Dinosaur claws for digging and display, claim scientists from Bristol University and Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) in Beijing, who carried out a biomechanical study of the claws of two types of theropod dinosaurs – alvarezsaurs and therizinosaurs. Alvarezsaurs were small dinosaurs, about the size of a chicken, with short robust arms with […]
Oldest Pterodactyl found in limestone quarry. Researchers in Germany have studied an “exquisitely preserved” fossil of Pterodactylus antiquus – an extinct flying reptile, dated as 152 million years old. This makes it the oldest specimen of this species of flying reptile. The fossil is almost complete, with only a few fragments missing. The scientists wrote […]
Palaeontologists in Brazil have studied the head of a pterosaur named Tupandactylus imperator, andclaim to have found “simple and branched feathers” on the back of its crest. They examined these with an electron microscope and found they contained various shaped melanosomes – tiny vesicles containing the pigment melanin. Variation in the shape of melanosomes is […]
As more methods are developed for studying the fine detail and internal structure of dinosaur bones scientists are finding abundant evidence of disease and trauma. Here are some recent examples. Researchers in Spain analysed a trackway of dinosaur footprints and found some anomalies, described as: “wide-steps, and a set of equally deformed left footprints (with […]
An international group of scientists researching a fossil site at Villaggio del Pescatore in north-eastern Italy have found the remains of the “biggest and most complete dinosaur ever found in the country”. This specimen, nicknamed Bruno, along with a smaller specimen named Antonio have been identified as belonging to the species Tethyshadros insularis – a […]
Dino skin found, but no feathers, according to University of New England News 10 September 2021, also reported in Science Alert and SciTech Daily 13 September 2021, and Cretaceous Research, published online 13 August 2021 doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2021.104994. Palaeontologists Phil Bell of University of New England (UNE) Australia, and Christophe Hendrickx of Unidad Ejecutora Lillo in San […]
“Dino fight clubs” reported in Live Science and Science (AAAS) News 10 September 2021 and Paleobiology 6 September 2021, doi: 10.1017/pab.2021.29. Scientists at Royal Tyrell Museum and University of Alberta, Canada, have studied 528 skull bones of theropod dinosaurs and found 122 had bite scars from other dinosaurs. Overall, about 60% of the adult tyrannosaurids […]
Oldest horned dinosaur found, according to reports in ScienceDaily 11 May 2021 and SciTech Daily 14 May 2021 and PalZ, 10 May 2021, doi: 10.1007/s12542-021-00555-w. Scientists in from the University of Pennsylvania and New Mexico Museum of Natural History have studied the fossil of a horned dinosaur originally found in 1966 in the Menefee Formation […]
A pterosaur neck is like a bicycle reports Cell Press via SciTech Daily and ScienceDaily 14 April 2021, and iScience 14 April 2021 doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102338. Azhdarchid pterosaurs were the largest flying animals that ever lived, with a wingspan of up to 10 metres (33ft) and “ridiculously long necks” that could be longer than a giraffe […]
Dino frills for flirting, claim scientists in reports in Natural History Museum news and Science Focus 3 February 2021, Live Science 5 February 2021, and Proceedings of the Royal Society B 3 February 2021 doi: 10.1098/rspb.2020.2938. Dinosaurs known as Ceratopsians have distinctive bony frills projecting from the backs of their skulls. This has been thought […]