Feathered Dinosaurs

A reader sent me this cartoon. Pollen has been found in high concentration with some Neanderthal bodies suggesting they buried their dead with flowers. But what about before flowering plants evolved?

Scooped (or rather Bitten) again!

Once again, Brian Switek of Laelaps and Mike Ryan of Palaeoblog have beaten me to the punch on reporting on a recent publication that suggests the first tetrapods were able to bite their prey (rather then suck their food up).

Reference: Markey, M.J. and Marshall, C. R. 2007. Terrestrial-style feeding in a very early aquatic tetrapod is supported by evidence from experimental analysis of suture morphology Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. Early Edition on April 16 2007.

What were T. rex’s tiny little arms for anyway?

American palaeontologist Henry Osborn first described T. rex but initially expressed doubts that the diminutive arms he found belonged to this enormous animal. After investigating further and finding it to be true, he considered their purpose and advanced the first theory in 1906: that they were used as ‘graspers’ or stabilizers during copulation.

But this was only the start of a debate that still rages. In 1970 British palaeontologist Barney Newman suggested that the small arms braced the beast's body as it stood up.
Another, contrasting theory suggested that the small limbs are vestigials (degenerated organs that have lost their use).

To add to the confusion it seems that the muscular of the T. rex was very well defined and though the arms were disproportional to the animal's body, they were still very strong. So some people consider that the most useful function of the limbs was to be used as meat hooks while the animal fed. This theory is supported by the beautifully sharp claws on T. rex’s two fingers.

In contrast, Greg Erickson has recently commented on a biomechanical analyses of a new specimen. The aim of this study was to try and understand the physical capacities of T. rex's diminutive structures. Erickson has concluded that the elbow could not be extended beyond 90° and though the arms were very strong (they could lift about 180 kg or 400lbs) they had a very limited side-to-side and up-and-down motion.

It is also known that T. rex's arms were often broken (and mended) during its life, suggesting that the arms were poorly suited for their function that these animals could go without using their arms for extended periods of time.

I read an interesting theory a while back that suggested the arms were most useful in juveniles, as a counterbalance to the young dinsaurs fast quickly. The suggestion was made that the arms were proportionally longer in childhood compared to adulthood. However, as far as I know this theory did not gain popularity.

The truth is that no one knows the answer. Scientific inquiry into this issue has been going on for a century and it doesn’t seem likely that the mystery will be solved soon. If you have any other ideas, please let me know!

Launch of Dinobase

Well it is has FINALLY happened. After a lot of hard work on the part of many people in Bristol, DinoBase was officially launched today. DinoBase is a new interactive resource for dinosaur fans of all ages.

As Mike Benton notes, ‘We all know that people have a natural curiosity for dinosaurs, so we hope that the information on DinoBase will satisfy people's enthusiasm.'

You can search the database for your favourite dinosaur, find out its species, when and where it lived, what it ate, how big it was and how to pronounce its tongue-twisting Latin name. Also try browsing the colourful picture galleries to see what dinosaurs looked like in their prehistoric world.

Did you know, for example, that the Albertaceratops nesmoi, which means ‘Alberta horn-faced’, was only discovered this year in Canada? It is a centrosaurine ceratopsian dinosaur with a pair of long horns on the brow and a blade-like nasal horn. It lived about 75 million years ago, was 6 metres long and weighed 2 tons.

DinoBase also has an online forum, where you can ask questions about dinosaurs, which experts at Bristol University will answer. The database will continue to grow in the future as new discoveries are made and more features are added. There will be a news section that will report the most recent happenings in dinosaur research, and a ‘New Dinosaur’ alert system that will let visitors know about new discoveries.

I would like to thank a lot of people for their hard work, but most especially for the people on our team who have made the final push in last week, including Paul Ferry, Manabu Sakamoto and Tom Fletcher.

Check out DinoBase at http://dinobase.gly.bris.ac.uk/

Ancient proteins link T. rex to chickens

Well I’m sure everybody has seen this sensationalist headline in the last week, instead of tackling the controversy myself, I’ve decided to list a few posts by bloggers who have already posted on the topic:

PZ Meyers of Pharyngula posts Stone soup; or, extracting protein fragments from T. rex bones

Brian Switek of Laelaps in his post, And the T. rex goes… cock-a-doodle-do?

Mike Ryan of Palaeoblog posts T. rex Protein Sequenced

And the original article:
Analyses of soft tissue from Tyrannosaurus rex suggest the presence of protein. 2007. Science 316: 277 - 280

Winner: Fossil Caption Contest

Thanks to everyone who sent in their entry. The submitted captions include:

Sometimes, fishing is about patience. Sometimes, fishing is about lots of patience.
Or…
Given sufficient time, an improperly hooked baitfish will eventually win its freedom, though it may tear its flesh from its bones in the process.
-TheBrummell

Sepia-tone ink on micrite matrix of a Diplomystus dentatus fossil. Snap.
-Neil

Almost got it, just a little bit longer...
-tradwolley

"It was (stretches arms sideways) this old!"
Or ...
"New proof that Neolithic humans possessed sandwiches, vacuum flasks and funny little collapsible chairs."
-John Hopkin

Guess we found Nemo after all....
-KAi

Great captions! I had a hard time deciding so enlisted the help of one of my colleagues. And the winner is:

TheBrummell for “Sometimes, fishing is about patience. Sometimes, fishing is about lots of patience.”

Congratulations! And now your prize: You can post on Fish Feet for a day.

Fossil Hunting in Britain

Last week was quite busy at uni, we hosted a conference for palaeontology students on Friday and on Saturday we went fossil hunting at Aust Cliff and Manor Farm in Southwest England. There were great finds (I will post pictures soon), ranging from microscopic teeth and scales to dorsal fish spines and bones of Pachystropheus, a crocodile like animal that wandered the cliffs about 200 million years ago.

We also made an episode of Fossil Field Guides, created by Paul Williams. Fossil Field Guides are podcast guides to the best field locations in Britain. I will post a link to the Aust Cliff podcast when production is complete, in the meantime, check out Paul’s other Fossil Field Guides.

Weekend Break

Sorry I'm not posting today or tomorrow as I'm at a conference and field trip. I will be back on Sunday and tell you all about it! Sarda

Reminder: Fossil Caption Contest

A reminder that Monday I started a humerous Fossil Caption Contest. There will be a prize for whoever comes up with the best caption!

Contest closes Sunday.

Fossil Caption Contest

This is a great picture, I have no idea how it was done, but it is very funny.

A prize for whoever comes up with the best caption!

Contest closes on Friday.

High Stakes Custody Battle for Fossil Dinosaur Continues

Custody battles for fossils can bring big money these days so it comes as no surprise that it was announced today that a 2 ½ year custody battle for the ownership of Tinker, a juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex will continue. A federal court of appeal ruled that a the lease formed between fossil hunters, who dug up the 65 million-year-old fossil and the County of Harding County, South Dakota was valid. This reverses a ruling made last year that deemed the lease void because it didn't follow a state law that requires leases exceeding 120 days and $500 USD to go before a public hearing.

Tinker is currently interned in Pennsylvania. An offer of $8.5 million USD has been made for the extraordinary fossil skeleton. In 1992, South Dakota saw another a custody battle for a dinosaur skeleton: Sue, a beautifully preserved, 13m (42ft) long T. rex specimen was at the center. Claims to Sue were made by a local rancher, a team of fossil hunters, a Sioux Indian tribe and the United States Government. It ended seven years later by awarding the dinosaur to the rancher on whose land the find was made. He then auctioned her off at Sotheby's, the winning bid went to Chicago's Field Museum with corporate sponsorship from McDonald’s and Walt Disney to the tune of $8.4 million. To date, it has been the most expensive fossil ever sold, I wonder if Tinker will break the record?

Antarctic Amphibian: a fossil from 245 million year in the past

The beautiful thing about the Antarctic is that it is one of Earth’s last unexplored frontiers. New information about climate, geology, and paleontology is discovered regularly and today, the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology announced the discovery of a fossilised amphibian which lived more than 245 million years ago in the Triassic of Antarctica. Its presence suggests that the climate at the time was mild enough to allow cold-blooded creatures to live near Pangea’s southern margin, at least seasonally.

This news is of particular relevance to my work so I was very excited when I heard about it. For those of you that want to get technical, the amphibian, Parotosuchus was a large predatory temnospondyl that inhabiting lakes and rivers. For the layman: basically it was a 2m (6.5ft) long animal that superficially resembles a modern day crocodile, but was actually an amphibian.

Parotosuchus is differs from modern-day amphibians because of its form, large size and the fact that it was covered in a scaly skin. It was amphibious and so liked to live in the water and on land (but never far from the water) and swam in an eel-like fashion (see my posting from last month on the Robotic Salamander).

Previously, Parotosuchus remains have been discovered in Germany, Kazakhstan, Russia and South Africa, which up until now was its most southerly range. But in the Triassic, Africa and Antarctica were joined together in a supercontinent called Pangea so the find is not altogether a surprise. Parotosuchus was discovered in the Fremouw Formation of the Transantarctic Mountains, just six degrees short of the South Pole.

P.S. I stole the pic from the Tree of Life at http://tolweb.org/Temnospondyli.

In the News: Ancient Humans, Great Pyramids and an Antarctic Amphibian

Mystery of the great pyramids solved
Original Publication: Dassault Systems
Popular News site: CBC

Ancient human fossil from China collides with ‘Out of Africa' theory
Original Publication: PNAS
Popular News site: BBC

Antarctic amphibian
Original Publication: JVP
A synopsis of the original article will be published on this blog later today.

Friday’s Mystery Fossil Revealed

Well here it is! Friday’s mystery fossil is an acanthodian, an ancient group of fish which include the earliest known jawed vertebrates. The mysterious bivalve-like structure is actually the pectoral fin of Brochoadmones milesi from the Devonian of Canada’s Northwest Territories.

Congrats to The Brummell who came closest with the suggestion that the spines were of an ancient shark, similar to the modern spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthius). Indeed, acanthodians share many characteristics with sharks.

That was extra tough, don’t worry the next one will be easier!

Hanke, G.F. and Wilson, M.V.H. 2006. Anatomy of the Early Devonian acanthodian Brochoadmones milesi based on nearly complete body fossils, with comments on the evolution and development of paired fins. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 26:526-537.

A prehistoric tale of a Italian whale

Fossils turn up in the most unusual places. Simone Casati, an amateur paleontologist, was exploring the famed vineyards of Italian winemaker, Castello Banfi, when he came across a small piece of bone poking out of the soil. He started digging and realized that he had unearthed more then he had e anticipated: a 10m (33ft) long skeleton of an ancient whale.

The rich soil of the vineyards was laid down five millions years ago in the Pliocene, a time when Tuscany was covered by a warm, shallow sea rich in fauna.

The skeleton, which resembles a modern rorqual whale, is almost complete and well preserved. It belongs to the group of large baleen whales that includes the blue, humpback, and fin whales.

The excavation team, led by palaeontologist Menotti Mazzini of the University of Florence, are working on a month long excavation, after which the skeleton will be removed to be cleaned and restored. The winery has requested permission from Italy's Department of Cultural Heritage to host the fossil and display it to the public in Banfi's museum.

Cristina, M. March 23, 2007. Ancient Whale Fossil Uncovered in Tuscan Vineyard. National Geographic News.

Friday's Mystery Fossil

HINT: The feature running across the top of the picture will tell you what kind of (vertebrate) animal it is and the feature in the bottom right hand corner will narrow down the group.

Tough one! Any guesses?

Friday's Mystery Fossil Revealed

Congratulations to Mambo Bob for his response. Friday's Mystery Fossil was indeed a theropod and specifically a Tyrannosaurus but not Sue of the Chicago Field Museum. Rather, the picture is of a specimen at Palais de la découverte in Paris. Also, points Malacoda for his imaginative guess (an obvious asset in palaeontology:)

The image may be familiar to some as it was featured in my January posting, CSI: Garfield County.

Image copyright ©2005 David Monniaux.

Friday's Mystery Fossil:

HINT: Because this photo isn't at a high enough resolution, you cannot see the fine serrations on edges of the individual elements.

Come on, this one isn't too hard. Any guesses?

In The News...

I was talking to some of my friends the other day about palaeo news stories and how it is interesting to see what types of stories move from the academic world to the general audience. In case you missed some of them here are a couple of recent stories I found particularly interesting. I will link to news items occasionally, preferably to popular news sites instead of journals because I am aware that outside of an academic institution journals are not easily accessible.

Two-headed reptile fossil found
Popular News Site: BBC
Original Publication: Biology Letters

Earliest flying mammal discovered
Popular News Site: BBC
Original Publication: Nature

Clues found for early Europeans
Popular News Site: BBC
Original Publication: Science