The Cleveland-Lloyd dinosaur bone bed has been a puzzle for paleontologists for many years. It’s home to the densest collection of Jurassic era dinosaur fossils, which includes numerous Allosaurus fossils. Since the bone bed’s discovery in the 1920s, numerous hypotheses have been proposed to explain its origin—including theories of a mass poisoning event, drought, or even dinosaurs […]
Tag: dinosaurs
Surprising discovery places Triceratops-like dinosaurs in eastern North America
For the first time ever, researchers have evidence of horned dinosaurs roaming eastern North America near the end of the Age of Dinosaurs. Researchers discovered a tooth fossil dating 68 million years back, with unmistakable features pointing to its owner, a Triceratops-like dinosaur. Until recently, it was thought that ceratopsids—horned dinosaurs—were only found in western North America. […]
“Baby Louie” fossilized dinosaur embryo finally finds its family 
The identity of a dinosaur found in a huge egg clutch in China in the 1990s is described in a new paper. The embryo became known in the paleontology community as “Baby Louie”; it’s now identified as a new species of bird-like oviraptorosaur. The species has been named Beibeilong sinensis, which translates as “Chinese baby […]
Newly discovered feathered dinosaur sheds light on the evolution of flight
A newly discovered troodontid species is the earliest example of a bird-like dinosaur with asymmetric feathers—a physical trait associated with the evolution of flight. The new species, named Jianianhualong tengi, was described from a nearly complete skeleton with preserved feathers. The fossil dates from the Early Cretaceous period— approximately 100-145 million years ago—and was found in north-eastern […]
Fossil leads to recognition of birdlike reptiles that preceded early dinosaurs
Certain physical traits previously thought to be unique to dinosaurs evolved much earlier, a new study suggests. Fossil analysis of a newly described species, named Teleocrater rhadinus, places this carnivorous animal in a new spot on the evolutionary tree, directly after the split between birds and crocodilians. Teleocrater marks the first of an entirely new clade […]
Dinosaur eggs resemble those of reptiles more than birds
Birds are the closest living relatives of dinosaurs, which is why it was long assumed that dinosaur eggs developed similarly to avian embryos. But new research found that the incubation period for dinosaur embryos was approximately 3 to 6 months, which is closer to the development of reptile eggs. Researchers came to this conclusion after […]
Feathered dinosaur tail discovered in a piece of amber
Scientific discoveries often come from unexpected places – like a Myanmar amber market, which is where a researcher from Dexu Institute of Palaeontology found an item that offers unique insights into feather evolution in dinosaurs. Browsing through the goods of an amber vendor, researcher Lida Xing found what turned out to be a part of […]
Dinosaur population doomed millions of years before the asteroid
The dinosaurs were on their way out before the asteroid hit, researchers say. It seems the big lizards’ numbers were gradually declining for at least 40 million years before the final extinction event. This decrease in dinosaur population likely favoured the rise of mammals, which began flourishing in ecological niches previously occupied by dinosaurs. Using […]
Ancestors of modern birds saved by seeds
The secret of survival for bird-like dinosaurs was simple: eating seeds. The reason behind the survival of the ancestors of modern birds has puzzled researchers for years, and a recent Canadian study of fossil dinosaur teeth may have provided the answer. According to a new hypothesis from dinosaur specialists at the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur […]
Brontosaurus did exist
While previously studies had suggested that Brontosaurus were the same species as Apatosaurus, a recent analysis has raised doubts about this. Paleontologists applied new statistical approaches to fossils to calculate the differences between species and genera of similar dinosaurs such as the Diplodocus, the Apatosaurus and the Brontosaurus. The differences were large enough reinstate Brontosaurus […]
New “punk-rock” armoured dinosaur species described
Researchers have discovered a new species of ankylosaur in New Mexico that is related to others found in Alberta. The new species is called Ziapelta sanjuanensis and sports unusually tall spikes on the cervical half ring, a structure like a yoke of bone sitting over the neck, which looks a bit like a punk-rock collar. […]
Tyrannosaurs travelled together
Well-preserved fossil footprints provide the first trackway evidence that Tyrannosaurs may have travelled in packs. The footprints were found in rocks from northeastern British Columbia and show three Tyrannosaurs travelling in the same direction at the same time, relatively close together. Until now, the evidence for the pack-like nature of Tyrannosaurs relied on the proximity […]
