New Horned Dinosaur Discovered: Wendiceratops Pinhornensis

A new horned dinosaur, Wendiceratops Pinhornensis, was discovered based on fossils collected in Southern Alberta Canada. Around 200 bones discovered in the Canadian bone bed represented at least four of these dinosaur species.

The new species of dinosaur, which lived during the late Cretaceous period around 79 million years ago, is around 20 feet long and weighed more than a ton. The dinosaur had a series of forward-curling hook-like horns along the margin of the wide and a shield-like frill that projects from the back of its skull. It also had a large, upright horn on the nose and although there were no bones discovered to prove this, the scientists believe that there were horns over the eyes as well (The dinosaur on exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum had reconstructed horns over the eyes; see image below). Because of these horned features, the Wendiceratops is one of the most striking horned dinosaurs ever found.

The dinosaur is named after renowned fossil hunter Wendy Sloboda, who discovered the site in 2010.

Experiment Recreates Asteroid Collision With Earth That Killed Off the Dinosaurs

An experiment that recreated the impact of an asteroid with the Earth that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs was done by researchers from the University of Exeter, University of Edinburgh and Imperial College London.

The scientists used a fire propagation apparatus to recreate the thermal pulse generated by an asteroid collision. Halogen lamps were also utilized to simulate the delivering thermal radiation (see image).

The experiment revealed that the long standing theory that the collision created firestorms around the Earth proved false. The heat generated by the experiment showed that the actual asteroid impact would have generated a heat pulse that lasted less than a minute. That is not enough time to ignite live plants.

Dr Claire Belcher from the Earth System Science group in Geography at the University of Exeter said, "By combining computer simulations of the impact with methods from engineering we have been able to recreate the enormous heat of the impact in the laboratory. This has shown us that the heat was more likely to severely affect ecosystems a long distance away, such that forests in New Zealand would have had more chance of suffering major wildfires than forests in North America that were close to the impact. This flips our understanding of the effects of the impact on its head and means that palaeontologists may need to look for new clues from fossils found a long way from the impact to better understand the mass extinction event."

Walking Fish Polypterus Senegalus Offers Glimpse At Evolution

Scientists are studying Polypterus Senegalus, a fish that can move in land, to understand how ancient organisms managed to jump from swimming in the waters to walking into land.

Polypterus Senegalus is a fish from Africa that is able to breathe air, move in land (with their fins) and resembles prehistoric fishes that managed to evolve into tetrapods - amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. The scientists studied the fish to learn how these fish move to learn the evolutionary processes that occurred 400 million years ago.

By raising the fish on land for nearly a year, they noted significant anatomical and behavioural changes. The fish walked more effectively and its biological behavior adapted to the process. The researchers hypothesized that the behavioural changes also reflect what may have occurred when fossil fish first walked with their fins on land.

Fully Feathered Four Winged Flying Dinosaur Fossil Discovered

A new dinosaur fossil with completely preserved set of feathers covering its enite body was discovered in Liaoning Province of northeastern China. The 125 million year old dinosaur is named Changyuraptor yangi and at four feet in length, is the biggest four winged dinosaur species discovered.

Dinosaurs such as the Changyuraptor and the previously discovered Microraptor are called four winged dinosaurs because of the set of feathers attached to its legs that appear to be a second set of wings. The long feathers attached to both legs and arms of these ancient predators have led researchers to conclude that the four-winged dinosaurs were capable of flying.

This discovery sheds light on how these large bodied creatures were able to fly. The new fossil documents that dinosaur flight was not limited to very small animals but to dinosaurs of more substantial size

Dinosaurs Survived By Shrinking

A study by scientists from Oxford University and the Royal Ontario Museum suggest that dinosaurs survived by shrinking their bodies eventually evolving into birds.

The study suggests that the dinosaurs went through a huge range of shapes and sizes over these years. And those species that decreased their body mass, survived and became birds. This evolution helped the dinosaurs maintain their presence, albeit in another much smaller form, and allowed them to continue exploiting new ecological niches throughout their evolution.

It has been only more than two decades that the idea that birds evolved from dinosaurs have entered mainstream acceptance. This can be largely attributed to the movie "Jurassic Park" which broached the theory to the public and garnered massive acceptance. Although some of the facts in the movie turned out to be wrong, the dinosaur to bird evolution theory still remains.

There have also been fossils discovered that suggests that some dinosaurs have feathers just like their current cousins. And there are also some, like the Microraptor had wings.

Prehistoric Shark Exhibited Migratory Spawning Behavior Similar to Salmon

Artist impression of Prehistoric Bandringa Shark
Credit: John Megahan, University of Michigan

Paleontologist have discovered evidence of the migratory habit of the prehistoric shark, Bandringa. Fossil evidence show that the prehistoric shark bred in the ocean and migrated to freshwater.

Modern day sharks are not known to do follow this habit and the discovery is the only known example of a freshwater to saltwater shark migration.

Their spawning behavior left evidence of the earliest known shark nursery in the preserved fossilized egg cases and juvenile sharks found in the sediments.

The Bandringa is one of the closest relative of modern day shark and is similar to the sawfish and paddlefish. Just like the two, Bandringa has a spoon-billed snout up to half its body length. Young Bandringa sharks are about 4 to 6 inches long but can grow up to 10 feet upon maturity.

The 310 million year old shark was first found in fossil deposits in Mazon Creek, Illinois. It is a bottom-feeding predator and are known for for their extremely long spoonbill snouts. Because adult fossils have been only found at freshwater locations, it is believed that the shark lived exclusively in freshwater swamps and rivers.

Duck-billed Dinosaur, Edmontosaurus Regalis, Had Fleshy Head Comb Like A Rooster's Crest

Reconstruction of duckbilled dinosaur, Edmontosaurus regalis.
Credit: Bell, Fanti, Currie, Arbour, Current Biology

Paleontologists discovered a rare mummified specimen of the duck-billed dinosaur, Edmontosaurus regalis. The specimen showed that the dinosaur had a fleshy comb on its head similar to a rooster's crest.

The comb is made of soft tissue. Soft tissues rarely fossilize because they do not contain any bone in them. Because of this, these features are unknown to exist in many extinct species such as dinosaurs. Scientists are not sure what the purpose of the appendage is, but they theorize it is for social signaling or sexual selection.

Edmontosaurus Regalis is part of a genus of dinosaurs called hadrosaurids or duck-billed dinosaurs. Edmontosaurus lived during the Cretaceous Period 73 million years ago and are about 40 feet long and 13 feet high at the hips. These dinosaurs weigh around 4 tons. One prominent feature of the dinosaur is that its mouth has around 1300 teeth that is constantly replaced just like a shark.

The discovery of the comb suggests that it is possible that other species of dinosaurs may have similar features.

Largest Dinosaur Argentinosaurus Huinculensis Walking Digitally Simulated

The Argentinosaurus huinculensis, one of the largest dinosaurs ever discovered has been digitally reconstructed to study how it walks. The Argentinosaurus is a dinosaur that lived around 94 million years ago. The virtual model was reconstructed through a computer technique that involved the computing power of 30,000 desktop computers.

The Argentinosaurus (named after the country it was first found; Argentina) is the largest dinosaur ever discovered and is the longest and heaviest land animal ever. An adult 40 year old Argentinsaurus can reach a size of 37 meters and weighing around 75 to 100 tons. The herbivore lived during the Cretaceous period and was believed to have perished during the end of the Jurassic period with a few of its relatives surviving in South America.

The dinosaur is a social animal that moved in herds of 20 or more. It stripped vegetated areas of leaves, seed and fruit before moving on to find a new place to graze.

By digitally reconstructing how the Argentinosaurus moved, the study can contribute to the development of locomotion and movement technology as it applies to musculoskeletal systems and for developing robots.

New Horned Dinosaur Nasutoceratops Titusi Discovered in Utah

A new horned dinosaur named Nasutoceratops titusi has been discovered in Southern Utah. At the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (GSENM) in southern Utah, a skull a previously unknown type of dinosaur was found. It had certain unique features that stand out such as an oversized nose and elongate, forward-curving horns over the eyes. GSENM encompasses around 1.9 million acres of high desert terrain in south-central Utah.

The name Nasutoceratops Titusi means big-nosed horned face (nasutoceratops) and also in honor of paleontologist Alan Titus (titusi).

The dinosaur is estimated to be 15 feet long and waighs about 2.50 tons. It was a four legged herbivore and belongs to the same family as that of the Triceratops and existed around 76 million years ago.

The area where the fossil was found used to be a swampy subtropical island continent known as Laramidia. Laramidia existed during the Late Cretaceous period ( 84 million to 70 million years ago) and stretched from Alaska to New Mexico.

Nasutoceratops belongs to the ceratopsids family, a group of big-bodied horned dinosaurs. It is the same family as that of the Triceratops, the most popular dinosaur in the group. More specifically, the Nasutoceratops are members of the subset of ceratopsids known as "centrosaurines," with Avaceratops being the closest known relative within this smaller subset of horned dinosaurs.

Another horned dinosaur that lived in what is now Alberta Canada, Spinops sternbergorum, was discovered two years ago.

Fossil of Giant Camel That Lived During the Pliocene Period Found In Canada's High Arctic

Scientists found fossil fragments of what could be an extinct giant camel that lived during the Pliocene period.

The Pliocene epoch is the period of the Earth 5.3 to 5.6 million years ago. This succeeds the Miocene era where open vegetation systems (such as deserts, tundra, and grasslands)start expanding while closed vegetation systems like forests diminish.

The Pliocene era was much cooler than the Miocene era which further contributed to the expansion of open vegetation systems. This change in vegetation was a major factor in the development and spread of long legged grazers that thrive in these places.

The land-bridge between North America and South America also appeared during this period. This allowed the migration of plants and animals into new habitats. The Pliocene era also led to the accumulation of ice at the Earth's poles. This led to the extinction of most species there as well was the advance of glaciers and ice ages of the Late Pliocene and the following Pleistocene.

The Pliocene was followed by the Miocene era which was characterized by the presence of distinctive large land mammals such as (Mammoths, and Mastodons) and birds. The total collection of organisms during the Miocene resembles the ones found today.

It was during the Pliocene where the extinct giant camel found in Canada's High Arctic was found.

This is an illustration of the High Arctic camel on Ellesmere Island during the Pliocene warm period, about three-and-a-half million years ago. The camels lived in a boreal-type forest. The habitat includes larch trees and the depiction is based on records of plant fossils found at nearby fossil deposits.
Credit: Julius T. Csotonyi

Fossil of Helicoprion Reveals Secrets of Circular-saw like Teeth

An X-ray CT scan of a well preserved fossil of the Helicoprion reveals how the creature really looks like after years of conjecture.

The Helicoprion was a bizarre creature that lived during the Carboniferous Period around 270 to 300 million years ago. It was believed to be part of the shark family. It had a very distinct and unusual feature in that fossils show that its lower jaw had a circular-saw like set of sharp serrated teeth.

There was much debate on how the creature would look like with this set of teeth. The first fossils discovered of the Helicoprion were very incomplete and didn't really indicate how the creature would really look like. Because of that, there were many theories on how this circular set of teeth fit in with the Helicoprion.

There were some that theorized that the teeth were attached and curled up to a tongue like organ that can extend out similar to an elephant's trunk. Other's believe that the teeth were situated inside the creature's mouth. Other's even suggested that the circular groupings were located on the tail of the Helicoprion.

Although some discovered fossils showed hints of cartilaginous tissue, none have included the braincase or postcranial parts of these fish.

Heterodontosaurus Dinosaurs Ate Plants Despite Having Tall Sharp Teeth

Heterodontosaurus are a genus of dinosaurs that lived in the early Jurassic period in South Africa. They are characterized by prominent canine teeth and reach a maximum size of about 3 feet in height (about the size of a big turkey).

These small dinosaurs are believed to have opposable fingers which allows them to hold and manipulate their food and other objects. The hand of this dinosaurs have five fingers.

Another interesting feature of the dinosaur are its teeth. It had three different types of teeth as opposed to most other dinosaurs which has only one type. It had small teeth at the front of the jaw, a pair of long tusk like teeth in the jaw, and the third are tall and squarish teeth likely used for chewing.

The name, Heterodontosaurus means "different toothed lizard".

Prior to the current discovery, heterodontosaurus were thought to be omnivores that ate both plants and small animals.

New fanged dwarf dinosaur from southern Africa, ate plants

The single specimen of the new species was originally chipped out of red rock in southern Africa in the 1960's and discovered in a collection of fossils at Harvard University by National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Paul Sereno, paleontologist and professor at the University of Chicago. Details of the dinosaur's anatomy and lifestyle are part of a monograph by Sereno dedicated to these puny herbivores and published in the online journal ZooKeys and on the website of the National Geographic Society.

Named Pegomastax africanus, or "thick jaw from Africa", the new species has a short parrot-shaped beak up front, a pair of stabbing canines, and tall teeth tucked behind for slicing plants. The tall teeth in upper and lower jaws operated like self-sharpening scissors, with shearing wear facets that slid past one another when the jaws closed. The parrot-shaped skull, less than three inches long, may have been adapted to plucking fruit.

Studying the Four Winged Dinosaur: The Microraptor

The Microraptor was a a pigeon-sized, four-winged flying dinosaur that lived about 130 million years ago. Microraptor means "small thief" and is a small dromaeosaurid genus that lived during the early cretaceous period and mostly inhabited China .

The Microraptor was about 1.8 to 2.5 feet long from beak to tail tip and was completely covered with feathers. It also had a diamond shaped fan on its tail for added stability during flight. It had long serrated teeth and long forearms to allow it to swoop down onto a smaller animal with deadly precision.

Separating it from other winged animals of the time is the presence of four wings. It had the normal wings and its hind legs were also stabilizer wings kind of like an old double winged airplane.

A team of American and Chinese researchers has revealed the color and detailed feather pattern of the Microraptor. The non-avian dinosaur's fossilized plumage, which had hues of black and blue like a crow, is the earliest record of iridescent feather color. The findings, which suggest the importance of display in the early evolution of feathers, will be published in the March 9 edition of the journal Science.

"This study gives us an unprecedented glimpse at what this animal looked like when it was alive," said Mark Norell, one of the paper's authors and chair of the American Museum of Natural History's Division of Paleontology. "There's been a lot of speculation about how the feathers of Microraptor were oriented and whether they formed airfoils for flight or whether they had to do with sexual display. So while we've nailed down what color this animal was, even more importantly, we've determined that Microraptor, like many modern birds, most likely used its ornate feathering to give visual social signals."

Although its anatomy is very similar to birds, Mircroraptor is considered a non-avian dinosaur and is placed in the group of dinosaurs called dromaeosaurs that includes Velociraptor. The fossilized specimen used in this study comes from rocks in Northeastern China that are about 130 million years old.

"With numerous fossil discoveries of birds and flowered plants, we knew that the Cretaceous was a colorful world, but now we've further enhanced that view with Microraptor as the first dinosaur to show iridescent color," said Ke-Qin Gao, a coauthor of the study and researcher from Peking University in Beijing. "Just a few years ago it would have been inconceivable for us to have imagined doing a study like this."

Shieldcroc: A 30 Foot Long Prehistoric Crocodile Discovered

A prehistoric giant ancestor to the crocodile has been discovered. The crocodile-like creature called "Shieldcroc" because of a bony shield shaped plate on its head is believed to be 30 feet long. It's head is already 5 feet long.

Shieldcroc lived during the Late Cretaceous approximately 93 to 99 million years ago. Its skull was discovered in continental freshwater deposits from what is now Morocco, and researchers think that modern crocs may have first evolved near the Mediterranean Sea.

The crocodile is capturing greater interest due to its hard-to-miss "shield," a raised mound of tissue packed with blood vessels and likely covered by a thick sheath, similar to a triceratops. It might have helped to regulate body temperature, but probably served a cosmetic use.

Its discovery provides scientists with additional information about the evolution of crocodiles and how scientists can gain insight into ways to protect the species' environment and help prevent extinction. The discovery was published this week in the journal PLoS-ONE (Public Library of Science).

"Aegisuchus witmeri or 'Shieldcroc' is the earliest ancestor of our modern crocodiles to be found in Africa," said Casey Holliday, co-researcher and assistant professor of anatomy in the MU School of Medicine. "Along with other discoveries, we are finding that crocodile ancestors are far more diverse than scientists previously realized."

New Species of Horned Dinosaur Announced

After discovering the fossil 100 years ago, an international team of scientists have announced a new species of horned dinosaur.

The Spinops sternbergorum is a new species of dinosaur that lived 76 million years ago in southern Alberta, Canada. The plant eater weighs two tons and is a smaller relative of the Triceratops. A single large horn projected from the top of the nose, and a bony neck frill sported at least two long, backward-projecting spikes as well as two forward-curving hooks. These unique structures distinguish Spinops from related horned dinosaurs.

"I was amazed to learn the story behind these specimens, and how they went unstudied for so long," said Andrew Farke, Augustyn Family Curator of Paleontology at the Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology, and lead author on the study naming Spinops. "This animal is an important addition to our understanding of horned dinosaur diversity and evolution," Farke continued.

Father and son team, Charles H. and Levi Sternberg discovered parts of the skulls of at least 2 of these dinosaurs in 1916. They sent the fossils to the The Natural History Museum in London for further study. However, the fossils were deemed too scrappy for exhibit, and consequently were shelved for decades. It wasn't until paleontologists recognized the importance of the fossil that the bones were finally cleaned for study.

"This study highlights the importance of museum collections for understanding the history of our planet," commented Farke. "My colleagues and I were pleasantly surprised to find these fossils on the museum shelf, and even more astonished when we determined that they were a previously unknown species of dinosaur."

Video: Two other horned dinosaurs discovered in Utah

The name Spinops sternbergorum (pronounced "SPIN-ops stern-berg-OR-uhm") means "Sternbergs' spine face", referring to the headgear of the animal and honoring the original discoverers of the fossil. Although the face of Spinops is similar to its close relatives Centrosaurus and Styracosaurus, the unique anatomy of the bony neck frill gives scientists better insight into how this structure evolved. In particular, the fossils of Spinops clarify the identification of the long frill spikes common in some horned dinosaurs. Previously, scientists had inferred that these spikes evolved only once in the group. Careful study of Spinops, however, suggests that its spikes are located in a different position from that seen in most other horned dinosaurs, implying that the structures evolved independently. This finding allows a more accurate reconstruction of evolutionary relationships, and is being tested with additional study.

Note: Along with Andrew Farke, an international team of paleontologists collaborated on the project, including Michael Ryan (Cleveland Museum of Natural History), Paul Barrett and Mark Graham (Natural History Museum, London), Darren Tanke and Dennis Braman (Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology), and Mark Loewen (Natural History Museum of Utah). The research was funded in part by the National Science Foundation, and the paper formally naming Spinops appears in the December issue of the journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.