Latest Mesozoic Stories
[ Watch the Video: Making of Heterodontosaurus Flesh Model ] Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Scientists have unveiled new details about a fanged dinosaur with a parrot-shaped beak known as Pegomastax africanus. A single specimen of the new species was first uncovered in southern Africa in the 1960's, but new details of the dinosaur's anatomy and lifestyle have been published in the journal ZooKeys. Scientists report that Pegomastax had fangs, but was more in...
Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Analysis of two dinosaur fossil specimens have revealed new information about hunting and feeding behaviors of a wolf-like dinosaur, according to a report published in the latest issue of PLoS ONE. Researchers from University of Alberta at Edmonton found evidence that a feathered dinosaur known as Sinocalliopteryx was able to capture and consume small flying dinosaurs. Sinocalliopteryx, itself a flightless dinosaur, stood about...
April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online A team of researchers from the University of Bristol, Natural History Museum of London, the University of Missouri and Ohio University report they have discovered the eating habits of the Jurassic age dinosaur, the Diplodocus. Found nearly 130 years ago, the eating habits of the giant herbivore were still largely uncertain until now. Understanding these habits could provide insights into extinct ecosystems and today's modern animal...
Two dinosaur species discovered in the Canadian province of Alberta, including the oldest and smallest horned species ever found in North America, have finally been named after decades of research, various media outlets reported earlier this week. According to Emily Chung of CBC News, the first dinosaur, which is approximately the same size as "a medium-sized dog," was named Gryphoceratops morrisoni in honor of Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) technician Ian Morrison. Morrison reportedly was...
Scientists have found evidence that specialized predators, such as the velociraptor, may not have been willing to turn down a free meal. A bone from a pterosaur (or “Pterodactyl”) has reportedly been found in the gut of a velociraptor that lived in the Gobi desert of Magnolia more than 75 million years ago. The scientists published their findings online in Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, and Palaeoecology. This discovery suggests that the velociraptor may not have only depended on...
First record of a sauropod dinosaur in Antarctica suggests more widespread distribution of this species than previously thought For the first time, the presence of large bodied herbivorous dinosaurs in Antarctica has been recorded. Until now, remains of sauropoda - one of the most diverse and geographically widespread species of herbivorous dinosaurs - had been recovered from all continental landmasses, except Antarctica. Dr. Ignacio Alejandro Cerda, from CONICET in Argentina, and his...
Researchers report that they have found further evidence that genera of the Triceratops actually represent different individuals that all belong to the Triceratops genus. The three genera, Triceratops, Torosaurus, and Nedoceratops, were thought at one time or another thought to be distinct. However, the work by John Scanella of Montana State University and colleagues shows that these dinosaurs are actually the result of maturity. They focused on a single skull that has been the...
Archaeologists have discovered a nest containing 15 fossilized juvenile Protoceratops andrewsi dinosaurs in Mongolia. The discovery is the first nest of this genus ever found and the first indication that Protoceratops juveniles remained in the nest for an extended period. David Fastovsky, URI professor of geosciences with the University of Rhode Island, said the nest was 2.3 feet in diameter and his team discovered it in the Djadochta Formation at Tugrikinshire, Mongolia. "Finding...
A graduate student from Montana State University is part of a team of researchers that revealed a new species of raptorial dinosaur to the public on Monday, the first definitive troodontid theropod discovered from the Late Cretaceous Period of North America in more than 75 years. MSU doctoral student Mike Knell, MSU paleontologist David Varricchio, three colleagues, and lead researcher Lindsay Zanno, from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside and the Field Museum of Natural History in...
Stocktrek Images launches a new collection of digital fine art showcasing prehistoric life on Earth during the Paleozoic Era's primitive growth of plant life to the Mesozoic Era's age of dinosaurs. Tampa, FL (PRWEB) June 01, 2011 Stocktrek Images expands its niche market, adding a new genre of dinosaur art to its collection of specialty image content. The new collection focuses on the natural history of Earth, with specific attention to the Paleozoic Era's growth of life's...
Latest Mesozoic Reference Libraries
Styracosaurus, meaning “spiked lizard” from the Ancient Greek styrax “spike at the butt-end of a spear-shaft” and sauros “lizard” was a genus of herbivorous ceratopsian dinosaur from the Cretaceous Period, about 76.5 to 75 million years ago. It had four to six long horns, stretching from its neck frill, a smaller horn on each cheek, and a single horn jutting out from its nose, which may have been up to 2 feet long and 6 inches wide. The function/functions of these horns and frills...
Thescelosaurus, meaning “godlike”, “wondrous”, or “marvelous” and “lizard” was a genus of small ornithopod dinosaur that appeared at the very end of the Late Cretaceous period in North America. It was a member of the last dinosaurian fauna before the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event around 65.5 million years ago. The completeness and preservation of many of its specimens illustrate that it might have preferred to live near streams. This bipedal ornithopod is known from...
Daspletosaurus, meaning “frightful lizard” is a genus of tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaur that resided in western North America between 77 and 74 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous Period. Fossils of the only named species were found in Alberta, although other possible species from Alberta and Montana wait for description. Daspletosaurus is closely related to the much larger and more current Tyrannosaurus. Like most of the known tyrannosaurids, it was a multi-ton bipedal...
Megalaosaurus, meaning “Great Lizard”, from Greek megalo, meaning ‘big’ or ‘tall’ and sauros, meaning “lizard”, is a genus of large and meat-eating theropod dinosaurs of the Middle Jurassic period of Europe. It’s significant as the first genus of dinosaur, outside of birds, to be described and named. Megalosaurus might have been the first dinosaur to be described in scientific literature. Part of a bone was recovered from a limestone quarry at Cornwell by Chipping Norton,...
Velociraptor, meaning “swift seizer” is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived about 75 to 71 million years ago during the later part of the Cretaceous Period. There are two species that are presently recognized. The type species is V. mongoliensis; fossils of this particular species have been uncovered in Mongolia. A second species, V. osmolskae, it was named in 2008 for some skull material from Inner Mongolia, China. They are smaller than other dromaeosaurids such as...
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