New research suggests that volcanoes on the Moon were active during the time of the dinosaurs on Earth, but much more recently than previously believed.
Initial analysis of samples collected by the Chang’e-5 lunar mission suggested that volcanic activity ceased approximately 2 billion years ago, updating an earlier evaluation that the Moon had been devoid of active volcanoes for about 4 billion years.
Researchers examined around 3,000 lunar glass beads that may have been produced by volcanic eruptions or meteorite impacts, identifying three of them as of volcanic origin based on their texture and chemical makeup.
The research team expressed being “surprised and excited” by their “unexpected” discoveries.
The presence of relatively recent lunar volcanism “implies that a small celestial body like the Moon may have retained enough internal heat to support activity until very late,” co-authors Professor Li Qili and Associate Professor He Yuyang from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, shared in an email.
However, it remains “unclear” why the Moon has remained volcanically active for such a long period, as per the study.
Planetary volcanologist Qian Yuqi from the University of Hong Kong commented that identifying such a young volcano has “major” implications for the Moon’s development.
“Where did they originate from?” Qian, who was not part of the research, inquired in an email. “This could lead to future missions to search for them.”
The Chang’e-5 lunar mission marked the first return of lunar samples since the U.S. Apollo program in the 1970s and the Soviet Union’s Luna 24 mission. In June, China achieved a historic feat by retrieving rocks from the far side of the Moon through its Chang’e-6 mission.
Paleontologists have announced the discovery of fossilized bones of a new species of early-branching ceratopsian dinosaur in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan.
Reconstructing your life Sasayama Magnomus Saegusai Image courtesy of Tanaka Kanon.
The newly discovered dinosaur lived on Earth during the Albian stage of the Early Cretaceous period, between 113 million and 100 million years ago.
dubbing Sasayama Magnomus Saegusai,animal Measured It is about 0.8 meters (2.6 feet) long and weighs about 10 kilograms.
“This new dinosaur has unique characteristics that make it different from any other dinosaur known to date. CeratopsiansPaleontologist, Hyogo University Tomonori Tanaka and colleagues said In a statement.
“Ceratopsians are a group of herbivorous dinosaurs known for having large horns and frills on their heads, most famously Triceratops.”
“Being a primitive ceratopsian, it lacked the large horns and frills seen in later species. Triceratops.”
Bone fragments Sasayama Magnomus Saegusai They were discovered in the Daisen Shita Formation in southwestern Japan by amateur geologist Adachi Kiyoshi.
“The fossil contains 17 bones, most of which belong to the same individual,” the researchers said.
“Examination of a thin section of the tibia revealed that this was likely a juvenile individual rather than a fully mature one.”
According to the research team's analysis, this new species Aquilops americanusone of the oldest neoceratopsian dinosaurs discovered in North America, followed by its sister species. Auroraceratops rugosus From China.
“Sasayama Magnomus Saegusai “This fossil is closely related to proto-North American ceratopsians and suggests that native Asian ceratopsians may have migrated to North America during the mid-Cretaceous, approximately 110 million years ago,” the authors say.
“At this time, eastern Eurasia and North America were connected by the Bering land bridge, allowing animals to move between the two.”
“Furthermore, extreme global warming has led to the creation of vast forests in the Arctic.”
“The convergence of these two events likely facilitated the spread of ceratopsians from Asia into North America.”
Discovery Sasayamagnome teeth, paper Published in this week's journal Paleontological Papers.
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Tomonori Tanaka others2024. A new species of neoceratopsian (Ornithischia, Ceratopsia) from the Lower Cretaceous Oyamashita Formation (Albian) of southwestern Japan. Paleontological Papers 10(5):e1587;doi:10.1002/spp2.1587
A new genus and species of non-hadrosaur hadrosauroid dinosaur, Chienjiangsaurus chanshengi was identified from a specimen discovered in southwestern China in 2022.
Chienjiangsaurus chanshengi Image credit: Hai Xing/Sci.News.
Chienjiangsaurus chanshengi lived in China during the Late Cretaceous period, about 70 million years ago.
The 8-metre (26-foot) long herbivore Hadrosauroidea is a superfamily of ornithischian dinosaurs that includes the so-called duck-billed dinosaurs and their relatives.
“Hadrosauroids are a diverse and highly specialized clade of ornithischian dinosaurs whose fossils have been found in Early to Late Cretaceous deposits in Asia, Europe, America, Africa and Antarctica,” said paleontologist Dr. Hai Xin from the National Museum of Natural History of China, the Canadian Museum of Nature and the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, and his colleagues.
“Phylogenically, it is defined as the most inclusive taxon, Parasaurolophus but, Iguanodon It is noted for its duck-billed snout and complex skull dentition.”
“Since the early 20th century, hadrosauroids have been considered an important component of the terrestrial vertebrate fauna of the entire Cretaceous.”
“The fossil record of this group contains a large amount of loose elements, dozens of heavily articulated skeletons, egg and fetal material, and bone bed assemblages that produce soft-tissue impressions and footprints.”
“Within the hadrosauroidea, non-hadrosaur species form a paraphyletic group that reveals a transitional morphology from early-diverging iguanodonts to hadrosaurids.”
“Most non-hadrosaur hadrosaurids are found in Cretaceous Asia, especially in northern and central China, and in the Early Cretaceous Exhibits, Xu Wulong and Probactrosaurus and the Late Cretaceous Tanius, Gilmoreosaurus and Zhang Henglong has been recovered.”
“However, comparable material from the Cretaceous of southwestern China is extremely scarce and fragmentary.”
Incomplete, partially articulated skeleton Chienjiangsaurus chanshengi Collected in 2022 Positive Yang Layer Chongqing, southwest China.
“Chienjiangsaurus chanshengi is the second officially named hadrosauroid dinosaur discovered in South China. Nanningosaurus dassiensis” the paleontologist said.
This specimen represents a transitional morphology between hadrosauroid and non-hadrosauroid dinosaurs and enhances our understanding of the diversity and evolution of non-hadrosauroid dinosaurs.
“The age distribution of eight hadrosaurids is Chienjiangsaurus chanshengi. Phylogenetically, it corresponds to the apex of the Zhengyang Formation during the Santonian to early Maastrichtian period. Chienjiangsaurus chanshengi “Fossils found are probably limited to the late Late Cretaceous,” the authors say.
“Hierarchical clustering of 12 hadrosauroid dinosaur assemblages from Late Cretaceous deposits in Asia revealed strong correlations between the Zhongyang Formation and the Djadokhta and Barungoyot Formations in Mongolia, supporting contemporaneous exchange of dinosaur faunas across East Asia.”
Team paper Published in the journal on August 27, 2024 Cretaceous Research.
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Huy Dai others A new late-divergent non-hadrosaur hadrosauroid species (Dinosauria: Ornithopoda) from southwestern China: supports Late Cretaceous dinosaur fauna exchange across East Asia. Cretaceous Research Published online August 27, 2024; doi: 10.1016/j.cretres.2024.105995
Paleontologists have added a new species to Europe's Cretaceous dinosaur fauna, discovered in Normandy, France.
Abelisaurid teeth are associated with the holotype specimen. Caletodraco CottardiImages/Photos Courtesy of Buffetaut others., doi: 10.3390/fossils2030009.
Caletodraco Cottardi It lived in what is now France during the Cenomanian period of the Early Cretaceous period, about 100 million years ago.
The ancient species Fuuriusauriais a derived subgroup of abelisaurid dinosaurs (medium-to-large bipedal predators that dominated the Late Cretaceous carnivore fauna of the ancient southern supercontinent Gondwana) previously known only from South America.
“My family Abelisauridae Built in 1985, the museum features Abelisaurus komafuensis“It was a large carnivorous dinosaur that lived in the Campanian formation of Patagonia,” said Dr Eric Baffeteau from PSL Research University and his colleagues.
“It has since become clear that Abelisauridae actually constitute a major lineage of neoceratopsid theropods, and played an important role in the Cretaceous continental ecosystems of South America, Africa, the Indian subcontinent, and Madagascar.”
“The Abelisauridae are mainly distributed in Gondwana, but in 1988 abelisaurids were reported from the Late Cretaceous of southern France, and are now known from Cretaceous localities in several European countries, including France, Spain, Hungary and the Netherlands.”
Two blocks containing fossilized bones and teeth Caletodraco Cottardi The fossils were excavated by paleontologist Nicolas Cotard at the foot of the sea cliffs of Saint-Jouin-Bruneval, on the coast of the Caux department in the Seine-Maritime department in Normandy, northwest France.
“The glauconitic chalk layers of the Pays de Caux are marine deposits, as suggested in this case by the presence of a shark's tooth in the matrix close to one of the bones of the anterior block,” the paleontologists said.
“The nearest land mass where the dinosaur described below could have lived must have been the Armorica Massif, about 100 km to the southwest.”
“The dinosaur specimens must have somehow been transported to the ocean, possibly by a river, and then drifted quite a long distance before sinking to the ocean floor.”
“Dinosaur fossils are fairly common in marine deposits, but this appears to be the first record from the Late Cretaceous of the Pays de Caux. The only relatively common vertebrate fossils in the region are fish teeth.”
Presence of the furiosaur Abelisaurus Caletodraco Cottardi This dinosaur, discovered in the Cenomanian of Normandy, suggests that the history of abelisaurids in Europe may have been more complex than previously thought.
“discovery Caletodraco Cottardi “This study shows that dinosaur fossils, although extremely rare, are present in the chalk layers of the Anglo-Paris Basin and that a careful search for vertebrate fossils in these marine layers may yield surprising and important results,” the researchers said.
“This new species has led to a re-evaluation of the European abelisaurid fossil record and shows that, contrary to what was previously assumed, majungasaurus was not the only abelisaurid subspecies present in that geographic region. Caletodraco Cottardi It clearly belongs to the Furileusauridae, a highly derived clade of the Abelisauridae.”
“Caletodraco Cottardi It is one of the oldest known furyleusaurids and its discovery in Europe leads us to reconsider the biogeographic history of this theropod group, previously known from South America.”
a paper The findings were published in an online journal. Fossil Research.
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Eric Buffett others2024. Caletodraco Cottardi: A new abelisaurid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Cenomanian Chalk of Normandy (northwestern France). Phos. Stud 2 (3): 177-195; doi: 10.3390/fossils2030009
A team of paleontologists led by Southern Methodist University has discovered more than 260 dinosaur footprints from the Early Cretaceous period in Brazil and Cameroon, marking a place where land dinosaurs were last able to travel freely between South America and Africa millions of years before the two regions split apart.
Theropod dinosaur footprints discovered in the Souza Basin in northeastern Brazil. Image credit: Ismar de Souza Carvalho/SMU.
Africa and South America began to separate about 140 million years ago, causing fissures in the Earth's crust called rifts to form along pre-existing weaknesses.
As the crustal plates beneath South America and Africa moved apart, magma from the Earth's mantle rose to the surface, forming new oceanic crust as the continents moved away from each other.
And eventually the South Atlantic Ocean filled the gap between these two continents.
Evidence of some of these major events was evident between the two sites, where paleontologists from Southern Methodist University discovered footprints of three-toed theropod, sauropod and ornithischian dinosaurs dating back 120 million years. Louis Jacobs and his colleagues.
“We determined that, in terms of age, the prints are similar,” Dr Jacobs said.
“From a geological and plate tectonic point of view, they are similar. In terms of shape, they are almost identical.”
Theropod dinosaur footprints discovered in the Kum Basin in northern Cameroon. Image by Ismar de Souza Carvalho/SMU.
The researchers found the footprints in the Borborema region of northeastern Brazil and the Kum Basin in northern Cameroon, more than 6,000 kilometers (3,700 miles) apart.
“Dinosaurs left their mark on a single supercontinent called Gondwana, which separated from Pangaea 120 million years ago,” Dr Jacobs said.
“One of the newest and narrowest geological connections between Africa and South America was an elbow in northeastern Brazil that borders the present-day coast of Cameroon along the Gulf of Guinea.”
“Because the two continents were contiguous along that narrow stretch, animals on either side of the connection could potentially migrate across it.”
“Before the continental connection between Africa and South America was severed, rivers flowed and lakes formed in their drainage basins,” he said.
“The plants provided food for herbivores, supporting the food chain. Muddy deposits left in rivers and lakes contain dinosaur footprints, including those of carnivores, providing evidence that these river valleys may have provided special migration routes for life to cross the continents 120 million years ago.”
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This article is based on a press release provided by Southern Methodist University.
New genus and species of large theropod dinosaur named Alpkaraqsh Kyrgyzics. It was discovered in the Middle Jurassic Barabansai Formation in the northern Fergana Basin of Kyrgyzstan.
Reconstructing your life Alpkaraqsh Kyrgyzics.Image credit: Joschua Knüppe.
Alpkaraqsh Kyrgyzics roamed the Earth during the Callovian Period of the Jurassic Period, between 165 and 161 million years ago.
This ancient predator was 7 to 8 metres (23 to 26 feet) long and had highly prominent “eyebrows” on a part of the skull behind the eye sockets, called the postorbital bone, which indicates the presence of horns in this area.
Alpkaraqsh Kyrgyzics belongs to Metriacanthosauridae, a group of medium- to large-sized allosauroid theropod dinosaurs characterized by high, arched skulls, elongated, dish-like neural spines, and slender hind limbs.
“Theropod dinosaurs are well-known predators, similar to modern birds,” said Professor Oliver Rauhut from the SNSB – Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geology and his colleagues.
“A wide variety of theropods are known from the Mesozoic Era, the age of dinosaurs.”
“Just as lions today live mainly in Africa and tigers only in Asia, for example, Allosaurus was widespread throughout North America and southwestern Europe during the Jurassic, but a similarly sized Allosaurus lived in China.”
However, the region between Central Europe and East Asia was previously unknown, and no large carnivorous dinosaurs from the Jurassic period were previously known to have been found in this vast area.”
Two specimens of Alpkaraqsh Kyrgyzics were recovered from the top Barabansai Formation in Kyrgyzstan, Jalal-Abad, near the city of Tashkumil.
“While the type specimen represents a subadult individual, the smaller specimen is a juvenile, indicating that it probably lived in groups,” the paleontologists said.
Alpkaraqsh Kyrgyzics is the first diagnosable theropod species from the Jurassic of Central Asia in western China.
We suggest that metriocanthosaurid dinosaurs originated in Southeast Asia during the Late Early or Early Middle Jurassic and rapidly became the dominant group of apex theropod predators in many ecosystems on the continent during the Jurassic.
Alpkaraqsh Kyrgyzics “The discovery of a metriacanthosaurid dinosaur fossil isn’t necessarily a surprise, but it fills a major gap in our knowledge of Jurassic theropods,” Prof Rauhut said.
“This discovery provides important new insights into the evolution and biogeography of these animals.
This discovery paper issued this month in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.
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Oliver W. M. Rauhut others A new theropod dinosaur from the Callovian-Balabansai Formation of Kyrgyzstan. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 201(4):zlae090;doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae090
The asteroid, called the Chicxulub impactor, was a carbonaceous asteroid that formed outside the orbit of Jupiter. New Paper Published in the journal Science.
Ankylosaurus magniventrisA Tyrannosaurus, a type of large armored dinosaur, witnessed the impact of an asteroid that fell on the Yucatan Peninsula 66 million years ago. Image by Fabio Manucci.
About 66 million years ago, a 10-kilometer-wide asteroid struck Earth near what is now a small town called Chicxulub in Mexico.
This impact released incredible amounts of climate-changing gases into the atmosphere, setting off a chain of events that led to the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs and 75% of life on Earth.
Evidence includes the presence of high concentrations of platinum group elements (PGE) in the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary layer, including iridium, ruthenium, osmium, rhodium, platinum, and palladium, which are rare on Earth but common in meteorites.
These elevated PGE levels have been found worldwide, suggesting that the impact spread debris around the world.
Some have proposed large-scale volcanism in the Deccan Traps igneous province of India as an alternative source of PGEs, but the specific PGE ratios at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary are more consistent with an asteroid impact than volcanism.
However, little is known about the nature of the Chicxulub impactor, including its composition and extraterrestrial origin.
To answer these questions, Dr Mario Fischer-Gödde from the University of Cologne and his colleagues measured ruthenium isotopes in samples taken from three sites at the Cretaceous-Palaeogene boundary.
For comparison, the team also analysed samples from five other impacts that occurred between 36 million and 470 million years ago, an ancient impact spherule from 3.5 to 3.2 billion years ago, and two carbonaceous meteorites.
The researchers found that the ruthenium isotope signature of samples taken from the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary was uniform and matched very closely to that of carbonaceous chondrites rather than those from Earth or other types of meteorites, suggesting that the Chicxulub impactor likely came from a carbonaceous-type asteroid that formed in the outer solar system.
The other five impact structures have isotopic signatures more consistent with silicic asteroids that formed closer to the Sun.
The ancient spherulitic samples are consistent with a carbonaceous asteroid impact during the final stages of Earth's accretion.
“The composition of this asteroid is consistent with that of carbonaceous asteroids that formed outside Jupiter's orbit during the formation of the solar system,” Dr Fischer-Gödde said.
“Asteroid impacts like Chicxulub turn out to be very rare and unique events in geological time,” said Professor Carsten Müncher from the University of Cologne.
“The fate of the dinosaurs and many other species was sealed by this object that came from the outer solar system.”
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Mario Fischer-Gedde others2024. Ruthenium isotopes indicate that the Chicxulub impactor was a carbonaceous asteroid. Science 385 (6710): 752-756; doi: 10.1126/science.adk4868
Research has shown that the asteroid responsible for the mass extinction that annihilated the dinosaurs 66 million years ago originated from a distant region in the solar system, unlike most asteroids that have collided with Earth.
According to European and American researchers, the dinosaur-killing asteroid formed in a cold area outside Jupiter’s orbit and contained high levels of water and carbon. Survey results The study detailing these findings was published in the journal Science on Thursday.
In their analysis of objects that have struck Earth in the last 500 million years, the researchers noted that only asteroids rich in water have caused mass extinctions like the one that wiped out the dinosaurs. Co-author François Tissot, a professor at the California Institute of Technology, explained that asteroids originating closer to the sun were significantly drier.
Tissot further stated, “All other impacts that occurred were from objects closer to the sun and just happened to hit that specific spot, so the asteroid responsible for the dinosaur extinction is truly unique in both its characteristics and origin.”
This catastrophic asteroid created the Chicxulub crater in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. While direct samples of the asteroid itself were unattainable due to its fragmentation, researchers were able to analyze particles that were dispersed upon impact and settled in Earth’s strata.
The researchers specifically examined ruthenium, a rare element on Earth that can be linked back to the asteroid.
The study confirmed earlier conclusions that classified the asteroid as a carbonaceous, or C-type, asteroid, though some theories proposed it could have been a comet that caused the dinosaur extinction.
Tissot explained, “Comets originate from great distances from the sun and are primarily composed of ice and dust. While the ruthenium levels of a comet have not been measured, based on research indicating other elements, it seems highly improbable that the extinction-causing object was a comet.”
According to Tissot, this study represents progress in understanding the evolution of Earth.
“By delving into Earth’s history, we now have a comprehensive look at its evolution,” he remarked. “This allows us to pose new questions about our planet.”
The asteroid, called the Chicxulub impactor, was a carbonaceous asteroid that formed outside the orbit of Jupiter. New Paper Published in the journal Science.
Ankylosaurus magniventrisA Tyrannosaurus, a type of large armored dinosaur, witnessed the impact of an asteroid that fell on the Yucatan Peninsula 66 million years ago. Image by Fabio Manucci.
About 66 million years ago, a 10-kilometer-wide asteroid struck Earth near what is now a small town called Chicxulub in Mexico.
This impact released incredible amounts of climate-changing gases into the atmosphere, setting off a chain of events that led to the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs and 75% of life on Earth.
Evidence includes the presence of high concentrations of platinum group elements (PGE) in the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary layer, including iridium, ruthenium, osmium, rhodium, platinum, and palladium, which are rare on Earth but common in meteorites.
These elevated PGE levels have been found worldwide, suggesting that the impact spread debris around the world.
Some have proposed large-scale volcanism in the Deccan Traps igneous province of India as an alternative source of PGEs, but the specific PGE ratios at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary are more consistent with an asteroid impact than volcanism.
However, little is known about the nature of the Chicxulub impactor, including its composition and extraterrestrial origin.
To answer these questions, Dr Mario Fischer-Gödde from the University of Cologne and his colleagues measured ruthenium isotopes in samples taken from three sites at the Cretaceous-Palaeogene boundary.
For comparison, the team also analysed samples from five other impacts that occurred between 36 million and 470 million years ago, an ancient impact spherule from 3.5 to 3.2 billion years ago, and two carbonaceous meteorites.
The researchers found that the ruthenium isotope signature of samples taken from the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary was uniform and matched very closely to that of carbonaceous chondrites rather than those from Earth or other types of meteorites, suggesting that the Chicxulub impactor likely came from a carbonaceous-type asteroid that formed in the outer solar system.
The other five impact structures have isotopic signatures more consistent with silicic asteroids that formed closer to the Sun.
The ancient spherulitic samples are consistent with a carbonaceous asteroid impact during the final stages of Earth's accretion.
“The composition of this asteroid is consistent with that of carbonaceous asteroids that formed outside Jupiter's orbit during the formation of the solar system,” Dr Fischer-Gödde said.
“Asteroid impacts like Chicxulub turn out to be very rare and unique events in geological time,” said Professor Carsten Müncher from the University of Cologne.
“The fate of the dinosaurs and many other species was sealed by this object that came from the outer solar system.”
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Mario Fischer-Gedde others2024. Ruthenium isotopes indicate that the Chicxulub impactor was a carbonaceous asteroid. Science 385 (6710): 752-756; doi: 10.1126/science.adk4868
Paleontologists have announced the discovery of a new genus and species of troodontid theropod dinosaur based on fossils discovered in Japan.
Reconstructing your life Hypnovenator Pinus variegatusImage provided by: Masato Hattori.
Hypnovenator Pinus variegatus They roamed the Earth during the Early Cretaceous Period, between 112 million and 106 million years ago.
The new dinosaur TroodontidaeA group of bird-like theropods including species ranging in size from kiwi to rhea.
“The Troodontidae are a family of small, slender theropod dinosaurs,” Dr. Katsuhiro KubotaPaleontologists and colleagues from the University of Hyogo, the Museum of Nature and Human Sciences, and the Hokkaido University Museum.
“The phylogenetic position of Troodontidae has traditionally been considered to be a clade together with Dromaeosauridae that forms the Deinonychosauridae, but Troodontidae has also been considered as a sister clade to Avialidae.”
“Anchiornis from the Late Jurassic of China has questionable phylogeny and is classified as either a troodontid or aves.”
“These lively discussions will greatly improve our understanding of the phylogeny and osteology of non-avian theropods, with major implications for our understanding of early bird evolution.”
“Since the discovery of the first troodontids Troodon Troodontid fossils have been found in the Late Cretaceous of Canada, and in the Middle Jurassic and Late Cretaceous of Asia, Europe, and North America.
“However, articulated troodontid specimens are extremely rare.”
Articulated skull Hypnovenator Pinus variegatus It was discovered in deposits in the lower Mt. Oyama layer in Tanba Sasayama City, Hyogo Prefecture.
“In September 2010, during construction work on a park in Nishikosa, Tanba Sasayama City, rocks in the Lower Oyama Formation were crushed and a partial theropod skeleton, including forelimbs and knees, was discovered,” the paleontologists explained.
“The discovery was made by Kaoru Matsubara and Ryuji Oe of the amateur group 'Sasayama Group Research Association.'”
“In July 2011, an articulated theropod heel was discovered at the same site during an excavation carried out by the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Nature and Human Sciences.”
These specimens are the only troodontid dinosaurs identified in Japan.
“Our position on phylogenetic analysis is Hypnovenator Pinus variegatus It is one of the oldest and most basal troodontids. Gobivenator mongoliensis” the researchers said.
“This discovery suggests that small maniraptorid dinosaurs in sleeping positions were common in fluvial systems as well as volcanic, aeolian and alluvial environments.”
“The geometric morphometric analysis of the claw phalanges shows that claw phalanges I and III are Hypnovenator Pinus variegatus They show considerable morphological variation but are functionally similar, reflecting a shift in manual action within troodontids that differs from that seen in non-troodontid troodontids.”
“Hypnovenator Pinus variegatus “The foot also displays a mosaic of running-related features,” the researchers added.
“This study reveals that asymmetric arc metatarsals appeared by the Albian, and morphological changes such as a shorter digit IV than digit III, a non-clawed phalange of digit III with a roller joint, and a weak gingival joint of digit IV occurred in the Early Late Cretaceous.”
This discovery paper In the journal Scientific Reports.
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Kenichi Kubota others2024. An Early Cretaceous troodontid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Oyamashita Formation in Japan sheds light on the early evolution of Troodontidae. Scientific Reports 14, 16392; doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-66815-2
Harenadraco Prima It is the first species of troodontid dinosaur to be discovered in the Late Cretaceous Barungoyot Formation of Mongolia.
Reconstructing your life Harenadraco PrimaImage courtesy of Yusik Choi.
Harenadraco Prima It lived in what is now Mongolia during the Late Cretaceous period, 72 to 71 million years ago.
This new species is TroodontidaeA group of bird-like theropod dinosaurs that lived from the Late Jurassic to the Late Cretaceous periods.
“Troodontids are a diverse group of theropod dinosaurs commonly characterized by large eye sockets, long hind limbs with asymmetrical metatarsals, enlarged claw bones in the second toe, and many bird-like features,” said paleontologist Seongjin Lee of Seoul National University and his colleagues.
“They have been found in Late Jurassic to Late Cretaceous deposits in Asia and North America.”
Harenadraco Prima It was a small troodontid, about 1 metre (3.3 feet) long.
“Harenadraco Prima Like other troodontids, it was small and lightweight, but its tarsometatarsus was extremely thin. Phyllovenator “Among the zoonotic non-avian maniraptorans,” the paleontologists said.
“It also suggests a potentially adaptive high degree of mobility. Harenadraco Prima “It fits into an environment where potential prey, like mammals, and predators, like Eudromaeosaurus, are likely to be agile.”
Harenadraco PrimaThe incomplete skeleton of consists mainly of elements of the left hind limb, Barungoyot Formation In Hermin Tsav, Umnogovi Province, Mongolia.
“The Upper Cretaceous strata of the Gobi Desert are a rich source of many troodontid species, particularly the Nemegt and Djadokta Formations in the Nemegt Basin in Mongolia, and the Ulansuhai Formation in the Bayan Mandakh in China,” the researchers said.
“From the former, eight species of troodontids are now known.”
“However, the Barungoyot Formation is a puzzling exception, as no troodontids have been found in it, even though it is one of the major sedimentary formations in the Nemegt Basin and is interpreted as intermediate in age and environment between the Djadokta and Nemegt formations.”
“The faunal compositions of the Djadokta and Barungoyot Formations are so similar that the absence of troodontids in the latter is even more puzzling.”
Discovery Harenadraco Prima The presence of troodontids was confirmed in all three formations of the Nemegt Basin.
“The discovery Harenadraco Prima“It becomes clear that the ‘gaps’ in the troodontid record were a sampling artifact,” the scientists concluded.
“The fragile nature of the holotype Harenadraco Prima This is further evidence of this.”
“The presence of Harenadraco Prima “The discovery of the Barungoyot Formation also proves that troodontids in the Nemegt Basin were diverse enough to adapt to a variety of environments.”
Team work Published in Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
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Lee Seong-jin othersThe first Troodontidae (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous Barungoyot Formation in Mongolia. Journal of Vertebrate PaleontologyPublished online July 15, 2024; doi: 10.1080/02724634.2024.2364746
US paleontologists have described a new genus and species of extinct crocodile relative based on a partially articulated skeleton found in the Middle Triassic Fossil Hill Formation of the Fabre Formation in Nevada, a pelagic region of the eastern Panthalasan Ocean rich in ammonites and giant ichthyosaurs.
Newly identified species Pseudobranchial reptiles It lived during the Middle Triassic period, between 247.2 million and 237 million years ago.
Named Bengwigiwishingasucus Elemical MinisThe animal probably reached a length of around 1.5-1.8 metres (5-6 feet).
It probably stayed fairly close to shore. Its limbs are well developed and well preserved, with no signs of aquatic life such as fins or changes in bone density.
“This intriguing new species provides evidence that pseudobranchs occupied coastal habitats worldwide during the Middle Triassic,” said Dr. Nate Smith, Gretchen Augustine Director and Curator of the Dinosaur Institute at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
“The area containing the Fabre Formation, which captured fossil life from the Triassic Eastern Panthalassa Ocean, is known for the fossils of marine creatures such as ammonites, as well as marine reptiles such as giant ichthyosaurs. Cymbospondylus youngholm — Newly written Bengwigiwishingasucus Elemical Minis It was a bit of a shock.”
“Our first reaction was, ‘What is this?'” said Dr Nicole Klein, a paleontologist at the University of Bonn.
“We expected to find something like a marine reptile. We couldn’t understand how a land animal could be so far out in the ocean amongst ichthyosaurs and ammonites.”
“It wasn’t until I actually saw the almost perfectly prepared specimen that I was convinced it was indeed a land animal.”
Although pseudopterygian archosaurs have been unearthed from coastal fossil beds in the Tethys Ocean, this is the first to be found in the Panthalassa Ocean and along the coasts of the Western Hemisphere, revealing that close relatives of these crocodiles were present in coastal environments worldwide during the Middle Triassic.
Interestingly, these coastal species do not all belong to the same evolutionary group, suggesting that Pseudobranchia (and Archosaurs more broadly) were uniquely adapted to life along the coast.
“Essentially, it seems like a very different group of archosaurs came together in the Middle Triassic and decided to dip their toes in the water,” Dr Smith said.
“What’s interesting is that many of these ‘independent experiments’ don’t seem to have led to a wider spread of semi-aquatic groups.”
Archosaurs appeared in the Triassic Period and split into two groups, with two representative species surviving: birds, which were descendants of dinosaurs, and pseudo-crocodile archosaurs such as crocodiles (alligators, crocodiles, and gharials). Bengwigiwishingasucus Elemical Minis.
Today’s crocodiles are similar enough to mistake them for other reptiles, but ancient species of crocodiles differed greatly in size and lifestyle.
Evolutionary relationships Bengwigiwishingasucus Elemical Minis and its relatives suggest that pseudobranchs gained great diversity very rapidly after the end-Permian mass extinction, but the extent of this remains to be elucidated in the fossil record.
“The recent and growing number of discoveries of Middle Triassic pseudobranchs suggests that there was underappreciated morphological and ecological diversity and experimentation taking place early in the group’s history,” Dr Smith said.
“Much of the public interest in the Triassic has been focused on the origin of the dinosaurs, but it was the pseudobranchs at the beginning of the Mesozoic that were actually doing interesting things.”
Discovery Bengwigiwishingasucus Elemical Minis It has been reported paper In the journal Biology Letters.
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Nathan D. Smith others2024. A new pseudobranch discovered in Nevada’s Fabre Formation indicates that archosaurs inhabited coastal regions around the world during the Middle Triassic. violet 20(7); Source: http://www.doi.gov/doi/2020240136 Source: 10.1098/rsbl.2024.0136
This article is based on a press release from the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
New genus and species of iguanodont dinosaur named Comptonatus chasei It was explained by PhD student Jeremy Lockwood and colleagues at the University of Portsmouth.
Reconstructing your life Comptonatus chaseiImage courtesy of John Sibbick.
Comptonatus chasei It roamed the Earth during the Early Cretaceous Period, about 125 million years ago.
“The animal would have weighed about a tonne, making it similar in size to a large male American bison,” Lockwood said.
“Evidence from nearby fossil footprints indicates that this dinosaur likely lived in groups, so it’s possible that predators surprised large groups of these heavy dinosaurs on the floodplains more than 120 million years ago.”
Comptonatus chasei was a member of Iguanodontsis a highly successful group of ornithischian dinosaurs that probably appeared during the late Middle Jurassic.
“Comptonatus chasei “This is a fantastic dinosaur specimen – one of the most complete found in the UK in a century,” said Dr Susanna Maidment, a palaeontologist at London’s Natural History Museum.
“This specimen, Brigstone but, Mantellisaurus (Two species of Iguandontian dinosaurs are Comptonatus chasei“Our results indicate the rapid evolution of iguanodontian dinosaurs during this period and help us understand how ecosystems recovered after the presumed end-Jurassic extinction event.”
Fossilized remains Comptonatus chasei What was found was Wessex Layer It was discovered in 2013 on the Isle of Wight by fossil collector Nick Chase.
“Comptonatus chasei “This is one of the most complete iguanodont dinosaurs, including its skull, ever found in the UK,” the palaeontologists said.
In the entire 1900s, only four new species of dinosaur were discovered on the Isle of Wight, but in the past five years eight new species have been named.
“This is a really surprising discovery,” Lockwood said.
“This helps us to better understand the different types of dinosaurs that lived in Britain during the Early Cretaceous period.”
“This adds to recent research showing that Wessex was one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world.”
Jeremy A.F. Lockwood others2024. Comptonatus chaseiA new iguanodontid dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Wessex Formation of the Isle of Wight in southern England. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 22(1); doi:10.1080/14772019.2024.2346573
Thescelosaurinae A group of small to medium-sized herbivorous dinosaurs that lived in North America during the Late Cretaceous. The newly discovered Thescelosaurinae species Fona Herzogae It shows evidence that these dinosaurs spent at least some of their time in underground burrows.
Fona HerzogaeImage courtesy of Jorge Gonzalez.
Fona Herzogae It lived in what is now Utah about 99 million years ago (Cretaceous Period).
At the time, the region was a vast floodplain ecosystem between a huge inland sea to the east and active volcanoes and mountains to the west. It was a warm, wet, muddy environment with numerous rivers and streams.
Since 2013, paleontologists from North Carolina State University and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences have excavated this fossil, as well as other specimens of the same species, in the Mussenchutchit Formation of the Cedar Mountain Formation.
The state of preservation of these fossils and some of the features they have suggest that they may have been burrowing.
Fona Herzogae It was a small, herbivorous dinosaur about the size of a large dog and with a simple body shape.
Although they lack the flashy ornamentation of their more well-adorned relatives, such as horned, armored, or crowned dinosaurs, Fona Herzogae it was boring.
Fona Herzogae It shares several anatomical features with animals known for digging and burrowing, including large biceps, strong muscle attachments in the hips and legs, fused bones along the pelvis (probably helping with stability while digging), and hind limbs that are proportionally larger than the forelimbs, but that's not the only evidence that this animal spent time underground.
“The fossil record is biased towards large animals, mainly because in floodplain environments like Mussentucht, small bones at the surface are often scattered, rotted, or scavenged before being buried and fossilized,” says Habib Abrahami, a doctoral student at North Carolina State University and digital engineer for the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences' new “Dueling Dinosaurs” program.
“but Fona Herzogae In many cases, the bones are found in very good condition and complete, with many of them preserved in their original death position, with their chest down and their forelimbs spread.”
“If they had already been in an underground burrow before they died, it would have been more likely to have been preserved in this way.”
Dr. Lindsay Zanno, associate research professor at North Carolina State University, director of paleontology at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, and corresponding author of the study, agrees.
“Fona Herzogae “We've found a much larger number of skeletons of small animals with weak bones in this area than we would have expected,” Dr Zanno said.
“The most likely explanation for why so many specimens have been found and why they were recovered in small bundles is that they lived underground, at least part of the time.”
“Essentially, Fona Herzogae They have done a tremendous job for us by putting the whole area underground.”
Although researchers have yet to identify the underground burrow, Fona Herzogaethe tunnels and chambers of its closest relatives, OryctodromeusIt was discovered in Idaho and Montana. These discoveries Fona Herzogae They also used burrows.
Fona Herzogae It is also a distant relative of Willo, another famous North Carolina fossil. Thescelosaurus neglectus This specimen, now in a museum, is thought to have been adapted to a semi-cryptic lifestyle, that is, partially underground.
“Thescelosaurus neglectus At the end of this lineage was Fona Herzogae “It's an ancestor from about 35 million years ago,” Avrahami says.
The researchers Fona Herzogae It is key to improving our understanding of Cretaceous ecosystems.
“Fona Herzogae “It gives us insight into the three-dimensional space that animals can occupy by moving underground,” Avrahami said.
“This discovery adds to the richness of the fossil record and expands the known diversity of small herbivores, a vital yet poorly understood component of Cretaceous ecosystems.”
“People tend to have a myopic view of dinosaurs that hasn't kept pace with scientific advances,” Dr Zanno said.
“We now know that dinosaur diversity ranged from small arboreal gliding animals and nocturnal hunters to sloth-like herbivores and, of course, animals that hid underground.”
Habib M. Avrahami othersA new, semi-excavated thescelosaurine dinosaur from the Cenomanian Mussenchutit Formation of the Cedar Mountain Formation in Utah. Anatomy recordPublished online July 9, 2024; doi: 10.1002/ar.25505
This article is a version of a press release provided by North Carolina State University.
Dinosaurs roamed the swamps of what is now Montana 78 million years ago, and one particularly unique creature stood out. Scientists compared it to the God of Mischief for its striking features.
This massive herbivore was over 20 feet long and weighed five tons. It sported two foot-long blade-like horns on its frilled head, two 16-inch horns above its eyes, and more than a dozen crown-like horns on its face.
Recently discovered, Lociceratops rangiformis, named after the Norse god Loki and popularized in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is a new dinosaur species reported by scientists in a scientific journal. Some debate its classification as a distinct species within the Ceratopsian family.
The study, published in PeerJ, highlights unique horn arrangements that set Lociceratops apart from its relatives, according to Joseph Sertich, co-author of the study.
Lociceratops, a newly identified Cretaceous ceratopsian.Sergey Krasovsky / via Reuters
Discovered in Montana, Lociceratops had distinct horn arrangements on its head, differing from other similar dinosaurs like Medusaceratops, with no nose horns present.
One of the largest concentrations of dinosaur fossils on Earth is found in the western US, where Lociceratops fossils were unearthed.
Commercial fossil hunter Mark Eatman discovered the bones on a Montana ranch in 2019. The Danish Museum of Evolution acquired the skeleton in 2021 for display in a museum in Denmark.
Experts at Fossilogic in Utah prepared the specimen for display, creating a replica for exhibition in 2022.
Despite some skepticism, many experts believe Lociceratops represents a new species within the Ceratopsian family, offering insights into the ecologies of the Late Cretaceous period.
Further research and analysis will shed light on the uniqueness of this fascinating dinosaur from ancient Montana.
Introducing a new addition to the realm of peculiar dinosaurs, this creature dons magnificent (albeit slightly perilous) headgear that can rival any fashion runway creation. Lociceratops rangiformis is the latest discovery in the realm of dinosaurs, described as one of the largest and most ornate ceratopsians ever found.
Among the distinct features of this ceratopsian are elements previously unseen by scientists, notably the immense, curved, blade-like horns located on the underside of its frill, the largest ever observed on a ceratopsian.
This dinosaur sports an unconventional, asymmetrical spike at the center of its frill, and most uniquely, it lacks a nose horn seen in other horned dinosaurs.
The first part of the dinosaur’s name, Lociceratops, pays homage to the blade-wielding Norse god Loki, while the latter part ‘rangiformis’ indicates its antler-like formations, similar to those of a caribou or reindeer.
The name ‘rangiformis’ was chosen to reflect the peculiarity of this dinosaur’s antler-like feature, reminiscent of the asymmetrical spines seen in caribou or reindeer.
Published in the journal Peer J, this fossil was unearthed in 2019 in the badlands of northern Montana, USA, not far from the Canadian border, where ceratopsians roamed over 78 million years ago.
Despite its blade-like horns and status as the largest ceratopsian of its time, this dinosaur was an herbivore and likely fell prey to predators like Tyrannosaurus rex.
Portrait reconstructions of all four centrosaurine dinosaur species that coexisted in the Kennedy Coulee assemblage of northern Montana and southern Alberta. Lociceratops, at top left, is characterized by its large, curved horns, asymmetrical “spikes,” and lack of a nasal horn. – Image courtesy of Fabrizio Lavezzi
Ceratopsians emerged during the Late Cretaceous period, evolving extravagant features and distinct horn patterns, including those of Lociceratops rangiformis. These dinosaurs were part of an isolated lineage on the island continent of Laramidia (modern-day North America) and exhibited rapid evolution. Ceratopsians survived until the mass extinction event that wiped out all dinosaurs.
The paleontologists involved in the study, led by Joseph Sertich from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and Colorado State University, noted that this new dinosaur showcases the peak of eccentricity in ceratopsian head adornments, boasting the largest frill horns ever seen in a ceratopsian.
These findings challenge previous assumptions about dinosaur diversity, expanding the known coexisting species of ceratopsians to five during that era, transforming our understanding of dinosaur life at the time.
A new genus and species of Unenraghiin dinosaur has been identified by Argentine paleontologists. DiuqinrechiguanaeThe discovery fills a large gap in the theropod dinosaur fossil record.
Reconstructing your life DiuqinrechiguanaeImages/Photos Courtesy: Porfiri others., doi: 10.1186/s12862-024-02247-w.
Diuqinrechiguanae It lived on Earth during the Santonian stage of the Cretaceous period, 86 to 84 million years ago.
This species Unenraghiina subfamily of long-snouted proto-avian theropods within the family Dromaeosauridae.
“The Unenraghiin was a carnivorous dinosaur from the Gondwana continent. Paraves“It is a clade that includes birds and their closest non-avian theropod relatives,” said Dr Juan Porfiri of the National University of Comahue in Buenos Aires and his colleagues.
“The fossil record of Unenlagineidae comes primarily from Argentina, where the greatest number of specimens and the most complete skeletons have been found, but other material at least tentatively assigned to Unenlagineidae has been found in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Antarctica.”
“A small, flying Malagasy theropod Lahonavis Ostromi Depending on the particular phylogenetic hypothesis adopted, they are often considered to be non-enragine.
“The Unenraginae are most often interpreted as early-diverging dromaeosaurids, but others consider these theropods to be a separate proto-avian clade (Unenragiiidae).”
“They are an important clade for understanding the origin of birds because they are closely related phylogenetically to birds.”
“But unfortunately, most species are only represented by fragmentary fossils.”
DiuqinrechiguanaeA fragmentary but related skull was found. Bajo de la Culpa Formation Neuquén province, Patagonia, Argentina.
“The specimen was collected in the province of Neuquén, from the isthmus between the southeastern shore of the Balearic Lake and the northwestern shore of Lake Mari-Menuco,” the paleontologists said.
According to the authors: Diuqinrechiguanae It is the first species of Unenraghiine dinosaur to be discovered in the Bajo de la Culpa Formation.
“The Bajo de la Culpa Formation provides fossils that comprehensively represent a diverse and important group of paleontological species,” the researchers said.
“Vertebrate fossils are abundant and often well preserved, including snakes, lizards, turtles, crocodylomorphs, indeterminate pterosaurs, ornithopods, titanosaur sauropods, non-avian theropods, and bird fossils.”
Diuqinrechiguanae It fills a gap of at least 15 million years in the Unenra Guinness fossil record (conservative estimates are 90-75 million years, perhaps more).
“This new species adds to the South American Unenraguines fossil record by filling a large gap in their temporal distribution,” the researchers said.
“Saved elements Diuqinrechiguanae It is morphologically distinct from corresponding bones in other Unenraginian species, including an accessory plate on the most posterior sacral vertebral neural arch, unique paired foramina in the most posterior sacral and anterior coccygeal neural arches, a humerus with a distally positioned distal lateral deltoid ridge, and several conditions that appear intermediate between the humerus and the humerus. Unenragia spp. and the very large Unenraghiines Austroraptor Kabazai. “
“Combined with gaps in the strata spanning millions of years, Diuqinrechiguanae These anatomical differences support the validity of the new species, which are geologically older and newer Unenlagines, respectively.”
“Furthermore, the humerus Diuqinrechiguanae The type specimen retains two conical tooth impressions, indicating that the remains were eaten by another tetrapod, possibly a crocodylomorph, mammal, or theropod (perhaps a megaraptor, as represented by teeth found at the same site, or perhaps another non-enraginean individual of the same species).”
Discovery Diuqinrechiguanae It has been reported paper In the journal BMC Ecology and Evolution.
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JD Porfiri others. 2024. Diuqinrechiguanae A new genus and species of the subfamily Unenraginae (Theropoda: Hypopoda) from the Bajo de la Culpa Formation (Neuquén Group, Upper Cretaceous), Neuquén Province, Patagonia, Argentina. BMC Ecolevo 24, 77; doi: 10.1186/s12862-024-02247-w
The recently discovered Late Triassic bonebed at Labanock in South Wales is a storm deposit that preserves a rich coastal marine biota, including a diverse range of fish and marine reptiles.
A view of the cliff face at Labanock Point from the eastern end of the beach shows how the red mudstones of the Williton Member (Marcia Mudstone Formation) transition upward into the bedded shales of the Westbury Formation. Image courtesy of Evans others., doi: 10.1016/j.pgeola.2024.05.001.
“The new bone beds paint a picture of a tropical island that was frequently battered by storms, washing material from the surrounding areas on land and at sea into the tidal zone,” said paleontologist Owain Evans from the University of Bristol.
“This means that from just one fossil bed, we can reconstruct a complex ecosystem containing a wide variety of marine reptiles, such as underwater ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, and placodonts, as well as land-based dinosaurs.”
The discovery was made at Labanock Head, near Cardiff and Penarth in South Wales, where dark shale and limestone cliffs reveal an ancient, shallow sea.
Several layers contain deposits of bones, including the remains of fish, sharks, marine reptiles, and occasionally dinosaurs.
“I grew up in Cardiff and have been visiting Penarth beach all my life but I'd never noticed any fossils,” Ms Evans said.
“And the more I read, the more amazing it became.”
“Local geologists have been collecting the bones since the 1870s, and most of them are in the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff.”
“The Labanock collection dates back to the 19th century and many parts of the bone bed have been collected over many years,” said Dr. Cindy Howells, curator of palaeontology at the National Museum Wales.
“The presence of dinosaur remains at the site ensures that it will remain one of the most important sites for palaeontology in Wales.”
The paleontologists also unearthed the remains of a placodont osteoderm and a coelacanth throat bone.
“Coelacanth and other placodont fossils are relatively rare in the UK, which makes this find all the more remarkable,” said Dr. Chris Duffin, a palaeontologist at the University of Bristol and the Natural History Museum in London.
“Just these two fossils alone, Rhaetian What would it have been like in England?”
“The amount of dinosaur fossils found at Labanoc is extremely exciting and provides an opportunity to study a complex and often mysterious period in dinosaur evolutionary history,” said Professor Michael Benton, from the University of Bristol.
“We are a big Plateosaurus “Similar animals and several other bones possibly belonging to a predatory theropod were found.”
of Investigation result Appears in Proceedings of the Association of Geologists.
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Owain Evans othersA microvertebrate from the basal Rhaetian bone bed (Late Triassic) at Lavanock, South Wales. Proceedings of the Association of GeologistsPublished online May 23, 2024; doi: 10.1016/j.pgeola.2024.05.001
The Ryusho orbital trace contains 12 bipedal orbitals, which are classified into two forms, distinguished by both size and shape.
The small footprints, approximately 11 cm (4.3 inches) long, belong to the long-known genus Ichno. Velociraptoricnus.
Large footprints up to 36 cm (14.2 inches) long Fujianipus inryangi.
Based on body size, this tracker was over 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall at the waist, comparable in size to the largest known deinonychosaurids. Austraptor and Utahraptor.
“When you think of raptor dinosaurs, you probably think of the muscular, human-sized, aggressive hunters from the movie Jurassic Park,’ said Anthony Romilio, a paleontologist at the University of Queensland. .
“But these traces were left by a much leaner and smarter group in the family. TroodontidaeIt appeared in the late Jurassic period about 95 million years ago. ”
“This raptor was about 5 meters long and had legs of 1.8 meters, far exceeding the size of the raptors depicted in Jurassic Park. Imagine coming.”
“The footprints were compared to other known bipedal dinosaur footprints found throughout Asia, the Americas, and Europe.”
details of Fujianipus inryangi Railway tracks preserved at the site of the Longxiang track in China. Image credit: Xing other., doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.109598.
“We found this type of truck to be unique in shape and very unique,” he said.
“The concept of large troodontids has only recently emerged in paleontology.”
“The bones found in Alaska suggest a trend towards giantism near the ancient Arctic Circle, an area where long winter darkness may have led to less competition for species.”
“But our findings suggest that these raptor giants roamed much farther south and were more widely dispersed.”
“Interestingly, some of our research teams are also working on the world’s smallest dinosaur footprint, a Korean raptor footprint that is just one centimeter long.”
“This shows the amazing size range of raptor dinosaurs and highlights their adaptability and ecological diversity.”
a paper A description of the discovery was published in a magazine iscience.
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Rida Singh other. Deinonychosaurid footprints in southeastern China record a possible giant troodontid. iscience, published online on April 24, 2024. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.109598
Five giant dinosaur footprints discovered in southeastern China were made by the largest birds of prey ever recorded. The predator was probably 5 meters tall from nose to tail, about half the length of a school bus. It probably used its giant “killer claws”, one on each foot, to attack its prey.
Most raptors (technically known as deinonychosaurs) were small. Velociraptor For example, it was about the same size as a turkey. However, some of these dinosaurs were larger. Utahraptor and dakota raptor both reached approximately 5-6 meters in length.
scott parsons Now professors at the College of Charleston in South Carolina have added another giant raptor to the list. they named it fujianips is said to have lived in East Asia about 96 million years ago.
We still know little about fujianips. That’s because Parsons and his colleagues have yet to discover any parts of the skeleton. Instead, they found several footprints measuring 36 centimeters in length. “The preservation conditions were good for the footprints, but not so good for the bones,” he says. But they are confident that the footprints are from a bird of prey because each footprint has only two finger prints. This is consistent with the structure of a raptor’s foot, in that he has three toes, but one toe is off the ground to protect the large claw at the tip from abrasion.
People say fujianips. This study shows that raptors had the potential to grow even larger and compete with the largest carnivorous dinosaurs living here at the time, the allosaurids, some of which were over 10 meters long. He added that the Raptors may have had a key advantage over these rivals: “They were fast.”
But in the end, the raptor became slightly larger fujianips. Parsons says this may be because a third group of dinosaurs, the tyrannosaurids, was beginning to become dominant. “Many of the tyrannosaurids were fast, so it was much harder to compete with the tyrannosaurids,” he says.
New genus and species of spinosaurid dinosaur named Riojavenatrix lacustris It was discovered by paleontologist Eric Isasmendi of the University of the Basque Country.
Artist's reconstruction of spinosaurids Baryonyx. Image credit: Andrey Atubin / CC BY 4.0 Certificate.
Spinosauridae (Spinosauridae) is a family of large theropod dinosaurs known from the mid-Cretaceous period.
These dinosaurs were characterized by long skulls with crocodile teeth and converging conical teeth, and sturdy limbs with huge thumb claws.
They grow to huge sizes and at least one species is Spinosaurus aegyptiushas grown as much or larger than tyrannosaurus rex.
In many species of spinosaurids, the spinal neural spines were significantly elongated, forming a sail on the dinosaur's back.
Spinosaurs are thought to be piscivorous (fish eaters) based on their sharp teeth and skull and jaw features.
Their fossils have been recovered all over the world, including Africa, Europe, South America, and Asia.
The newly identified spinosauridae lived in what is now Spain during the Early Cretaceous period, about 120 million years ago.
with scientific name Riojavenatrix lacustristhis species reached 7–8 meters (23–26 ft) in length and weighed 1.5 tons.
“Riojavenatrix lacustris is one of the newest species of Iberian and European spinosaurids,” Isasmendi and co-authors said.
“It holds a triangular pubic boot. Megalosauridae, and the medial condyle of the femur, marking a transitional stage between the anteroposteriorly directed long axis of non-spinosaurian theropods and the posteromedially directed long axis of spinosaurids. ”
Skeletal reconstruction Riojavenatrix lacustris. Image credit: Scott Hartman.
Fossilized bones are Riojavenatrix lacustris Collected from the Enciso Group, Cameros Basin, La Rioja, Spain.
“with” Riojavenatrix lacustris“Currently, five spinosaurids have been described from the Early Cretaceous of the Iberian Peninsula,” the paleontologists said.
“Other Iberian spinosaurs are camarillasaurus From Aragon, Valibona Benatrix and prearthritis from Valencia, and iberospinasse It's from Portugal. ”
“Fossil remains prove that large and diverse populations of these carnivorous dinosaurs lived on the Iberian Peninsula.”
“The numerous discoveries within this iconic group raise several new questions about the ecology of these animals,” said Dr. Elena Cuesta, a paleontologist at the Egidio Ferrio Museum of Paleontology and Ludwig Maximilian University. Stated.
“How did these species coexist with each other?”
“These questions prompt us to revisit future, more detailed studies of spinosaurids, which are sure to yield important results.”
of findings It was published in the magazine Zoological journal of the Linnean Society.
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Eric Isasmendi other. Increasing record of European theropods: new basal spinosaurs from the Enciso Group of the Cameros Basin (La Rioja, Spain). Evolutionary implications and paleontological diversity. Zoological journal of the Linnean Society, published online on February 19, 2024. doi: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad193
Paleontologists investigated dinosaur footprints and large assemblages of fossilized plants. Nanushuk FormationIt extends over much of the northern slope of central and western Alaska, varying in thickness from 1,500 to 250 m (4,921 to 820 ft) from west to northeast.
Theropod dinosaur footprints in the Nanushuk Formation, Alaska, USA. Note the sinusoidal shape of the metatoe impression. Scale bar – 10 cm.Image credit: Fiorillo other., doi: 10.3390/geosciences14020036.
“For the past 20 years, Alaska has been working on projects that integrate sedimentology, dinosaur paleontology, and paleoclimate indicators,” said Paul McCarthy, a professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
“We've been studying the other three formations, Denali, the North Slope, and southwestern Alaska, and they're about 70 million years old.”
“This new one is in strata that are about 90 million to 100 million years old.”
“What we were interested in looking at rocks from this age is that this is about the same time that people thought the Bering Land Bridge connecting Asia and North America began.”
“We want to know who was using it, how they were using it, and what the circumstances were.”
“The mid-Cretaceous period was the hottest period of the Cretaceous period.”
“The Nanushuk Formation gives us a snapshot of what high-latitude ecosystems look like on a warm Earth.”
The Nanushuk Formation dates from the mid-Cretaceous period, approximately 94 to 113 million years ago, at the beginning of the Bering Land Bridge.
The field survey was conducted between 2015 and 2017, focusing on the Cork Basin, a circular geological feature of the formation.
The basin is located at the base of the Delong Mountains along the Kukpouluk River, approximately 100 km (60 miles) south of Point Rey and 32 km (20 miles) inland from the Chukchi Sea.
In the area, paleontologists found about 75 fossilized footprints and other traces of dinosaurs believed to have lived along rivers and deltas.
“This place had so many dinosaur footprints. One site stands out,” said Dr. Anthony Fiorillo, a researcher at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science.
“We eventually realized that we were walking over an ancient landscape for at least 400 yards (366 meters).”
“In that landscape, we found large upright trees with smaller trees between them, with leaves on the ground. There were footprints on the ground, and there was fossilized feces.”
“We found numerous fossilized tree stumps about 60 centimeters (2 feet) in diameter. It felt like we were walking through a forest that was millions of years old.”
Although the Nanushuk Formation includes rocks of marine and non-marine characteristics and composition, the new study focuses primarily on non-marine sediments exposed along the upper Kukpouluk River.
“One of the things we did in our paper was look at the relative frequencies of different types of dinosaurs,” Dr. Fiorillo said.
“What was interesting to us was that bipedal plant-eating animals were clearly the most common.”
Two-legged plant-eating animals accounted for 59% of all footprints discovered. 17% were four-legged plant-eating dinosaurs, 15% were birds, and 9% were non-avian, mainly carnivorous bipedal dinosaurs.
“One of the interesting things is the relative frequency of bird tracks,” Dr. Fiorillo said.
Carbon isotope analysis of wood samples revealed that the area received approximately 70 inches (178 cm) of rainfall per year.
This record of increased precipitation during the Mid-Cretaceous provides new data supporting global precipitation patterns associated with the Mid-Cretaceous. Cretaceous thermal maximum.
The Cretaceous thermal maximum was a long-term trend about 90 million years ago, during which average global temperatures were significantly higher than today.
“Temperatures were much warmer than today, and perhaps more interestingly, we had a lot of rain,” Dr. Fiorillo said.
a paper Survey results are published in a magazine earth science.
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Anthony R. Fiorillo other. 2024. New dinosaur ichthyological, sedimentological, and geochemical data from the Nanushuk Formation of Alaska's North Slope, a Cretaceous high-latitude terrestrial greenhouse ecosystem. earth science 14(2):36; doi: 10.3390/geosciences14020036
A new genus and species of dwarf lambeosaurid hadrosauridae have been discovered in Moroccan rocks dating back to the late Cretaceous period, approximately 68 million years ago.
Late Maastrichtian dinosaurs from Morocco's latest Cretaceous phosphates.Image credit: Longrich other., doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-53447-9.
“Dalatypus dinosaurs, or hadrosaurs, were highly successful herbivores that caused large-scale radioactivity in the Late Cretaceous,” said paleontologists from the University of Bath. Nicholas Longrich and his colleagues.
“Hadrosaurids evolved in North America during the Turonian period (94 to 90 million years ago) and then dispersed to Asia and Europe.”
“The presence of hadrosaurids in Africa is puzzling because Africa had been isolated from Laurasia by the deep ocean since the Middle Jurassic, whereas hadrosaurids evolved in the Late Cretaceous.”
“The solution to this contradiction seems to be that the platypus either swam to Africa or crossed there on a raft.”
The newly described hadrosaurid species lived in Africa during the late Maastrichtian period of the Late Cretaceous period, about 68 million years ago.
named Mincaria Batathis dinosaur was relatively small, measuring about 3.5 meters (11.5 ft) in length.
This species comes from the phosphate mines of Sidi Chennan, Morocco, the same locality where the hadrosaur family Lambeosaurus was produced. Ajnavia Odysseusand based on a partial skull.
belongs to Areni Saulinia clade of lambeosaurid hadrosaurids endemic to Europe and North Africa.
“Mincaria Bata is distinguished from Ajnavia Odysseus “This is due to the shape of the maxilla, which has a more ventrally located zygomatic surface, a curved external ridge, a more sinusoidal tooth row, and an array of neurovascular foramina,” the paleontologists said.
“But the new species is very similar. Ajnavia Odysseus Other arenisaurines also have their small size and many anatomical features. ”
skull elements Mincaria Bata. Scale bar – 5 cm.Image credit: Longrich other., doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-53447-9.
Researchers also unearthed the fossilized remains of two other hadrosaurids at the Sidi Daoui and Mura Larak sites.
“The humerus and femur belong to a larger hadrosaurid, measuring 6 meters (20 feet) long, suggesting that at least three species coexisted,” the researchers said.
Research team's analysis suggests a group of hadrosaurs lambeosauridae It first diversified in Asia and later dispersed to North America.
Dispersal from Asia to Europe was followed by dispersal to North Africa. Multiple dispersals from Europe to Africa appear to be more parsimonious than a single dispersal, but are not impossible, especially considering its unique morphology. Ajnavia Odysseus and Mincaria Bata.
“Hadrosaurid diversity in Europe and Africa suggests a dispersal radiation, with lambeosaurs taking advantage of low ornithischian diversity to diversify,” the scientists said. Stated.
“However, African lambeosaurs are smaller than their North American and Asian counterparts, probably due to competition with titanosaurs.”
“The lack of known hadrosaurids from eastern Africa suggests that Moroccan hadrosaurids are part of a distinct island fauna and may represent an island radiation.”
of findings appear in the diary scientific report.
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NR Long Rich other. 2024. A new small duck-billed dinosaur (hadrosauridae: Lambeosauridae) discovered from Morocco and the diversity of dinosaurs from the late Maastrichtian in North Africa. science officer 14, 3665; doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-53447-9
The credit for discovering the first dinosaur bones is usually given to an English gentleman who discovered them in England between the 17th and 19th centuries. British natural historian Robert Plott first described dinosaur bones in his 1676 book. Oxfordshire natural history. Paleontologists from the University of the Witwatersrand and Nelson Mandela University have presented evidence that the first dinosaur bones may have been discovered in Africa as much as 500 years before Plott's discovery.
tyrannosaurus rex. Image credit: Amanda Kelly.
Humans were born in Africa. homo sapiens It has existed for at least 300,000 years.
And this continent is home to a wide variety of rock outcrops, including the Kem Kem Formation in Morocco, the Fayum Depression in Egypt, the Rift Valley in eastern Africa, and the Karoo in southern Africa, which contain fossils that were always accessible to our ancestors. I am.
So it's not just that Africans were likely the first to discover fossils. It was inevitable.
In many cases, the first dinosaur fossils claimed to have been discovered by scientists were actually brought to our attention by local guides.
An example is the discovery of giant dinosaurs. jobaria By the Tuareg people of Niger Giraffatitan By the Mwera people of Tanzania.
our paperPublished in Geological Society, London, Special Publicationreviews what is known about African indigenous fossil knowledge.
We enumerate fossils that may have been known since ancient times at various sites in Africa and discuss how they were used and interpreted by African communities before the science of paleontology was born. .
One of the highlights of our paper is the ruins of Borara, a Late Stone Age rock shelter in Lesotho.
Various dating techniques indicate that the site was inhabited by the Khesan and Basotho peoples from the 12th to 18th centuries (1100-1700 AD).
The shelter itself is surrounded by hills formed by compacted sediments deposited under harsh deserts like the Sahara some 180 to 200 million years ago, when the first dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Masu.
This region of Lesotho is particularly well known for its deliveries. Massospondylus carinatusa dinosaur with a body length of 4 to 6 meters, a small head and a long neck.
Fossilized bones of this kind are abundant in this area and were already the case when this place was occupied by people in the Middle Ages.
In 1990, archaeologists working in Bolarla discovered a human finger bone. Massospondylus He was being carried into a cave.
There are no fossilized skeletons protruding from the cave walls. So the only possibility that this phalanx ended up there is that someone picked it up in the distant past and carried it to a cave.
Perhaps this person did it out of simple curiosity, or to turn it into a pendant or toy, or to use it in a traditional healing ritual.
After heavy rains, it is not uncommon for people in the area to discover bones of extinct species that have been washed away from the host rock.
They usually recognize them as belonging to dragon-like monsters that swallow humans and even entire houses.
In Lesotho, the Basotho people call the monster “Holmormo,'' and in the Eastern Cape, which borders South Africa, the Xhosa people call it “Amagongonko.''
The exact date on which the phalanx was collected and transported has unfortunately been lost to time.
Given current knowledge, the period of occupation of the shelter could be between the 12th and 18th centuries.
This leaves open the possibility that the dinosaur bones were collected up to 500 years before Plott's discovery.
Early knowledge about extinct organisms
Most people have known about fossils long before the age of science, as far back as society's collective memory can go.
For example, in Algeria, people referred to some dinosaur footprints as belonging to the legendary “rock bird”.
In North America, cave paintings depicting dinosaur footprints were painted by the Anasazi people between 1000 and 1200 AD.
Indigenous Australians have identified dinosaur footprints as those of the legendary 'Emuman'.
In the south, the infamous conquistador Hernán Cortés was gifted a fossil mastodon femur by the Aztecs in 1519.
In Asia, Hindus have worshiped ammonites (coiled fossil shells), which they call “shaligrams,” for more than 2,000 years.
Claim credit
The fact that African people have known about fossils since ancient times is clear from folklore and the archaeological record, but there is still much to learn about them.
For example, unlike peoples in Europe, the Americas, and Asia, indigenous African paleontologists appear to have little use of fossils in traditional medicine.
We do not yet know whether this is a truly unique cultural feature common to most African cultures, or whether it is due to our admittedly still incomplete knowledge.
Also, some fairly prominent fossil sites, such as Morocco's Kem Kem Formation and South Africa's UNESCO World Heritage Cradle of Man caves, do not yet provide solid evidence of indigenous knowledge.
This is unfortunate, as fossil-related traditions can help bridge the gap between local communities and paleontologists, thereby contributing to the preservation of important heritage sites.
By investigating the paleontology of Africa's indigenous peoples, our team brings together the pieces of a forgotten past and serves local communities.
We hope this will inspire a new generation of local paleoscientists to follow in the footsteps of Africa's first fossil hunters.
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julian benoit other. 2024. Paleontological knowledge of African indigenous peoples. Geological Society, London, Special Publication 543; doi: 10.1144/SP543-2022-236
author: julian benoita paleontologist at the University of the Witwatersrand.
cameron penn clarka paleontologist at the University of the Witwatersrand.
charles helma paleontologist at Nelson Mandela University.
Paleontologists in Argentina have discovered fossil fragments of a new genus and species of Lebatisaurus, a sauropod dinosaur that walked the earth more than 90 million years ago.
Artist's impression Sidersaura Marae. Image credit: Gabriel Díaz Yanten.
The newly discovered dinosaur lived in what is now Argentina during the Cenomanian period of the late Cretaceous period, 96 to 93 million years ago.
with scientific name Sidersaura Maraethe ancient beast had a body length of 20 meters, an estimated mass of 15 tons, and a very long tail.
The animal belongs to Rebatisauridaea large family of sauropod dinosaurs known from fragmentary fossil remains in South America, Africa, North America, Europe, and Asia.
These dinosaurs are distinguished from other sauropods by their unique teeth. Some species had tooth batteries similar to hadrosaurid and ceratopsian dinosaurs.
“Rebachisaurs were extremely important dinosaurs in the Cretaceous ecosystem, and disappeared due to an extinction event that occurred in the middle of this period. was held 90 million years ago.'' Dr. Lucas Nicolas Lersopaleontologists and colleagues from Azara Foundation Maimonides University and CONICET.
“Sidersaura Marae is one of the last rebatisaurids, but it also belongs to an evolutionary ancient lineage. ”
“This suggests that these were the largest of their group, given that some of the earliest rebachisaurs survived to the end of their lifespans, and can reach nearly 20 meters in length. It shows that.”
Fossilized bones are Sidersaura Marae It was discovered in the rocks of the Finkle Formation in the province of Neuquén, Patagonia, Argentina.
“The remains found include a partially articulated tail with sacral vertebrae, hind leg bones, part of the skull, and a tail vertebrae,” Dr Lerzo said.
“Having several anatomically overlapping specimens allowed us to relate them and better understand the characteristics of this new sauropod dinosaur.”
According to the team, one of the distinguishing features is: Sidersaura Marae The difference from other dinosaurs is the star-shaped shape of the hemal arch (coccyx).
Additionally, its skull is sturdy, unlike other closely related species.
“Another feature of the cranium that distinguishes it from others Sidersaura Marae “What differentiates it from other rebatisaurids is the frontoparietal foramen, which is essentially a hole in the roof of the skull,” the paleontologists said.
“This characteristic brings us closer to the following state. dicraeosaursA family of sauropod dinosaurs known for having spines on their necks and backs. ”
“The presence of early species in the Cenomanian-Turonian period, very close to the group's extinction, suggests that the evolutionary history of rebbatisaurids was more complex than previously thought.” the researchers concluded.
their paper It was published in the magazine historical biology.
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Lucas Nicolas Lerso other. The last oldie: Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian-Turonian) early basal rebachisaurids (sauropods, Diplodocoidea) of Patagonia, Argentina. historical biology, published online on January 3, 2024. doi: 10.1080/08912963.2023.2297914
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