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Categories: Geoscience: Landslides, Paleontology: Dinosaurs
Published This Japanese 'dragon' terrorized ancient seas



Researchers have described a Japanese mosasaur the size of a great white shark that terrorized Pacific seas 72 million years ago. The mosasaur was named for the place where it was found, Wakayama Prefecture. Researchers call it the Wakayama Soryu, which means blue dragon.
Published More than a meteorite: New clues about the demise of dinosaurs



What wiped out the dinosaurs? A meteorite plummeting to Earth is only part of the story, a new study suggests. Climate change triggered by massive volcanic eruptions may have ultimately set the stage for the dinosaur extinction, challenging the traditional narrative that a meteorite alone delivered the final blow to the ancient giants.
Published Unknown animals were leaving bird-like footprints in Late Triassic Southern Africa



Ancient animals were walking around on bird-like feet over 210 million years ago, according to a new study.
Published Clearing mangroves makes 'muddification' worse



Clearing mangroves to stop estuaries getting clogged with mud actually makes the problem worse, new research shows.
Published New study reveals surprising insights into feeding habits of carnivorous dinosaurs in North America



New research sheds light on the dining habits of ancient carnivorous dinosaurs from Jurassic rocks of the USA. A recent study explores the bite marks left on the ancient bones of the giant long-necked sauropod dinosaurs like Diplodocus and Brontosaurus by carnivorous theropod dinosaurs.
Published New dates for landslides reveal past Seattle fault earthquakes



New maps of more than 1,000 deep-seated landslides in the Puget Lowlands of Washington State provide evidence of the last major earthquake along the Seattle Fault about 1,100 years ago -- and may also hold traces of older earthquakes along the fault.
Published Giant dinosaur carcasses might have been important food sources for Jurassic predators



Carnivorous dinosaurs might have evolved to take advantage of giant carcasses, according to a new study.
Published Survival of the newest: the mammals that survive mass extinctions aren't as 'boring' as scientists thought



For decades, scientists have assumed that mammals and their relatives that survived challenging times (like those during mass extinctions) made it because they were generalists that were able to eat just about anything and adapt to whatever life threw at them. A new study into the mammal family tree through multiple mass extinctions revealed that the species that survived aren't as generic as scientists had thought: instead, having new and different traits can be the key to succeeding in the aftermath of a catastrophe.
Published A turtle time capsule: DNA found in ancient shell



Paleontologists discover possible DNA remains in fossil turtle that lived 6 million years ago in Panama, where continents collide.
Published Dinosaur feathers reveal traces of ancient proteins



Palaeontologists have discovered X-ray evidence of proteins in fossil feathers that sheds new light on feather evolution.
Published Slow growth in crocodile ancestors pre-dated their semi-aquatic lifestyle



A groundbreaking study is reshaping our understanding of crocodile evolution by pinpointing the onset of slow growth rates to the Late Triassic period, much earlier than the previously assumed Early Jurassic timeline. The research highlights newly discovered fossil crocodile ancestors (known as crocodylomorphs) that exhibited slow growth rates, similar to modern-day crocodilians. Intriguingly, these early crocodylomorphs were not the lethargic, semi-aquatic creatures we are familiar with today; they were small, active, and fully terrestrial. The study also suggests that this slow-growth strategy was not a mere evolutionary quirk but a survival mechanism, as only the slow-growing crocodylomorphs managed to survive the End-Triassic mass extinction. This stands in stark contrast to the fast-growing dinosaurs of the same era, setting the stage for the divergent evolutionary paths that would later define their modern descendants.
Published 100-year floods could occur yearly by end of 21st century



Most coastal communities will encounter '100-year floods' annually by the end of the century, even under a moderate scenario where carbon dioxide emissions peak by 2040, according to a new study. And as early as 2050, regions worldwide could experience 100-year floods every nine to fifteen years on average.
Published Nature's great survivors: Flowering plants survived the mass extinction that killed the dinosaurs



A new study by researchers from the University of Bath (UK) and Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (Mexico) shows that flowering plants escaped relatively unscathed from the mass extinction that killed the dinosaurs 66 million years ago. Whilst they suffered some species loss, the devastating event helped flowering plants become the dominant type of plant today.
Published Europe's very own dinosaurs -- the enigmatic Late Cretaceous rhabdodontids



A new study brings together intriguing details about the little-known Rhabdodontidae dinosaurs of Late Cretaceous Europe. These gregarious herbivores, characterized by robust builds and beaks specialized for tough vegetation, inhabited the European archipelago. Despite being widespread and abundant, they vanished in Western Europe due to environmental changes around 69 million years ago, while surviving longer in Eastern Europe. Their fossil record offers valuable insights into their evolution and lifestyle, although its limited nature still challenges comprehensive understanding.
Published Newly discovered 'primitive cousins of T rex' shed light on the end of the age of dinosaurs in Africa



Researchers have discovered the fossils of two new abelisaurs in Morocco, showing the diversity of dinosaurs in this region at the end of the Cretaceous period.
Published Scientists explore dinosaur 'Coliseum' in Denali National Park



Scientists have discovered and documented the largest known single dinosaur track site in Alaska. The site, located in Denali National Park and Preserve, has been dubbed 'The Coliseum' by researchers.
Published Climate protection: Land use changes cause the carbon sink to decline



Terrestrial carbon sinks can mitigate the greenhouse effect. Researchers pooled various data sources and found that European carbon storage takes place mainly in surface biomass in East Europe. However, changes of land use in particular have caused this carbon sink to decline.
Published Nitrogen runoff strategies complicated by climate change



As climate change progresses, rising temperatures may impact nitrogen runoff from land to lakes and streams more than projected increases in total and extreme precipitation for most of the continental United States, according to new research from a team of climate scientists.
Published New archosaur species shows that precursor of dinosaurs and pterosaurs was armored



Researchers have described a new species of armored reptile that lived near the time of the first appearance of dinosaurs. With bony plates on its backbone, this archosaur fossil reveals that armor was a boomerang trait in the story of dinosaur and pterosaur evolution: the group's ancestors were armored, but this characteristic was lost and then independently re-evolved multiple times later among specialized dinosaurs like ankylosaurs, stegosaurs, and others.
Published Unusual fossil shows rare evidence of a mammal attacking a dinosaur



Scientists have described an unusual fossil from around 125 million years ago in China that shows a dramatic moment in time when a carnivorous mammal attacked a larger plant-eating dinosaur. The two animals are locked in mortal combat, and it's among the first evidence to show actual predatory behavior by a mammal on a dinosaur. The fossil's presence challenges the view that dinosaurs had few threats from their mammal contemporaries during the Cretaceous, when dinosaurs were the dominant animals.