Researchers have long recognised similarities between Torosaurus and Triceratops, the main distinctions being that Torosaurus is larger and has an expanded frill at the rear of the skull. But John Scannella, a doctoral student at Montana University, and his advisor, John R. Horner, have found that specimens attributed to the two species actually form a developmental continuum rather than falling into discrete groups. Read more
Title: A New Basal Sauropod Dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of Niger and the Early Evolution of Sauropoda Authors: Kristian Remes, Francisco Ortega, Ignacio Fierro, Ulrich Joger, Ralf Kosma, José Manuel Marín Ferrer, Oumarou Amadou Ide, Abdoulaye Maga
A new sauropod from the Middle Jurassic of Niger, Spinophorosaurus nigerensis n. gen. et sp., is the most complete basal sauropod currently known. The taxon shares many anatomical characters with Middle Jurassic East Asian sauropods, while it is strongly dissimilar to Lower and Middle Jurassic South American and Indian forms. A possible explanation for this pattern is a separation of Laurasian and South Gondwanan Middle Jurassic sauropod faunas by geographic barriers. Integration of phylogenetic analyses and paleogeographic data reveals congruence between early sauropod evolution and hypotheses about Jurassic paleoclimate and phytogeography.
Scientists in China say they have identified the first Asian example of a group of dinosaurs previously found only in the Americas and Europe. Brachiosaurid sauropods were characterised by forelimbs as long or even longer than their hind limbs. Examples have been found from the late Jurassic and early Cretaceous periods.
Australian palaeontologists say they have discovered a new species of dinosaur on a sheep farm in the northern state of Queensland. The fossil remains of the large plant-eating sauropod, nicknamed Zac, are about 97 million years old. They were found near the town of Eromanga, in a fossil-rich area that was once covered by a vast inland sea.
One of the last non-avian dinosaurs on Earth was a muscular, swimming duck-billed species that palaeontologists recently discovered in Spain, according to a new study that has been accepted for publication in the journal Comptes Rendus Palevol. The hadrosaur, Arenysaurus ardevoli, meaning "sand dinosaur," lived just a few thousand years before the K/T boundary.
Digging dinosaurs for credit Huge tractors and seeders are parked along the gravel range roads in southern Saskatchewan. Its the middle of May, the snow is gone except for a few patches left in the valleys, and farmers are getting their crops into the ground for this seasons harvest. Im doing kind of the same thing. Ive got fifteen students in tow, piled into pick-up trucks and cars, bouncing along the same gravel roads to get from our camp to the badlands to explore for fossils and learn about the natural history of this place. Read more
The world's oldest dinosaur burrows have been discovered in Australia. Three separate burrows have been found in all, the biggest 2m long, each built to a similar design and just big enough to hold the body of a small dinosaur. The 106-million-year-old burrows, the first to be found outside of North America, would have been much closer to the South Pole when they were created.
The dinosaurs that roamed Earth millions of years ago might not have been nearly as massive as weve long imagined, says a paper published today in the Zoological Society of London's Journal of Zoology.
Was it really the age of the thinosaurs? Scientists have discovered that dinosaurs may have been much lighter and sleeker than previously thought because of potential flaws in the equations used to calculate their weight. The findings could force researchers to rethink many of their beliefs, particularly about giant plant eaters such as apatosaurus which had been thought to weigh up to 37 tons. The creatures real weight was closer to 18 tons, according to new calculations.
Dinosaurs may not have been as monstrously big as scientists and Hollywood film directors would have us believe. Scientists believe the original method used to calculate dinosaur mass was flawed. As a result of the mistake, some dinosaurs may have been oversized, it is claimed.
Some dinosaurs were the largest creatures ever to walk on land, including the classic long-necked, whip-tailed Diplodicus, but a new study suggests it and its many extinct brethren weighed as little as half as much as previously thought. A new equation for calculating dinosaur mass based on skeletons found that scientists have been overestimating the girth of many dinosaurs. In some cases, the new calculations show that certain dinosaurs probably weighed about half what they were thought to weigh.