Huge Rats Will Take Over Before Robots Can - http://clapway.com/2015/11/09/huge-rats-will-take-over-before-robots-can123/

A team of archaeologists have unearthed the fossils of huge rats in Southeast Asia that could surely give the ones in the NYC Subway a run for their money. The team, from Australian National University, found seven giant fossils on East Timor that are at least ten times the size of the rodents we see roaming around today.

They label this rodent a mega-fauna species, and they’d be five kilos at the heaviest. This makes them the largest rats ever known, about the size of a small dog. The team’s mission is originally to travel from Sunda to Sahul as part of an homonymous project that looks at the earliest human movement throughout the region of Southeast Asia, and in their travels, they stumbled upon the huge rats. The team isn’t sure what caused the animals to get wiped out or if it was connected to humans, but the rodents roamed the area around 46,000 years.

The team concludes that they must have coexisted with humans for a long time, damage to the huge rats fossils show that humans were eating them. The theory for their extinction is most likely tied to the spread of weapons make of metal, which made forests easier to tear down and habitats easier to destroy.

 

 

 

 

Huge Rats Will Take Over Before Robots Can

Researchers at Virginia Tech and University of Bristol have found a way to figure out the colors of animals that lived millions of years ago through the examination of fossils. #fossil #melanosomes #VirginiaTech - http://clapway.com/2015/09/29/fossils-colors-extinct-animals124/

Researchers at Virginia Tech and the University of Bristol have discovered melanin in fossil melanosomes. The discovery confirms the theory that melanosomes attached to remains can reveal the original colors of ancient animals. Caitlin Colleary, the lead researcher and current PhD candidate, worked with her team alongside the University of Bristol to conduct the study, the findings of which are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Melanosomes discovered in ancient fossils

The study was initiated in order to help scientists determine the colors of ancient animals and dinosaurs without having to make educated guesses. In 2008, researchers found what they believed to be melanosomes, or organelles that create the pigment melanin, in a fossilized feather. Upon the discovery, researchers thought that they would be able to decipher the original color of the animal by first identifying the shape of the melanosomes. This is due to the fact that melanosomes take on certain shapes depending on what pigment it is producing.

Many, however, were skeptical about this assertion, stating that there simply was not enough evidence to prove that the structures were actually melanosomes, rather than fossilized bacteria.

the study: Fossils and what they can reveal

The study, conducted at Virginia Tech University, eventually proved the initial hypothesis. To carry out the procedure, researchers utilized two different fossilized and extinct 50 million-year-old-bats for their study. Melanin found in the remains allowed scientists to determine the color of the organisms to be a reddish brown shade.

The finding is significant because the color of an animal can provide insight about what behaviors certain organisms had and what kind of environment they once lived in. With the successful results of this study, it is likely that the same procedure will be utilized for future research in order to better understand the world as it existed millions of years ago.

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Fossils Reveal The Colors Of Extinct Animals

Previously thought to have slithered on its stomach like its prereptile cousins, the #fossil of #Bunostegosakokanensis reveals that the creature might have been a #quadruped. - http://clapway.com/2015/09/22/bunostegos-akokonensis-quadruped213/

Previously thought to have slithered on its stomach like its prereptile cousins, Bunostegos akokanensis, or the prehistoric cow, is now believed to have been a quadruped, according to scientists at Brown University. The discovery is unusual, as all fossils of this time period indicate that prereptiles had moved around by sprawling out on the ground or by walking upright on two feet. It wasn’t until years later that species, like the Bunostegos akokanensis, were found to be able to stand on four legs. Findings such as this completely change what researchers have come to understand about the evolution of limbs.

Bunostegos akokanensis

According to researchers, Bunostegos akokanensis – classified as a pareiasaur and a herbivore – had lived during the Permian era, about 250 billion years ago. Its nickname, the prehistoric cow, was inspired by its sheer size and bovine-like shape, which can be characterized by a small head, wide feet, and a short tail. Its fossils were first discovered in Niger, Africa by paleontologist Linda Tsugi, who co-authored this study in 2003.

What The findings Reveal

Upon the discovery of the fossils, Tsugi presumed that the species had limbs that were split out by its sides and jointed past the elbow. However upon further investigation, researchers, in conjunction with Brown University, found that the forelimb was very different than that of an animal who moves around by sprawling on the ground. The desert habitat during the Pangaea era may have contributed to the Bunostegos akokanensis’ quadriped capabilities. Navigating upright on all fours would have been the most efficient way for the creature to move. This would have helped them conserve energy, especially during periods of time when food could not be found.

What this means for evolution

The finding reveals that upright quadrupedalism may have evolved earlier than previously thought. Scientists believe that Bunostegos akokanensis will help them learn more about the evolutionary significance of the transition from sprawling to walking.

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Bunostegos Akokonensis is Really a Quadruped?

Anyone remember #Archelon? He might be the biggest, but here"s the oldest #seaturtle #fossil ever discovered. - http://clapway.com/2015/09/10/oldest-sea-turtle-fossil123/

Paleontologists, working with the Senckenberg Research Institute in Frankfurt, Germany, recently shared information about the oldest sea turtle fossil ever discovered. It predates the previous record holder from Brazil, Santanachelys gaffneyi, by at least 25 million years.

A Very, Very Old Sea Turtle

Scientists have clocked this sea turtle in at about 120 million years old, maybe even older. The skeleton is over six feet long–not even close to the record-holding Archelon (see photo above) from South Dakota, which measured over thirteen feet–but still, it’s pretty big.

“Hobby paleontologist,” Mary Luz Parra and her brothers Juan and Freddy Parra, unearthed and collected this particular turtle in 2007, near Villa de Leyva in Colombia. The fossilized shells and bones were almost completely preserved and have since been stored in paleontological collections in Colombia and California.

Dr. Edwin Cadena of the SRI recently examined the skeletons with a Californian colleague and established the age and categorization of the sea turtle fossil. It was placed in the turtle group Chelonioidea, based on “various morphological characteristics,” such as its tropical location and skeletal similarities to modern sea turtles like the Hawksbill and the Green Sea Turtle. Cadena and colleagues also determined from the sediments it was found in that this sea turtle, which they’re calling “Desmatochelys padillai,” lived during the Lower Cretaceous period.

Connecting Evolutionary Dots

The finding is a particularly big deal for paleontologists because of the insight it offers into the Cretaceous period. This period is an especially important era in the evolutionary history of sea turtles, but little is known about it. Desmatochelys padillai could change that.

Scientists know that sea turtles evolved from terrestrial and freshwater turtle species that lived around 230 million years ago. They also believe that the major split between land and sea dwelling turtles occurred during the Cretaceous period. But because the fossils from this time period are few and far between, it is challenging to verify the timing of the split with hard evidence.

Thanks to the Desmatochelys, paleontologists may now be better equipped to trace timelines of evolutionary shifts for the Chelonioidea group and maybe for sea turtles in general.

Cadena and colleagues published their study of the turtle in the latest issue of PaleoBios.

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Oldest Sea Turtle Fossil Ever Has Been Found

Stephanie Leco, an amateur #paleontologist, recently unearthed the 220 million year-old #fossil of a long-snouted #fish that was thought to be extinct. - http://clapway.com/2015/09/07/paleontologist-fish-fossil123/

Stephanie Leco, a 26 year-old amateur paleontologist, recently unearthed the 220 million year-old fossil of a long-snouted fish that was thought to be extinct in North America.

RARE FISH FOSSIL FROM THE LATE TRIASSIC PERIOD

The fossil, only about a pinky fingernail in size, was uncovered in Arizona’s Petrified Forest National Park, in a site that was once a lake or pond during the Late Triassic period, according to Nature World Report. Although closely related fish species were known to exist about 10 million years earlier, “The only other evidence of [this species] being in this time period was previously found in China, so this is the first time that it’s being seen in the North America for this time period,” stated Leco.

Leco uncovered the fossil during a citizens dig held at the park last month, near Holbrook. At the time, she was unable to identify the fossil. To classify the specimen, Leco, accompanied by the director of the preparation of fossils in the park, took the fossil to the lab where it was later identified as a fish species closely related to the genus Saurichthys. According to Dispatch Times, the respective period started only about 250 million years ago and followed the largest extinction on Earth.

Ben Kligman, a senior at the University of California, Berkley, has stated that the fossil is believed to belong to a new species of fish; however this assertion still needs to be verified and he plans to return to the site next year to find the rest of the fossil: “Although it’s probably a new species, we can’t say that it is yet because we don’t have enough specimens.”

In the meantime, Leco has been strengthening her interest in the field of paleontology. Since the discovery, she has been collecting books about the Triassic period in order to expand her knowledge of the time period.

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Amateur Paleontologist Finds Rare Fish Fossil

Paleontologists are particularly interested in the discovery of an unusual #bison #fossil from the #IceAge. - http://clapway.com/2015/09/06/ice-age-fossils-construction-site-carlsbad213/

Ice Age fossils were found at a construction site in Carlsbad, CA, where hundreds of new homes are anticipated to be built. The fossils date to the Pleistocene Epoch, and are from 50,000 to 200,000 years old. The discovery includes bones of ancient mammoths, horses, turtles, and prehistoric bison.

Development Company Unearths Ice Age Fossils

In July, the San Diego-based developer, Cornerstone Communities, discovered Ice Age fossils while grading at the Quarry Creek development site in Carlsbad. Work was temporarily stopped in order for scientists to step in and begin excavating the 60-acre site.

John Suster, Cornerstone’s project superintendent didn’t view halt in construction as a complete set back. He said to scientists, “Take your time, this is kind of cool.”

“It’s a perfect example of how a mass grading operation can still be sensitive to historical and paleontological concerns.”

Cornerstone will continue to work closely with paleontologists during the grading of the site over the next two months. If possible ice age fossil are unearthed, work will stop to allow scientists to come into the area for investigation.

What We Can Learn from Ice Age Fossils

Tom Deméré, curator of paleontology at the San Diego Natural History Museum was called in after the discovery was made.

“It’s really an exciting project in terms of geology and paleontology,” Deméré said. “The fossils have the potential to tell us a great deal about the climate, the environment, (and) the ecology of that time when they were living…They are direct connections with the past, an ancient ecosystem that was once common here. We can understand how climates can change by studying these ancient ecosystems.”

Paleontologists are particularly interested in the discovery of an unusual bison fossil. The specimen includes a skull and partial skeleton, and is the most complete of the larger animals found at the project site.

“These are big animals, much larger than modern plains bison” Deméré said.

The bison has already been taken to the museum where it will be put on temporary display.

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What else does nature have up its sleeve?:

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Ice Age Fossils Unearthed at Construction Site

The #fossil of an #extinct #dolphin species is uncovered by an intern researcher. - http://clapway.com/2015/09/01/fossil-extinct-dolphin-species123/

The fossil of a previously unknown river dolphin species have been unearthed by Smithsonian scientists, The Washington Post reports.

ISTHMINIA PANAMENSIS

Scientists were also unfamiliar with the genus of the species, which they have named Isthminia panamensis. All of the research’s findings can be read in the PeerJ journal. It is thought that the dolphin species lived six million years ago. The remarkable fossil was discovered by an intern researcher with the Smithsonian Institute on the coast of Piña, Panama.

WHAT SCIENTISTS ARE HOPING TO LEARN FROM THE FOSSIL

According to scientists, the ancient species also had much in common with modern river dolphins. All of the four modern species of river dolphins are going extinct or are completely extinct. However, as UPI pointed out, the new fossil indicates that there used to be myriad river dolphin species in many places throughout the world.

But despite similar features to the river dolphins, Isthminia panamensis lived in the ocean. For this reason, researchers think that studying the newly discovered species could shed some light on why most dolphins abandoned fresh water for salt water.

“While whales and dolphins long ago evolved from terrestrial ancestors to fully marine mammals, river dolphins represent a reverse movement by returning inland to freshwater ecosystems,” Aaron O’Dea, one of the study’s researchers, said in a Smithsonian Institute news release. “As such, fossil specimens may tell stories not just of the evolution [of] these aquatic animals, but also of the changing geographies and ecosystems of the past.”

THE SMITHSONIAN’S STUNNING 3-D DISPLAY OF THE FOSSIL

Though the fossil’s fragility prevented it from being casted and molded, the Smithsonian scientists worked with the organization’s Digitization Program Office to create another way of displaying it. A high-resolution 3-D image of the shoulder blade, skull and jaw of Isthminia panamensis can be viewed and on the Smithsonian X 3D website.

MUSEUMS DISPLAYING THE DISCOVERY

A 3-D print of the fossil is on display at the BioMuseo in Panama and the fossil itself is currently viewable at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C.

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The extinct dolphin species shows us how much we have yet to learn about the nature that surrounds us:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vD63kwQuZ2I

Scientists Find Extinct Dolphin Species Fossil

While excavating a meteorite crater in northeastern #Iowa"s Winneshiek Shale, paleontologists discovered the #fossil of an enormous and bizarre ancient #scorpion species that lived in the ocean. It is now believed to be Planet Earth"s earliest large predator. - http://clapway.com/2015/09/01/scorpion-iowa123/

Correction: The six-foot-long predatory scorpion is not currently terrorizing Iowa. But it used to, about 467 million years ago, back when Iowa was an ocean.

While excavating a meteorite crater in northeastern Iowa’s Winneshiek Shale, paleontologists discovered the fossil of an enormous and bizarre ancient scorpion species that lived in the ocean. It is now believed to be Planet Earth’s earliest large predator. The findings were published in the journal BMC Evolutionary Biology on August 31st, 2015.

“Tick…I Am Your Father” – Darth Pentecopterus

Researchers named the new-old species Pentecopterus decorahensis after its many-legged body’s resemblance to an ancient Greek war ship, the pentecopter. (“Decorahensis” presumably means something like “really badass,” or “utterly terrifying,” or “we named it after a ship but it’s actually a six-foot-long f***ing sea-scorpion.”)

The Pentecopterus isn’t the first species of aquatic, ancient scorpion to be discovered, nor—terrifyingly—is it the biggest. It joins a roster of other eurypterids, an extinct genus of arthropods that are the ancestors of modern-day arachnids, like spiders and ticks. Arthropods are a phylum of invertebrate animals with segmented bodies, jointed appendages, and exoskeletons; insects, crustaceans, arachnids, centipedes, and millipedes. However, eurypterids are the largest arthropods to have ever existed. Their remains have been discovered across the globe.

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla Pentecopterus vs. Jaekelopterus

The largest eurypterid ever discovered is the truly terrifying Jaekelopterus rhenaniae, unearthed in Germany in 2007, measuring 8.2 feet long. Similarly to the Pentecopterus, it terrorized shallow waters, preying on fish, crustaceans, and other eurypterids. But it had two key differences: one, the Jaekelopterus lived in fresh water, invalidating the common moniker “sea scorpion” for all eurypterids (Don’t make that mistake again!). Two, more importantly, the Jaekelopterus is quite young, a mere 390 million years old. The earlier glory days of the Pentercopterus, about 467 million years ago, extends previous estimates of how long eurypterids ruled Earth’s waters.

What Could Have Vanquished Such Glorious Creatures?

Why, none other than the Permian-Triassic extinction event 252 million years ago, the planet’s most severe extinction. The dinosaurs were just the highest-profile casualty of this event (possibly a meteor impact, possibly a volcanic event, theories abound), which wiped out 70% of all terrestrial species and 96% of all marine species. (Read those numbers again.)

It took at least 10 million years for life to recover to pre-event levels. If catastrophe hadn’t struck, I could have been a super-intelligent Pentecopterus, writing this article right now, about how my species wiped out the dim-witted Jaekelopterus 252 million years ago with cunning technological warfare.

Pentecopterus Is “Incredibly Bizarre,” Says Scientist Whose Job Is Studying Incredibly Bizarre Things

James Lamsdell, the study’s lead author and researcher from Yale University, could not stress enough how strange this creature is.

“The new species is incredibly bizarre,” he said in a statement. “The shape of the paddle—the leg which it would use to swim—is unique, as is the shape of the head. It’s also big—over a meter and a half long.”

He goes on: “Perhaps most surprising is the fantastic way it is preserved – the exoskeleton is compressed on the rock but can be peeled off and studied under a microscope. This shows an amazing amount of detail, such as the patterns of small hairs on the legs. At times it seems like you are studying the shed skin of a modern animal – an incredibly exciting opportunity for any paleontologist.”

These giant, hairy, crabby, ancient scorpions are no longer with us, for better or worse. But now, thanks to being dug out of the ground and preserved on microscope slides and computer-generated images, they are getting the honor they deserve.

For now, Iowa is safe. But watch out: I’m in a bidding war with some award-winning filmmakers for the movie rights to Eurypterid Park.

Who wins: Pentecopterus vs. Jaekelopterus? Share your thoughts about these scorpion species!

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Six-Foot-Long Predatory Scorpion Terrorizes Iowa

Rare Nautilus for the First Time After 1984 #nautilus #sea #fossil - http://clapway.com/2015/08/26/nautilus-papua-new-guinea123/

Biologist Peter Ward, a professor at the University of Washington, and his colleagues recently came face-to-face with a nautilus⎯one of the rarest creatures of the world⎯after a 30-year long hiatus. Last seen in 1984, nautiluses are distant cousins of squids and cuttlefish and have distinctive shell patterns.

Watch octopuses unscrew jar lids

Nautiluses are “living fossils” reflecting lineages dating back to millions of years

The rare nautilus was sighted at the Ndrova Island at Papua New Guinea; its biological name is Allonautilus scrobiculatus. Nautilus is an ancient member of the phylum Mollusca under the class Cephalopoda, which is home to many other modern sea creatures like the octopus and cuttlefish. Amongst the first cephalopods to inhabit the earth, their first appearance can be traced back 500 million years⎯a time before dinosaurs walked the earth. Nautiluses are sometimes called living fossils because they carry within the intricate patterns on their shells, remnants of a period we know little about.

The biologists used baits to attract the nautilus

The initial sighting in 1984 gave Ward a good idea of the physical characteristics of the nautilus: It has a thick, hairy, slimy covering on the shell, and is an expert scavenger. Ward and his colleagues therefore knew what to look for and how to reel it in. They used fish and chicken meat as bait on a stick suspended 500-1300 feet below the water surface, and recorded movies of any activity around the bait. After many such videos showing no activity, one of them showed an Allonautilus followed by another tug at the bait. The researchers brought them up to the surface, collected tissue and shell samples and released them back to the sea. From the studies they conducted on the samples, they realized that most nautilus populations are isolated because only some ocean depths are conducive to their existence. This separates nautiluses geographically, and eventually, genetically, making them difficult to sight or study.

Nautiluses are in danger of extinction

Owing to their beautiful shells and their inner shell layer, which is used as a pearl substitute, nautiluses are prime candidates for illegal mining. This and their geographical isolation have demolished the nautilus population worldwide. Efforts are currently on, to advocate for the preservation of this tiny, rare tie to our past.

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Rare Nautilus for the First Time After 1984

Ancient Amber-Preserved Salamander Species Discovered by Scientists - http://clapway.com/2015/08/18/ancient-amber-preserved-salamander-species-discovered-by-scientists-233/

Scientists found the first amber-preserved salamander ever in the mountains of the Dominican Republic.

The finding is remarkable, not only because of the amber, but because no species of salamander was previously thought to have ever existed in the Caribbean islands. The exciting discovery by University of California at Berkeley and Oregon State University were published in the journal Palaeodiversity.

“There are very few salamander fossils of any type, and no one has ever found a salamander preserved in amber,” said George Poinar Jr., one of the study’s scientists, in a press release.“And finding it in Dominican amber was especially unexpected, because today no salamanders, even living ones, have ever been found in that region.”

WHAT KILLED THE AMBER-ENTOMBED SPECIES?

Researchers do not yet know what caused the salamander species’ extinction. “They may have been killed by some climatic event, or were vulnerable to some type of predator,” Poinar speculated. As its salamander is missing a leg, researchers believe that the fossil became preserved after escaping from a predator and falling into a deposit of resin that gradually turned into amber.

ORIGINS OF AMBER SALAMANDER

This fight that resulted in the fossil’s composition is believed to have taken place more than 20 million years ago. The lineage of the species itself, however, may date back to between 40 and 60 million years ago, when what is today known as the Greater Antilles region was still attached to South and North America.

RELATED TO SALAMANDERS IN U.S.

The species of the amber-preserved salamander has been named Palaeonplethodon hispaniolae by the researchers. It is a member of the Plethodontidae family, other species of which are common to North America with a concentration in the Appalachians.

If this is true, then it is possible that because the amber-salamander’s species has only been found in the Caribbean, it remained in the area that became the Caribbean during and after it separated from South and North America. But the Palaeonplethodon hispaniolae has some notable features that distinguish it from the species that can be found in North America today, such as indistinct toes.

Ongoing Salamander stories here, here, here.

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Ancient Amber-Preserved Salamander Species Discovered by Scientists

"Scarface" Fossils Reveal New Species of Venomous Mammal - http://clapway.com/2015/08/14/scarface-fossils-reveal-new-species-of-venomous-mammal/

It isn’t every day that a new species of venomous pre-mammal is found, but scientists at The Field Museum have come across an ancient animal from Zambia that they have named Ichibengops, which literally translates to Scarface.

”Scarface” is a New Species of Pre-Mammal Ancient Relative

According to a press release from the The Field Museum in Chicago, the public can now say hello to our little friend: Scarface, a new species of a prehistoric mammal relative.

The researchers discovered the new animal species by a unique groove on the upper jaw. In a nod to the animal’s origins in Zambia, they named the animal Ichibengops, which is a combination of the Bemba word ichibenga (which means scar) and the Greek suffix ops (which, if you guessed correctly, means face).

While the researchers and media have dubbed the fossil by its informal name of Scarface, the connotations to the Al Pacino movie from the 80s doesn’t just end with the moniker. Both the movie and the prehistoric animal have a history of violence and drug use, albeit the latter for the animal was seen mostly in its venomous bite.

New Species Of Venomous Mammals Survived Largest Mass Extinction

The researchers believe Scarface may have had a deadly bite. Due to grooves above its teeth, the scientists concluded it could have been one of the few pre-mammal species that could transmit venom when they take a nibble of an animal.

Venomousness is so rare in ancient mammals and even modern mammals that only a few now still produce venom. One of these is the odd-looking platypus, but also a few species of shrews carry a toxic set of chompers.

Though a venomous bite may sound scary, the now-extinct animal is believed to be the size of a modern-day dachshund, AKA weiner dogs. So, though the name implies a hardcore gangster and the bite could very possibly kill its prey, the creature needed all the weapons at its disposal thanks to its relatively tiny size.

Scientists from the University of Washington and the Burke Museum, as well as the University of Utah assisted the Field Museum scientists in publishing their findings and the species description in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

Paleontologists Say New Species “Scarface” Can Teach Us About Evolution and Extinction

The Ichibengops was a part of the suborder Therocephalia, a large group of mammal-like relatives that lived about 255 million years ago. They made a good evolutionary run, being one of the lucky few species that survived the Permian-Triassic extinction, otherwise known as the biggest mass extinction event in the history of the world. However, competition with reptiles and climate change may have done them in somewhere between 247 to 237 million years ago.

The discovery of the new animal is exciting for the field of paleomammalogy as it can provide a better picture in the evolutionary puzzle of our pre-mammal ancestors.

Kenneth Angielczyk, the Field Museum’s associate curator of paleomammalogy, believes that researching these ancient relatives of mammals will lead us to apply the lessons to the latest mass extinction event.

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"Scarface" Fossils Reveal New Species of Venomous Mammal

A new #dinosaur thought to be an old one... - http://clapway.com/2015/08/02/new-dinosaur-alert-raptor-species-found-in-museum-245/

A new dinosaur Saurornitholestes sullivani has been found by University of Pennsylvania doctoral candidate Steven Jasinski. The dinosaur specimen had been lurking in the State Museum of Pennsylvania under the name of another dinosaur–until now.

U. Penn Doctoral Candidate Discovers New Dinosaur

While studying for his doctorate degree in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science at the University of Pennsylvania, Steven Jasinski found a specimen that appeared to be different from the rest, though it was labeled already.

The fossil in question had been claimed as Saurornitholestes langstoni, a species of what we refer to as raptors, but what paleontologists know as Dromaeosaurs.

Jasinski, who works at the State Museum of Pennsylvania, noticed the skull fragment in the fossil collection just didn’t quite belong. The curator of paleontology then compared the specimen to other dromaeosaurs with the use of holotype specimens, which assist in comparing fossils to the known specimen that defined the species (think of it as comparing something to an original sketch). The comparison samples from the U.S., Canada, and Europe as well as Asia revealed his fossil was unique.

Jasinski had found a new dinosaur: Saurornitholestes sullivani.

What Distinguishes The New Dinosaur? A Keen Sense of Smell<h/3>

Saurornitholestes sullivani, or S. sullivani for short, had a skull that showed a particularly large olfactory bulb, a structure in the forebrain. Jasinski believes this structure shows the dinosaur had a keen sense of smell that possibly assisted the raptor in night hunting, giving it a competitive edge.

The heightened sense of smell may have also worked in conjunction with the animal’s pack mentality. For example, an acute sense of smell is often seen in species who live, hunt, and breed in packs, allowing them to communicate through chemical signatures, or pheromones. The dinosaurs could easily use their sense of smell to communicate with one another while mobilizing to attack a larger herbivore for a quick dinner.

The edge S. sullivani obtained from its olfactory senses may have been needed, as the new dinosaur is actually quite small in comparison to other dinosaurs which existed in the Cretaceous period around 8 million to 10 million years ago. Its speed and agility may have been contributing factors to its survival until the mass dinosaur extinction wiped it away along with its relatives.

How the S. sullivani Can Help Us To Find New Species Right Under Our Noses

Jasinski hopes that the S. sullivani study will spur more researchers, paleontologists, and students to check through museum specimens and collections to perhaps uncover new species that have been with us all along.

The fossil record has many gaps of knowledge, where our understanding and our discoveries haven’t been bridged. By reviewing fossils more thoroughly, finding intricate details that may have been overlooked and reassessing their status as a specific species, we may be able to see that what we thought was one species could in fact be two–or more.

As S. sullivani proves, new dinosaurs aren’t always waiting in dirt for us to come find them; new dinosaurs may be sitting in old collections, waiting for us to reevaluate their names.

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New Dinosaur Alert! Raptor Species Found in Museum

Excavation of Secret Untouched Cave Slated to Reveal Black Hills History - http://clapway.com/2015/06/07/excavation-of-secret-untouched-cave-slated-to-reveal-black-hills-history-123/

In the Black Hills region of South Dakota, a cave never before explored is currently being excavated. A National Park Service worker first located the cave, dubbed “Persistence,” in 2004 on Wind Cave National Park land. Now, a team also working for the National Park Service will begin opening up its entrance. A group of Eastern Tennessee University scientists will conduct thorough analysis of the bags of sediment and animal fossil that are set to be removed from the untouched cave.

 

Persistence Cave excavation already paid off.

 

Bones dating back about 11,000 years have already been found. Maybe even more interestingly, fossils of at least three species (pika, pine marten, and platygonus) that had never been seen in the Black Hills region before. Fossil findings from the dig are expected to clue scientists in on animal migration patterns and, from there, climate change in the region. For example, around forty years ago in Hot Springs, which is near the Black Hills area, a well-preserved wooly mammoth graveyard was discovered. Wooly mammoths died out around 26,000 years ago, while the oldest of the bones from Persistence’s entrance, as mentioned before, were found to be 11,000 years old. Scientists thus hope to use the data to better understand how the Ice Age changed over time. They expect to find at least a hundred thousand bones by the end of the dig, sometime this summer. Hopefully, the fossils will help paint a rich picture of the natural and climatic development of the area.

 

Untouched cave’s location is being kept a secret, for now.

 

In order to protect the cave and whatever it may contain, the National Park Service is keeping its location under wraps. All they would say was that the mouth of the cave is around a third of a mile away from the edge of the Wind Cave’s tunnel system.

 

Fossil research is only part of this untouched cave’s story.

The fossil and climate study is only a part of the secrets this cave may hold. Judging by the wind speed and direction inside the entrance of the cave, the scientists believe the cave is likely very large. In fact, they even acknowledge the possibility that Persistence Cave connects to Wind Cave, perhaps through a sediment-filled or otherwise inaccessible passage. This may be the reason the untouched cave was undiscovered for so long.

Excavation of Secret Untouched Cave Slated to Reveal Black Hills History