Paleontology
What Kind of Music Do Dinosaurs Listen To? Rock!
If you loved the dinosaur-filled 1980's pop song "Mesozoic Mind," then you will be glad to hear that the alternative rock band They Might Be Giants has just released a possibly even more infectious tune about fossils on their new album Here Comes Science. The CD/DVD album is meant to help introduce...
September 03, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
Africa's New Fossil Frontier
Could the African nation of Angola be the next hot spot for paleontology? According to the BBC, the recent cessation of Angola's civil war has allowed paleontologists to start working in the country again. As the news company states, the country seems to be a new "fossil frontier" that is brimming ...
September 02, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
Paleontology in Action at Dinosaur National Monument
As soon as I arrived at the temporary visitor's center in Utah's Dinosaur National Monument two weeks ago, a ranger asked if I would like to go on a hike to an active fossil dig. "Sure!" I said, to which the ranger replied "Well then you had better get ready. We're leaving in five minutes."I ran ba...
September 01, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
Dinosaur Sighting: A Dinosaur in the Woods
I had not expected to find a dinosaur in the woods of Mount Kisco, New York, but there it was. While going on a little hike I saw the big, purple head of the dinosaur sticking out from behind a storage shed. When I got a better look I saw that it was a big playground toy meant to be ridden by child...
August 28, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
Dinoblog Carnival #11 -- Mainstream Mistakes, Science Scouts, Taxonomy, and More Bad Dinosaur Movies
Stop the Presses: David Hone's paper on theropod behavior got picked up by the mainstream press. Then, he watched in dismay as each subsequent report piled error upon error. (For instance, he was surprised to read that he was German.) Hone presents a detailed case study of lazy science journalism, ...
August 27, 2009 |
By Mark Strauss
Dinosaurs Along the Silk Road
I have often wanted to visit the natural history museums and famed fossil sites of China, but sadly such a trip is a bit out of my price range. Fortunately, though, paleontologist Jerry Harris has recently returned from a grand dinosaur tour of China with colleagues Matt Lamanna and Hailu You and s...
August 26, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
Dinosaur Sighting: Oregon is Overrun With Dinosaurs
Earlier this month, reader Stephen Sasser sent us a vintage photo of him and his family at Thunderbeast Park in Oregon. Unfortunately, Thunderbeast Park is now closed, but in the comments of the post featuring the picture another reader named Doug gave us a tip about some other dinosaur sculptures ...
August 21, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
Digging Into Dinosaur Science History
I love old books and papers. It is important to stay on top of the latest peer-reviewed articles and symposium volumes, but every now and then I like to pull a yellowing old science book from the shelf and see what scientists of centuries past had to say.One of my favorite volumes in my little libr...
August 19, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
King Kong Takes on Dinosaurs in Hollywood
For the 2005 remake of King Kong, the special effects team at the Weta Workshop imagined what dinosaurs would be like if they survived into modern times. In fact, the artists created an entire menagerie that ended up filling the pages of The World of Kong: A Natural History of Skull Island, includi...
August 18, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
Dinosaur Sighting: Tyrannosaurus Guards Google
If you go sneaking around the Google campus in Mountain View, California, you might want to be aware that the company has a Tyrannosaurus on the prowl. An anonymous reader in California recently tipped us off that a skeletal sculpture of the dinosaur can be seen on the company's grounds, and it has...
August 14, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
Walking With Dinosaurs to Fight Cancer
Lloyd Scott, a survivor of childhood leukemia, wanted to do something big for the United Kingdom's Teenage Cancer Trust. He had planned to raise £500,000 for the organization by walking from Land's End to John O'Groats, a trip of over 1,000 miles that would take 70 days to cover, but Scott knew he ...
August 13, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
The Burgess Shale: Evolution's Big Bang
A storied trove of fossils from a Canadian paleontological site is yielding new clues to an explosion of life on earth
August 2009 |
By Siobhan Roberts
Were the Dinosaurs too Spiny to Survive?
The extinction of the dinosaurs has long been a mystery. Generation after generation of paleontologists have proposed different mechanisms that could have sent the dinosaurs into oblivion. Today much of the debate over their extinction centers around the damage done by a large hunk of rock from out...
August 12, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
Tussling over "Tinker" the Tyrannosaurus
Hollywood movies make fossil-collecting looks easy. A prospector or paleontologist finds a fossil, digs it up, and then takes it away for sale or study. Yet this is a far cry from what actually happened when the first remains of a skeleton of a juvenile Tyrannosaurus that would come to be nicknamed...
August 11, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
Oops! Dinosaur Find Actually Fossilized Wood!
Naming a new dinosaur can be a tricky thing. Although nearly-complete skeletons often make headlines, more often than not new species are based upon fragmentary material. In these cases further discoveries are often needed to determine whether the species really is new, and every now and then it tu...
August 10, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
Dinosaur Sighting: Roadside Tyrannosaurus
Today's submission is a vintage shot submitted by Stephen Sasser of Portland, Oregon.In 1958 Stephen (on the left), his brother (on the right), and his dad (center) took a drive up Oregon's State Highway 97 to Thunderbeast Park, and during the trip he stopped to pose with his family in front of the...
August 07, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
Paleo-Profile of David Hone: China, Blogging, and Bone-Eating Dinosaurs
Vertebrate paleontologist David Hone has always been "obsessed and fascinated by animals." He got his start studying zoology and working at the London Zoo, but his attention later turned to much more ancient creatures. Vertebrate paleontology has benefited from his shift of focus. Since beginning h...
August 06, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
Did Giant Predatory Dinosaurs Eat Bones?
There is no question that Tyrannosaurus rex was a predatory dinosaur. It was a gargantuan animal with immense jaws lined with railroad spike-size teeth that could be slammed into a prey animal with enough force to puncture bone. At first glance it might seem that the answer to the question "What di...
August 05, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
Georgia Elementary School Trades One Dinosaur for Another
If the principal of Thomson Elementary School in Thomson, Georgia, thinks she has rid her school of dinosaurs, the joke's on her. According to the McDuffie Mirror, principal Anita Cummings recently decided to paint over a dinosaur mural and remove dinosaur tracks from the school because:
The dinosa...
August 04, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
Where Did Dinosaurs Come From?
When I was growing up I absolutely loved the lavishly illustrated Zoobooks series, so I was glad to hear that the series creator, John Wexo, has just published a new dinosaur book for kids. Called Where Did Dinosaurs Come From?, the new book is geared towards young readers and is chock-full of colo...
August 03, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
