Showing posts with label carnivorous dinosaurs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label carnivorous dinosaurs. Show all posts

Sunday, August 16, 2015

Find out what you missed this week on #Clapway upon clicking here. - http://clapway.com/2015/08/16/this-weeks-best-all-you-need-to-know-about-dinos-mass-extinction-and-beer-245/

From an “inclusive, non-discriminatory” mass extinction, to the age of ‘Star Wars’, here’s a collection of the most popular news this week.


— Here’s were Lager Beer truly comes from


In what is considered a groundbreaking study by all pints aficionados, scientists have now uncovered the DNA of the organism that sets lager beers apart from ales. The researchers reached their conclusion by examining the different yeast involved in fermenting the light, smooth beer that originated in 15th century central Europe. Lagers, which are experiencing a massive 94% share in the world beer market today, utilize yeasts that could ferment at lower temperatures, a process that gives them their distinctively crisp taste.


This Week


— Mass Extinction Will spare nobody


There have been several reports lately warning the human species that the history of life on Earth might soon take an apocalyptic turn. Are we going to experience a mass extinction on the magnitude of the one that killed the dinosaurs? This worst-case scenario would result in 75 percent of the species on our planet disappearing within a geologically short time period. It’s happened only five times before in the past 540 million years of multicellular life on Earth, researchers claim. Well, a new study reports that all species are at the same risk for being wiped out during mass extinction events as opposed to previous research that suggested more widespread species were safer. No one will have better chances for survival. Period.


This Week


— New Parasite Could Exterminate Tadpole Population


Tadpoles dive from their eggs into a dangerous jungle pool. To survive for long, they’ll have to make their way past a bunch of predators, but there is something much worst which may make their population vulnerable to extinction: a deadly parasitic infection. Frogs from six countries spanning three continents were tested in a study led by the University of Exeter and The National History Museum, UK. Tadpoles from across the globe were found to be victims of an infection triggered by the newly discovered protist parasite.


This Week


The Age of ‘Star Wars’ is Upon Us


As news emerged that China, Russia and the US may be gearing up for war in space, the world’s most worrisome military flashpoint could materialize in the near future. Offensive space weapons are being tested making us wonder: could X-wings, TIE fighters, and even the infamous Death Star from Star Wars someday become a reality?


This Week


— New carnivorous Dinos discovered


Researchers from the University of Alberta have identified six new species of dinosaurs in Spain. Theropod’s “forgotten teeth” were analyzed allowing researchers to “reconstruct the ancient world where dinosaurs lived and to understand how their extinction happened.”


Did you found any other interesting news you would like an update on? Share your views in the comments section below.


Too much kinetic energy to read? Check out the Clapway News in Review in audiovisual form here:




This Week"s Best: All You Need to Know About Dinos, Mass Extinction and Beer

Fossil Footprints Show Dinosaurs Enjoyed Long Walks on the Beach - http://clapway.com/2015/08/16/fossil-footprints-dinosaurs-walks-101/

Two sets of footprints in the sand of a beach in Germany have been found to belong to two dinosaurs from over 142 million years ago. The findings may reveal that these specific dinosaurs, as well as perhaps many others, were actually social creatures.



Two Theropod Dinosaurs Left Footprints on A German Beach


Two dinosaurs that lived millions of years ago enjoyed eating meat and long walks on the beach in Münchehagen, Germany according to the findings of biologist Pernille Venø Troelsen of the University of Southern Denmark.


The biologist presented his findings in July at the annual meeting of the European Association of Vertebrate Paleontologists, which included pictures of the nearly 50 fossilized footprints that belonged to a large dinosaur and a smaller one, both believed to be theropods. The larger one was around 1.6 meters at its hip, while the smaller stood around 1.1 meters at the hip.


Troelsen noted that the speeds of the creatures, which are similar to velociraptors, were well below the speeds of up to 40 kilometers an hour that they are known to have been able to reach. Paleontologists in Opole, Poland listened to the biologist’s interpretation of the extinct hunters as they strolled along the beach at between 6 to 10 kilometers an hour, possibly looking for food, but in no hurry to find their dinners.


50 Footprints of Dinosaurs Tracked to Reveal Their Walking Path, Gait


The 50 footprints had been found in the Bückeberg formation, a popular place for dinosaurs obviously as dinosaur footprints and tracks have been found there for over 2 centuries. These particular tracks had been uncovered in an excavation between 2009 and 2011.


The tracks not only revealed the walking path of the two dinos, but also the gait. With the larger one, an average speed of around 6 kilometers was recorded. But for the smaller dinosaur, the poor thing had to keep up by walking a pace of around 10 kilometers.


What does this reveal, exactly? Well, for starters, Troelsen’s perspective as a biologist is uniquely different than how geologists and paleontologists may interpret the results. Troelsen believes the animals were of the carnivorous species Megalosauripus that may have been related, such as a parent and its offspring.


The peculiar gait of the little one’s footprints reveal that it had crossed its legs several times on the walk. Troelsen says it can be either the tiny dino had lost its balance in the sand or thanks to a gust of wind or maybe it was in a hurry to keep up with the bigger one. Think of it as a child tagging along behind its parent, who has considerably slowed their pace to help out the young one.


Footprints Reveal Dinosaurs Weren’t Always So Feared, They Did Have Friends


If the biologist’s theories are true, it points to dinosaurs being much more social than what we usually give them credit for.


More studies have shown that dinosaurs have hunted together, taken care of their offspring, as well as even had a similar set of social rules regarding our concept of babysitting.


Though Troelsen was careful to explain that these tracks cannot be definitively analyzed as being created by two dinosaurs that roamed together. The area was a high traffic spot for dinosaurs as many footprints have been found.


But the coincidence of two sets of footprints from the same species of dinosaurs along the exact same path at different times doesn’t seem as plausible as dinos hanging out together and possibly being more than just fearsome creatures.



Fossil Footprints Show Dinosaurs Enjoyed Long Walks on the Beach

Saturday, August 8, 2015

Six New Dinosaurs Revealed After Study Analyzing Teeth - http://clapway.com/2015/08/08/six-new-dinosaurs-from-teeth-101/

Six new species of dinosaurs have been found after researchers from the University of Alberta analyzed theropod teeth from eight regions in Spain.


A Study On Teeth Revealed Six New Dinosaurs of the Theropod Species


University of Alberta researchers have quadrupled the number of known dinosaur species in Spain from only two species to eight new dinosaurs species. The research was conducted using 142 isolated theropod teeth from a part of the South Pyrenean Basin dated around the Late Cretaceous epoch.


The teeth analyzed in the study were from eight different localities in Spain, including Treviño County, Huesca, Lerida, and Laño. Though two species of theropod were already known, the researchers happened across six additional species during their research on dinosaur evolution at the final stages of the Cretaceous period.


The new species of theropod would have been present during the timeframe that spanned the Campanian age, which lasted about 83.6 million to 72.1 million years ago, and the Maastrichtian age, from 72.1 million to 66 million years ago.


The study was published in the journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.


More Teeth Means More Theropods For Researchers in Spain


Though the research was not initially to investigate the number of theropod species in the area, the sample of 142 isolated teeth revealed more species than researchers could have imagined.


Through analysis, the study concluded that a total of six toothed theropod species had lived in the area, five of which had been small, while the last one was large in comparison.


Angelica Torices, lead author of the study from the University of Alberta, believes the importance of the discovery may help lead paleontologists to better understand how the dinosaurs lived and what caused their extinction.


As no complete theropod skeletons have been revealed in Spain and the surrounding countries, paleontologists must rely on the smallest element available to know the timeline of dinosaur evolution: theropod teeth.


Though teeth may seem to be rather small, Torices and the other researchers say the teeth are the key to reconstructing the dinosaurs lives, especially in Europe during the Late Cretaceous ages.


Diversity of Carnivorous Dinosaurs in Cretaceous Europe


Theropods are a species of carnivorous dinosaurs who frequently lost and subsequently replaced their teeth. A massive number of teeth would be produced by one dinosaur during its lifetime.


These dental fixtures would fall out when the time was ready, only to be found millions of years later by scientists eager to learn more about the lives of theropods.


Though nothing else of the dinosaurs remained, the teeth showed their value in this study as their armed researchers with the knowledge that even the tiniest bit of extra information can help fill in the gaps in the evolutionary timeline of theropods.


The study researchers believe their findings have highlighted the diversity of carnivorous dinosaurs in Europe, but will also highlight how these dinosaurs and other large animals responded to climate change.


The fossil record may be incomplete for now, but at least the six new dinosaur species have been found thanks to a few forgotten teeth.



 


MAYHAPS YOU SHOULD AWAKE BEFORE TEETH ARE ALL THAT’S LEFT OF YOU




Six New Dinosaurs Revealed After Study Analyzing Teeth