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Categories: Ecology: Trees, Paleontology: Dinosaurs

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Ecology: Trees Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Wildfires
Published

Forest recovery after Montana's 2017 fire season      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers found thousands of seedlings growing after recent fires in Montana, especially at sites with cooler, damper conditions -- often found in the shade of the dead trees and upper canopy, as well as on the north side of mountains with higher elevations and more undergrowth. Researchers found fewer seedlings at sites with less shade and drier, hotter conditions.

Paleontology: Dinosaurs
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Ostrich-like dinosaurs from Mississippi are among the world's largest at over 800 kilograms      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Ostrich-like dinosaurs called ornithomimosaurs grew to enormous sizes in ancient eastern North America, according to a new study.

Paleontology: Dinosaurs
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Dinosaur 'mummies' might not be as unusual as we think      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A process of desiccation and deflation explains why dinosaur 'mummies' aren't as exceptional as we might expect, according to a study.

Paleontology: Dinosaurs
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Shaking the dinosaur family tree: How did 'bird-hipped' dinosaurs evolve?      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have conducted a new analysis of the origins of 'bird-hipped' dinosaurs -- the group which includes iconic species such as Triceratops -- and found that they likely evolved from a group of animals known as silesaurs, which were first identified two decades ago.

Paleontology: Dinosaurs
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Discovery of extinct prehistoric reptile that lived among dinosaurs      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have discovered a new extinct species of lizard-like reptile that belongs to the same ancient lineage as New Zealand's living tuatara. A team of scientists describe the new species Opisthiamimus gregori, which once inhabited Jurassic North America about 150 million years ago alongside dinosaurs like Stegosaurus and Allosaurus. In life, this prehistoric reptile would have been about 16 centimeters (about 6 inches) from nose to tail -- and would fit curled up in the palm of an adult human hand -- and likely survived on a diet of insects and other invertebrates.

Paleontology: Dinosaurs
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What killed dinosaurs and other life on Earth?      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Determining what killed the dinosaurs 66 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous Period has long been the topic of debate, as scientists set out to determine what caused the five mass extinction events that reshaped life on planet Earth in a geological instant. Some scientists argue that comets or asteroids that crashed into Earth were the most likely agents of mass destruction, while others argue that large volcanic eruptions were the cause. A new study reports that volcanic activity appears to have been the key driver of mass extinctions.

Paleontology: Dinosaurs
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Discovery and naming of Africa's oldest known dinosaur      (via sciencedaily.com) 

An international team of paleontologists has discovered and named a new, early dinosaur. The skeleton -- incredibly, mostly intact -- was found over the course of two digs, in 2017 and 2019.

Paleontology: Dinosaurs
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Fossils of giant sea lizard that ruled the oceans 66 million years ago discovered      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Fossils of a giant killer mosasaur have been discovered, along with the fossilized remains of its prey.

Paleontology: Dinosaurs
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All the better to better eat you with -- dinosaurs evolved different eye socket shapes to allow stronger bites      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Large dinosaur predators, such as Tyrannosaurus rex, evolved different shapes of eye sockets to better deal with high bite forces, new research has shown.

Paleontology: Dinosaurs
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Prehistoric podiatry: How dinos carried their enormous weight      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists have cracked an enduring mystery, discovering how sauropod dinosaurs -- like Brontosaurus and Diplodocus -- supported their gigantic bodies on land.

Paleontology: Dinosaurs
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The speed at which spinosaurid dinosaur teeth were replaced accounts for their overabundance in Cretaceous sites      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Spinosaurid dinosaurs were able to develop up to three generations of teeth at the same time, a high replacement rate that explains why so many teeth of this type have been found in Cretaceous sites.

Paleontology: Dinosaurs
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Plesiosaur fossils found in the Sahara suggest they weren't just marine animals      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Fossils of small plesiosaurs, long-necked marine reptiles from the age of dinosaurs, have been found in a 100-million year old river system that is now Morocco's Sahara Desert. This discovery suggests some species of plesiosaur, traditionally thought to be sea creatures, may have lived in freshwater.

Paleontology: Dinosaurs
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Study refutes claim that T. rex was three separate species      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study refutes a provocative claim made earlier this year that fossils classified as the dinosaur Tyrannosaurus rex represent three separate species. The rebuttal finds that the earlier proposal lacks sufficient evidence to split up the iconic species.

Paleontology: Dinosaurs
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A new giant dinosaur gives insight into why many prehistoric meat-eaters had such tiny arms      (via sciencedaily.com) 

An international team has discovered a new big, meat-eating dinosaur, dubbed Meraxes gigas, that provides clues about the evolution and anatomy of predatory dinosaurs such as the Carcharodontosaurus and Tyrannosaurus rex. Meraxes measured around 36 feet from snout to tail tip and weighed approximately 9,000 pounds.

Paleontology: Dinosaurs
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Dinosaurs took over amid ice, not warmth, says a new study of ancient mass extinction      (via sciencedaily.com) 

There is new evidence that ancient high latitudes, to which early dinosaurs were largely relegated, regularly froze over, and that the creatures adapted -- an apparent key to their later dominance.

Paleontology: Dinosaurs
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Europe's largest land predator unearthed on the Isle of Wight      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Palaeontologists have identified the remains of one of Europe's largest ever land-based hunters: a dinosaur that measured over 10m long and lived around 125 million years ago.

Paleontology: Dinosaurs
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Bizarre meat-eating dinosaur joins 'Rogues' Gallery' of giant predators from classic fossil site in Egypt's Sahara Desert      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The fossil of a still-unnamed species provides the first known record of the abelisaurid group of theropods from a middle Cretaceous-aged (approximately 98 million years old) rock unit known as the Bahariya Formation, which is exposed in the Bahariya Oasis of the Western Desert of Egypt.

Paleontology: Dinosaurs Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds
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Hot-blooded T. rex and cold-blooded Stegosaurus: Chemical clues reveal dinosaur metabolisms      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Paleontologists have debated whether dinosaurs were warm-blooded, like modern mammals and birds, or cold-blooded, like modern reptiles. In a new paper, scientists are unveiling a new method for studying dinosaurs' metabolic rates, using clues in their bones.

Paleontology: Dinosaurs
Published

Researchers discover overlooked Jurassic Park of lizards      (via sciencedaily.com) 

New research moves back the moment of the radiation of squamates -- the group of reptiles that includes lizards, snakes and worm lizards -- to the Jurassic, a long time before current estimates.

Paleontology: Dinosaurs
Published

Precipitation helped drive distribution of Alaska dinosaurs      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Precipitation more than temperature influenced the distribution of herbivorous dinosaurs in what is now Alaska, according to new research. The finding discusses the distribution of hadrosaurids and ceratopsids -- the megaherbivores of the Late Cretaceous Period, 100.5 million to 66 million years ago.