The potential of the ichnofossil record for exploring the evolution of behavior has never been fully realized. Some of this is due to the nature of the trace fossil record itself. Equally responsible is the separation of ichnology from the relevant areas of modern behavioral biology. The two disciplines have virtually no concepts, methods, or […]
Posts Tagged ‘Russel T Sajeev’
Scientists Pinpoint Hot Spots as Earthquake Trigger Points
September 2nd, 2012
riffin Scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego have come a step closer to deciphering some of the basic mysteries and mechanisms behind earthquakes and how average-sized earthquakes may evolve into massive earthquakes. In a paper published in the Aug. 30 issue of the journal Nature, Scripps scientists Kevin Brown and Yuri Fialko describe […]
Vertibral Paleontology questioning facts on Tyrannosaur ?
September 1st, 2012
riffin Scientists have identified several of the “biggest, baddest” theropods, and everyone asks, “Which one is the very biggest?” Giganotosaurus? Spinosaurus? T. rex? Acrocanthosaurus? “I think they’re all reaching the maximum size a two-legged, large-bodied carnivore can get,” explains Peter Larson, T. rex expert (Wyrex is his eighth rex excavation!). “All of these creatures are hovering at around the same size, […]
Why Did Mammals Survive the ‘K/T Extinction’?
September 1st, 2012
riffin Picture a dinosaur. Huge, menacing creatures, they ruled the Earth for nearly 200 million years, striking fear with every ground-shaking stride. Yet these great beasts were no match for a 6-mile wide meteor that struck near modern-day Mexico 65 million years ago, incinerating everything in its path. This catastrophic impact — called the Cretaceous-Tertiary or […]
Comparative cranial morphology of Recent and fossil turtles
August 31st, 2012
riffin Comparative descriptions of the cranial morphology in living and extinct turtles are presented in this paper. Descriptions are arranged by bone rather than by taxon and attempt to document the types and degrees of differences in cranial structures within the Testudines, emphasizing features of systematic interest. Developmental information is also included. 273 figures supplement the […]
BIRDS LIVED ALONGSIDE DINOSAURS
August 31st, 2012
riffin An enormous prehistoric bird, which might have resembled a very big ostrich, lived alongside dinosaurs around 83 million years ago, according to new research. The bird, called Samrukia nessovi after the mythical Kazakh Phoenix, lived in what is now Kazakhstan. It is described in the latest Royal Society Biology Letters. The discovery confirms “that big birds were living […]
WFS Dinosaur Diary : Sinocalliopteryx
August 30th, 2012
riffin Sinocalliopteryx (meaning ‘Chinese beautiful feather’) is a genus of carnivorous ciomsognathid theropod dinisaurs from the lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation if China (Jianshangou Beds, dating to 124.6 Ma). While similar to the related Huaxiagnathus, Sinocalliopteryx were larger, and at 2.37 meters (7.78 ft) in length, includes the largest known compsognathid specimen. Sinocalliopteryx was a bipedal predator. The preserved length of the holotype specimen is 237 […]
Researchers discover fossils inside T. Rex ancestor
August 30th, 2012
riffin A rare dino-fossil has led researchers at the University of Alberta to a discovery they say may forever change the way the Cretaceous period is looked at. After unearthing two well preserved fossils from China’s Liaoning province, researchers have been able to get a more clear grasp of the eating habits of Sinocalliopteryx, a feathered, […]
New theory on the origin of primates
August 29th, 2012
riffin A new model for primate origins is presented in Zoologica Scripta, published by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters and The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The paper argues that the distributions of the major primate groups are correlated with Mesozoic tectonic features and that their respective ranges are congruent with each evolving locally from […]
Oldest Occurrence of Arthropods (Fly, Mite) Preserved in Amber
August 29th, 2012
riffin An international team of scientists has discovered the oldest record of arthropods — invertebrate animals that include insects, arachnids, and crustaceans — preserved in amber. The specimens, one fly and two mites found in millimeter-scale droplets of amber from northeastern Italy, are about 100 million years older than any other amber arthropod ever collected. The […]



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