paleontology

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Dino Birth Pushed Back 9M Years

Just-discovered species walked the Earth 250 million years ago

(Newser) - Researchers analyzing footprints in 250 million-year-old Polish rock say they've identified the oldest dinosaur-like species ever discovered. Prorodatcylus walked on four legs, was about the size of a house cat, and lived in the shadow of its "more diverse, successful, and abundant crocodile-like cousins" for millions of years, according...

Utah's 'Lost World' Yields 15-Horned Dino

Kosmoceratops resembled oversized rhino

(Newser) - A pair of dinosaur species discovered in Utah rank among the horniest beasts ever to walk the Earth, researchers say. One, Kosmoceratops, had 15 full-sized horns on its head, which was roughly 6.5 feet long. Researchers believe the impressive display helped the dinosaur compete for mates, much like peacock...

Utility Crew Stumbles on 1.4M-Year-Old Fossils

Sabre-tooth tiger, more unearthed

(Newser) - It didn’t take an archaeological expedition to unearth California’s oldest saber-toothed cat skeleton—it took a crew of construction workers, who were trying to break ground on a new substation for Riverside County. And that’s not all they found. The workers had stumbled upon a “treasure...

Hump-Backed Feathered Dino Discovered

Mystery dinosaur offers link to first birds

(Newser) - It had a mysterious hump over its pelvis and feather-attachment bumps on its forearms: Meet the newly discovered Concavenator corcovatus, a dinosaur scientists hope will offer clues about the emergence of the first birds. Paleontologists unearthed the dino, a member of the theropod family, in central Spain. And while its...

'Terror Bird' Used Beak Like an Axe
 'Terror Bird' Used Beak as Axe 
Aug 19, 2010 4:59 AM CDT

'Terror Bird' Used Beak as Axe

Bird bobbed and weaved like a boxer to corner prey

(Newser) - Scientists have discovered exactly how the giant, prehistoric "terror birds" that once roamed South America slaughtered its prey. Using CT scans and biomedical reconstructions, Argentine and American researchers found that the 5-foot-tall, 90-pound Andalgalornis steulleti wielded its enormous head like an axe, smashing its curved beak into animals and...

Triceratops Never Existed
Triceratops 'Never Existed'
Aug 3, 2010 9:42 AM CDT

Triceratops 'Never Existed'

Three-horned fossils are actually juvenile torosauruses

(Newser) - One of the best-known dinosaur species may not have really been a dinosaur species at all, according to new research. Scientists compared triceratops skulls to those of a lesser-known species, the torosaurus, and concluded that the triceratops were actually young torosauruses, New Scientist reports. They believe the three-horned dinosaur's skull...

Dwarf Dinos Island Hopped to Europe

'Mini-Triceratops' upends old theories

(Newser) - Dwarf dinosaurs may have made their way from island to island in the days when Europe was just a series of iles dotted in the prehistoric Tethys Ocean, according to scientists puzzling over bones found in a Hungarian coal mine. The bones belong to a small horned dinosaur from the...

Scientists Find Evidence of Poisonous Dinosaur

Sinornithosaurus had grooved teeth, room for poison gland

(Newser) - As if three-inch teeth don't sound deadly enough, at least one dinosaur may have delivered poison through those chompers. Two paleontologists examining the fossil remains of the Sinornithosaurus, a turkey-size cousin of the velociraptor, noticed it had grooved teeth, much like those on venomous lizards or snakes. Upon closer inspection,...

100M Years Ago, Africa Was Crocodile Central
 100M Years Ago, Africa 
 Was Crocodile Central 
PALEONTOLOGISTS SAY
Nov 20, 2009 1:12 PM CST

100M Years Ago, Africa Was Crocodile Central

3 new species unearthed from Sahara include DogCroc

(Newser) - The universe of diverse prehistoric crocodile species keeps expanding, suggesting crocs were one of the dominant forms of life 100 million years ago. Paleontologists have just unearthed three new species in the Sahara desert: the 20-foot BoarCroc, which likely fed on dinosaurs; the 20-foot PancakeCroc, a flat-bodied fish-gobbler; and the...

Scientists Find Ancestor to Giant Dinosaurs

It's a link between smaller bipeds and huge quadripeds

(Newser) - Paleontologists in South Africa have found a new dinosaur, a sort of missing link between smaller two-legged creatures that dined on plants and the long-necked carnivorous giants of Jurassic Park. The new species, aardonyx celestae, was 20 feet long and walked on two feet. But crucially, it was able to...

Fossil Hunter Finds Giant Sea Monster

Colossal pliosaur was big enough to snack on T. Rex

(Newser) - A sea monster big enough to have munched on T. Rex has been found by an amateur fossil collector scouring Britain's south coast. The collector gathered chunks of the prehistoric beast's 8-foot-long skull as they fell from a cliff face over several years. Paleontologists believe the pliosaur skull is the...

'Ballerina-Like' T. Rex Cousin Discovered

Size, light skeleton and delicate teeth suggest different prey from larger relative

(Newser) - A smaller, more agile cousin of the Tyrannosaurus rex has been identified. The skull and a nearly complete skeleton of Alioramus altai was discovered in Mongolia in 2001, and has features that distinguish it from its more lumbering cousin. Unlike its “big bad boy” relatives, a study author tells...

Fossil Find Shakes Up Evolution Timeline

Ardipithecus ramidus lived in trees and walked upright

(Newser) - A primate fossil found in Africa in 1994 predates the famous “Lucy” skeleton by 1 million years and offers clues to human evolution, researchers say. “This is huge,” a paleoanthropologist tells the Washington Post. “This is the biggest discovery really since” Lucy. The researchers believe “...

Sore Throat May Have Axed T Rex

Trichomonosis still affects modern birds and makes eating almost impossible

(Newser) - Tyrannosaurus rex could have been laid low not by a planetwide dinosaur holocaust or vicious infighting, but by a parasite that still affects modern birds. Researchers have taken a close look at lesions on T. rex fossils once presumed to be battle scars and concluded that they are the work...

Oldest Feathered Dino Found in China

Dinosaur is earliest known feathered species, may have flown on four wings

(Newser) - A fossilized creature found in northern China puts an end to any controversy over whether birds descended from dinosaurs, say Chinese scientists. The dinosaur, who lived some 10 million years before Archaeopteryx, is the oldest feather species ever discovered. The feathers cover its arms, tail, and also its feet, leading...

Pint-Size T-Rex Surprises Scientists

'Raptorex' was 1/100th the weight of its descendant

(Newser) - Paleontologists have unearthed a miniature predecessor of Tyrannosaurus Rex, a finding that may rewrite the origins of the most iconic of dinosaurs. “Raptorex,” discovered in China, has all the distinctive features of a Tyrannosaurus—large head and jaws, long legs, and small arms—but it weighed only 150...

T. Rex 'Mostly Ate Babies'
 T. Rex 'Mostly Ate Babies' 
Aug 5, 2009 1:19 AM CDT

T. Rex 'Mostly Ate Babies'

(Newser) - The Hollywood image of Tyrannosaurus Rex battling huge herbivores is a long way from Jurassic reality, according to a new study. Instead of picking on animals its own size, T. Rex and other massive carnivores preferred their prey as young as possible, ideally when they were small enough to be...

Lazy, Gluttonous Dinos Were Prehistoric 'Couch Potatoes'

(Newser) - Dinosaurs grew to their massive sizes because of lack of exercise and easy access to food, according to a leading zoologist. Dr. Brian McNab studied large mammals for comparison and concluded that a lack of energy expenditure, combined with abundant resources and a blood temperature somewhere between warm and cold,...

Aussies Dig Up 3 New Dinosaurs

Dinos from Down Under evolved separately from cousins elsewhere

(Newser) - The skeletons of three previously unknown species of dinosaur have been found in the Australian Outback, reports ABC News of Australia. The dinosaurs—two big herbivores and a fearsome carnivore—roamed about 100 million years ago. One of the herbivores is similar to a hippo and the other to a...

Giant Dinos 'Held Heads High'

Study suggests museums wrongly show sauropods slouching forward

(Newser) - Giant dinosaurs like Diplodicus and Apatosaurus spent most of their time with their incredibly lengthy necks held tall like giraffes instead of slouching forward as seen in most museum reconstructions, according to a new study. Reseachers compared the bones of sauropods with mammals and birds, the only modern animals that...

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