Paleontology
Looters Destroy Dinosaur Nest Sites
Earlier this week I wrote about a spectacular discovery made in Tamil Nadu, India: dozens of dinosaur eggs preserved in what may have been an ancient nesting ground. Word quickly spread about the discovery, but now it looks like scientists may never get to fully study the site. Since the time the d...
October 07, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
Alioramus altai: A New, Multi-Horned Tyrant
It has been a good month for tyrannosaur research. We have been introduced to the comparatively tiny tyrannosauroid Raptorex, have learned that Tyrannosaurus probably suffered from a parasitic infestation similar to one seen in living birds, and now a team of paleontologists led by Stephen Brusatte...
October 06, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
"Treasure Trove" of Dinosaur Eggs Found in India
Last week the BBC reported that a team of geologists from Periyar University stumbled upon dozens of fossilized dinosaur eggs in the state of Tamil Nadu, India.The geologists had been excavating a riverbed when they discovered layer upon layer of dinosaur eggs measuring 5 to 9 inches in diameter. T...
October 05, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
The Dimetrodon in Your Family Tree
Wherever you find dinosaurs, chances are that Dimetrodon is close by. The sail-backed creature is a staple of museum displays, boxes of sugar-saurus cookies, and sets of plastic dinosaurs, and I have to admit that it certainly does look dinosaur-like. Yet appearances can be deceiving. Not only was ...
October 02, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
Dino Blog Carnival #12 - Disappearing Mayans, Academic Snubbing, Vacationing Paleontologists and Skeleton for Sale
Apocalypto: Can the extinction of the dinosaurs shed light on the disappearance of the Mayans? Some scientists believe that the 110-mile diameter Chicxulub crater in the Yucatan Peninsula is a remnant of the asteroid that smacked into Earth 65 million years ago and precipitated the downfall of th...
October 01, 2009 |
By Mark Strauss
Tyrannosaurus Suffered From Bird Disease
By now it should not surprise anyone that birds and theropod dinosaurs were closely related. Numerous discoveries have revealed that many "bird" characteristics, like feathers, first evolved in dinosaurs and were passed on to the avian descendants of one group of theropods called coelurosaurs. Tyra...
September 30, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
Darwin the Dinosaur
For the past several years the Walking With Dinosaurs live show has been enthralling audiences around the world with its life-size dinosaur puppets, but next week will see the opening of another impressive dino-spectacle that will soon be touring the United States.Called "Darwin the Dinosaur," the ...
September 29, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
Dinosaur Sighting: Tyrannosaurus in Denver
Our latest Dinosaur Sighting (and a special Monday edition since Friday brought the exciting news of Anchiornis) comes from the Denver Botanical Gardens, where this year's fall maze is a Tyrannosaurus carved out of a cornfield. This bit of artistic gardening coincides with the park's current "Juras...
September 28, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
Feathers Before Archaeopteryx
Ever since the first skeleton of Archaeopteryx was discovered in 1861, the feathered dinosaur has been considered the oldest bird. During the last several decades, however, scientists have found that many "bird" features, such as feathers, first appeared among theropod dinosaurs. What defines a bir...
September 25, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
New Book: The Great Dinosaur Discoveries
There is no shortage of dinosaur encyclopedias available today. Each is organized a little differently and is aimed at a different audience, but there is a lot of overlap among them. The Great Dinosaur Discoveries, written by paleontologist Darren Naish, is a wonderful exception to this trend.Rathe...
September 24, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
Did "Raptor" Killing Claws Evolve For Climbing?
In one of the early scenes of Jurassic Park, the fictional paleontologist Alan Grant terrorizes a child visiting his dig site with a Deinonychus claw. If the dinosaurs were still alive they would have used the enlarged claw on their second toes to rip open the boy and eat his guts, Grant says, a fa...
September 22, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
U.S. Officials Send Chinese Dinosaurs Home
Much to the frustration of paleontologists, fossils are big business. Sites all over the world are raided for the petrified treasures, which are then shipped to private collectors. Such practices destroy dig sites, rob countries of their natural history, stifle our scientific understanding of the p...
September 21, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
Dinosaur Sighting: Corythosaurus in Beijing
Most of the Dinosaur Sightings that come in are of Tyrannosaurus, so it was refreshing when a snapshot of a hadrosaur came our way. Reader Paul Trap sent us this snapshot of his son posing next to what would appear to be a Corythosaurus outside the Beijing Museum of Natural History. The crest on th...
September 18, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
Raptorex: A New, Tiny Tyrant
Tyrannosaurus and its close kin Daspletosaurus, Tarbosaurus, Albertosaurus, and Gorgosaurus were among the largest land-dwelling predators the world has ever known. They had massive heads full of huge, serrated teeth and were the dominant predators in the times and places in which they lived. Surpr...
September 17, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
Spinophorosaurus: A New Sauropod With a Wicked Tail Club
The dig site looked like something out of a Hollywood movie. New dinosaurs are often described from partial, fragmentary skeletons, but the bones of Spinophorosaurus nigerensis made a beautiful circle in the pink rock of the Niger desert. This was the kind of preservation paleontologists dream abou...
September 16, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
No Love For 'Brontosaurus'?
Despite the fact that it was rejected over 100 years ago, "Brontosaurus" still remains one of the most recognizable dinosaur names. Today we know the same fossils as Apatosaurus, the name given to the bones first and thus having scientific priority, yet there is something pleasantly evocative about...
September 15, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
Dinosaur Sighting: Tyrannosaurus Loves Wood Furniture
Who would expect to run into a dinosaur at a wood furniture store? Readers Karin and Tegan certainly didn't. While driving along Hwy 11 in Ontario, Canada they spotted a Tyrannosaurus looming over the wooden chairs at the Woodmill of Muskoka furniture store. Just why the store has the dinosaur on-g...
September 11, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
A New Sauropod With One Heck of a Name: Qiaowanlong kangxii
The long-necked dinosaur Brachiosaurus has always stood out next to its sauropod kin. Its long front legs give it a prouder stature than other sauropods such as Diplodocus, and while newer discoveries have stripped it of the title of "largest dinosaur ever" it is still a giant. Not all brachiosaurs...
September 10, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
Pulling Back the Curtain on Dinosaur Science
Everyone knows that paleontologists study fossils, but how do they actually do that? How do scientists go from discovering a fossil bone to describing that fossil in a scientific journal? The public rarely sees how scientists work, but a new initiative called the Open Dinosaur Project might help to...
September 09, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
Dinosaur Sighting: A Cheerful Diplodocus
If you are on your way to Dinosaur National Monument in Utah, keep your eye out for dinosaurs by the side of the road. There are plenty of them, and one of the most prominent is a large Diplodocus that stands outside a gift shop just before the entrance to the park. The store itself was closed when...
September 04, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
