dinosaurs

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Dinosaurs' First Feathers Were for ... Courtship

Males wanted to look nice, not fly, says study

(Newser) - Scientists have found evidence of the first feathered dinosaurs in the Western Hemisphere, but forget any notions about majestic flight. Researchers think these Ornithomimosaur specimens found in what is now Alberta, Canada, used their feathers a little like modern peacocks—to attract mates, not to fly, reports the BBC . The...

Tiny New Dinosaur Species Found

Pegomastax africanus weighed less than a housecat

(Newser) - Meet Pegomastax africanus, the newest entry to the ranks of dinosaurs. T-Rex it is not. The little guy was maybe 2 feet long and weighed less than a housecat, reports the New York Times . Pego did have what the National Geographic calls "vampire-like fangs," but it used them...

Feds Seizing Illegal $1M Dino Skeleton

Tyrannosaurus belongs to Mongolia, court decides

(Newser) - The Department of Homeland Security has been ordered to detain a dead, 70 million-year-old, 24-foot-long illegal immigrant. The skeleton of the Tyrannosaurus Bataar—T. Rex's Mongolian cousin—was sold for $1 million at an auction in New York last month despite objections from the Mongolian government, which bans the...

Red Tomatoes Explained: Blame Meteor
 Why Are Tomatoes Red? 
 Blame Meteor 
in case you missed it
Jun 16, 2012 1:20 PM CDT

Why Are Tomatoes Red? Blame Meteor

Dinosaur-killing impact forced the tomato into big changes, say scientists

(Newser) - Why are tomatoes red? The same reason dinosaurs were killed off, say scientists. The massive meteorite that struck Earth 60 to 70 million years ago created extremely harsh conditions that forced the evolution of the tomato into its current red and edible form, reports Phys.org . Researchers discovered this connection...

Dinosaurs Were Much Skinnier: Scientists

New weight-estimation technique is shedding pounds off the ancient lizards

(Newser) - Dinosaurs were skinnier than we thought. Using advancements in scanning and computing, scientists have developed a new technique for estimating the weight and size of fossilized creatures. The more accurate method shows that the giant lizards were not nearly as chubby as paleontologists once believed, reports Discovery News via MSNBC...

Birds Basically Baby Dinosaurs


 Birds Basically 
 Baby Dinosaurs 
study says
Jun 3, 2012 4:45 PM CDT

Birds Basically Baby Dinosaurs

Research cements link between creatures

(Newser) - Don't look now, but there may be dinosaurs on your front lawn. Research into early bird and dinosaur tissue has shown that birds are more closely related to dinosaurs than we had thought, Discovery reports. "By analyzing fossil evidence from skeletons, eggs, and soft tissue of bird-like dinosaurs...

'Illegal' Dinosaur Skeleton Sells for Over $1M

Heritage Auctions ignores Mongolia's restraining order

(Newser) - A New York auction house sold off a dinosaur skeleton for $1 million yesterday despite a restraining order from the Mongolian government, which said the find had been illegally exported, New Scientist reports. Heritage Auctions kept mum about the seller and winning bidder, and said it had "legal assurances"...

Culprit in Prehistoric Climate Change: Dinosaur Farts

Dino flatulence could be to blame, says new study

(Newser) - Dinosaurs may have their own flatulence to thank for the warm climate—about 18 degrees hotter—when they roamed the Earth back 150 million years or so ago. During the Mesozoic era, the creatures likely generated 520 million metric tons of methane every year, researchers find. That's not too...

Dinosaurs Were Felled by ... Their Eggs?
 Dinosaurs Were Felled 
 by ... Their Eggs? 
new theory
Apr 18, 2012 1:56 PM CDT

Dinosaurs Were Felled by ... Their Eggs?

Scientists think it doomed them in ecosystem

(Newser) - Why did mammals manage to survive the apocalyptic event that killed off the dinosaurs, while the terrible lizards disappeared from the face of the earth? Thanks to a mathematical model, a group of researchers think they've figured out the culprit: Eggs. Because dinosaurs laid eggs, their young were born...

Chechnya Claims to Have Found Giant Dinosaur Eggs

Scientists elsewhere skeptical

(Newser) - Scientists in Chechnya are claiming to have stumbled upon the biggest dinosaur eggs ever found—but their colleagues elsewhere are more than a little skeptical. A geologist at the volatile Russian republic's state university says that after a highway crew blasted through a hillside, geologists found some 40 huge...

Dinosaurs May Have Lived in Water: Scientist

Other scientists less convinced

(Newser) - Was T-Rex some kind of gigantic, stubby-armed shark? Cambridge University professor Brian J. Ford thinks so. In a recent paper, Ford argues that dinosaurs were just too large to exist on dry land. "Every time you see these images, they are always the same. You have these huge dinosaurs...

Scientists Find Giant Jurassic Fleas

Inch-long critters believed to have fed on feathered dinosaurs

(Newser) - What kind of flea feeds on dinosaurs? The big kind. Scientists have found fossils of Jurassic and Cretaceous-era fleas measuring up to an inch in length buried in China, the Telegraph reports. In addition to their unusual size, the fleas' saw-like "siphonate" mouthparts, which were used to suck the...

T. Rex: History's Best Biter

It was like having an elephant sit on you

(Newser) - Yet another reason that Tyrannosaurus Rex was the scariest creature to ever stalk the planet: Scientists have figured out that T. rex boasted the most powerful bite of any animal in history, reports BBC Nature . The clench of the dinosaur's massive jaw was between 30,000 and 60,000...

Scientists Replicate Prehistoric Cricket Sound

Could be the world's oldest known song: researchers

(Newser) - Scientists have brought back a sound that hasn't been heard in 165 million years: the song of a prehistoric cricket. Using a remarkably intact fossil of a katydid—also known as a bush cricket—researchers were able to create soundalike replicas based on the creature's wings, AFP reports....

T-Rex Was More Massive Than We Thought

Or at least heavier, scientists discover

(Newser) - You probably thought Tyrannosaurus Rex could not be any more awesome, but you’d be wrong; scientists have discovered that the terrible lizard was even bigger than previously believed, or at least heavier. Scientists examined the skeleton of “Sue,” the largest and most complete T-Rex skeleton ever unearthed,...

Ancient Feathers Add Some Color to Dinosaurs

Scientists thrilled with trove found in Canada from 70M years ago

(Newser) - Dinosaurs just got a little more colorful. A batch of prehistoric feathers found in western Canada from about 70 million years ago suggests that feathers on dinosaurs and early birds were more diverse and complex than thought, reports the Los Angeles Times . "Instead of scaly animals portrayed as usually...

Fossil Shows Meteor Wiped Out Dinosaurs

How a single horn could cement a theory

(Newser) - It’s just one horn, not quite a foot and a half long, but scientists say a newly discovered fossil could clinch the theory that a falling asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs. Skeptics of the scenario have always pointed out that we’ve found no dinosaur fossils dated within the...

High Tech Paints 3D Image of Ancient Beast of the Deep

Aquatic dinosaur had 8-foot skull

(Newser) - The 50-foot monster was the terror of the Earth's oceans some 150 million years ago, with its giant head packing a crocodile-esque jaw and razor sharp teeth that savaged anything in its way. Or at least that's the picture that's emerging of the pliosaur, as imaging scientists and paleontologists use...

Mammals Grew Huge After Dino Die-Off

With less competition for vegetation, they 'exploded' in size

(Newser) - Mammals were a lot smaller before the dinosaurs went extinct—but got really, really, really big once dinos were gone, scientists say. New research published in the journal Science shows that, over the course of 25 million years, the largest mammals increased in size 1,000-fold from the time of...

How a Giraffe-Size Dinosaur Managed to Fly

16-foot creatures could traverse continents: scientists

(Newser) - Scientists think they’ve finally figured out how a dinosaur the size of a giraffe was able to soar through the air: It used its huge wings to pole-vault, the Daily Mail reports. Researchers from the UK and US say their theory trumps longstanding claims that pterosaurs couldn’t possibly...

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