Scientists have discovered the fossil of a 60-feet long plant-eating dinosaur in China that lived about 100 million years ago. A team led by University of Pennsylvania paleontologists has characterised the new dinosaur based on fossil remains found in northwestern China. The species, a plant-eating sauropod named Yongjinglong datangi, roamed during the Early Cretaceous period, […]
Archive for January, 2014
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Rare female phytosaur skull found in West Texas more than 200 million years old
January 30th, 2014 
Riffin In the dangerous waters of an ancient oxbow lake created by a flooded and unnamed meandering river, the female phytosaur died and sank to the bottom 205 million years ago. About 40 yards away the remains of a larger male also came to rest, and both disappeared in a tomb of soil and sediment. Evidence […]
Dinosaur-chewing mammals leave behind oldest known tooth marks
January 29th, 2014 Riffin Paleontologists have discovered the oldest mammalian tooth marks yet on the bones of ancient animals, including several large dinosaurs. They report their findings in a paper published online June 16 in the journal Paleontology. Nicholas Longrich of Yale University and Michael J. Ryan of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History came across several of the […]
Old Bird, New World: Did the South American Hoatzins Originate in Europe?
January 23rd, 2014 Riffin The oldest fossil discoveries from France show that hoatzins once existed in Europe. Where did hoatzins come from? These unusual birds, only one species of which exists in South America today, originated in the Old World. Studies of the oldest known fossils of Hoatzin ancestors have now shown that these birds existed around 34 million […]
Ancient marine fossil found
January 22nd, 2014 Riffin A unique fossil found at the tip of the South Island has been recognised as a 20-million-year-old marine ancestor. The fossil, discovered near Cape Farewell, was collected and analysed by geologists at the University of Otago. They described it as a close relation to the ancestors of modern dolphins and toothed whales. Professor Ewan Fordyce […]
First Dinosaurs Identified from Saudi Arabia
January 20th, 2014 Riffin Dinosaur fossils are exceptionally rare in the Arabian Peninsula. An international team of scientists from Uppsala University, Museum Victoria, Monash University, and the Saudi Geological Survey have now uncovered the first record of dinosaurs from Saudi Arabia. What is now dry desert was once a beach littered with the bones and teeth of ancient marine […]
Fossil Bird Eggshell Provides Source of Ancient DNA
January 19th, 2014 Riffin In a world first an international team of researchers, led by Dr Michael Bunce of Murdoch University, have successfully isolated ancient DNA from fossil eggshell remains of extinct birds. “We were really surprised to discover that ancient DNA is well-preserved in fossil eggshells, particularly the heaviest bird to have existed the elephant bird called Aepyornis, […]
Supervolcanic Ash Can Turn to Lava Miles from Eruption
January 17th, 2014 Riffin Supervolcanoes, such as the one sitting dormant under Yellowstone National Park, are capable of producing eruptions thousands of times more powerful than normal volcanic eruptions. While they only happen every several thousand years, these eruptions have the potential to kill millions of people and animals due to the massive amount of heat and ash they […]
How Could Dinosaurs Weigh Up to 80 Tons? New Research On Sauropod Gigantism
January 16th, 2014 Riffin Sauropods, the largest land animals in Earth’s history, are still mightily puzzling the scientists. These plant-eating dinosaurs with their long necks and small heads could reach a height of 10 meters or more and dominated all other land vertebrates in terms of size. They could weigh up to 80 tons, more than any other known […]
Supervolcano Triggers Recreated in X-Ray Laboratory
January 15th, 2014 Riffin Scientists have reproduced the conditions inside the magma chamber of a supervolcano to understand what it takes to trigger its explosion. These rare events represent the biggest natural catastrophes on Earth except for the impact of giant meteorites. Using synchrotron X-rays, the scientists established that supervolcano eruptions may occur spontaneously, driven only by magma pressure […]
