Tag Archives: south african

The world’s rarest skeleton stands on four legs once again

By Guest PostSeptember 12, 2015Natureelizabeth margulis, graveyard, imagining, instrumental music, listen to music, mohammed bin salman, new power block, quagga, saudi crown prince, south african, western power

Using cutting-edge technology, the world’s rarest skeleton – a South African extinct zebra called a quagga – has regained its missing hind limb.

The Grant Museum of Zoology at UCL is nearing the end of a major project to restore 39 of their largest and most significant skeletons to their former glory. The main focus of the project, named Bone Idols: Protecting our Iconic Skeletons, has been the Museum’s quagga specimen – which is one of only seven quagga skeletons to survive globally. (more…)

Dwarf Species of Fanged Dinosaur Emerges from Southern Africa

By Guest PostOctober 4, 2012Nature, Scienceafrica, canines, carol abraczinskas, Chicago, China, different, dinosaur, dinosaur anatomy, dinosaur era, dwarf sized, dwarf species, fanged dinosaur, harvard university, herbivore, heterodontosaurs, lifestyle, new species, parrot shaped, paul sereno, pegomastax africanus, plant eating, porcupine, punk sized, radiation, rock, sereno, skull, south african, stegosaurus, supercontinent pangaea, thick jaw, tianyulong, todd marshall, toothed reptile, triceratops, tyler keillor, university, vampire, volcanic ash, zookeys

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…)