SONG: Birds Are Digging
SONG: “Birds Are Digging”. (OGG version here.)
ARTIST: grant.
SOURCE: Based on “How A Black Fossil Digger Became a Superstar in the Very White World of Paleontology”… Read the rest “SONG: Birds Are Digging”
paleontology
School bus-sized spinosaur discovered
Last month, BBC’s Science Focus reported on an “astonishingly” large dinosaur discovered in the Sahara Desert of Niger — a bus-sized behemoth with a crescent-shaped… Read the rest “School bus-sized spinosaur discovered”
Science Art: Kentrosaurus aethiopicus, by H. Zell.
This is an image from the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, a German natural history museum, where they have a skeleton of a stegosaurus relative unearthed in Tendaguru, Tanzania.
It’s… Read the rest “Science Art: Kentrosaurus aethiopicus, by H. Zell.”
Black South African digger becomes paleontology star
NPR shared the story of Lazarus Kgasi, who started as a laborer but fell in love with the science — and is now helping shape what we know of life’s origins:
… Read the rest “Black South African digger becomes paleontology star”This is the story of how
Fossil reveals new *kingdom* of life.
Science Adviser reports on the discovery (or rediscovery) of a fossil that is not just a new species, not just a new class, order, nor phylum of life. It’s so different from animals,… Read the rest “Fossil reveals new *kingdom* of life.”
Bright lichens reveal dino bones
Science News reports on a colorful breakthrough in dinosaur hunting, thanks to two lichen species that prefer to grow on dinosaur bones and are a shade of orange that’s bright enough… Read the rest “Bright lichens reveal dino bones”
Prehistoric Patagonian predator ate giant crocodiles
Reuters reports on a discover discovered in southern Argentina that apparently outdid T. rex and carnosaurus in its ferocity. A fossil of the colossal Cretaceous hunter was found with … Read the rest “Prehistoric Patagonian predator ate giant crocodiles”
Ghost sharks have teeth on their foreheads because it’s sexy.
PhysOrg redefines what “attractive” is for the deep-sea set, thanks to a study that has found male ghost sharks grow a retractable, tooth-covered rod out of their foreheads… Read the rest “Ghost sharks have teeth on their foreheads because it’s sexy.”
Looking Denisovans in the face for the first time.
Cell reconstructs a prehistoric face, thanks to DNA analysis of an unusual skull that proved to be the first-known skull of a Denisovan, the other prehistoric human besides Neanderthals… Read the rest “Looking Denisovans in the face for the first time.”
Science Art: Harpagolestes immanis, by Ryan Somma.
This is a picture of a mesonychid, a family of prehistoric creatures known as “wolves with hooves.”
I got the idea to post this from a Bluesky post by Riley “Resting Dino… Read the rest “Science Art: Harpagolestes immanis, by Ryan Somma.”
A mysterious trilobite cousin deciphered.
For a long while, paleontologists have been trying to figure out what was up with Helmetia expansa, a prehistoric creature from before the dinosaurs that seemed like a crustacean but not.… Read the rest “A mysterious trilobite cousin deciphered.”
Science Art: Reconstrucción de Tuzoia canadensis, con Anomalocaris atrás, 2022.
This is an image from one of the ages before dinosaurs. I found it by looking for Anomalocaris, which was a sort of terrifying sea predator that was something like an armored cuttlefish, or… Read the rest “Science Art: Reconstrucción de Tuzoia canadensis, con Anomalocaris atrás, 2022.”
Maybe the Earth had a ring like Saturn once…
Science Direct, or really, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, has a study of very old craters that suggests that in the Ordovician period, around 460 million years ago or so, when trilobites… Read the rest “Maybe the Earth had a ring like Saturn once…”
Science Art: Almeö Dog Skeleton, by Gunnar Creutz.
A prehistoric pet. This is a mesolithic dog, same dog we know today more or less, Canis lupus familiaris, but about 9,300 years old.
It was found in an archaeological dig in Almeö, Sweden, … Read the rest “Science Art: Almeö Dog Skeleton, by Gunnar Creutz.”
“Hobbits” got smaller on their island.
Scientific American has new information on very old remains of Homo floresiensis, the diminutive prehistoric humans who lived on the island of Flores around 700,000 to 60,000 years ago.… Read the rest ““Hobbits” got smaller on their island.”