Paleontologists Unearth Washington’s First Dinosaur: An 80 Million-Year-Old Tyrannosaur

Medicine & Technology May 22, 2015

In 2012, a team of paleontologists were scouring the rocky shores of what is today the small island of Sucia, located within Puget Sound, between Washington State and Vancouver Island. On the hunt for prehistoric shells, they inadvertently stumbled upon the bone of a creature never known to have ranged that far north - a dinosaur.

Meet Velociraptor’s ‘Nosey’ Cousin

May 14, 2015

Paleontologists have recently identified a new member of the raptor family, one that may have had a leg up on its competition: a keen sense of smell.

Embryological Manipulation Reveals Chicks Can Have Prehistoric Looks

May 13, 2015

One of the latest breakthroughs from Yale scientists: the mighty dino-chicken. The Yale team used molecular manipulation to grow chicken embryos with Velociraptor snouts and published their results yesterday in the journal Evolution. The embryos did not hatch.

Can Dinosaur Skulls Tell Us Just What They Ate and How?

Apr 29, 2015

With recent archaeological findings proving that researchers may not know as much about prehistoric life as they once thought, researchers with the American Museum of Natural History are taking another look at interpreting the diets of long-extinct animals, and what they’re finding points to finding the source of a prehistoric diet. Though teeth shape has been used for decades as a primary indicator as to the dietary habits of a fossilized subject, in a new study published today in the journal PLOS ONE, researchers are now saying that skull shape and ancestral lineages, both before and after extinction events, may serve as a proxy for what these animals truly once ate.

More than Meets the Eye—T Rex Relative Was Herbivore Instead

Apr 27, 2015

In the world of dinosaurs, not everything was as it seems. The most advantageous appendages may have just been for show-and-tell, to ward off unassuming predators, and some of the most evolutionarily superb tricks may never be revealed in the fossils we find today. And with the endless wonder of discovering an entirely unique world, unlike our own, paleontologists, like children, keep learning in the hopes of one day adding their own discovery into the dialogue. The only difference is that one of these differences was recently discovered in a new species of dinosaur related to the Tyrannosaurus rex, but this discovery really was made by a child—seven-year-old Diego Suárez.

Scientists Digging Deep Into Dinosaur Killing Crater

Apr 13, 2015

The catastrophic impact that ended the reign of dinosaurs on Earth has long been of interest to scientists around the world. In an attempt to learn more about what happened 65 million years ago, scientists plan to drill some 5,000 feet deep into the Chicxulub Crater, the lasting scar from this world changing event.

Getting to the Core of Extinction—Researchers Return to Crater That Caused Millions of Dinosaurs to Die

Apr 13, 2015

It’s no big surprise as to why we exited the Jurassic period. The dinosaurs and their lineage ended with a shocking crash when a catastrophic asteroid plummeted to Earth, and dust and debris blocked out the Sun. But now researchers are hoping that by going back to the site of the impact they may be able to learn a bit more about ancient biological and geological processes, and perhaps even what cosmic changes led to the asteroid’s impact.

The Miracle of Birth of the Ancient Mosasaurs

Apr 11, 2015

A new study published in the journal Palaeontology has revealed some interesting new details about the process of reproduction in Mosasaurs, the large marine lizards that once populated the waters about 65 million years ago.

With a Bit of Luck and Inspiration, One 4-Year-Old Boy Found a Dinosaur in Texas

Apr 11, 2015

Think that you don’t have what it takes to start a career in paleontology, even though your fascination with dinosaurs never ends? Well never fear, news this week reveals that you’re never too old, or too young, to start on the hunt for dinosaurs. And 4-year-old Wylie Brys, of Mansfield, Texas, is proving this sentiment true.

Giving a Voice to Long-Lost—New ‘Terror Bird’ Species Reveals a Knack for Being on the Hunt

Apr 11, 2015

Think that we’ve found just about every prehistoric species that there is to find? You’d be terrifyingly wrong if you said yes. In fact, adding a new view on the diversity of some unlikely large predators that predate humans, a new fossil this week revealed another species of South American “terror birds” known as Llallawavis scagliai.

Is the Brontosaurus Back After Nearly a Century?

Apr 07, 2015

Any paleontologist that is worth anything will tell you that there is no such thing as a brontosaurus. But a new paper published in PeerJ hopes to change that.

Bringing Extinct Animals Back to Life No Longer Just Part of the Movies

Mar 27, 2015

Move over Jurassic Park, it seems the idea of bringing extinct animals back to life is now becoming more science rather than science fiction. The idea of reviving long extinct species has fascinated scientists for generations. Now, they have brought the idea one step closer to reality as scientists from Harvard University have managed to insert wooly mammoth DNA into the code of Asian elephants.

Ancient Croc Ruled North America Before Dinosaurs

Mar 20, 2015

Scientists have unearthed fossils in North Carolina of a large land-dwelling crocodile that lived about 231 million years ago, walked on its hind legs and was the top land predator before dinosaurs even appeared.

Scientists Have Finally Determined the Weight of Famed Stegosaurus

Mar 06, 2015

Scientists, using a new 3-D scanning technique, have finally been able to make a reasonable estimate of the weight of the world's most famous Stegosaurus, Sophie.

Reptile Preceding Dinosaurs Discovered

Jan 24, 2015

Paleontologists have discovered a new species of reptile after putting together the remains of a new crocodile-like species that lived long before dinosaurs roamed the Earth.