dinosaurs

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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...

Dinos Survived in the Arctic

(Newser) - A meteor strikes Earth, dust clouds block the sun, and shivering dinosaurs die off in the cold—right? Not so, say researchers who have dug up dinosaur fossils well above the Arctic Circle in Russia. Because the find includes fossilized dino eggshells, they say, dinosaurs settled up there and withstood...

Dinos Evolved Wings to Lure Opposite Sex

Feathered displays may have been about finding mates, not climbing trees

(Newser) - Among paleontologists, one of the big battles has long been over why dinosaurs originally evolved wings: Did they start gliding down from trees, or need extra propulsion when running? According to a new study, the first wings were all about impressing the ladies—it was sexual selection that let bigger-winged...

Fossil Discovery Hints Dinos Were Warm and Fuzzy

Feathers may have arisen with the earliest dinosaurs

(Newser) - The evolutionary history of feathers just got a whole lot fuzzier, reports the BBC. A 130-million-year-old fossil has been found in China with “protofeathers,” leading scientists to believe that one of the two main families of dinosaurs—previously thought to have had scaly hides—may in fact have...

North America's Tiniest Dino Found
North America's
Tiniest Dino Found
Mar 17, 2009 4:16 AM CDT

North America's Tiniest Dino Found

Chicken-sized predator roamed Canada 75M years ago

(Newser) - Scientists have identified the remains of the smallest dinosaur species ever found in North America, reports National Geographic. Hesperonychus elizabethae was a Cretaceous-era carnivore no bigger than a chicken, according to researchers. Scientists believe the existence of the Velociraptor cousin helps confirm that dinosaurs, not mammals, filled the role of...

Meet Titanoboa, 45-Foot Snake
 Meet Titanoboa, 45-Foot Snake 
Feb 5, 2009 11:32 AM CST

Meet Titanoboa, 45-Foot Snake

(Newser) - A 45-foot, 1.25-ton snake stalked the jungles of South America in the period shortly after dinosaurs went extinct, the Times of London reports. Researchers have found 28 individual “Titanoboas” in Colombia’s Cerrejon Coal Mine; with every specimen at least 40 feet long, scientists say it’s likely...

World's Largest Dinosaur Trove Found in China

7,600 fossils dug up, including biggest hadrosaur on record

(Newser) - Scientists in eastern China have uncovered the largest collection of dinosaur fossils in the world, they say. They’ve pulled some 7,600 fossils from a 980-foot-long pit over the past 7 months, including what could be the biggest duck-billed hadrosaur ever discovered, at more than 65 feet long, state...

Dino Dads: Original Mr. Mom
 Dino Dads: Original Mr. Mom
Dec 19, 2008 7:43 AM CST

Dino Dads: Original Mr. Mom

Male raptors sat on the eggs while females went out foraging

(Newser) - Some of the fearsome birdlike predators of the Cretaceous and Jurassic ages had a softer side as stay-at-home dads, a team of paleontologists says. The researchers analyzed leg bones found on nests of unhatched eggs and concluded that in at least three dinosaur genuses, it was the males who guarded...

Did Volcanoes Drive Dinos to Extinction?

Scientists question 30-year-old crater theory

(Newser) - Colossal, repeated volcanic eruptions in India 65 million years ago released sulfuric gases that sent the dinosaurs, well, the way of the dinosaurs, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. A group of scientists at a Bay Area conference this week is questioning the decades-held theory that a meteor killed off dinosaurs....

Fossil of Giant Flying Reptile Found

Newly discovered species had car-sized wingspan

(Newser) - Scientists have uncovered a new species of gigantic reptile that flew the skies over Brazil 115 million years ago, the BBC reports. The reptile, by far the largest of its kind ever found, had a wing span of over 16 feet. Lacusovagus—meaning lake wanderer—had a huge jaw, suggesting...

Sorry, Chicken; Fossil Proves Egg Came First

(Newser) - The contents of a fossilized dinosaur nest may help resolve the age-old chicken-and-egg question, LiveScience reports. That birds evolved from dinosaurs is no secret, but the new discovery shows that the pointy-ended bird egg developed before the bird itself, paleontologists say. The nest is believed to have belonged to one...

Dig Up Dinos, Rare Relics on DIY Tours

Travelers can unearth lost treasures from Colo. to Easter Island

(Newser) - Travelers seeking more than a beach and a Daiquiri on their next trip can try digging up ancient civilizations. Travel + Leisure lists the trips that let you uncover lost worlds:
  • Ica Desert of Peru: Hikers can discover preserved shark teeth, fossilized whales, and even extinct creatures on this ancient
...

Tyrannosaurus Rex: Tastes Like Chicken?

Study says birds are dinosaurs' closest living descendants

(Newser) - Dinosaurs are more closely related to birds than reptiles, protein extracted from a Tyrannosaurus rex bone suggests. T. rex collagen, the main protein in bones, is similar to chicken and ostrich collagen but much different than material from alligators and lizards, scientists say. The findings could remap the evolutionary tree...

'Frog From Hell' Fossil Turns up in Madagascar

'Beelzebufo' munched on baby dinosaurs

(Newser) - Fossil hunters digging in Madagascar have discovered a 70 million-year-old, 10 pound ancestor of the horned frog. Over twice as large as its modern-day descendants, the  "slightly squashed beach-ball" shaped creature probably lunched on small lizards and baby dinosaurs, and has earned the charming nicknames "frog from hell"...

'Beach Bum' Dino Chilled in Mex
'Beach Bum' Dino Chilled in Mex
Feb 13, 2008 12:08 PM CST

'Beach Bum' Dino Chilled in Mex

New find reveals crested duckbill hunted by cousin of T. rex

(Newser) - A newly discovered duck-billed dinosaur lived on a "very Mediterranean-like" Mexican beach 72 million years ago, paleontologists say. A fossilized skeleton of Velafrons coahuilensis was found in the north-central state of Coahuila—the most complete dinosaur ever found in Mexico, Reuters reports. "Velafrons was probably a beach bum,...

Did Bug Bites Do in Dinos?
Did Bug Bites Do in Dinos?
Jan 9, 2008 1:07 PM CST

Did Bug Bites Do in Dinos?

Disease-carrying insects may have contributed to dinosaur extinction

(Newser) - Disease-carrying insects may have contributed to the extinction of the dinosaurs around 65 million years ago, entomologists write in a new book. Scientists found malaria and other parasitic pathogens in insects preserved in amber, and the same parasites were found in fossilized dinosaur waste, the Guardian reports. New plants, pollinated...

'Mummified' Dinosaur Body Unearthed
'Mummified' Dinosaur Body Unearthed
Dec 3, 2007 10:05 AM CST

'Mummified' Dinosaur Body Unearthed

'Breathtaking' rare find reveals well-preserved soft tissue, skin

(Newser) - A remarkably well-preserved hadrosaur discovered in North Dakota offers valuable clues about the appearance of dinosaurs, paleontologists say. Soft tissue such as skin and muscle were effectively "mummified" after the dinosaur died near a river, the Washington Post reports. "It's a dinosaur that was turned into stone, essentially,...

Long-Necked Dinosaur Grazed Like a Cow

Study finds plant-eater munched on ferns

(Newser) - The long-necked plant-eating dinosaur Nigersaurus ate its meals off the ground rather than reaching into trees, National Geographic reports. Fossils of the 30-foot-long creature reveal that the animal probably nibbled on plants such as ferns and horsetails. “We have seen nothing like this dinosaur,” said a paleontologist at...

Volcanoes Helped Doom Dinos
Volcanoes Helped Doom Dinos
Nov 13, 2007 2:42 PM CST

Volcanoes Helped Doom Dinos

Research shows extinction resulted from not only an asteroid but volcanoes too

(Newser) - Not one but two catastrophic events may have spelled destruction for the Age of Dinosaurs, previously thought to have ended when an asteroid or comet struck the earth. New research suggests the prehistoric giants died off in “an unfortunate coincidence of a one-two punch—of Deccan volcanism and then...

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