sustain. The fifth finger was liberated and used to work on some objects. Each foot of Lambeosaurus had only three central toes.

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Fossilized footpath of dinosaur

2011-03-25T03:20:00.000-07:00

The collection of dinosaur footprints varies from few inches to around few feet across and the biggest footprints belonged to the huge long necked and tailed plant-eating dinosaur called sauropods.The theropods which are the meat-eating dinosaurs comprised of three-toed feet.The feet of plant-eating dinosaurs vary from meat-eating dinosaurs.

Dinosaur footprints usually made in sludge or fine sand have been found over 1500 places including quarries, coal mines, riverbeds, deserts, and mountains.There are many fossils found as each dinosaur made many tracks it can fossilize well.Moreover relating a set of tracks with a particular genus is normally impossible.

The subsequent are the information about fossil footprints,
Speed
Length of stride,
The bone structure of the foot,
Irritating behavior the existence of herds,
Whether they walked on two or four legs and how their tail was carried.

Dinosaur footprints are extremely rich in many areas, and provide prosperous sources of scientific information on dinosaur behavior, locomotion, foot anatomy, ecology, chronology, and geographic distributions.The extensive revival of significance in dinosaurs has been liked by a new interest in dinosaur tracks.

Today countless professional "trackers" are vigorously studying about the footprints of dinosaur all around the world. For ruling, documenting, and interpreting dinosaur footpaths include tackle and techniques which varies from those applied to corpse fossils. A number of admirable dinosaur footpaths are now available to the public.

Some footpaths are so fresh- looking which is hard to imagine that the track-walkers having stridden by only moments before.Until the desire of cloning dinosaurs becomes a reality, this is probably the closest one we can come to stand beside a breathing dinosaur.

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Running Lizard

2011-03-21T03:35:00.000-07:00

The Dromaeosaurus which had remarkably large eyes and excellent vision resembles the Velociraptor, lived during the Late Cretaceous period.

The name means 'running lizard' and is derived from the Greek dromeus meaning 'runner' and sauros meaning 'lizard'.

Dromaeosaurus was a small carnivore, the size of a wolf, about 2 m in length and 15 kg in weight. Its mouth was full of sharp teeth, and it had a sharp "sickle claw" on each foot.

It lived during the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous, however, some fragmentary remains such as teeth which may belong to this genus have been found from the late Maastrichtian age Lance and Hell Creek Formations, dating to 65.5 million years ago.

Although only a few bones are known from the hind limb, they indicate that Dromaeosaurus was a powerfully built animal.

The presence of feathers in closely related animals makes it extremely likely that it was feathered as well.

It also probably had a good sense of smell and hearing. Its neck was curved and flexible and its jaws were solidly built.

The tail was flexible at the base but sheathed in a lattice of bony rods; this allowed it to be carried in a sharply upturned position.

In Dromaeosaurus albertensis, the vena capitis dorsalis "drains the anterior neck muscles through a pair of long canals on the posterior surface of the endocast."

Despite receiving widespread attention in popular books on dinosaurs, and the usage of a complete mounted skeleton cast in museums throughout the world, Dromaeosaurus is surprisingly poorly known from actual fossils.

The first known Dromaeosaurus remains were discovered by paleontologist Barnum Brown during a 1914 expedition to Red Deer River on behalf of the American Museum of Natural History.

The area where these bones were collected is now part of Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta; Canada.

The find consisted of a partial skull 24 cm in length, and some foot bones. Several other skull fragments, and about 30 isolated teeth, are known from subsequent discoveries in Alberta and Montana.

Several species of Dromaeosaurus have been described, but Dromaeosaurus albertensis is the most complete specimen.

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Respiratory System of Dinosaurs

2011-03-15T01:43:00.001-07:00

Air Sacs

As we all know that the birds' lungs obtain air during the respiratory process (during both the inhalation as well as exhalation process).The air sacs do all the "pumping" and the lungs simply absorb oxygen.

Since 1870 onwards scientists have generally accepted that the post-cranial skeletons of many dinosaurs contained many air-filled cavities especially in the vertebrae. Pneumatization of the skull is found in both synapsids and archosaursu, but postcranial pneumatization is found only in birds, non-avian saurischian dinosaurs, and pterosaurs.

For a long time these cavities were regarded simply as weight-saving devices, but Bakker proposed that they contained air sacs like those that make birds' respiratory systems the most efficient of all animals.

John Ruben et al. (1997, 1999, 2003, 2004) disputed this and suggested that dinosaurs had a "tidal" respiratory system (in and out) powered by a crocodile-like hepatic piston mechanism - muscles attached mainly to the pubis pull the liver backwards, which makes the lungs expand to inhale; when these muscles relax, the lungs return to their previous size and shape, and the animal exhales. They also presented this as a reason for doubting that birds descended from dinosaurs.

Researchers have presented evidence and arguments for air sacs in sauropods, "prosauropods", coelurosaurs, ceratosaurs, and the theropods Aerosteon and Coelophysis.

Three explanations have been suggested for the development of air sacs in dinosaurs:
• Increase in respiratory capacity.
• Improving balance and maneuverability by lowering the center of gravity and reducing rotational inertia.
• As a cooling mechanism. It seems that air sacs and feathers evolved at about the same time in coelurosaurs. If feathers retained heat, their owners would have required a means of dissipating excess heat. This idea is plausible but needs further empirical support.

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Proceratosaurus

2011-03-13T21:25:00.000-07:00

Proceratosaurus a small sized dinosaur with fine peak on nose lived during Middle Jurassic period 175 million years ago.

It is about 9 feet long and 500 pounds.

This theropod dinosaur was carnivorous.

Its skull was first discovered in England way back in 1910.

Proceratosaurus was thought to have been related to the similarly crested Ceratosaurus, which lived much later.

Today, though, paleontologists identify this middle-Jurassic predator as more similar to small, early theropods like Coelurus and Compsognathus.

Despite its relatively small size, Proceratosaurus was one of the biggest hunters of its day, since the tyrannosaurs and other large theropods of the middle Jurassic had yet to reach their maximum sizes.

It was quite likely a very fast predator.

Its skull had a nasal horn at the front and sharply pointed recurved and serrated teeth.

The type specimen is held in the London Museum of Natural History and was recovered in 1910 at Minchinhampton while excavating for a reservoir.

Arthur Smith Woodward, who initially studied Proceratosaurus, originally thought it to be an ancestor of the Late Jurassic Ceratosaurus, due to the similarity of their nasal crests.

Later study during the 1930s by Friedrich von Huene supported this interpretation, and Huene thought both dinosaurs represented members of the group Coelurosauria.

The first major re-evaluation of Proceratosaurus and its relationships was published in 2010 by Oliver Rauhut and colleagues.

Several phylogenetic studies in the early 21st century finally found Proceratosaurus (as well as Ornitholestes) to be a coelurosaur, only distantly related to the ceratosaurids and allosauroids, though one opinion published in 2000 considered Proceratosaurus a ceratosaurid without presenting supporting evidence.

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Austroraptor

2011-03-10T21:36:00.000-08:00

Austroraptor the largest raptor Woodlands of South

America lived during the late Cretaceous (70 million years ago) period.

Austroraptor was a genus of dromaeosaurid dinosaur.

It is about 16 feet long and 500 pounds, large s

ize, narrow snout with short arms.

As with all types of dinosaurs, paleontologists are unearthing new raptors all the time.

One of the latest to join the flock is Austroraptor, which was "diagnosed" in 2008 based on a skeleton dug up in Argentina (hence the "austro," meaning "south," in its name).

To date, Austroraptor is the largest raptor yet discovered in South America, measuring a full 16 feet from head to tail and probably weighing in the neighborhood of 500 pounds--proportions that would have given its North American cousin, Deinonychus, a run for its money, but would have made it no match for the nearly one-ton Utah-raptor that lived tens of millions of years earlier.

The fossil specimen was discovered in the Late Cretaceous deposits located in the Río Negro Province of Argentina.

The species was named in honor of Alberto Cabaza, who founded the Museo Municipal de Lamarque where the specimen was partially studied.

A cladistic analysis of the specimen's anatomical features by the describers placed Austroraptor within the subfamily Unenlagiinae of the Dromaeosauridae.

Some of these characteristics include the geometry and formation of the specimen's vertebral elements.

It was determined that Austroraptor was a close relative of the unenlagiine dromaeosaur Buitreraptor.

The dinosaur would have been slender and carnivorous.

It has a strangely elongated skull, and suggests that raptors in the southern hemisphere were both thriving and diversifying even as that family of dinosaurs was declining in the northern hemisphere.

Dinosaurs flourished during this period, but unless and until more Austroraptor fossils are discovered, it will be difficult to say much more about how this new species fit into the environment of its time.

At that time in natural history, the Patagonian region consisted of plains and rivers populated by duck-billed herbivores, which might have been Austroraptor food supply.

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Rebbachisaurus

2011-03-10T01:21:00.000-08:00

Rebbachisaurus was a huge, diplodocus sauropod dinosaur that lived about 113 to 97.5 million years ago.

This quadrupedal plant-eater had a whip-like tail, a long neck, a small head, clawed hind legs, a high-arched back, and a bulky body. It may have had a sail on its back.

Rebbachisaurus is distinguished from other sauropods by its unusually tall, ridged back.

The discovery of Rayososaurus, a South American sauropod nearly identical to Rebbachisaurus, supports the theory that there was still a land connection between Africa and South America during the Early Cretaceous, long after it was commonly thought the two continents had separated.

Rebbachisaurus was about 68 ft (20 m) long.

The type species is R. garasbae.

Rebbachisaurus was named by Lavocat in 1954.

Fossils have been found in Morocco and Niger, Africa.

Scientific Classification

Kingdom : Animalia

Phylum : Chordata

Class : Sauropsida

Superorder : Dinosauria

Order : Saurischia

Suborder : Sauropodomorpha

Infraorder : Sauropoda

Superfamily : Diplodocoidea

Family : Rebbachisauridae

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Oviraptor

2011-03-07T19:07:00.000-08:00

Oviraptor is a tiny Mongolian theropod dinosaur, initially exposed by the paleontologist Roy Chapman Andrews.

It was first described by Henry Fairfield Osborn, in 1924.

Its name is Latin for 'egg thief', referring to the fact that the first fossil specimen was discovered atop a pile of what were thought to be Protoceratops eggs, and the specific name philoceratops means "lover of ceratopsians", also given as a result of this find.

In his 1924 paper, Osborn explained that the name was given due to the close proximity of the skull of Oviraptor to the nest (it was separated from the eggs by only four inches of sand).

However, Osborn also suggested that the name Oviraptor "may entirely mislead us as to its feeding habits and belie its character".

In the 1990s, the discovery of nesting oviraptorids like Citipati proved that Osborn was correct in his caution regarding the name.

These finds showed that the eggs in question probably belonged to Oviraptor itself, and that the specimen was actually brooding its eggs.

Oviraptor lived in the late Cretaceous period, during the late Campanian stage about 75 million years ago; only one definitive specimen is known (with associated eggs), from the Djadokhta Formation of Mongolia, though a possible second specimen (also with eggs) comes from the northeast region of Inner Mongolia, China, in an area called Bayan Mandahu.

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Dinosaur Tail

2011-03-04T22:31:00.000-08:00

About Dinosaur Tail

Offset– Many of the dinosaur tails are used to counterbalance a long narrow part or a weighty skull. Earlier people thought that dinosaurs dragged their tails on the ground, serving to do little but making locomotion difficult. This seemed pointless and ignored the fact that the large mass at the front of the dinosaur's body had to be counterbalanced or else the animal would tip over!

Tripod leg- The tails of some dinosaurs could be useful in attaining a support posture, which was probably used to seek very tall flora and for mate.

Help in turning quickly- Some dinosaurs needed to run quickly and to be able to turn quickly, either to catch prey or avoid predators. In order to turn quickly while running, the tail's movement can shift the runner's direction, allowing swift turns.

Bludgeon for protection- Ankylosaurids like Euoplocephalus and Ankylosaurus had bony nodules at the end of their tails that could easily have been used for protection, which would have been useful for these clumsy, plated grazers. Also, some theropods, like Shunosaurus, Omeisaurus and maybe Mamenchisaurus had tail clubs for protection.

Whisk for protection- In 1961, the British zoologist R. McNeill Alexander proposed the idea that some sauropods may have used their massive tails as a whip to secure at their attackers.

Prehensile addition- Some people theorize that some dinosaur tails may have been prehensile, able to manipulate objects. The tails may have been used to build nests, move vegetation, etc., much as an elephant's trunk works.

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Soft Tissue of Dinosaur

2011-03-03T03:36:00.000-08:00

The soft-tissue of dinosaur was revealed from its vestige in Petraroia, Italy. The discovery was reported in 1998, and described the specimen of a small, very young coelurosaur, Scipionyx samniticus.The fossil includes portions of the intestines, colon, liver, muscles, and windpipe of this immature dinosaur.

In the March 2005 issue of Science, the paleontologist Mary Higby Schweitzer and her team announced the discovery of flexible material resembling actual soft tissue inside a 68-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex leg bone from the Hell Creek Formation in Montana. After recovery, the tissue was rehydrated by the science team.

When the fossilized bone was treated over several weeks to remove mineral content from the fossilized bone-marrow cavity, Schweitzer found evidence of intact structures such as blood vessels, bone matrix, and connective tissue. Scrutiny under the microscope further revealed that the putative dinosaur soft tissue had retained fine structures even at the cellular level. The exact nature and composition of this material, and the implications of Schweitzer's discovery, are not yet clear; study and interpretation of the material is ongoing.

Newer research, published in PloS One, has challenged the claims that the material found is the soft tissue of Tyrannosaurus. Thomas Kaye of the University of Washington and his co-authors contend that what was really inside the tyrannosaur bone was slimy biofilm created by bacteria that coated the voids once occupied by blood vessels and cells.

Flying Dinosaur

2011-02-25T02:05:00.000-08:00

Ornithocheirus means the term bird hand and wasn't the largest pterosaur ever to take to the skies.
This creature was known to have lived in South America and Western Europe during the Middle Cretaceous period (i.e.) around 95 million years ago. Researchers say that it would have got a wing span of about 10 feet and it would have weighed around 70 pounds. Diet of these creatures would have been fish. These creatures had a thin snout and large wingspan with bony protuberance on the end.

Ornithocheirus --that honor belonged to the truly enormous Quetzalcoatlus--but it was the biggest avian reptile of the middle Cretaceous period, since Quetzalcoatlus didn't appear on the scene until tens of millions of years later. Aside from its 10- to 20-foot wingspan, what set Ornithocheirus apart from other pterosaurs was the bony "keel" on the end of its snout, which may have been used to crack the shells of crustaceans, to intimidate other pterosaurs, or to attract the opposite sex?

Discovered in the early 19th century, Ornithocheirus occasioned its share disputes among the famous paleontologists of the day. This pterosaur was named by Harry Seeley, who chose its moniker (Greek for "bird hand") because he assumed Ornithocheirus was ancestral to modern birds.

He was wrong--birds actually descended from small theropod dinosaurs--but not as wrong as his rival Richard Owen, who at that time didn't accept the theory of evolution and thus didn't think Ornithocheirus was ancestral to anything!

Giganotosaurus

2011-02-24T19:05:00.000-08:00

The Giganotosaurus skeleton of dinosaurs resembles that it could come alive at any moment.

The massive reconstruction of the South American dinosaur is a focal point of the international exhibition, “Bigger than T. Rex: Giant Killer Dinosaurs of Argentina,” on display now at the museum.

The exhibit which opened in late January and runs through May 15 has garnered rave reviews from thousands of visitors.

There is great turnout for this particular exhibit, and everyone is really enjoying it,” says Bruce Winslow, director of the Alden B. Dow Museum of Science and the Arts.

We were hoping to average about 3,000 visitors a week, and we had more than 1,200 guests on a recent weekend.Seeing dinosaurs that were “bigger than T. Rex” is amazing, particularly for youthful viewers – and their parents, too.

The so-called “Twin Towers of Terror” includes the 45-foot Giganotosaurus skeleton and its companion, a 24-foot juvenile Mapusaurus skeleton.

The Giganotosaurus, which means giant southern lizard in ancient Greek, was one of the largest known terrestrial carnivores.

Scientists estimate that the huge creatures weighed upwards of 10 tons with a skull length of more than six feet.

As might be expected, assembling the skeleton of the Giganotosaurus presented some unique challenges for the museum staff.

“Before we schedule an exhibit like this, we obviously first have to determine if the specimen will even fit in the space,” Winslow says, adding that 45-foot length of the giant southern lizard ended up being less of a spatial issue than its height.

The head had to be hoisted onto the skeleton using a forklift – that meant we had to have space above the head to maneuver it into position. The crew here made it work.

The multiple components of the big dinosaur arrived via semi truck. Reassembly of the Giganotosaurus involved a team of skilled professionals on the museum staff.

“Everything has to be aligned perfectly,” the director says. “The tail alone came in three sections; each piece had to be hoisted very, very gingerly and set into place.

Dinosaur That Lived During Jurassic Period

2011-02-21T21:49:00.000-08:00

Seismosaurus was a sauropod and one of the largest animal ever to walk the earth, whose intelligence was very low in comparison with other dinosaurs.

It is said to be lived during the Late Jurassic Period, 156 million years ago.

It measured half a football field in length, is the longest dinosaur to date.

It is believed that this dinosaur may have lived in herds, but until more evidence is found, such as fossilized foot prints or several skeletons in the same place, this is just a speculation.

So far, paleontologist have only found one Seismosaurus skeleton, but a lot has been learned from it.

This skeleton was more or less complete.

When scientists uncovered the remains of the creature's stomach area they gathered a pile of about 250 gastroliths.

Most of these stones were about 2 inches in diameter and aided this large herbivore by crushing plant material into a pulp.

Seismosaurus had nostrils on top of its head.

It had a small head, and peg-like teeth sitting in front of its jaws.

Its forelimbs were shorter than its hindlimbs.

Its feet had five toes, and one of these was a thumb clawed.

It had a long wip-like tail which may have been used to lash out at a predator with.

Seismosaurus was a long neck dinosaur, bigger even than its close relative, Diplodocus.

Brachiosaurus

2011-02-21T03:49:00.000-08:00

The Brachiosaurus that had a long neck, small head, and relatively short, thick tail is said to vary from other dinosaur that roamed the earth.

This difference came from the fact that Brachiosaurus was a giraffe-stanced sauropod, which means that the hind legs of the Brachiosaurus were shorter than the front legs.

This is also the reason why it is referred to as the 'arm lizard'.

Brachiosaurus was named by Elmer S. Riggs, in 1903.

Brachiosaurus was a large plant eater.

This herbivore fed on conifers, ginkgos and cycads.

It was believed to have been between 80 and 85 feet long and weighed between 33 and 88 tons! Brachiosaurus was 23 feet tall, at the hips and stood between 40 and 50 feet tall at the head.

Like other Brachiosaurids, it had chisel-like teeth, its nostrils were on the top of its head, and it had large nasal openings indicating that it may have had a good sense of smell.

Brachiosaurus had 26 teeth on its top jaw and 26 on the bottom for a total of 52 teeth towards the front of the mouth.

The dinosaur lived during the late Jurassic period, about 156 million years ago.

The fossilized remains of the Brachiosaurus have been discovered in Colorado, USA, Tanzania and Portugal.

Brachiosaurus belonged to the phylum 'chordata', which means that the dinosaurs had a nerve chord that was hollow and ended in a brain. Brachiosaurus had socket set teeth and were lizard hipped.

Brachiosaurus was a warm-blooded animal, with large demands for energy by the body, on a daily basis, of probably more than 182 kg of food every day!

Is a dinosaur being lived in heard?

2011-02-15T00:55:00.000-08:00

One of the most compelling evidence that dinosaurs traveled in large herds has just been uncovered in the Republic of Yemen. Researchers found tons of dinosaur tracks, unearthed by a local journalist, which show the footprints of both two-legged and four-legged dinosaurs roving in large groups in the Arabian Peninsula. This was before the Red Sea had formed, so the dinosaur probably just tromped there from Africa.

Some dinosaur species apparently lived in groups, as revealed by fossil evidence, which includes:

many fossils found together in bone beds (large deposits of bones of the same species in an area)
fossilized track ways of many dinosaurs travelling together
large groups of fossilized nests grouped together.

Some dinosaurs may have grouped together for protection like Hypsilophodon, and some may have cooperated for more effective hunting like Velociraptor. Some herds may have been temporary, however, with the dinosaurs simply congregating temporarily at rich feeding grounds.

Many plant-eating dinosaurs travelled in herds, feeding and perhaps nesting and migrating together. The advantage of congregating in herds was primarily in protection against predators (meat-eating animals).

Maiasaura fossils have been found in a huge group of about 10,000 animals. This strongly indicates herding behavior. These Maiasauras were buried in volcanic ash along with a field of nests and eggs.

Several hundred Coelophysis fossil skeletons have been found in Arizona, New Mexico, and perhaps Utah. Adults and juveniles of this meat-eating dinosaur have been found.
Other dinosaurs that may have travelled in groups were Ornithomimus and Dryosaurus.

Tyrannosaurus rex

2011-02-14T04:00:00.000-08:00

Cliche says that Tyrannosaurus rex which weighed 5-7 tons is considered to be one of the deadly dinosaur. But the tyrant king was likely true to the billing. After all its bone-crushing jaws could splinter prey like toothpicks. Scientists wonder whether T. rex was more a lumbering scavenger or a quick and agile predator, but dead or alive, its meals were big, meaty and bloody. And T. rex wasn't the only deadly dinosaur, however. The globe was filled vicious killers.

Physical Description
Tyrannosaurus rex had two legs and was 40 feet long.

It’s jaws were up to 4 feet long and it's teeth grew up to be 13 inches long.

Tyrannosaurus rex had bumpy skin like a crocodile. Some scientists think T. Rex could go up to 15 MPH. The T-REX weighed 5-7 tons.

It’s arms were 3 feet long. T. Rex had a stride length of around 12 to 15 feet.

Classification:

Tetanurans.

Young Earth Age:
Alive sometime in the last 6000 years.

Old Earth Age:
According to old earth scientists, T-Rex lived in the Cretacious Period, about 85-65 million years ago.

Diet :
It was a carnivore (meat eating dinosaur).

Fossil locations:
T-Rex fossils have been found in North West America.

Intelligent Dinosaur

2011-02-04T00:49:00.000-08:00

According to the paleontologists study of dinosaur intelligence they were once regarded as being extremely stupid animals but have been largely appraised more generously since the Dinosaur Renaissance.

This newfound optimism for dinosaur intelligence has led to highly exaggerated portrayals in pop cultural works like Jurassic Park.

Paleontologists now regard dinosaurs as being very intelligent for reptiles, but generally not as smart as mammals.

Popular misconceptions of dinosaur neurology include the concept of a second brain regarding in the pelves of stegosaurs and sauropods.

Encephalization quotient (EQ)

The type of approximation used for the intelligence of dinosaurs as well as with other organisms is their encephalization quotient or brain-to-body mass ratio.

This measure assumes that the animals with the greatest EQs and proportionally largest brains were the most intelligent.

By this measure the most intelligent dinosaur were small–bodied theropods ("coelurosaurs") like Troodon ,followed by the dromaeosaurid dinosaurs (the "raptors," which included Dromeosaurus, Velociraptor, Deinonychus, and others) with EQs of about 5.8.

The dinosaurs with the smallest EQs were basal sauropodomorphs ("prosauropods"), with EQs of about 0.05

Is Dinosaur Is Small In Size?

2011-02-02T21:39:00.000-08:00

For the past millions of year and still ,dinosaurs have been considered to be the largest creatures on land. In the study, of the Journal of Zoology, Geoffrey Birchard, associate professor of environmental science and policy at George Mason University, uncovered a problem with the statistical model used by some scientists in the dinosaur community to estimate the mass of dinosaurs.The equation shows that dinosaurs are much smaller than we thought, but there is no mistaking that they were indeed huge animals.

Developed in 1985, the results of the original equation have been used by scientists to estimate or evaluate a variety of parameters, including brain size and egg size. The problem occurs as a result of transforming the data, which changes the properties of the original data, and creates biases that can affect the predictive results obtained from the equation.

Birchard and his colleagues realized there was an error when they used the equation to determine the weight of living animals such as a hippopotamus and an elephant and discovered that the equation greatly overestimated the weight of these animals.

The researchers developed a new equation for calculating dinosaur mass based on bone dimensions. This equation doesn't require the transformation of data that the original equation uses."The best way to understand the new equation is to think about a building that is built on pillars," says Birchard. "The bigger the building, the larger the pillars must be to support the weight of the building. In the same way, the legs of an animal are the pillars supporting its body."

According to Birchard, this new research suggests that some dinosaurs were much more slender than had been thought. It also changes many of the factors scientists have already determined about dinosaurs such as the amount of muscle required to use their bodies and how much they ate and breathed.

Ancients Base Their Dinosaur Drawings on Fossils? Did They

2011-02-02T03:40:00.000-08:00

Ancient Art Of Dinosaur

The presence of dinosaur paintings,images,carvings etc. around the world implies that the ancients knew about dinosaurs .Creationists believe that the ancients’ illustrations of dinosaurs serve as one of the proofs that dinosaurs and humans previously cohabited Earth.

There actually are several lines of reasoning against interpreting the worldwide, antiquated dinosaur carvings as artwork made only from dinosaur fossils. If there were no stories or references from history of men living and interacting with dinosaurs, the ancient dinosaur artwork would be less impressive testimony for the coexistence of dinosaurs and humans.

The evidence is not confined to works of natural history and literature but appears in everyday chronicles of event. Locating, excavating, reassembling, and illustrating dinosaur fossils is an extremely painstaking, complex, time-consuming process.

We know of no evidence of the ancient people around the world excavating dinosaur fossils, reconstructing their skeletons, and then drawing them accurately, as scientists carefully attempt to do in the 21st century.

Though scientists since the early to mid-1800s have been excavating dinosaur fossils and attempting to reassemble what they think the dinosaurs looked like, so often they have been wrong in their recreations of these animals.

Some have supposed that the ancients may have based their illustrations of dinosaurs on the fossil record, even various skeptics have alluded to the improbability of dinosaur art from countries like Peru, Mexico, and England being based on fossils.

The case for the coexistence of dinosaurs and humans is cumulative.Truly, if man once lived with dinosaurs, such artwork, stories, and biblical testimony would be expected.

Origin Of Dinosaur Color

2011-02-01T03:46:00.000-08:00

Rarcheseers announced for the first time that they had been able to place original colors on a dinosaur.This is done by painting in striking stripes on Sinosauropteryx's tail based on new evidence of pigment particles. Researchers haven't glimpsed the actual Jurassic period colors in either Sinosauropteryx or A. huxleyi. Scientists have found evidence of some of the original coloration of a dinosaur, showing that it had rings of orange-brown bristly feathers around its tail.

Under microscopes the scientists can see the fossilized shapes of melanosomes, organelles that provide pigment via melanin. Julia Clarke, an associate professor of paleontology at the University of Texas at Austin said that "This means a color-patterning function—in the early evolution of feathers in dinosaurs”.

Fossils have revealed a lot about the lives of dinosaurs, but researchers always used to think that the fossil record couldn't show what color they were. This implies that fossils tend to preserve an animal's hard parts, like bones and teeth, and not soft parts like skin.

But feathers are made of tough proteins. "And, in fact, they can survive even in conditions where other internal organs, such as muscles and guts and brains and so on, will disappear," says Benton.

"When you look at the feathers, you don't know what the colors were. The feathers are a mixture of brownish colors," says Benton. "They're just preserved either as sort of dirty, whitish, beige kind of color and a kind of darker, equally dirty kind of brownish color."For the first time ever, we have evidence, we believe fairly watertight evidence, of the original color," says Benton.

Record-Breaking Eighth New Species of 2010

2011-01-28T02:44:00.000-08:00

Newest dinosaur of latest Utah’s not gone extinct.

The upper jaw bone of the meat-eating creature, small enough to fit in the palm of the hand, was discovered in 2004 in a formation in the Crystal Geyser area near the Green River in eastern Utah, whereit lived 125 million years ago.

Scientists speculate that it might have evolved into a highly intelligent creature.

Scott Foss regional paleontologist with the Bureau of Land Management said that “Its skull is six times larger than other dinosaurs”.Scott Foss said that “One [find] is unusual, eight is outstanding”. He also said that it is the newest creature featured in a paper published Wednesday in the online journal PLoS ONE.

“This string of dinosaur descriptions means that a full 1 percent of all known dinosaur species were described from lands in Utah during 2010,” said Foss.Foss said worldwide there are about 700 named dinosaurs.

Seven of the new species were found on BLM land and one in Dinosaur National Monument.Kirkland said he is unaware of such a characteristic in other fossilized dinosaurs and can only speculate on its purpose , he also added that ,”There’s no clue what it was used for”.

Duck Billed Dinosaur

2011-01-27T02:47:00.000-08:00

Unique Chew

Hadrosaurs,the duck billed dinosaur could chew in a very unusual way.The scientists has this in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) today.

Highly magnified scanning electron microscope view of surface of one of the hadrosaur teeth. The scratches are inside the boxes, which are less than 0.5mm in width. © Vince Williams, University of Leicester

Scientists, led by palaeontologist Mark Purnell of the University of Leicester, and including those from the Natural History Museum, discovered hadrosaurs had a unique way of eating, unlike any other creature alive.

Examining scratches

They examined tiny scratches on 67-million-year-old fossil teeth of an Edmontosaurus, a specimen from the Natural History Museum.

A different chew

The results showed the teeth movements were complex and involved up and down, sideways and front to back motion. Natural History Museum dinosaur fossil expert Paul Barrett explains.

Teeth from the lower jaw of a hadrosaur showing its multiple rows of leaf-shaped teeth. The worn, chewing surface of the teeth is towards the top. © Vince Williams, University of Leicester.

‘The results show that hadrosaurs did chew, but in a completely different way to anything alive today. As they bit down on their food the upper jaws were forced outwards, flexing along this hinge so that the tooth surfaces slid sideways across each other, grinding and shredding food in the process.’‘The lower jaws could also be moved back and forth, giving a second grinding action.’

What they ate

The research also sheds light on what the dinosaurs ate. Vince Williams of the University of Leicester says, ‘Although the first grasses had evolved by the Late Cretaceous they were not common and it is most unlikely that grasses formed a major component of hadrosaur diets.’

PARROT SIZE DINOSAUR

2011-01-24T20:39:00.000-08:00

Single Fingered Species

A new dinosaur species whose members were similar in size to a parrot having only one finger was discovered by a scientist. Scientists view that rare solitary digit as evidence that the evolution of dinosaurs was more complex than they first believed.

The new dinosaur was found in rocks formed from 84 million to 75 million years ago in Linhe, a city near the Yellow River.The new dinosaur, called Linhenykus, "most likely grew to a few feet tall and weighed only as much as a large parrot", said Xu, who led the international team of scientists that discovered the species.

Xu and others believe theropod dinosaurs started with five fingers but evolved in later forms to have only three fingers. Some eventually became birds.Scientists have come to agree that the evolution of dinosaurs' hands was brought about more by random mutations than by basic adaptive evolution.

"The discovery of the one-fingered dinosaur only reconfirms the fact that digital reduction is a striking evolutionary phenomenon, far more complicated than we've expected," Xu said.The presence of only one finger in Linhenykus shows the vestigial fingers.Vestigial structures, like legs in whales and snakes, may appear and disappear seemingly randomly in the course of evolution," Choiniere said.

Is 2011 Will See the End of Naked Dinosaurs?

2011-01-23T21:01:00.000-08:00

The Years of the Naked Dinosaur

The animated short of Gertie the dinosaur was first shown in 1914. Dinosaurs are still largely depicted as being scaly creatures, often brightly coloured but, for the most part, completely naked. Will 2011 be the year when illustrators grasp the nettle and start to depict members of the dinosaur clade as feathered animals rather than scaly beasts?

How Dinosaurs are Illustrated

Gertie the dinosaur, one of the very first images of a moving dinosaur seen by members of the public was based on a Sauropod, a long-necked dinosaur.Scientists have a better understanding of the anatomy and physical structure of these animals. Trace fossils such as footprints have even hinted at dinosaur behaviour, but as to what colour they were - scientists remain very much in the dark. The colouration of dinosaurs is based on scientific assumption, as colour of rarely fossilises.

The amazing fossil finds over the last twenty years or so, most notably from Liaoning Province in northern China; have revealed that a number of small, meat-eating dinosaurs were feathered.The feathers, were simple in structure, more-like proto-feathers and quills, than the sophisticated feathers associated with a bird's wing.

Feathered Dinosaurs from China

A number of different types of feathered dinosaur are known from the early Cretaceous deposits of Liaoning. The fossils of these different types of dinosaur all show feather-like structures. If feathered dinosaurs existed here, then surely, they existed elsewhere.

So far the evidence for feathered dinosaurs is mostly associated with lizard-hipped dinosaurs, the Saurischians, but there is some other great group the bird-hipped dinosaurs, or Ornithischians may at least have had some feathered representatives. As the fossil evidence builds up, perhaps 2011 will mark a change in how the Dinosauria are depicted. Will feathered, or bristly dinosaurs become the norm, as opposed to seeing the naked scaly forms, so readily illustrated in scientific volumes and children's encyclopaedias of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s?

Arctic and Antarctic dinosaurs

2011-01-18T04:38:00.000-08:00

Dinosaurs have recently been found in South Australia and North Alaska. At the time these places were nearer to the poles than today. Assuming that the obliquity of the Earth did not change, these dinosaurs must have lived throughout six-month-long nights. The local average annual temperature at the time has been very roughly evaluated from 0°C to 13°C (using hints from the plants and the oxygen isotopes), which is higher than today, but during winter the minimal temperature could have been around -11°C.

However, some primitive reptiles (champsosaurs) have been found at quite high latitudes from the middle Cretaceous of Canada.

The Australian polar dinosaurs were smaller than their tropical relatives, which indicates that there were important ecological constraints, one more hint in favour of a low temperature. Some of them have been shown to have had unusually big optic lobes in their brains, probably an adaptation to the polar nights.

It has been supposed that these dinosaurs did migrate to reach warmer places. In the case of Australia, however, an arm of the sea prevented them from going directly North, and they would had to run thousands of kilometres, which is the less probable as they were (for dinosaurs) relatively small. Moreover, some young remains have been found (in Alaska), making migration even less probable. They could also have hibernated, but they were probably too big to bury themselves, and (?) had no protecting fur. In any case, the developed sense of sight would have been useless if they had been away or sleeping during the polar night.

Thus these dinosaurs probably remained active in the cold. Mass homoiothermy could be the solution, but (besides general considerations against it, see below) the polar dinosaurs would then have had a tendency to grow, not to become smaller than their ancestors

An ancient hill where you can see thousands of dinosaur footprints

2011-01-12T19:46:00.000-08:00

In Sucre, Bolivia, a limestone wall goes up at an angle above the ground, its surface criss-crossed with thousands of dinosaur tracks. It's the largest collection of dinosaur footprints in the world.

How did these 68 million-year-old prints wind up at this point?

The really strange thing is that the wall wasn't revealed until the mid-1990s, when workers from a close by cement factory saw it. According to Atlas Obscura:

It's indistinct how the wall went undiscovered for so long, as it is filled with more than 5,000 tracks made throughout the second half of the Cretaceous period about 68 million years ago.

There are so numerous tracks, really - and they're placed in such strange patterns - that scientists pass on to the area as a dinosaur dance floor.

So far, six distinct types of dinosaur prints have been recognized. One special track that measures 347 meters is the longest dinosaur trackway ever revealed and was made by a baby Tyrannosaurus Rex nicknamed "Johnny Walker" by some of the local researchers.

Eight other limestone walls with dinosaurs tracks have been establish in the region. Millions of years ago, when dinosaurs walked the earth, this area was part of a enormous shallow lake. The tectonic plate shifts throughout the Tertiary period that formed the great Andes Mountains also pushed some of these limestone walls out from the bed of the lake. The rock cliff measures about 325 feet high and juts into the sky at a 70 degree angle.

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Ancient flying reptile recognized on B.C. coast

2011-01-11T18:18:00.000-08:00

A researcher who revealed a new species of flying reptile that lived 70 million years ago is being credited for solving a prehistoric mystery.

Part of the creature's fossilized jawbone was established five years ago within a rock on a beach on B.C.'s Hornby Island, off the east coast of Vancouver Island in the Georgia Strait.

The fossil lay in a dusty storage cabinet at the University of Alberta's paleontology department until Ph.D. student Victoria Arbour became inquisitive last spring and began the gruelling task of determining its source.

"For a long time we consideration it was a little dinosaur jaw and that led us down the wrong path," she said.

Arbour made a breakthrough when she compared the bone against a known Chinese species of pterosaur, a flying reptile that lived throughout the Cretaceous period that frequently grew to the size of a small airplane.

"The teeth of our fossil were little and set close together," Arbour said. "The researcher said her pterosaur Gwawinapterus beardi would have had a very big head with a dense stocky body and a three-metre wingspan. He would be a cruel scavenger who hunted little animals, fish and even tiny dinosaurs.

Her findings come into view in the January issue of the Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences.

The new species is the first pterosaur of any type to be found in British Columbia, and only the second ever establish in Canada.

"In B.C. there's a set of fossil collecting however a lot more things similar to marine shells and fish. There are very a small number of land animals," she said.

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CLONE DINOSAUR

2011-01-10T22:47:00.000-08:00

Scientists at the University of Florida have effectively cloned a dinosaur, a spokesman from the university said yesterday.

The dinosaur, a baby Apatosaurus nicknamed “Spot,” is at present being incubated at the University of Florida’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

The scientists take out DNA from preserved Apatosaurus fossils, which were on show at the university’s museum of natural science. Once the DNA was harvested, scientists bring in it into a fertile ostrich womb.

“Ostriches contribute to a lot of genetic traits with dinosaurs,” said Dr. Norman Trudell, a biology professor at UF and the project’s leading scientist. “Their eggshell microstructures are almost the same to those of the Apatosaurus that is why the cloning worked so absolutely.”

Those in the scientific community declare the dinosaur cloning – the first ever of its kind – is a milestone for genetic engineering.

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Big bite dino one hungry beast

2011-01-09T17:58:00.001-08:00

T. rex is some kind of king, so it's only right that he should have really kingly droppings. 'Coprolite' is the fancy name for fossilised faeces, that is, animal dung, or poo.

In 1997, the Royal Saskatchewan Museum sent Karen Chin of the US Geological Survey a rather unusual specimen that they had unearthed. It was large (44 centimetres by 16 centimetres by 13 centimetres), nicely tapered and quite heavy (7.1 kilograms).

It turned out to be a Tyrannosaurus poo, and twice as big as any other previously discovered carnivore's poo. For many years, the palaeontologists thought that T. rex had the biggest head of any dinosaur. One skull measured 1.5 metres long.

But in 1996, Carcharodontosaurus (meaning 'shark-toothed reptile') was discovered in Morocco. Its head was 1.6 metres long. Now the T. rex teeth were in a huge jaw, and powered by huge jaw muscles, so they could generate a massive bite force of an enormous 3100 kilograms.

Comparing this to today's animals, it outclasses the 1800 kilograms of bite force of a great white shark, the 560 kilograms of a large African lion, and is much greater than our pathetic human bite force of just 80 kilograms. On the other hand, T. rex had less bite force than the extinct ancestor of the great white shark, the gigantic Carcharodon megalodon.

This shark, 16 metres long and weighing up to 100 tonnes, could generate up to 18,000 kilograms of bite force.

T. rex had lots of teeth. The biggest tooth found so far is about 30 centimetres long. These teeth sat in a huge jaw, which was U-shaped at the front, not V-shaped like many non-tyrannosaur dinosaurs. The teeth right at the very front of the upper jaw was curved backwards, and had tips like chisels (like our front teeth).

The rest of the teeth were more robust. The palaeontologists often call them 'lethal bananas'. They were also serrated, with the serrations on the front and rear surface.

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Meat-eating Dinosaurs Not So Carnivorous After All

2011-01-06T21:33:00.001-08:00

Scientists have found that although Tyrannosaurus rex may have been a flesh-eating terror, many of his closest relatives were more content with vegetarian fare.

The scientists used statistical analyzes to determine the diet of 90 species of theropod dinosaurs. Their results challenge the conventional view that nearly all theropods hunted prey, especially those closest to the ancestors of birds.

The research shows that among the most bird-like dinosaurs--known as coelurosaurs--plant eating was a common way of life.

"Most theropods are clearly adapted to a predatory lifestyle, but somewhere on the line to birds, predatory dinosaurs went soft," says Lindsay Zanno, co-researcher of the study.

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New Mexico giant dinosaur - Titanoceratops

2011-01-05T23:48:00.000-08:00

"Many unknown dinosaurs await discovery in rock formations all over the world, however some new species are defeat in plain sight. One such animal, explained in an in-press Cretaceous Research paper, had one of the biggest heads of any dinosaur."

The recognition of Titanoceratops creates new hypotheses about the evolution of the last of North America’s horned dinosaurs. At about 74 million years old, Titanoceratops expands the range of the Triceratopsini back about five million years and may specify that large body size evolved among this subgroup earlier than had been thought.

Though surely an imposing specimen, the main value of Titanoceratops may be in assisting paleontologists trace the evolution of horned dinosaurs just ahead of the catastrophic end-Cretaceous mass extinction.

For more information visit this link Titanoceratops.

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Horny find uncovers Triceratops' predecessor

2011-01-04T17:58:00.001-08:00

Two enormous heads arrayed with horns are the first striking images of a pair of newly discovered dinosaur species.

The ornate heads belong to Kosmoceratops richardsoni and the Utahceratops gettyi, two species of dinosaur found in southern Utah's Grand-Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

Both Kosmoceratops and Utahceratops were plant-eating inhabitants of the 'long lost continent' of Laramidia about 76 million years ago, says Dr Eric Roberts, one of the scientists involved in the discovery, who is now based at James Cook University in Townsville.

"The two dinosaurs are relatives of the famous Triceratops but they are about 10 million years older," says Roberts.

He says it's particularly exciting because they are among the first of many dinosaur discoveries being made in the region.

"The area we're working in is yielding a whole slew of other dinosaurs as well," says Roberts.

"This pair is from a whole amazing range of discoveries, from other dinosaurs to other mammals."

The two new dinosaurs have a much more elaborate array of horns than the more familiar Triceratops, with the smaller of the two, Kosmoceratops, baring 15 of different shapes and sizes.

It is the most ornate dinosaur head yet discovered ('kosmos' is Greek for ornate). The discoverers speculate that rather than being used for fighting, the horns may have been for decoration and advantage in courtship displays, as well as to deter mating rivals.

The Utahceratops doesn't have so many horns, but is distinguished with a massive head - its skull measuring 2.3 metres long. It is said to resemble a giant rhino with a supersized head.

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AMNH declared 'The World's Largest Dinosaurs' Exhibition starts on April 16, 2011 and end on January 2, 2012

2011-01-03T23:19:00.001-08:00

The American Museum of Natural History today announced a foremost new exhibition, The World's Largest Dinosaurs (from April 16, 2011 to January 2, 2012), which will get visitors beyond the bones and into the amazing anatomy of a uniquely super-sized group of dinosaurs who flourished for 140 million years: the long-necked and long-tailed sauropods, which ranged in size from 15 to 150 feet long.

Drawing on the most recent science that looks in part to presented organisms to realize these long-extinct giants, The World's Largest Dinosaurs will reply such intriguing questions as how an very large animal breathes, eats, moves, and survives by illuminating how size and scale are related to fundamental biological functions.

Modern interactive exhibits-including the centerpiece, a life-sized, detailed model of a 60-foot Mamenchisaurus-will receive visitors inside these giants' bodies, shedding light on how heart rate, respiration, metabolism, and reproduction are linked to size.

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Cause of death of dinosaurs

2010-12-30T22:15:00.000-08:00

Our current thinking is that dinosaurs passed away due to the following sequence of events:

A large asteroid from space crashing to the earth, producing a large amount of debris in the atmosphere.

The high amount of debris created dirty "clouds" which blocked out the sunlight and reduced the amount of sunlight reaching the earth.

Because of the reduced sunlight, plants began to die off. These plants included those which served as the dinosaurs food. The dinosaurs also began to die off due to the lack of food.

Over time scientists have had several theories regarding the disappearance of Dinosaurs. As I mentioned this is the current idea.

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Dinosaurs Like You've Never Seen Before!

2010-12-29T22:34:00.000-08:00

Fighting Dinosaurs: New Discoveries from Mongolia features more than 30 of the best preserved and scientifically important dinosaur and other ancient animal fossils ever discovered in Mongolia's famed Gobi Desert. On view through the exhibition focuses on the "Fighting Dinosaurs" of Mongolia — one of the most famous fossil finds in the world. Never before seen in North America and designated a national treasure of Mongolia, are the two Fighting Dinosaurs a fierce Velociraptor that was apparently buried alive while attacking a plant-eating, shield-headed Protoceratops.

Also featured are many new specimens from Mongolia, including a number of species yet to be named, some of the most complete meat-eating theropod dinosaurs ever found, several nesting dinosaurs, and some of the finest lizard and mammal fossils ever discovered. These specimens have enhanced our understanding of life in the Gobi region 80 million years ago, and they shed new light on the rise of modern bird and mammal groups.

This exhibition showcases discoveries and research by Museum and Mongolian Academy of Sciences paleontologists over the last 10 years, and reflects the most current thinking on dinosaur traits, behavior, and evolutionary links to birds. Discoveries in China from just two years ago reveal that a number of dinosaur species had feathers; among the highlights of the exhibition are fully feathered models of Velociraptor (shown above) and a nesting Oviraptor protecting its eggs.

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Mammals Grew Big After Dinosaurs Died Off: Analysis

2010-12-28T23:04:00.000-08:00

Mammals began to grow much larger after dinosaurs became extinct 65 million years ago, a new study suggests.

An international team of researchers analyzed the fossils of major groups of land mammals on each continent and found that their size increased from a maximum of about 10 kilograms (22 pounds) when they shared the Earth with dinosaurs to a maximum of 17 tonnes (18.7 U.S. tons) after dinosaurs became extinct.

"Basically, the dinosaurs disappear and all of sudden there is nobody else eating the vegetation. That's an open food source and mammals start going for it, and it's more efficient to be an herbivore when you're big," study co-author Jessica Theodor, an associate professor in the biological sciences department at the University of Calgary, said in a university news release.

The findings also show that the global ecosystem is able to reset itself relatively quickly.

"You lose dinosaurs 65 million years ago, and within 25 million years the system is reset to a new maximum for the animals that are there in terms of body size. That's actually a pretty short time frame, geologically speaking. That's really rapid evolution," Theodor said.

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What was the biggest, smallest and smartest dinosaur?

2010-12-27T22:10:00.000-08:00

The largest complete dinosaur we know of was Brachiosaurus ("arm lizard"); it reached 23 m in length and 12 m in height (about the length of two large school buses and the height of a four-story building). Fragmentary leg bones and vertebrae of even larger dinosaur species are known, but these skeletal remains are too incomplete to determine their exact size. Several of these (Argentinasaurus and Amphicoelias) might have been one and a half to two times larger than Brachiosaurus.

The smallest dinosaurs were just slightly larger than a chicken; Compsognathus ("pretty jaw") was 1 m (3 ft) long and probably weighed about 2.5 kg (about 6.5 lb). These three dinosaur types all lived during the Jurassic Period. Mussaurus ("mouse lizard") was claimed as the smallest dinosaur, but it is now known to be the hatchling of a dinosaur type that was much larger than Compsognathus when fully grown. If birds are advanced dinosaurs, then the smallest dinosaur would be the hummingbird!

Although there is no direct way to measure a dinosaur's intelligence, one of the few possible measures of intelligence might be a large brain in a small body. The genus that perhaps fits this description best was the Cretaceous bird-like dinosaur Troodon, which also may have had binocular vision (depth perception) and excellent eyesight and was built for speed. Even so, this dinosaur was probably not as "intelligent" as most modern birds and mammals.

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Dinosaur World expansion to double size of desirability

2010-12-27T01:35:00.000-08:00

PLANT CITY - Dinosaur World will break ground on an expansion plan to more than double the size of the tourist attraction.

The 12-acre expansion will comprise a 22,000 square-foot building to house a museum with a primitive theme, gift shop and office space. More dinosaur replicas will be added to the 150 previously at the attraction at 5145 Harvey Tew Road, just off Interstate 4 at Branch Forbes Road. A few woolly mammoth replicas may also be added.

Other new features will embrace a playground, more parking and bigger picnic areas.

Dinosaur World spokeswoman Nicole Randall said a few of the details won't be released but construction is predictable to be finished in fall 2011. The park, now 8 acres, will remain open throughout the expansion.

Dinosaur World, the brainchild of Swedish businessman Christer Svensson, opened in Plant City in 1998 on the position of the former Gator Jungle tourist attraction. Less than five years afterward, another site opened in Cave City, Ky.; in 2008, and a third opened in Glen Rose, Texas.

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Most dinosaurs were vegetarian, research proposes

2010-12-23T22:26:00.000-08:00

Most dinosaurs were vegetarian rather than meat-eating beasts, research suggests.

While Tyrannosaurus Rex sums up the image of a dinosaur wreaking terror by ripping flesh with powerful jaws, several of its closest relatives were more content nibbling leaves.

A new study of the diet of 90 species of theropod dinosaurs challenged the conservative view that almost all theropods hunted prey, particularly those closest to the ancestors of birds.

Rather it showed that among the most bird-like dinosaurs known as coelurosaurs plant eating was a frequent way of life.

Their diet may have also assisted them survive and use new environments becoming the most winning group of dinosaurs throughout the Cretaceous Period, 145-65 million years ago.

Dr Lindsay Zanno of the Chicago Field Museum said: "Most theropods are obviously adapted to a predatory lifestyle, but somewhere on the line to birds, predatory dinosaurs went soft."

Among theropod dinosaurs, all modern birds and numerous groups of their neighboring extinct relatives belong to a subgroup known as Coelurosauria.

Most were feathered and most clever dinosaurs and those with the smallest body sizes also belong to this group.

Though researchers have been only left with fossilized bones and teeth to work with and so had to infer their diets.

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Most bird-like dinosaurs ate plants, latest study discovers

2010-12-21T19:42:00.000-08:00

The results are in sharp contrast to a widespread belief among paleontologists who say theropod dinosaurs sought their prey.

Lindsay Zanno and Peter Makovicky of the Field Museum in Chicago used statistical analysis to conclude that 90 species of theropod dinosaurs ate a plant-based diet, particularly among coelurosaurs, the mainly bird-like dinosaurs.

The results were in sharp contrast to a widespread faith among paleontologists who say theropod dinosaurs hunted their prey, particularly those closest to the ancestors of birds.

"Most theropods are obviously adapted to a predatory lifestyle, but someplace on the line to birds, predatory dinosaurs went soft," Zanno explained.

Zanno and Makovicky found almost two dozen anatomical features were statistically linked to direct facts of plant eating among coelurosaurian dinosaurs, such as the loss of teeth or a long neck.

"Once we linked convinced adaptations with direct evidence of diet, we appeared to see which other theropod species had the same traits... Then we could say who was expected a plant eater and who was not," added Zanno.

During their analysis, the researchers establish that 44 theropod species distributed across six major lineages ate plants and that the ancestor to most feathered dinosaurs and modern birds had most likely already stopped eating meat only during the Cretaceous Period, some 145-65 million years ago.

In light of the huge number of plant eaters during that period, the carnivorous diet of T. rex, Velociraptor and other meat-eating coelurosaurs should be viewed "more as the exception than the rule," Zanno said.

"It’s time to start considering these animals in a new evolutionary context," Zanno said.

The researchers also recommended that these large predators and their close relatives may have in fact evolved from omnivorous ancestors.

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Not Meat-eating dinosaurs so carnivorous after all

2010-12-20T19:14:00.000-08:00

New research by Field Museum scientists discovers widespread herbivory in bird-like theropod dinosaurs. Four of the 90-theropod species concerned in the study shown with dietary interpretations. All four species derive from the prominent feathered dinosaur beds of the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation, P. R. China, leading the scientists to wonder that dietary diversity may have contributed to the huge numbers of contemporaneous theropods in ecosystems like those of the Yixian.

Field Museum scientists used statistical analyses to establish the diet of 90 species of theropod dinosaurs. Their outcomes challenge the conventional view that almost all theropods hunted prey, particularly those closest to the ancestors of birds.

Tyrannosaurus rex may have been a flesh-eating terror however many of his closest relatives were more content with vegetarian fare, a fresh analysis by Field Museum scientists has established.

Theropods are a group of bipedal dinosaurs colloquially identified as "predatory" dinosaurs. Among theropod dinosaurs, all modern birds and numerous groups of their closest extinct relatives belong to a subgroup known as Coelurosauria. Coelurosauria also comprises the iconic hunters Tyrannosaurus and Velociraptor. Most coelurosaurs were feathered and the cleverest dinosaurs and those with the smallest body sizes also belong to this group.

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Raptor-like dinosaur revealed in eastern Utah

2010-12-19T18:26:00.001-08:00

A little, feathered raptor-like dinosaur thought to be 125 million years old has been discovered in eastern Utah.

The Geminiraptor suarezarum was bipedal and, similar to other raptors, had a large head. The majority of the known raptors discovered in North America date to between 72 million and 75 million years ago, which builds the discovery the oldest reported specimen of its kind.

"They were speedy, they were smart, they had large eyes and very dexterous hands," said James Kirkland, a paleontologist with the Utah Geological Survey.

It was the eighth new species of dinosaurs revealed in Utah this year. Seven of those were establish on federal land.

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Therizinosaur—Mystery of the Sickle-Claw Dinosaur

2010-12-15T19:35:00.001-08:00

How did this dinosaur get buried in mud at the bottom of the Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway? One hypothesis: Lost at sea, perhaps swept away by winds or change in currents, flailing about to protect itself from plesiosaurs and sharks until it could no longer stay afloat. An alternate hypothesis: Bloat and float. Illustration by Victor Leshyk.

Mounted skeleton of Nothronychus, the sickle-claw dinosaur from the Tropic Shale of southern Utah. The small head, tiny teeth, massive claws on the hands, expansive belly, broad hips, and short tail distinguish this dinosaur from all of its carnivorous relatives. Height as mounted is about 8 1⁄2 feet, but would be 13 feet tall in a more erect posture.

Reconstruction of Nothronychus on land. Although volcanoes are a cliche in dinosaur art, volcanic ash in the Tropic Shale indicates proximity of tectonic activity on land where these dinosaurs lived. Several Pteranodon soar safely overhead. Illustration by Victor Leshyk.

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