Dino-mite!

Stories

18 Stories

November 2008
- Sorry, Chicken; Fossil Proves Egg Came First
  
  LiveScience | Nov 14, 08 2:00 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - The contents of a fossilized dinosaur nest may help resolve the age-old chicken-and-egg question, LiveScience reports. That birds evolved from dinosaurs is no secret, but the new discovery shows that the pointy-ended bird egg developed before the bird itself, paleontologists say. The nest is believed to have belonged to one of two small, carnivorous dinosaur species. More »
September 2008
- Dig Up Dinos, Rare Relics on DIY Tours
  
  Travel Leisure | Sep 9, 08 3:06 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Travelers seeking more than a beach and a Daiquiri on their next trip can try digging up ancient civilizations. Travel + Leisure lists the trips that let you uncover lost worlds: Ica Desert of Peru: Hikers can discover preserved shark teeth, fossilized whales, and even extinct creatures on this ancient former seafloor. Costs no more than the price of a local guide. More »
April 2008
- Tyrannosaurus Rex: Tastes Like Chicken?
  
  Washington Post | Apr 24, 08 8:01 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Dinosaurs are more closely related to birds than reptiles, protein extracted from a Tyrannosaurus rex bone suggests. T. rex collagen, the main protein in bones, is similar to chicken and ostrich collagen but much different than material from alligators and lizards, scientists say. The findings could remap the evolutionary tree according to molecular data rather than bone structure, the Washington Post reports. More »
March 2008
- Tiny Monkey Fossil Spurs Scientific Flap
  
  Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | Mar 4, 08 1:10 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - A diminutive fossil recently found in Mississippi is the oldest primate discovered in North America, and its exact age is raising questions about the timing of prehistoric animal migrations, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The existence of the tiny, tarsier-like creature, which could fit in the palm of a human hand, suggests that the primates migrated to North America across the Bering land bridge. More »
February 2008
- 'Frog From Hell' Fossil Turns up in Madagascar
  
  Daily Telegraph (UK) | Feb 19, 08 3:15 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Fossil hunters digging in Madagascar have discovered a 70 million-year-old, 10 pound ancestor of the horned frog. Over twice as large as its modern-day descendants, the "slightly squashed beach-ball" shaped creature probably lunched on small lizards and baby dinosaurs, and has earned the charming nicknames "frog from hell" and "Beelzebufo," reports the Daily Telegraph . More »
- 'Beach Bum' Dino Chilled in Mex
  
  Reuters | Feb 13, 08 12:08 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - A newly discovered duck-billed dinosaur lived on a "very Mediterranean-like" Mexican beach 72 million years ago, paleontologists say. A fossilized skeleton of Velafrons coahuilensis was found in the north-central state of Coahuila—the most complete dinosaur ever found in Mexico, Reuters reports. "Velafrons was probably a beach bum," says one paleontologist. The dino would have been about 30 feet long. More »
- Sparrow-Sized Pterodactyl Found
  
  Associated Press | Feb 12, 08 8:00 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Fossil hunters in China's Liaoning province have discovered the remains of a never-before-seen pterodactyl no bigger than a sparrow. Nemicolopterus crypticus, or hidden flying forest-dweller, had curved toes, which means it spent most of its time perched in trees. Unlike giant pterodactyls, the Nemicolopterus had no teeth and ate insects, the AP reports. More »
January 2008
- Did Bug Bites Do in Dinos?
  
  Guardian (UK) | Jan 9, 08 1:07 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Disease-carrying insects may have contributed to the extinction of the dinosaurs around 65 million years ago, entomologists write in a new book. Scientists found malaria and other parasitic pathogens in insects preserved in amber, and the same parasites were found in fossilized dinosaur waste, the Guardian reports. New plants, pollinated by insects, forced the herbivores to adapt their diets or starve, the book also suggests. More »
December 2007
- 'Mummified' Dinosaur Body Unearthed
  
  Washington Post | Dec 3, 07 10:05 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - A remarkably well-preserved hadrosaur discovered in North Dakota offers valuable clues about the appearance of dinosaurs, paleontologists say. Soft tissue such as skin and muscle were effectively "mummified" after the dinosaur died near a river, the Washington Post reports. "It's a dinosaur that was turned into stone, essentially," says the grad student who discovered it when he was in high school. More »
November 2007
- Arachnophobia! 8-Foot Fossil Scorpion Is Biggest Bug
  
  Associated Press | Nov 21, 07 8:40 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Scientists digging in Germany have found the fossilized claw of what is thought to be the largest bug ever to roam the earth—or, in the case of this 400-million-year-old scorpion, to navigate the seas. The eight-foot-long arachnid is an "amazing discovery" that highlights the remarkable sizes of ancient arthropods, reports AP. More »
- Long-Necked Dinosaur Grazed Like a Cow
  
  National Geographic | Nov 16, 07 2:44 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - The long-necked plant-eating dinosaur Nigersaurus ate its meals off the ground rather than reaching into trees, National Geographic reports. Fossils of the 30-foot-long creature reveal that the animal probably nibbled on plants such as ferns and horsetails. “We have seen nothing like this dinosaur,” said a paleontologist at the University of Chicago. More »
October 2007
- Huge New Dinosaur Species Found in Argentina
  
  Reuters | Oct 15, 07 4:45 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The recently discovered fossil of a giant dinosaur that roamed South America 80 million years ago is not only remarkably complete but also represents a new species, Brazilian and Argentine paleontologists announced today. Futalognkosaurus dukei, a four-legged, long-necked herbivore, measured about 110 feet from head to tail and was four stories tall at the shoulder. More »
- New Dino Chewed Like A Champ
  
  New Scientist | Oct 3, 07 2:11 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A mysterious dinosaur skull found in the Utah desert in 2004 is a new species, scientists say, and was "the Arnold Schwarzenegger of duck-billed dinosaurs." Gryposaurus monumentensis had such powerful jaws it could have chomped straight through tree branches, the New Scientist reports of the dinosaur, thought to have lived 75 million years ago in southern Utah. More »
September 2007
- Mammoth Fur Yields Mammoth Results
  
  BBC | Sep 28, 07 4:19 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Instead of combing databases for clues about woolly mammoth DNA, scientists literally combed the extinct mammals, and the technique has led to a breakthrough: genetic information reconstructed from a hair shaft. Long considered an inferior source for DNA mining, hair turns out to benefit from the presence of keratin, a plastic-like protein that helps preserve genetic material, the BBC reports. More »
August 2007
- Wallace Assailant Earns Release
  
  Associated Press | Aug 23, 07 4:26 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The man who shot George Wallace in 1972 and later called him a "segregationist dinosaur" will be released from prison later this year after serving 35 years of a 53-year sentence, the AP reports. The Alabama governor was forced to drop out of the presidential race after a bullet fired by Arthur Bremer, now 57, left his legs paralyzed. More »
July 2007
- Chinese Make Dino Soup
  
  Associated Press | Jul 4, 07 7:48 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Chinese villagers in Henan province dug up a ton of fossilized dinosaur bones, using them to make traditional medicines, including soup and poultices. The villagers, not entirely inaccurately, believed that they were ‘dragon bones’ from flying dragons. Once they learned of their value to paleontologists, the villagers donated the uneaten bones to the Chinese Academy of Sciences. More »
June 2007
- Big Bird Dazzles Paleontologists
  
  San Francisco Chronicle | Jun 14, 07 2:27 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The largest birdlike creature on record stood over 16 feet tall, weighed a ton and a half, and had sharp claws but no teeth. The Chinese paleontologist who unearthed the creature's thigh bone wasn't sure what it was, he tells the San Francisco Chronicle, but as he listed the possibilities for a colleague he realized: "We have a gigantic chicken!" More »
May 2007
- Creationists Open History Museum
  
  New York Times | May 24, 07 5:40 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A $27 million museum opening in Kentucky next week promises a different kind of take on natural history: a biblical one. At the Creation Museum, the Earth is 6,000 years old, evolution is a yarn, and dinosaurs were booked on Noah's Ark. More »