Latest news with #Cretaceous-era
BBC News
07-05-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Fossil of 30-foot 'sea dragon' found
Geologists in the United States have unearthed the fossil of a Cretaceous-era mosasaur - sometimes referred to as a "sea dragon". The fossilised backbone of a Mosasaurus hoffmannii was found on a riverbank in the Mississippi River. Researchers only found a single vertebra of the dinosaur which means they can't be sure how big the mosasaur was. However, they believe the sea dragon could have been at least 30 feet (around 9 metres) and could have even been up to 50ft (15.24m) long. That's around the same length as a double-decker bus!
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Geologists Found the Fossil of a Stunning 30-Foot Sea Dragon in Mississippi, of All Places
Geologists recently discovered the fossil of a Cretaceous-era mosasaur vertebra near Starkville, Mississippi. The experts believe the apex predator of the ancient seas could have weighed 20,000 pounds and been 50 feet long. The Late Cretaceous-era Mosasaurus hoffmannii was known to eat others of its own species. Whatever you want to call the Mosasaurus hoffmannii—a giant mosasaur, a massive water dragon, maybe even a sea monster—just know that it was one big dino, and we've got the bones to prove it. Geologists in Mississippi recently discovered the vertebra of the Late Cretaceous-era water dinosaur, which could reach up to 50 feet long and weigh 20,000 pounds at its largest. It was truly an apex predator extraordinaire. The find came in the fossil-rich outcrops of northeast Mississippi, near Starkville in the Prairie Bluff Formation, according to a statement from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, and the discovery sheds new light on the 'giant sea lizard' that was a contemporary of the Tyrannosaurus rex, Velociraptor, and Triceratops. This Cretaceous carnivore was not to be messed with. It had jaws lined with 60 dagger-like pointed teeth curved inward—with additional rows of teeth at the roof of the back of their mouths to help secure large prey, including other mosasaurs—and the subaquatic dinos could regrow the teeth, which they frequently lost while hunting. 'Mosasaurs were sea dragons, both large and small, and were truly the apex predators dominating the various environments of the seas of this time,' according to the state's geologists. 'While the dinosaurs ruled the land, these Mesozoic-era oceans were likely the most dangerous of any time in the entire history of our planet.' The recent discovery was 'from a true giant,' the team said, adding it belonged to a M. hoffmannii, one of the largest and last mosasaurs during the Cretaceous period. Its size, coupled with its agility and speed in the water, made it 'one of the most formidable marine predators to ever swim in our planet's oceans.' Noting that in a period where much of Mississippi was believed covered by warm, tropical ocean waters, mosasaurs were akin to a giant lizard that was specialized in this environment. This specimen belongs to the largest-ever M. hoffmannii recorded in the state and would have been larger than most dinosaurs on land. 'This is a true, true sea monster,' James Starnes of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality's Office of Geology, told the Hattiesburg American. 'This is about as big as mosasaurs get.' George Phillips, paleontology curator at the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, told the Hattiesburg American, this find—with a backbone seven inches at its widest point—was likely at least 30 feet long, though the M. hoffmannii is believed to be able to reach 50 feet in length. 'We find them from time to time, but to find one this size is phenomenal,' Starnes said. 'The transparent size of this thing blew us away.' The team located the vertebra in mud while building a three-dimensional map of the site's geological layers. It may have sat there for about 66 million years, the team believes, ever since the species went extinct at the end of the Cretaceous period. You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Ginormous Claws Found in The Gobi Desert Belong to a Never-Before-Seen Species
A newly discovered species of feathered, bipedal dinosaur with "exceptionally preserved and atypical hands" had just two fingers, each one tipped with a gigantic, claw-like talon. A remarkable fossil specimen found in southeastern Mongolia gave researchers a clear idea of what the claws would have looked like in real life, with their keratin sheath still clearly visible, extending the bones into wicked talons. In their published study, a team led by paleontologist Yoshitsugu Kobayashi from Hokkaido University in Japan analyzed the fossils' appearance, similarities to relatives, and geological context to determine where to place this dinosaur in our records. They've named it Duonychus tsogtbaatari, with a genus that means 'two claws' in Greek, and a species name honoring Mongolian paleontologist Khishigjav Tsogtbaatar. The fossil was dug out of a Cretaceous sedimentary deposit in the Gobi Desert by a team of researchers from the Mongolian Academy of Sciences in 2012. Known as the Bayanshiree Formation, this area is a hotspot for dinosaur fossils, thanks to its arid conditions and layers of lithified mud, clay, and sand. It's turned up giant footprints, plane-sized pterosaurs, and the famous 'fighting dinosaurs'. Uranium-lead dating of the mineral layers adjacent to the find suggests this newly discovered fossil could be around 90 to 95 million years old. Most of the bones are from its upper limbs and torso: There are some vertebrae, a bit of pelvis and ribs, part of one shoulder blade, and a whole lot of arm and hand bones. And, of course, a set of nails that would make Cardi B jealous. Duonychus's claws measure almost 30 centimeters (12 inches) long. It joins the therizinosaurs, a group of feathered, bipedal dinosaurs found in Cretaceous-era fossil deposits across Asia and North America. Until now, this clade was defined by its members' three-fingered hands, also studded with massive claws. "The discovery of Duonychus tsogtbaatari is a big deal because it's the first known therizinosaur with only two fingers," Kobayashi told James Woodford of New Scientist. "Most theropods, including other therizinosaurs, kept three functional fingers, so finding one that lost a digit is pretty unexpected." Among theropods, of which Tyrannosaurus is the most notable, only five are known to have reduced or totally absent third fingers, all independently of each other, and seemingly for totally different reasons. We won't know why Duonychus settled with two fingers rather than three without extra specimens or analysis, but the researchers think it may be related to its method of feeding. The menacing curves and 90-degree range of motion suggest the dinosaur grasped onto vegetation, like a sloth or chameleon. This may have helped Duonychus pull leafy food towards its mouth, in true therizinosaur fashion. "As herbivorous or omnivorous theropods with long necks and small leaf-shaped teeth, the evolution of their unusual hands likely played an important role in the feeding ecology of this clade," the authors write in a paper describing the find. "Although claws usually have a dominant function, likely for hook-and-pull foraging in most derived therizinosaurs, these structures could also have been utilized for other purposes, such as territoriality, defense, courtship, play, etc." The researchers say these are the largest three-dimensional dinosaur claws preserved with the sheath and underlying finger bone intact. "Keratin usually doesn't fossilize. It decays long before bones do," Kobayashi told Woodford. "Most of the time, when we find dinosaur claws, we're only looking at the bony core. But in life, the actual claw would have been covered in a thick keratin sheath, making it longer and more curved." The research was published in iScience. IUCN Sounds Alarm as 411 Fungi Species Face Extinction Mysterious Giants May Be a Whole New Kind of Life That No Longer Exists Venus Flytrap Wasp: 99-Million-Year-Old Amber Reveals Bizarre New Species
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
‘Truly unusual' fossil discovery shows us what fish ate 66 million years ago
An extremely rare dinosaur-era animal vomit fossil has been discovered in Denmark, the Museum of East Zealand announced on Monday. The find was made by an amateur fossil hunter on the Cliffs of Stevns, and offers 'exceptional evidence' of the meteorite impact around 65 million years ago that brought an end to the era of dinosaurs, according to Unesco. The fossil hunter, Peter Bennicke, stumbled upon an unusually hardened blob containing pieces of sea lily in a piece of chalk. He then brought his find to a museum where it was cleaned and examined by Dutch sea lily expert John Jagt. Researchers dated the fossil animal regurgitate to the end of the Cretaceous era nearly 66 million years ago. They concluded the fossil vomit contained two species of sea lilies that were likely eaten by a fish. 'The collection consisted of at least two different species of sea lilies mixed in a round clump and must be the remains of sea lilies eaten by an animal which had subsequently regurgitated the indigestible parts,' the Museum of East Zealand said in a statement. Museum curator Jesper Milàn called the fossil a 'truly unusual find'. 'Sea lilies aren't a particularly nutritious diet as they mainly consist of calcareous plates held together by very few soft parts,' Mr Milàn explained. 'But here's an animal, probably a type of fish, that 66 million years ago ate sea lilies that lived on the bottom of the Cretaceous sea and regurgitated the skeletal parts back up.' Researchers said further examination of the fossil could provide insights into the relationship between predators and prey in the Cretaceous-era sea. The fossil is expected to go on display in a small exhibit at Denmark's Geomuseum Faxe in February. Such fossils were key to reconstructing ancient ecosystems and could provide important knowledge about food chains, scientists said. A study of fossilised faeces and vomit found in Poland last year revealed how early dinosaurs in the Triassic era, 252 to 201 million years ago, competed for food. By examining the fossils for undigested plants and prey matter, scientists could reconstruct the feeding patterns of several species and the ecology of the time. They were surprised to find burnt plant remains in some of the fossil faeces of giant herbivorous dinosaurs, raising questions about whether these animals deliberately ate charcoal to neutralise toxins in their food.
The Independent
28-01-2025
- Science
- The Independent
‘Truly unusual' fossil discovery shows us what fish ate 66 million years ago
An extremely rare dinosaur-era animal vomit fossil has been discovered in Denmark, the Museum of East Zealand announced on Monday. The find was made by an amateur fossil hunter on the Cliffs of Stevns, which offers 'exceptional evidence' of the meteorite impact on Earth about 65 million years ago that brought an end to the era of dinosaurs, according to Unesco. The fossil hunter, Peter Bennicke, stumbled upon an unusually hardened blob containing pieces of sea lily in a piece of chalk. He then brought his find to a museum where it was cleaned and examined by Dutch sea lily expert John Jagt. Researchers dated the fossil animal regurgitate to the end of the Cretaceous era nearly 66 million years ago. They concluded the fossil vomit contained two species of sea lilies that were likely eaten by a fish. 'The collection consisted of at least two different species of sea lilies mixed in a round clump and must be the remains of sea lilies eaten by an animal which had subsequently regurgitated the indigestible parts,' the Museum of East Zealand said in a statement. Museum curator Jesper Milàn called the fossil a 'truly unusual find'. 'Sea lilies aren't a particularly nutritious diet as they mainly consist of calcareous plates held together by very few soft parts,' Mr Milàn explained. 'But here's an animal, probably a type of fish, that 66 million years ago ate sea lilies that lived on the bottom of the Cretaceous sea and regurgitated the skeletal parts back up.' Researchers said further examination of the fossil could provide insights into the relationship between predators and prey in the Cretaceous-era sea as well as the food chains of the time. The fossil was expected to go on display in a small exhibit at Denmark's Geomuseum Faxe in February. Such fossils were key to reconstructing ancient ecosystems and could provide important knowledge about which animals ate which animals, scientists said. A study of fossilised faeces and vomit found in Poland last year revealed how early dinosaurs in the Triassic era, 252 to 201 million years ago, competed for food. By examining the fossils for undigested plants and prey matter, scientists could reconstruct the feeding patterns of several species and the ecology of the time. They were surprised to find burnt plant remains in some of the fossil faeces of giant herbivorous dinosaurs, raising questions about whether these animals deliberately ate charcoal to neutralise toxins in their food.
