When the first dinosaur bone was described in 1676, it was thought to come from an elephant or perhaps a giant. Over a century later, scientists realised such fossils came from a creature they named Megalosaurus, portrayed as a sort of stocky, overgrown lizard. Then, in 1842, leading anatomist Richard Owen recognised Megalosaurus as part […] … learn more→
Tag Archives: dinosaurs
The top six dinosaur myths and how we busted them
Six amazing dinosaur discoveries that changed the world
Recently, an auction of a dinosaur skeleton, discovered in Jurassic-aged rocks in the US, was held in West Sussex, England. The skeleton was that of a largely complete, immature, three-metre long carnivorous dinosaur: Allosaurus fragilis – “delicate strange reptile”. It was anticipated that the specimen would sell for somewhere in the region of £300,000-£500,000. Interestingly, […] … learn more→
The answer to the riddle of which came first
Dinosaurs, the animal group that includes birds and their ancestors, laid eggs. This means that the ancestors of birds laid eggs long before chickens came about. Because we know so much about the evolution of life on Earth, this answer now seems obvious. But without fossils, and without understanding how evolution works, we could have […] … learn more→
Mysteries of Killer whales uncovered in the Antarctic
On the afternoon of January 10, at the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, whale researchers Robert L. Pitman and John W. Durban stood on the bridge of a cruise ship, peering through binoculars for signs of killer whales. The Weddell Sea, where English explorer Ernest Shackleton and his men were locked in the sea ice […] … learn more→
Ancient dino nursery the oldest ever found
A James Cook University researcher has helped unearth a 190-million-year-old dinosaur nesting site in South Africa, the oldest nesting site for dinosaurs ever found. The discovery, of the prosauropod dinosaur Massospondylus, at an excavation site in South Africa, has revealed significant clues about the evolution of complex reproductive behaviour in early dinosaurs. Led by University […] … learn more→
Massive volcanoes, meteorite impacts delivered one-two death punch to dinosaurs
A cosmic one-two punch of colossal volcanic eruptions and meteorite strikes likely caused the mass-extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous period that is famous for killing the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, according to two Princeton University reports that reject the prevailing theory that the extinction was caused by a single large meteorite. […] … learn more→
