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'Dueling Dinosaurs' Fossils Show Triceratops, T. rex, May Have Died After a Battle

Thursday, November 19, 2020

An illustration of the position of the two "Dueling Dinosaurs." Image source: North Carolina Museum of Natural History

It may have been a battle for the ages in ancient Montana.

About 67 million years ago, two iconic dinosaurs, a Triceratops horridus and a Tyrannosaurus rex, died and were quickly buried together side by side in a single grave. And both of them bear battle scars. It's the kind of showdown scientists have speculated about for years, but it has only ever appeared in "Jurassic Park" games -- until now.

The impressively complete skeletons of these "dueling dinosaurs" will go on display and be studied at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in 2022, the museum announced Tuesday. The museum is located in downtown Raleigh.

The fossil of the Triceratops was first discovered 2006 as it eroded out of sedimentary rock from the Hell Creek Formation. This rock formation, which dates to 65.5 million years ago, was named for Hell Creek near Jordan, Montana. The treasure trove of fossils from the end of the Cretaceous Period stretches across parts of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.

The remains of a Tyrannosaurus rex were also found slightly overlapping with the Triceratops. Both were extracted from the rock formation, encased in plaster and safely stored until they could be studied.

They are some of the most complete dinosaur skeletons ever found. What's more, the researchers believe the Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton is the only 100% complete T. rex fossil.

The T. rex portion of the double fossil discovery shows what appears to be a juvenile dinosaur.

The T. rex portion of the double fossil discovery shows what appears to be a juvenile dinosaur.

Both skeletons are also articulated, meaning all of the bones have been preserved in their proper order. It's rare to find one articulated fossil, and this discovery includes two.

RELATED: Cretaceous Battlefield: T. rex vs Triceratops

An ancient cold case

While the fossils are still trapped in sedimentary stone, what's visible tells an intriguing story.

So far, an analysis of the Triceratops fossil has revealed actual skin impressions on its signature frill and hips. Teeth from the tyrannosaur are embedded in its spine. But the Triceratops' arms aren't visible. Researchers aren't sure if they're simply locked in the stone beneath its body or if they were scavenged by other dinosaurs before the Triceratops was buried.

The fossils show skin impressions.

They also want to find out if the contents of its stomach were preserved. If so, they could learn about its last meal.

The Tyrannosaurus rex had most of its teeth broken; it also bears a broken finger and its skull is cracked. Researchers want to uncover if all of this damage was sustained during a possible battle with the Triceratops, or if these were post-mortem injuries.

The Tyrannoraurus rex fossil also bears a skin impression on its foot, which researchers said is remarkably similar to that of a modern emu.

The museum is building a new lab, the SECU DinoLab, to house the fossils when they go on display in 2022. It will also be a hub for scientists studying the fossils. The exhibit is expected to be on public display for five years.

The T. rex skull shows evidence of broken teeth.

Some of the other questions researchers want to answer about the fossils include determining if molecules are preserved in the skin impressions and if the tyrannosaur fossil shows evidence of feathers. Scientists would also like to identify if it was an adolescent Tyrannosaurus rex and uncover more details of the Triceratops' frill.

And, of course, they want to know how the dinosaurs died and if they were actually locked in a dueling showdown beforehand.

Because the fossils are still entombed in sediment, their body outlines and impressions of skin and soft tissue remain. These details are often lost when fossils are entirely excavated in the field.

"We have not yet studied this specimen; it is a scientific frontier. The preservation is phenomenal, and we plan to use every technological innovation available to reveal new information on the biology of T. rex and Triceratops. This fossil will forever change our view of the world's two favorite dinosaurs," said Lindsay Zanno, head of paleontology at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and associate research professor at North Carolina State University, in a statement.

"The way we have designed the entire experience — inviting the public to follow the scientific discoveries in real time and participate in the research — will set a new standard for museums."

This artist's illustration shows Triceratops and juvenile tyrannosaurs facing off near the end of the Cretaceous Period 67 million years ago.

Donating dinosaurs

The popular dinosaur pair was donated to the museum by the Friends of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences on Tuesday. The nonprofit organization acquired the fossils using private funds provided by support from a wealth of foundations.

"It is an immeasurable honor to welcome these specimens as they take up permanent residence here at the Museum," said Jason Barron, chair of the Friends of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. "Dueling Dinosaurs is a singular find; we are incredibly grateful to our supporters for making this a reality and allowing our visitors -- in-person and virtual alike -- to experience this journey with us."

The T. rex had sharp, crescent-shaped talons.

The exhibit will also further the museum's paleontology education and research programs.

"The Museum is thrilled to have the unique opportunity to house and research one of the most important paleontological discoveries of our time," said Eric Dorfman, director and CEO of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, in a statement. "Not only are we able to uncover unknown details of these animals' anatomy and behavior, but our new dedicated facility and educational programs will allow us to engage with audiences locally, across North Carolina, and worldwide."

The SECU DinoLab will provide visitors with the chance to observe researchers as they study the fossils and also talk with the paleontology team.

And for those at home, the lab will share research updates and live videos to learn more about their findings in real time.

Source: https://edition.cnn.com/

25-Foot-Tall Dinosaur Balloon Sculpture Breaks Guinness Record

Wednesday, November 18, 2020

A team of artists used about 150,000 biodegradable balloons to construct a 25-foot-high sculpture of a dinosaur that captured a Guinness World Record in Turkey.

Guinness said Guido Verhoef, Bahar Belisan and Willy Monroe teamed up with the Balloon Crew club to build the massive dinosaur sculpture in Istanbul.

The finished sculpture, made from about 150,000 biodegradable balloons, measured 25 feet, 9 inches high, 29 feet, 9 inches wide and 64 feet, 5 inches long.

The sculpture was constructed at an Istanbul mall as part of a Balloon Animal Kingdom exhibit. The sculpture was awarded the Guinness World Record for the largest balloon sculpture of a dinosaur.

Source: www.upi.com/

Why Some Dinosaurs Had Such Long Necks?

Thursday, November 19, 2020

The dinosaur's long neck would have enabled it to reach tall conifer trees and stay in one spot while it ate, since moving such a huge body expended a lot of energy.

Sauropods were the largest animals to ever walk the Earth.

These long-necked dinosaurs could grow the length of three school buses and were so heavy the ground must have shaken as they walked.

This family of dinosaurs, however, wasn't always so gigantic. In the first 50 million years of their evolutionary history, sauropods were much more diverse. While some were quite large, at about 10 meters in length, the family also included more lightly built animals that were no larger than a goat. What's more, some sauropods walked on two legs while others used four.

So how did these dinos with the signature long neck get so big?

Fossil finds from Patagonia in South America have shed new light on this mystery. A team of paleontologists has discovered one of the earliest known large sauropods, and plant fossils in the rock layers surrounding the dinosaur fossil provide evidence of the climate and ecosystem in which the newly identified species of dinosaur lived. The scientists named it Bagualia alba after Bagual Canyon, where the dinosaur fossil was found, and alba, which means "dawn" in Spanish, for its early age.

The sauropod's huge size was likely a response to a shift in climate 180 million years ago during the early Jurassic period, the new research has suggested. This evolutionary transformation was triggered by massive volcanic eruptions in the Southern Hemisphere that resulted in a change of flora that formed the plant-eating sauropod diet.

This is a fossilized limb bone of Bagualia alba, a new species of sauropod dinosaur found in Patagonia.

"There (were) lava flows extended for over a million square miles. This is way larger than anything we have witnessed in human times. Large amounts of CO2 and methane were released to the atmosphere and there is a well studied warming of the climate at a global scale," Diego Pol, principal researcher at the Museum of Paleontology Egidio Feruglio in Argentina told CNN via email.

"But we did not know what was the effect of this global crisis in the terrestrial ecosystems. Our lack of knowledge was because sediments with dinosaurs and plants of that particular age are very uncommon."

The shift in diet meant that many sauropod groups disappeared and only one lineage survived -- the big sauropods known as eusauropods. Bagualia alba would likely have been 10 tons -- around the size of two African elephants -- but later sauropods were up to 40 meters in length and weighed 70 tons.

Change in vegetation

In particular, it was the change in vegetation in a harsher climate that led to the extinction of most sauropods. Tall conifer trees came to dominate the warmer, more arid environment. These trees supplanted the lush vegetation of the humid environment that preceded the volcanic event. Fossils from this environment show ferns with fronds larger than 6 feet, Pol said.

"The only ones that survived this crisis were eusauropods. They have long been regarded as bulk feeders, with teeth and jaws that were able to cut and swallow all kinds of plants including conifers.

The dinosaur's tooth had thick enamel to enable the animal to feed on tough conifer leaves.

"Moreover we found that the enamel of the teeth of Bagualia was about 7 times thicker than those of the other herbivores that went extinct. This allowed them to feed on the tough coriaceous leaves of conifers," said Pol, referring to the new species of dinosaur.

In fact, the large digestive chambers needed to cope with this kind of vegetation were probably one reason why these animals reached these huge sizes.

And the long necks? They would have enabled them to reach the tall conifers and allowed them to access different plants without moving their huge bodies, Pol said.

"Their large bodies required them to eat a large amount of food to meet their energetic requirements. But if you are big and heavy and have to move a lot to acquire the food you need, you may spend quite a lot of energy (and then require even more food)," he said.

Giant animals also produce a lot of body heat, and other studies have suggested that their long neck could dissipate body heat -- a bit like the big ears of modern elephants, Pol explained.

The research was published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B on Tuesday.

Source: https://edition.cnn.com/

'Dinosaurs are Still Relevant': How a Sask. Man is Finding Fans with Prehistoric-Themed Comics

Monday, November 16, 2020

Brayden Martens' dinosaur-themed comic book series Prehistoria is raising money for Ronald McDonald House Charities. Photo courtesy Brayden Martens.

Brayden Martens has loved comic books and dinosaurs for as long as he can remember, but it wasn’t until recently that he decided to combine both his passions into one. 

Martens said he came up with the idea of a dinosaur-themed comic after toiling with the idea to create his own superhero. He decided that his love and knowledge for the prehistoric creatures could help educate and entertain.

The series is called Prehistoria: Age of Dinosaurs and now has three editions, something Martens did not see coming when he started this project. 

“I didn’t expect to love it as much as I did. I thought it was going to be one issue and move onto something else,” The 29-year-old author told CTV Saskatoon. 

“It’s just been so much fun, we’ve gotten so much positive feedback from the community and realizing that dinosaurs are still relevant.” 

Martens paired up with Chris Simmonds, an illustrator from Scotland. Martens said after he saw some  Simmonds' work, Martens knew he was the person to bring his words to life. 

In addition to the comic books, which can be found at local retailers in Saskatoon, Martens said he's also releasing dinosaur trading cards, and some special edition versions of his comics that he is using to help raise some money for the Ronald McDonald House Charities.

When he was younger Martens said he was frequently in and out of the hospital, making the Ronald McDonald House an easy choice. 

“As a child it’s scary enough having to be in a different place, having pain, being in the hands of different people. I think the mission of having families together is just so important.” Martens said.

During the pandemic Martens said he has had a lot more time to work on the comics. He said that he has written 10 new additions, planning on releasing a few of them as they get illustrated and published.

“For 2021 we’re looking at hopefully, Lord willing, maybe issue four and five out.” Martens said.

Source: https://saskatoon.ctvnews.ca/

If Asteroid That Killed Dinosaurs Was 30 Secs Late; Here's What Would Happen

Monday, November 16, 2020

If the doomsday asteroid that hit the earth was 30 seconds late, we wouldn't have Jurassic Park movies. Here's what else would happen. Scroll down to know more.

Around 66 million years ago, a giant asteroid hit the earth in its full fury, and it resulted in the death of dinosaurs. The impact of the asteroid was so huge on the planet's surface and it pulled earth to a state of nuclear winter for several years. Apart from dinosaurs, several other species of living beings were also wiped out from earth due to the asteroid impact.
However, have you ever imagined what could have happened if the asteroid that hit the earth was almost 30 seconds late?

30 seconds late could have saved dinosaurs

The doomsday asteroid that resulted in the extinction of dinosaurs had hit the shallow waters of Mexico's Yutacan peninsula. The asteroid which was nine-mile wide unleashed energy equivalent to 10 billion Hiroshima bombs. The rogue space rock literally tore down the earth, and the radioactive shockwave literally obliterated everything for hundreds of miles in every direction.

However, if the asteroid was late for 30 seconds, we would be most probably living in a different world. A delay in 30 seconds could have made the asteroid plunged into the Pacific or Atlantic ocean. Even though such an impact could have resulted in the formation of huge waves, it would not have resulted in the extinction of dinosaurs.

Humans would not have been ruling earth

If dinosaurs had survived the asteroid impact, the giant predators could be still roaming across the earth, and according to experts, these giants could have also undergone huge evolutionary changes.

It was the absence of dinosaurs and the safe haven on the blue planet which helped humans to evolve in a healthy manner. However, things would not have been easy for human beings if a predator like Tyrannosaurus Rex was there on the planet during the time of evolution.

Alexander Pearce, an Irish convict notorious for cannibalizing his fellow prison escapees had previously claimed that human meat is very tasty, and if dinosaurs start hunting down humans, it could have resulted in the extinction of the species.

Moreover, if dinosaurs are still there on earth, there could be no Jurassic Park movies, as humans will be running hard to save their lives from deadly dinosaurs.

Source: www.ibtimes.co.in/

Jurassic Park 3: What Killed The Boat Crew In The Fog

Wednesday, November 18, 2020

Jurassic Park 3's opening sees the crew killed by a mysterious dinosaur amidst a heavy fog, but the movie reveals clues as to what it is.

In the opening scene of Jurassic Park 3a boat crew is mysteriously killed by something that lurks in the fog. As Ben Hildebrand rises into the air on a parasailer with his girlfriend's son Eric Kirby, the pair are having a blast. Suddenly the boat jerks. They look down only to see fog and then, horrifyingly, the boat appears, tattered and smeared with blood, and the crew members are nowhere to be seen. Neither the characters or the audience knows what happened, but when watched closely, the film gives the answer away.

Jurassic Park loves to highlight one dinosaur in each film (aside from the raptors, which Dr. Alan Grant gushes about to his ex-girlfriend Ellie early on in film 3), that acts as the "big bad." In the first and second films, the T-rex had its moment in the sun, with a male T-rex even escaping into San Diego in a nod to Godzilla in The Lost World: Jurassic Park. The second film also introduces Site B: Isla Sorna, where all the dinosaurs that weren't suited to the park on Isla Nublar were relegated. Though the movie never definitively says which fearsome creature attacks the boat drivers, it is possible to figure out the puzzle through context clues and storytelling. Like every Jurassic Park movie, new dinosaurs are bound to come on the scene, and surely one of them is the culprit.

The monster in question is an aquatic beast or a flying predator. One dinosaur that makes persistent appearances through Jurassic Park III is the Pteranodon. The Pteranodon can fly over the sea to catch fish. There is an interesting callback to the fog from the boat scene when the characters must cross a dubious bridge and are ambushed by Pteranodon. This, however, is a red herring. The velocity of the onslaught on the boat, along with the smear of blood left behind, suggests a much bigger animal, one that could clamp its jaws around a human body. There is one creature that is said to be on Isla Sorna but isn't shown in the film: a Deinosuchus. The Deinosuchus resembles a giant crocodile that travels swiftly by water and could dispatch the crew in short order. But the Deinosuchus doesn't make it into the film, and Jurassic Park likes to showcase its monsters, not hide them. There is only one major villain that this story presents, and this time it is not T-rex or the raptors, but the big dinosaur of Jurassic Park 3: The Spinosaurus.

The Spinosaurus, a semi-aquatic lizard, first appears when Alan and the Kirbys land on the island, devouring one of their pilots and giving a one-two punch to the T-rex while trying to squish the airplane into a tasty tube of human flesh. The Spinosaurus keeps coming into play, including a scene in which they must dig through its leavings to find Mr. Kirby's satellite phone. When Eric is reunited with his parents, the Spinosaurus rears its horrible head, chasing them and breaking through the iron fence.

In its final attack, the Spinosaurus stalks the group through a deep river, showing off its ability to swim silently. This revelation cements the notion that the dinosaur was the killer of the boat crew all along. The creature handles itself readily in the water despite its size, even dumping Alan, the hero, into the water in a cage where he must use his resourcefulness to fight for his life. With its constant presence in the film, whether seen or unseen, and climactic stand-off against the protagonist, one thing is clear: Jurassic Park 3 wanted to terrorize audiences with the Spinosaurus.

Source: https://screenrant.com/

Kate Winslet Learned "How To Be a Paleontologist" For Her Role in 'Ammonite'

Saturday, November 14, 2020

"I feel proud of myself now, as a 45-year-old woman, to have just played a role in which ... my age really shows on my face," says Kate Winslet. She plays British paleontologist Mary Anning in the new film Ammonite. Neon

Mary Anning was just 12 years old in 1811 when she unearthed the skeleton of an ichthyosaur, a marine reptile that lived some 200 million years ago – and yet, most people have never heard of this self-taught, British paleontologist. With her new film Ammonite, Kate Winslet hopes to change that.

Kate - who plays Mary Anning in the movie - shared: "I had to learn how to be a paleontologist on the beaches of the Jurassic coast on the south coast of England.
"I had no idea how to do any of those things, and sometimes the job does require us to learn how to do something new, something incredibly cool."
Kate recently broke a film-making record while shooting 'Avatar 2', when she managed to hold her breath for seven minutes.
As a result, she shattered the record previously set by Tom Cruise for an underwater scene in 'Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation'.
She told 'Entertainment Tonight': "It's so funny because I don't really read reviews or media things. I'm not on Instagram, like I'm just completely disconnected from that part of my life.
"So all of this week and the week before, I've had people coming up to me at work saying, 'Oh my God, like seven minutes and 14 seconds? Like, what?' And I'm going, 'What? Hang on, wait a minute. How do you know that?'"
Kate loved shooting the scene, but she doubts she'd be able to repeat the feat of holding her breath for so long.
She said: "It was brilliant and I was very proud of myself and I'll probably never be able to do it again.
"That came at the end of four weeks worth of quite intense training and it was in the dive tank, it was in the training tank. But I loved it."

Source: https://home.nzcity.co.nz/

Can A Spinosaurus Really Beat A T-rex? Jurassic Park 3's Dinosaur Explained

Tuesday, November 17, 2020

Jurassic Park 3 features an epic battle where a Spinosaurus appears to effortlessly defeat a Tyrannosaurus Rex, but how accurate is the outcome?

In one of the most hated moments of the Jurassic Park franchise, the Spinosaurus managed to beat a Tyrannosaurus Rex in the last installment of the original trilogy, Jurassic Park III. Since the Spinosaurus is the main source of terror on Isla Sorna in the sequel, it made sense that the ancient lizard would come out of this battle on top. However, it's questionable how accurate the movie's climactic outcome is, no matter how thrilling the film-makers thought it might have been onscreen.

The battle between the Spinosaurus and the Tyrannosaurus Rex is the stuff of legend, but not necessarily for the right reasons. Watching two giant dinosaurs unleash terrifying roars as they thrash, stomp, and charge through a misty tropical jungle might be one of the most awe-inspiring special effects achievements in the franchise's history. And though its T. rex opponent puts up a pretty good fight, the Spinosaurus emerges victorious after it snaps its rival's neck between its jaws. It's a clash of epic proportions featuring two of the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park that were actually real before the franchise turned to gene splicing and mutant dino creations.

Unfortunately, it's also a scenario that would never happen. Not only did the two predators live and go extinct during separate eras of the Cretaceous period, but they were separated by completely different geographic locations; the Spinosaurus was native to what's now northern Africa, while the T. rex roamed the lands that eventually became western North America. But thanks to Jurassic Park 3's magic, the two titans met. The question, though, is whether the sequel called the battle right and whether a Spinosaurus could genuinely beat a T. rex, given the criticism in the fanbase suggesting that too would be impossible. Here's a rundown of each species' strengths and weaknesses and how they might hold up in a battle against one another.

The Real-Life Spinosaurus Dinosaur Explained

Two Spinosaurus aegyptiacus hunt Onchopristis, a prehistoric sawfish, in the waters of the Kem Kem river system in what is now Morocco. Image credit: Jason Treat / National Geographic Staff / Mesa Schumacher / Davide Bonadonna / Nizar Ibrahim, University of Detroit Mercy.

In many ways, the real-life Spinosaurus was like a supersized, aquatic version of another featured dinosaur from Jurassic Park's original trilogy: the Velociraptor. The Spinosaurus weighed seven to nine tons and measured up to 57 feet long. It was a semi-aquatic species that maneuvered well in wet, swamp-like environments, and thanks to its massive fin-like tail, the Spinosaurus was also incredibly fast in large bodies of water. These dinosaurs also had long arms fitted with sharp claws that six to eight inches long that could make cuts up to two inches deep. Those arms, however, hung down in order to aid their hunting of fish and claws could not be rotated to grab as is depicted in Jurassic Park 3.

Additionally, the Spinosaurus's jaw was basically useless in a fight. Its conical teeth were well-equipped to grip slippery fish but were incapable of causing any major damage to other flesh. On top of that, the creature's skull was ill-suited to lateral bending and higher levels of stress, making battle with a traditional bipedal dinosaur like a T. rex. And not only that, but the Spinosaurus' short back legs meant it was suited well to water, but wasn't made for long excursions on land or particular agility. The Spinosaurus also had a major design flaw: its weakest point (its spine) was completely exposed. One bad move and it could be paralyzed by its attacker.

How Jurassic Park 3'S Spinosaurus Compares To The Real Version

In the Jurassic Park franchise, the Spinosaurus is markedly more intimidating and lethal than the real-life version. Though it would have been impressive to see Jurassic World bring back the Spinosaurus, it probably would not have been an accurate portrayal by any means, given the inaccuracies established in the original trilogy. Some shots show that this gigantic dinosaur's fangs were just as long, if not longer, than those of a T. rex, which was simply not the case. The T. rex had some of the largest teeth recorded of the meat-eating dinosaurs, reaching a huge 12 inches in length. Meanwhile, the Spinosaurus's teeth were a little more than three inches long at most.

Perhaps the biggest difference between the movie's Spinosaurus and the real-life Spinosaurus is the force of its bite. In Jurassic Park 3, the Spinosaurus easily snaps the T. rex's neck by clenching it tightly between its jaws. While this might be possible with a smaller organism, it's unlikely that a Spinosaurus would be able to do that with a dinosaur as robust and muscular as a T. rex. Though the Spinosaurus had an impressive bite force of 2 tons, its teeth would have been too small and dull to grab hold of a T. rex's neck long enough to bite down on it, let alone break it in half. On top of that, the creature's agility in the film is hugely over-played: it is too fast, too flexible, and too agile on land by far.

Can A Spinosaurus Beat A T. Rex?

One thing is for sure about the Spinosaurus: its impressive biological stats make it an undervalued dinosaur in the Jurassic Park franchise but not in the way some may think. The predator is downplayed as a hulking apex predator, which is not true and the portrayal removes all nuance. And as for the question of whether it would beat a Tyrannosaurus Rex in a fight? Concrete answers are hard to come by, because of the differences of opinion in even expert communities, but such a comprehensive victory is basically impossible. Yes, the Spinosaurus was markedly larger than the T. Rex, but it also lacked the muscle and bite power to do any serious damage. Meanwhile, the T. rex had a powerful bite, but it also lacked speed and agility. Ultimately, it's likely that its massive jaws would make up for the difference given that the inaccuracies on show massively exaggerated the Spinosaurus' abilities as this sort of combatant.

Ultimately, a lot of the outcome would be determined by where and how the battle took place. Each dinosaur has significant advantages when fighting on its own home turf. The T. rex is an iconic favorite of the six dinosaur species from the first Jurassic Park, but it's far from unbeatable. If it was unfortunate enough to cross paths with a Spinosaurus by a river or a lake, a Tyrannosaurus Rex might just end up as the sail-back dinosaur's largest catch of the day. It would be an easy target in any swampy environment, let alone a large body of water. Meanwhile, a Spinosaurus wouldn't stand a chance if the two dinosaurs were to duke it out in the humid and tropical forests where the T. rex reigned as an apex predator, which is precisely why Jurassic Park 3 was so wrong in its outcome.

Any pathway to victory would require a lot of power and coordination from the Spinosaurus, which was not a species known for its brains. After all, even in-universe, Dr. Alan Grant - one of the legacy characters returning for Jurassic World 3 - was able to scare one off by igniting boat fuel and setting the path in front of it on fire. If a Spinosaurus and a Tyrannosaurus Rex were to go head-to-head under the same circumstances shown in Jurassic Park III, it's certain that the T. rex would come out on top. Its slight disadvantage of size would easily be made up for by its strength and lethal bite power. What happens in the film is definitely a product of movie magic, but at least the battle's creativity continues to inspire amazement and wonder.

Source: https://screenrant.com/

3-Million-Year-Old Fossil from New Zealand Rewrites Evolutionary History of True Seals

Friday, November 13, 2020

An artist’s impression of Eomonachus belegaerensis. Image credit: Jaime Bran / Te Papa Museum.

Living true seals are the most widely dispersed semi-aquatic marine mammals, and comprise geographically separate northern and southern groups. Both are thought to have evolved in the North Atlantic, with only two lineages subsequently crossing the equator. The third and oldest lineage, the monk seals, has been interpreted as exclusively northern and subtropical throughout their entire history. However, an international team of paleontologists now describes a new species of extinct monk seal that lived during the Pliocene epoch in New Zealand — the first of its kind from the southern hemisphere.

The newly-identified monk seal species lived in the waters around New Zealand some 3 million years ago.

Named Eomonachus belegaerensis, the marine creature was around 2.5 m (8.2 feet) in length and has a mass between 200 and 250 kg.

“This new species of extinct monk seal is the first of its kind from the southern hemisphere. Its discovery really turns seal evolution on its head,” said lead author James Rule, a Ph.D. candidate in the Biomedicine Discovery Institute at Monash University and Museums Victoria.

“Until now, we thought that all true seals originated in the northern hemisphere, and then crossed the equator just once or twice during their entire evolutionary history.”

“Instead, many of them appear to have evolved in the southern Pacific, and then criss-crossed the equator up to eight times.”

The well-preserved specimens of Eomonachus belegaerensis. Image credit: Rule et al.

Rule and his colleagues from New Zealand, Australia and the United States examined seven well-preserved specimens of Eomonachus belegaerensis — including a complete skull — found by local fossil hunters on south Taranaki beaches in New Zealand between 2009 and 2016.

“This discovery was a triumph for citizen science,” said co-author Dr. Felix Marx, a curator of marine mammals at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and a researcher in the Department of Geology at the University of Otago.

“This new species has been discovered thanks to numerous, exceptionally well-preserved fossils — all of which were found by members of the public.”

“Our results suggest that true seals crossed the equator over eight times in their history,” the paleontologists concluded.

“Overall, they more than double the age of the north-south dichotomy characterizing living true seals and confirms a surprisingly recent major change in southern true seal diversity.”

The discovery is reported in a paper in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

_____

James P. Rule et al. 2020. First monk seal from the Southern Hemisphere rewrites the evolutionary history of true seals. Proc. R. Soc. B 287 (1938): 20202318; doi: 10.1098/rspb.2020.2318

Source: www.sci-news.com/

Chinese Researchers Find Rare Dinosaur-Era Fossil Plant

Thursday, November 12, 2020

Chinese researchers have found a peculiar fossil plant with leaves and fruits of different morphologies dating back about 125 million years, according to a local research institute.

The plant, scientifically called Varifructus lingyuanesis, provides a rare raw material for evaluating the evolution of flowers in the Early Cretaceous, according to Wang Xin, head of the research team from Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The preserved part of the plant is about 17 cm long and 12 cm wide, and includes multiple physically connected organs such as branches, leaves, a flower bud, and fruits. The fruits are frequently arranged in asymmetrical pairs, and two branching patterns are seen in this single specimen.

The plant belongs to a type of angiosperm, the most advanced, diversified, and widely-distributed plant group in the current ecosystem. Organs of most angiosperms nowadays have the same morphology, unlike the one found in the fossil.

"These variable patterns within a single plant indicate the morphological plasticity of angiosperms during the early period of its evolution," Wang said.

The research findings have been published in the journal Historical Biology.

Source: http://en.people.cn/

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