ScienceDaily: Dinosaur News

Fossil brain teaser: New study reveals patterns of dinosaur brain development

Mon, 20 May 2013 11:40:40 EDT

A new study sheds light on how the brain and inner ear developed in dinosaurs. Using high-resolution CT scanning and 3D computer imaging, it was possible to reconstruct and visualise the brain and inner ear of Dysalotosaurus lettowvorbecki -- a small, plant-eating dinosaur, which lived 150 million years ago, in what is now Tanzania.

Insight into nesting behavior of dinosaurs: Both moms and dads helped with incubation, study finds

Wed, 15 May 2013 15:15:15 EDT

A recent study into the incubation behavior of modern birds is shedding new light on the type of parental care carried out by their long-extinct ancestors.

Fossil saved from mule track revolutionizes understanding of ancient dolphin-like marine reptile

Tue, 14 May 2013 21:31:31 EDT

Scientists have revealed a new species of ichthyosaur (a dolphin-like marine reptile from the age of dinosaurs) from Iraq, which revolutionizes our understanding of the evolution and extinction of these ancient marine reptiles.

Mum and dad dinosaurs shared the work

Tue, 14 May 2013 21:31:31 EDT

A study into the brooding behavior of birds has revealed their dinosaur ancestors shared the load when it came to incubation of eggs.

Four new dinosaur species identified

Wed, 08 May 2013 17:21:21 EDT

Just when dinosaur researchers thought they had a thorough knowledge of ankylosaurs, a family of squat, armor-plated, plant-eaters, along comes a graduate student with some other ideas.

Oldest? New 'bone-head' dinosaur hints at higher diversity of small dinosaurs

Tue, 07 May 2013 12:48:48 EDT

Scientists have named a new species of bone-headed dinosaur (pachycephalosaur) from Alberta, Canada. The plant-eating Acrotholus audeti was approximately six feet long and weighed about 40 kgs in life. It represents the oldest bone-headed dinosaur in North America, and possibly the world.

New dinosaur fossil discovered in China: Meat-eating dinosaur from late Jurassic period was less than a year old

Fri, 03 May 2013 13:27:27 EDT

Fossil remains in northwestern China have been identified as a new species of small theropod, or meat-eating, dinosaur.

What happened to dinosaurs' predecessors after Earth's largest extinction 252 million years ago?

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:49:49 EDT

Predecessors to dinosaurs missed the race to fill habitats emptied when nine out of 10 species disappeared during Earth's largest mass extinction 252 million years ago.

Dinosaur predecessors gain ground in wake of world's biggest biodiversity crisis

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 15:40:40 EDT

Newly discovered fossils from 10 million years after Earth's greatest mass extinction reveal a lineage of animals thought to have led to dinosaurs taking hold in Tanzania and Zambia in the mid-Triassic period, many millions of years before dinosaur relatives were seen in the fossil record elsewhere on Earth.

Fish was on the menu for early flying dinosaur

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 15:49:49 EDT

New research reveals that Microraptor, a small flying dinosaur, was a complete hunter -- able to swoop down and pick up fish.

Anatomist is fleshing out dinosaur heads, reaching people about science

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 11:12:12 EDT

Accurately depicting dinosaur anatomy has come a long way since the science fiction films of the 1960s.

New carnivorous dinosaur from Madagascar raises more questions than it answers

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 21:40:40 EDT

The first new dinosaur named from Madagascar in nearly a decade, Dahalokely tokana was a carnivore measuring 9-14 feet long. Its fossils were found in 90-million-year-old rocks of northernmost Madagascar, from the time when Madagascar and India were a single isolated land mass. Dahalokely is potentially ancestral to later dinosaurs of both regions, and shortens a 95-million-year gap in Madagascar's dinosaur fossil record by 20 million years.

Dinosaur egg study supports evolutionary link between birds and dinosaurs: How Troodon likely hatched its young

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 10:43:43 EDT

A small, bird-like North American dinosaur incubated its eggs in a similar way to brooding birds -- bolstering the evolutionary link between birds and dinosaurs, researchers have found.

World's oldest dinosaur embryo bonebed yields organic remains

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 13:12:12 EDT

A 190-million-year-old dinosaur bonebed near the city of Lufeng, in Yunnan, China has revealed for the first time how dinosaur embryos grew and developed in their eggs.

New evidence dinosaurs were strong swimmers

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 12:35:35 EDT

A researcher has identified some of the strongest evidence ever found that dinosaurs could paddle long distances. He examined unusual claw marks left on a river bottom in China that is known to have been a major travel-way for dinosaurs.

Four dinosaur egg species identified in Lleida, Spain

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 13:49:49 EDT

Scientists have for the first time documented detailed records of dinosaur egg fossils in the Coll de Nargó archaeological site in Lleida, Spain. Up until now, only one type of dinosaur egg had been documented in the region.

New dinosaur species: First fossil evidence shows small crocs fed on baby dinosaurs

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 17:15:15 EST

A paleontologist and his team have discovered a new species of herbivorous dinosaur and published the first fossil evidence of prehistoric crocodyliforms feeding on small dinosaurs.

New evidence suggests comet or asteroid impact was last straw for dinosaurs

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 14:14:14 EST

While many assume that a comet or asteroid impact killed off the dinosaurs, the actual dates of the impact and extinction are imprecise enough that some have questioned the connection. Scientists have now dated the extinction with unprecedented precision and concluded that the impact and extinction where synchronous. While global climate change probably brought dinosaurs and other creatures to the brink, the impact likely was the final blow.

Blame it on Barney: Student perceptions of an upright tyrannosaurus rex remain obsolete

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 11:45:45 EST

Ask a college student to sketch a Tyrannosaurus rex, and he or she will probably draw an upright, tail-dragging creature with tiny arms. An 8-year-old will draw something similar. They’re wrong, of course. The terrible T. rex, an agile, dynamic predator, never went upright. In fact, T. Rex tarried horizontal. So why are students’ perceptions of the T. rex stalled in the early 1900s? A research team sought answers after years of anecdotally observing students drawing the T. rex incorrectly.

Dinosaur footprints at NASA Goddard take another step

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 12:29:29 EST

A grouping of 110 to 112 million-year-old dinosaur footprints pressed into mud from the Cretaceous Period have now been safely moved from their original setting on the grounds of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Until further scientific study is possible, the footprints, now wrapped in protective material, will be stored on the Goddard campus.

New dinosaur fossil challenges bird flight origins theories

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 09:15:15 EST

The discovery of a new bird-like dinosaur from the Jurassic period challenges widely accepted theories on the origin of flight. A new paper describes a new feathered dinosaur about 30 centimeters in length which pre-dates bird-like dinosaurs that birds were long thought to have evolved from.

More small meat-eating dinosaurs than thought

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 19:53:53 EST

Researchers used fossilized teeth to identify at least 23 species of small meat-eating dinosaurs.

Sex of early birds suggests dinosaur reproductive style: New way to identify gender of ancient avian species

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 11:16:16 EST

Paleontologists have discovered a way to determine the sex of a prehistoric bird species. Confuciusornis sanctus, a 125-million-year-old Mesozoic bird, had remarkable differences in plumage -- some had long, almost body length ornamental tail feathers, others had none -- features that have been interpreted as the earliest example of avian courtship. However, the idea that male Confuciusornis birds had ornamental plumage, and females did not, has not been proven until now.

Australia's stampeding dinosaurs take a dip: Largely tracks of swimming rather than running animals

Tue, 08 Jan 2013 19:02:02 EST

Queensland paleontologists have discovered that the world's only recorded dinosaur stampede is largely made up of the tracks of swimming rather than running animals.

Jurassic ecosystems were similar to modern: Animals flourish among lush plants

Tue, 08 Jan 2013 13:20:20 EST

In modern ecosystems, animals flourish amid lush vegetation. That was true 150 million years ago too, says a new study by paleontologists. They applied ecological principles to geochemical data from fossil soils and found scientists can infer animal diversity from it: "This illustrates that climate and biota have been ecologically connected for millions of years, indicating human change to global climate will have profound impacts on plants and animals."

First fossil bird with teeth specialized for tough diet

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 08:26:26 EST

Beak shape variation in Darwin's finches is a classic example of evolutionary adaptation, with beaks that vary widely in proportions and shape, reflecting a diversity of ecologies. While living birds have a beak to manipulate their food, their fossil bird ancestors had teeth. Now a new fossil discovery shows some fossil birds evolved teeth adapted for specialized diets.

Dinosaur shook tail feathers for mating show

Fri, 04 Jan 2013 08:31:31 EST

A researcher's examination of fossilized dinosaur tail bones has led to a breakthrough finding: some feathered dinosaurs used tail plumage to attract mates, much like modern-day peacocks and turkeys.

Inside the head of a dinosaur: Research reveals new information on the evolution of dinosaur senses

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 17:41:41 EST

A new study of the brain anatomy of therizinosaurs, plant-eating dinosaurs that lived during the Cretaceous Period, has revealed interesting links with their notorious meat-eating 'cousins' Tyrannosaurus rex and Velociraptor.

New study sheds light on dinosaur size

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 17:41:41 EST

Dinosaurs were not only the largest animals to roam the Earth -- they also had a greater number of larger species compared to all other back-boned animals -- scientists suggest in a new article.

Was the sauropod dinosaurs' large size due to plant food? Scientists argue old idea still has legs

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 19:31:31 EST

The long-necked sauropod dinosaurs were the largest land animals ever to walk the Earth -- but why were they so large? A decade ago, a team of plant ecologists from South Africa suggested that this was due to the nature of the plant food they ate. However, these ideas have fallen out of favor with many dinosaur researchers. Now experts argue that this idea still has legs.

Asteroid that killed the dinosaurs also wiped out the 'Obamadon'

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 16:08:08 EST

The asteroid collision widely thought to have killed the dinosaurs also led to extreme devastation among snake and lizard species, according to new research -- including the extinction of a newly identified lizard named Obamadon gracilis.

Scientists find oldest dinosaur -- or closest relative yet

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 08:44:44 EST

Researchers have discovered what may be the earliest dinosaur, a creature the size of a Labrador retriever, but with a five foot-long tail, that walked the Earth about 10 million years before more familiar dinosaurs like the small, swift-footed Eoraptor and Herrerasaurus. The findings mean that the dinosaur lineage appeared 10 million to 15 million years earlier than fossils previously showed.

For some feathered dinosaurs, bigger not always better

Wed, 28 Nov 2012 09:32:32 EST

Researchers have started looking at why dinosaurs that abandoned meat in favor of vegetarian diets got so big, and their results may call conventional wisdom about plant-eaters and body size into question.

New evidence on dinosaurs' role in evolution of bird flight

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 13:08:08 EST

A new study looking at the structure of feathers in bird-like dinosaurs has shed light on one of nature's most remarkable inventions -- how flight might have evolved.

Meet Xenoceratops: Canada's newest horned dinosaur

Thu, 08 Nov 2012 07:40:40 EST

Scientists have named a new species of horned dinosaur (ceratopsian) from Alberta, Canada. Xenoceratops foremostensis was identified from fossils originally collected in 1958. Approximately 20 feet long and weighing more than 2 tons, the newly identified plant-eating dinosaur represents the oldest known large-bodied horned dinosaur from Canada.

Were dinosaurs destined to be big? Testing Cope's rule

Fri, 02 Nov 2012 15:19:19 EDT

In the evolutionary long run, small critters tend to evolve into bigger beasts -- at least according to the idea attributed to paleontologist Edward Cope, now known as Cope's Rule. Using the latest advanced statistical modeling methods, a new test of this rule as it applies dinosaurs shows that Cope was right -- sometimes.

Mass extinction study provides lessons for modern world

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 15:42:42 EDT

The Cretaceous Period of Earth history ended with a mass extinction that wiped out numerous species, most famously the dinosaurs. A new study now finds that the structure of North American ecosystems made the extinction worse than it might have been.

Huge deposit of Jurassic turtle remains found in China

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 11:12:12 EDT

"Bones upon bones, we couldn't believe our eyes," says one paleontologist. He was describing the spectacular find of some 1800 fossilized mesa chelonia turtles from the Jurassic era in China's northwest province of Xinjiang.

Fossils of first feathered dinosaurs from North America discovered: Clues on early wing uses

Thu, 25 Oct 2012 15:03:03 EDT

The first ornithomimid specimens preserved with feathers, recovered from 75 million-year-old rocks in the badlands of Alberta, Canada has been described.

Analysis of dinosaur bone cells confirms ancient protein preservation

Tue, 23 Oct 2012 15:13:13 EDT

A team of researchers has found more evidence for the preservation of ancient dinosaur proteins, including reactivity to antibodies that target specific proteins normally found in bone cells of vertebrates. These results further rule out sample contamination, and help solidify the case for preservation of cells -- and possibly DNA -- in ancient remains.

Uncovering information about hadrosaur teeth

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 15:16:16 EDT

An unusual collaboration between researchers in two disparate fields resulted in a new discovery about the teeth of 65-million-year-old dinosaurs.

New fossils suggest ancient origins of modern-day deep-sea animals

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 17:21:21 EDT

Fossils discovered in North Atlantic Ocean reveal ancestry of sea urchins and related species.

Duck-bill dinosaurs had plant-pulverizing teeth more advanced than horses

Thu, 04 Oct 2012 14:17:17 EDT

A team of paleontologists and engineers has found that duck-billed dinosaurs had an amazing capacity to chew tough and abrasive plants with grinding teeth more complex than those of cows, horses, and other well-known modern grazers. Their study is the first to recover material properties from fossilized teeth.

New fanged dwarf dinosaur from Africa ate plants

Wed, 03 Oct 2012 09:41:41 EDT

With tiny one-inch long jaws, a new species of plant-eater has come to light in rocks in South Africa dating to the early dinosaur era, some 200 million years ago.

Rare find: Feathered dinosaur feasted on flying food

Wed, 29 Aug 2012 17:19:19 EDT

Researchers found evidence that a feathered, but flightless dinosaur was able to snag and consume small flying dinosaurs.

Footprints of cretaceous dinosaur found at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Tue, 21 Aug 2012 12:03:03 EDT

About 110 million light years away, the bright, barred spiral galaxy NGC 3259 was just forming stars in dark bands of dust and gas. Here on the part of the Earth where NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center would eventually be built, a plant-eating dinosaur sensed predators nearby and quickened its pace, leaving a deep imprint in the Cretaceous mud.

Mountains, seaway triggered North American dinosaur surge

Thu, 02 Aug 2012 18:39:39 EDT

The rise of the Rocky Mountains and the appearance of a major seaway that divided North America may have boosted the evolution of new dinosaur species, according to a new study.

Eating habits of giant Jurassic age dinosaur discovered

Mon, 30 Jul 2012 14:16:16 EDT

Scientists have discovered the eating habits of Diplodocus using a three-dimensional model of the dinosaur's skull.

Engineering technology reveals eating habits of giant dinosaurs

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 10:12:12 EDT

High-tech technology, traditionally usually used to design racing cars and aeroplanes, has helped researchers to understand how plant-eating dinosaurs fed 150 million years ago. A team of international researchers used CT scans and biomechanical modelling to show that Diplodocus -- one of the largest dinosaurs ever discovered -- had a skull adapted to strip leaves from tree branches.

Fossil egg links dinosaurs to modern birds

Thu, 12 Jul 2012 09:24:24 EDT

Researchers have discovered a series of dinosaur eggs with a unique characteristic: they are oval in shape. The discovery supports the theory that birds and non-avian theropods, dinosaurs from the Cretaceous Period, could have a common ancestor.

Feathered saurians: Downy dinosaur discovered

Tue, 03 Jul 2012 13:41:41 EDT

The new fossil find from the chalk beds of the Franconian Jura evokes associations with a pet cemetery, for the young predatory dinosaur reveals clear traces of fluffy plumage. It also poses an intriguing question: were all dinosaurs dressed in down?

Newly discovered dinosaur implies greater prevalence of feathers; Megalosaur fossil represents first feathered dinosaur not closely related to birds

Mon, 02 Jul 2012 21:02:02 EDT

A new species of feathered dinosaur discovered in southern Germany is further changing the perception of how predatory dinosaurs looked. The fossil of Sciurumimus albersdoerferi, which lived about 150 million years ago, provides the first evidence of feathered theropod dinosaurs that are not closely related to birds.

Date of earliest animal life reset by 30 million years

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 18:17:17 EDT

Researchers have uncovered physical proof that animals existed 585 million years ago, 30 million years earlier than all previous established records show. The discovery was made U of A geologists Ernesto Pecoits and Natalie Aubet in Uruguay. They found fossilized tracks of a centimeter long, slug-like animal left behind 585 million years ago in a silty sediment.

Dinosaurs were warm-blooded reptiles: Mammal bone study sheds light on dinosaur physiology

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 13:06:06 EDT

A study with extant mammals refutes the hypothesis on which the assumption that dinosaurs were ectotherms was based. The study analyzing the lines of arrested growth (LAG) in the bones of around a hundred ruminants, representative of the specific and ecological diversity of that group of mammals. The results show that the presence of these lines is not an indicator of an ectothermic physiology (does not generate internal heat), as had previously been thought, since all warm-blooded mammals have them. The study therefore dismantles the key argument of the hypothesis that dinosaurs could have been cold-blooded reptiles.

Dinosaurs lighter than previously thought

Wed, 06 Jun 2012 07:53:53 EDT

Scientists have developed a new technique to accurately measure the weight and size of dinosaurs and discovered they are not as heavy as previously thought.

Evolution of birds is result of a drastic change in how dinosaurs developed

Wed, 30 May 2012 21:21:21 EDT

Researchers have found evidence that the evolution of birds is the result of a drastic change in how dinosaurs developed. Scientists have long understood that modern birds descended from dinosaurs. Rather than take years to reach sexual maturity, as many dinosaurs did, birds sped up the clock -- some species take as little as 12 weeks to mature -- allowing them to retain the physical characteristics of baby dinosaurs.

Ancient sea reptile with gammy jaw suggests dinosaurs got arthritis too

Tue, 15 May 2012 20:30:30 EDT

Imagine having arthritis in your jaw bones ... if they're over 2 meters long! A new study has found signs of a degenerative condition similar to human arthritis in the jaw of a pliosaur, an ancient sea reptile that lived 150 million years ago. Such a disease has never been described before in fossilized Jurassic reptiles.

Jurassic pain: Giant 'flea-like' insects plagued dinosaurs 165 million years ago

Tue, 01 May 2012 16:27:27 EDT

It takes a gutsy insect to sneak up on a huge dinosaur while it sleeps, crawl onto its soft underbelly and give it a bite that might have felt like a needle going in -- but giant "flea-like" animals, possibly the oldest of their type ever discovered, probably did just that.

Were dinosaurs undergoing long-term decline before mass extinction?

Tue, 01 May 2012 13:41:41 EDT

Despite years of intensive research about the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs about 65.5 million years ago, a fundamental question remains: Were dinosaurs already undergoing a long-term decline before an asteroid hit at the end of the Cretaceous? A new study suggests that in general, large-bodied, "bulk-feeding" herbivores were declining during the last 12 million years of the Cretaceous. But carnivorous dinosaurs and mid-sized herbivores were not.

Egg-laying beginning of the end for dinosaurs

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 22:17:17 EDT

Their reproductive strategy spelled the beginning of the end: The fact that dinosaurs laid eggs put them at a considerable disadvantage compared to viviparous mammals. Researchers believe they now know why and how this ultimately led to the extinction of the dinosaurs.