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AUSTRALIA: Mesozoic Missing Link Found on Phillip Island

Posted: May 8th, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Palaeontology | Tags: , , , , , , , | No Comments »

Mesozoic Missing Link Found on Phillip Island - Image via Victoria MuseumAustralian Scientists say the discovery of a new dinosaur species in South Gippsland sheds new light on Australia’s – Late Jurassic to Late Cretaceous – prehistoric period. A fossil found at San Remo, at Phillip Island, has been confirmed as belonging to a ceratosaur which has not been previously found in Australia

The fossil – an ankle bone found in 2006 – is the first evidence that this group of dinosaur roamed Australia, scientists preciously believed these carnivorous dinosaurs were limited to Western Gondwana, current day South America, Africa, Madagascar, India and Europe. The fossil find – outlined in the journal Naturwissenschaften this week – shows that Eastern Gondwana was rife with dinosaur diverstiy during a period in our prehistoric history previously thought to be dull :: Read the full article »»»»

CHINA: Feathered Tyrannosaurus Rex

Posted: April 9th, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Palaeontology | Tags: , , , , | No Comments »

CHINA - Feathered Tyrannosaurus RexPalaeontologists in China have uncovered a species of giant feathered dinosaur that was an ancient relative of Tyrannosaurus Rex. Scientists have known for over a decade that some small dinosaurs had bird-like feathers. But a report in the journal Nature says the new species of tyrannosaur, which was 9 metres long and weighed about 1.5 tonnes, provides direct evidence of the existence of gigantic feathered dinosaurs and has implications for early feather evolution.

The theropod, which was an ancient relative of Tyrannosaurus Rex, was 40 times larger than any previously known feathered dinosaur. It has been given the name Yutyrannus Huali, a combination of Latin and Mandarin, which means “beautiful feathered tyrant”. Read the full article »»»»