A new species of plant-eating dinosaur with tiny, 1-inch-long jaws has come to light in South African rocks dating to the early dinosaur era, some 200 million years ago.
This “punk-sized” herbivore is one of a menagerie of bizarre, tiny, fanged plant-eaters called heterodontosaurs, or “different toothed reptiles,” which were among the first dinosaurs to spread across the planet. (more…)
By examining the type of rock in which dinosaur fossils were embedded, an often unappreciated part of the remains,
Certain dinosaur species liked to live in different habitats, separated by only a few miles. Image credit: Nicholas Longrich
scientists have determined that different species of North American dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous period 65 million years ago occupied different environments separated by just a few miles.
Hadrosaurs or duck-billed dinosaurs, along with the small ornithopod Thescelosaurus, preferred to live along the edge of rivers, according to the research. Ceratopsians, on the other hand, which include the well-known Triceratops, preferred to be several miles inland.
The findings, which appear in the online edition of the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, give scientists a more complete picture of the distribution of different species and help explain how several large herbivores managed to coexist. (more…)
A new species of dinosaur discovered in Arizona suggests dinosaurs did not spread throughout the world by overpowering other species but by taking advantage of a natural catastrophe that wiped out their competitors. (more…)
COLUMBIA, Mo.– It might seem obvious that a dinosaur’s leg bone connects to the hip bone, but what came between the bones has been less obvious. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri and Ohio University have found that dinosaurs had thick layers of cartilage in their joints, which means they may have been considerably taller than previously thought. The study is being published this week in the journal PLoS-ONE (Public Library of Science). (more…)
New Haven, Conn. — 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.
According to Yahoo News, A new dinosaur species has been unearthed in Argentina on the banks of Lake Barreales of Province Neuquen. The Species named ‘Futalognkosaurus’ in Mapuche Indian words means “Giant Chief”. The 105-foot (neck: 56 ft, tail 49 ft approx.) Chief was roaming the Earth during the Late Cretaceous Period (88 million of […]
