Giant ‘megaraptor' dinosaur species discovered in Australia
The research, published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology on Thursday, identifies five new species of four-legged dinosaurs whose fossils were unearthed from Victoria's coastline.
Researchers excavated dinosaur shin bones and vertebrae at two fossil sites in Victoria – the upper Strzelecki Group dated to 121 million years ago and the Eumeralla Formation from about 113 million years ago.
The fossils provide unique insights into an ancient Australian ecosystem dominated by powerful 'megaraptor' dinosaurs measuring 6-7 metres in length.
Two of the new megaraptor species are the oldest known globally and shed light on the evolutionary history of the group that includes the iconic velociraptor made famous by Jurassic Park films.
The latest study highlights the role played by Australia 's dinosaurs in the ecosystems of the ancient world, a large part of which was clustered into the giant supercontinent Gondwanaland. These 'megaraptorids' lived alongside the smaller 'carcharodontosaurs', which were 2-4 metres long, as well as the even smaller but more agile 'unenlagiines' or 'southern raptors'.
'Two megaraptorid specimens from the upper Strzelecki Group demonstrate that this clade had achieved large body size at the time of its first appearance in the fossil record,' scientists said.
Jake Kotevski, a co-author of the study, called the latest discovery 'groundbreaking' due to the unique insights it offers into Australia's ecosystem during the Cretaceous era between 145 and 65 million years ago.
'It's fascinating to see how Victoria's predator hierarchy diverged from South America, where carcharodontosaurs reached Tyrannosaurus rex -like sizes up to 13 metres, towering over megaraptorids,' Mr Kotevski said.
'Here, the roles were reversed, highlighting the uniqueness of Australia's Cretaceous ecosystem.'
The new study offers 'compelling evidence' for the interchange of animals between Australia and South America via Antarctica during the Early Cretaceous era, scientists said.
It also highlights the key contributions of community volunteers working alongside seasoned researchers to further understanding of Australia's dinosaurs.
'The findings also challenge previous assumptions about body-size hierarchies in Gondwanan predator ecosystems highlighting Victoria's unique Cretaceous fauna,' said Thomas Rich, senior curator of vertebrate palaeontology at Museums Victoria Research Institute.
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The Guardian
3 days ago
- The Guardian
The power of pulses: 15 easy, delicious ways to eat more life-changing legumes
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'You will finish up with well over double their volume – it's a really economical way to have a ready supply. They will keep in their cooking water for five days in the fridge and you can freeze any leftovers. Use them in salads, soups, purees, curries, stews and even puddings – they will become the bedrock of your cooking.' Pulses are for everyone. 'You do not have to be vegetarian or vegan to enjoy pulses – far from it,' says Maidment. 'We should all be eating more pulses. For instance, in a traybake, I'll use one chicken thigh per person instead of two, and add a can of chickpeas or butter beans. I often add a can of lentils to bolognese. You're still getting filling protein, but with the added benefits of gut-friendly fibre and numerous other minerals, vitamins and antioxidants.' They make meals go much further. 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She adds black beans or borlotti beans to dark berry smoothies, and chickpeas, cannellini beans or butter beans to green smoothies. Pulse-based pasta is worth a try. There is an increasing range of high-fibre pasta made from pulse flour: peas, lentils, chickpeas, black beans, mung beans … Chandler enjoys this alternative pasta, but says she doesn't use it in classical Italian dishes: 'I may use it in a pasta salad, say, or team it with a blue cheese and walnut sauce.' Yonan agrees that pulse pasta is best paired with 'pungent flavours – super-garlicky or spicy'. Pulses aren't just for savoury dishes. Yonan makes a chocolate and chickpea tart, and adds adzuki beans to brownies. 'Adzuki beans are used in a lot of Asian desserts, such as mochi and ice-cream,' he says. Maidment prefers to use kidney beans in her brownies, while Chandler has a recipe for a simple chocolate and cannellini bean mousse. Drain and retain the liquid from a tin of cannellini beans. Blitz the beans with 150g of melted dark chocolate and an optional tablespoon of cocoa powder. Whisk the liquid for five to 10 minutes, until frothy. Fold into the melted chocolate and bean mix, and sweeten with a couple of tablespoons of maple or date syrup. Chill the mix before eating, perhaps topped with some chopped stem ginger in syrup, or served with fresh raspberries. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
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South Wales Guardian
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Scientists discover ‘deceptively cute' ancient whale
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