Paleontology
Stegosaurus Week: Tracking Cryptic Stegosaurs
The first trace of the plated, spiky stegosaurian dinosaurs was found in Early Cretaceous rock near Grahamstown, South Africa. Uncovered by W. G. Atherstone and A. G. Bain in 1845, the dinosaur was represented by a partial skull and several limb bones. The naturalists felt unqualified to study the...
September 15, 2010 |
By Brian Switek
Stegosaurus Week: The Weak Bite of Stegosaurus
In discussions of dinosaur bite mechanics, the heavy forces generated by predatory species often dominate, but it is important to understand how the jaws of herbivores worked, too. The jaws of Stegosaurus might not be as immediately impressive as those of Tyrannosaurus rex, but it is still importan...
September 14, 2010 |
By Brian Switek
Stegosaurus Week: A Rare Look at Soft Tissue
Dinosaur skin impressions are pretty rare, and, even among the known collection of these soft-tissue traces, not all dinosaurs are equally well-represented. There are plenty of skin impressions from hadrosaurs, but stegosaurs are among the dinosaurs in which the skin texture is still largely unkno...
September 13, 2010 |
By Brian Switek
A Strange Sail-Backed, Bristly-Armed Dinosaur
When I logged on to Facebook Wednesday morning, one of the first things I saw was a cryptic status update from University of Maryland paleontologist Thomas Holtz. He speculated that the paleo community at large would be "duly impressed" by something set to debut later in the day, but what was it? ...
September 10, 2010 |
By Brian Switek
The Dinosaurs of Industry
Since the time of their discovery in the early 19th century, dinosaurs have been pop-culture superstars. Beyond their scientific identities, they have a celebrity that has remained strong from decade to decade, and given their notoriety it is no wonder that they have been so often used as metaphors...
September 09, 2010 |
By Brian Switek
Who Wrote the Worst Paleo-Poetry?
I am by no means a connoisseur of poetry, but I have to admit that I can't think of any decent poems about dinosaurs or paleontology. The poems that do exist can be almost painful to read, and, as Sarah Zielinski documented on our Surprising Science blog a few months ago, bad geological poetry has ...
September 08, 2010 |
By Brian Switek
Can IDW Redeem Jurassic Park?
Ever since the flop that was Jurassic Park 3, rumors have circulated about a bigger, badder fourth sequel in the dinosaur franchise. In the past two years alone the project has gone from officially dead to a prospective project Universal might develop once a few other big-ticket films are completed...
September 07, 2010 |
By Brian Switek
In Southern Utah, a Hadrosaur Left Quite an Impression
When Charles H. Sternberg and his sons excavated one of the first hadrosaur mummies ever found, in the summer of 1908, it was a major discovery. For nearly a century naturalists and paleontologists could only imagine what a dinosaur's skin was like, but the Edmontosaurus the Sternbergs collected g...
September 03, 2010 |
By Brian Switek
Say Hello to Sinoceratops
It has been a good year for horned dinosaurs. The recent description of Mojoceratops, the discovery of a ceratopsian in Europe, and the long-awaited publication of the New Perspectives on Horned Dinosaurs volume have all given paleontologists reason to celebrate, and a new study led by Xu Xing repo...
September 02, 2010 |
By Brian Switek
Blog Carnival #23: Vintage Dinosaur Art, Funding Cuts, Pteranodons and More...
How Many Dinosaurs Could Live in Central Park? Finally, Bob’s Dinosaur Blog has the answer.When Humans and Dinosaurs Walked the Earth: ART Evolved presents an illustrated guide to the various categories of “paleo-fiction” plot devices that bring humans and dinosaurs together: Lost Worlds, Cryptozoo...
September 01, 2010 |
By Brian Wolly
Balaur bondoc: A Raptor Unlike Any You Have Ever Seen
Thanks to their prominent appearances in museum displays and the Jurassic Park film franchise, many people are very familiar with what dromaeosaurid dinosaurs looked like. Relatively small and lightly-built, these predators had long, grasping hands and a hyperextendable second toe on each foot tip...
August 31, 2010 |
By Brian Switek
Debate Over Identity of an Australian Tyrant
Last March a team of paleontologists led by Roger Benson described what appeared to be a partial hip of a tyrannosauroid dinosaur from Australia—the first-ever trace of this group of dinosaurs on the southern continent. Now, in a comment and reply printed in last week's Science, Matthew Herne, Jay ...
August 30, 2010 |
By Brian Switek
Sewer Workers Find Dinosaur Bone Stash Under Edmonton
Every year scores of paleontologists head out to the field in search of dinosaur fossils, but sometimes the remains of the charismatic creatures are hiding right underfoot. As reported in various news outlets earlier this week, sewer construction workers Aaron Krywiak and Ryley Paul discovered din...
August 27, 2010 |
By Brian Switek
Fossil Plant Debris Key to UK Dinosaur Preservation
When I think of dinosaur bones, the rocky and shrub-flecked expanses of western North America immediately come to mind, but it should not be forgotten that some of the first dinosaurs recognized by science were discovered across the Atlantic in England. Paleontologists have been searching for dino...
August 26, 2010 |
By Brian Switek
Dinosaur Drive-In: The Crater Lake Monster
Ah, The Crater Lake Monster, a film that repeatedly made me wonder, "why the heck am I still watching this movie?"Like the last Dinosaur Drive-In film featured here, Crater Lake Monster contains no actual dinosaurs (no matter how many times the scientists in the film call it one). Instead our mons...
August 25, 2010 |
By Brian Switek
Clash of the Dinosaurs, Updated on DVD
No matter how much we learn about the lives of dinosaurs, much of the public's attention is focused on issues of attack and defense. How powerful was a Tyrannosaurus bite? How did Deinonychus hunt? Why did ankylosaurs have such impressive armor? Did Triceratops form herds to defend themselves? Agai...
August 24, 2010 |
By Brian Switek
The Mystery of the Missing Brontosaurus Head
A few weeks ago, someone decapitated the dinosaur standing outside Norman, Oklahoma's only Sinclair station. The sculpture—put in place five years ago and named "Dino"—was a beloved local landmark, and fortunately the head was eventually recovered. This wasn't the first time a dinosaur's head has ...
August 23, 2010 |
By Brian Switek
Prehistoric Poo Linked Dinosaurs to Snails
One of the many reasons I love paleontology is that every now and then I stumble across a paper on some aspect of ancient life I had never considered before. There is much more to the science than descriptions of new species, and one of the studies that most recently caught my eye carried the title...
August 20, 2010 |
By Brian Switek
Dinosaur Sighting: Chicago Brachiosaurus
On my way back from Montana, I had a layover in Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, and it was there that I spotted this impressive mount of Brachiosaurus altithorax. Another skeletal restoration of the immense dinosaur stands outside the city's famed Field Museum. I have to say that seeing thi...
August 19, 2010 |
By Brian Switek
Whatever Happened to Seismosaurus?
In 1991, paleontologist David Gillette announced that he had found the largest of the enormous sauropod dinosaurs. He called it Seismosaurus halli, and based on the parts of the skeleton that had been prepared at the time, Gillette believed Seismosaurus to be between 127 and 170 feet long! Even gia...
August 17, 2010 |
By Brian Switek
