paleontology | The Guild of Scientific Troubadours

The oldest animal.

26 September 2018 grant 0

The Guardian pulls back the veil – using fossilized cholesterol, of all things – on what could be the world’s oldest animal – an oval-shaped creature that lived… Read the rest “The oldest animal.”

Extinct lizard had four eyes.

10 April 2018 grant 0

LiveScience introduces us to Saniwa ensidens, a now-extinct monitor lizard from Wyoming that had an eye on either side of its head and two more on the top of its skull:

S. ensidens‘

… Read the rest

Sitting on eggs is only for modern birds. Primeval birds did it differently.

27 March 2018 grant 0

Nature reveals the ins and outs of dinosaur-era reproductive strategies, with research showing that prehistoric birds were too heavy to incubate their own eggs:

Most birds today incubate

… Read the rest

Science Art: Momma Oryctrodromeus stays in the burrow with her babies…., by Julio Lacerda

7 January 2018 grant 0

^{Click to embiggen}

I found this on the Scientific Illustration tumblr, and though it seems to have been used in an Earth Archives article with a morbid title, it originally came from the artist’s… Read the rest “Science Art: Momma Oryctrodromeus stays in the burrow with her babies…., by Julio Lacerda”

The Age of Giant Penguins. After the Age of Dinosaurs, before the Age of Giant Mammals.

13 December 2017 grant 0

So, yes, I’ve already written an OK song about giant penguins before, but this is a new and different thing. NPR is reporting on a Nature study about a 220-pound penguin that was something… Read the rest “The Age of Giant Penguins. After the Age of Dinosaurs, before the Age of Giant Mammals.”

Pterodactyl treasure trove.

1 December 2017 grant 0

The Guardian takes us to Xinjiang, where paleontologists have opened a new window onto the past by unearthing an amazing trove of fossilized pterodactyl eggs:

Scientists said on Thursday

… Read the rest

Laugh at the T. rex’s tiny arms… as they shred your frail body just like they were designed to.

1 November 2017 grant 0

Science News brings a new(-ish) perspective on the atrophied forelimbs of Tyrannosaurus rex. Those little arms were perfectly built for close-quarters slashing of prey:

[T]he roughly

… Read the rest

Dinosaur had four wings, yet could not fly.

1 September 2017 grant 0

National Geographic reveals the real-life parable of a dinosaur that, according to the evidence, had four wings, yet never flew:

The newly named species, Serikornis sungei, adds to the

… Read the rest

You could (probably) outrun a T. rex.

18 July 2017 grant 0

Newsweek, reporting on a study in PeerJ, demonstrates how one of the scariest dinosaurs of all was really kinda slow and clumsy:

In a study published in Peer J Tuesday, a team from the University

… Read the rest

Science Art: Dinotherium, by Heinrich Harder,1916.

9 July 2017 grant 0

^{Click to embiggen}

This is a fairly speculative reconstruction of an elephant-relative we really only know from footprints (or so says Wikimedia Commons, who are probably on the money here).… Read the rest “Science Art: Dinotherium, by Heinrich Harder,1916.”

New tyrannosaur species had a sensitive face.

30 March 2017 grant 0

Science News gets up close and personal with Daspletosaurus horneri, a 9-meter-long prehistoric predator which hunted 75 million years ago with the help of a remarkably sensitive side… Read the rest “New tyrannosaur species had a sensitive face.”

Science Art: Dinner in the Mould of the Iguanodon, by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, 1854.

26 February 2017 grant 0

A paleontological dinner party, as drawn by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, the sculptor who also made the dining accommodations – an Iguanodon. Nowadays, we know (or think we know)… Read the rest “Science Art: Dinner in the Mould of the Iguanodon, by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, 1854.”