Latest news with #OldDominionUniversity
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Paleontologists Discover Prehistoric ‘Dance Floor' Where Dinosaurs Courted Mates
Dinosaurs may have ruled the prehistoric world with their size and strength, but apparently, they also had moves. A team of researchers in Colorado has uncovered one of the largest known dinosaur 'dance arenas,' an ancient mating ground where male theropods likely performed ritualistic displays to attract females. Using high-resolution drone photography and 3D modeling at Dinosaur Ridge near Denver, the team identified dozens of clustered scrape marks in the sandstone — a prehistoric 'dance floor' etched into the earth more than 100 million years ago. The site builds on previous discoveries of similar scrape marks called leks, where male animals gather to compete for female attention. But this newly analyzed area suggests a massive congregation, with markings that scientists believe show not just nest displays but physical courtship performances. 'These trace fossils, we interpret them to be evidence of dinosaur courtship activities,' study co-author Caldwell Buntin of Old Dominion University told ABC News. 'They likely built display nests and performed some kind of dance or scraping activity to impress mates, which are behaviors we still see in modern birds like plovers.' The scrape marks belong to theropod dinosaurs, a group that includes raptors and the infamous T. rex. Based on the impressions, these dinosaurs stood around three to four feet at the hip and stretched up to 16 feet long. The patterns vary from shallow toe marks to deep bowl-shaped scrapes—even circular patterns hinting at dance-like movements. The discovery, published in the latest research from Dinosaur Ridge, pushes our understanding of dinosaur behavior beyond hunting and migration. It also suggests that some mating rituals date back tens of millions of years and could be part of a deep evolutionary connection between dinosaurs and modern birds. Perhaps best of all, the site is open to the public, meaning visitors can stand right where these ancient creatures showed off their best moves. 'It's rare to find evidence of behavior, not just bones or tracks,' said co-author Neffra Matthews. 'And it's even rarer to find a site like this that people can actually go see for themselves.' Turns out, dinosaurs weren't just prehistoric predators. They may have been prehistoric showmen, Discover Prehistoric 'Dance Floor' Where Dinosaurs Courted Mates first appeared on Men's Journal on Jul 21, 2025 Solve the daily Crossword
Medscape
4 days ago
- Health
- Medscape
Diverticular Disease Demystified: Myths, Risks & Modern Care
This transcript has been edited for clarity. Hello. I'm Dr David Johnson, professor of medicine and chief of gastroenterology at Eastern Virginia Medical School and Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. Welcome back to GI Common Concerns . Diverticulosis and diverticulitis are both incredibly common conditions. It's estimated that over 70% of people aged 80 or older who undergo colonoscopy will have diverticulosis. Approximately 4% of those will develop diverticulitis in their lifetime, and roughly 15% of those cases will be complicated disease. Patients frequently ask what they can do to prevent diverticulitis or its recurrence, and the evidence to inform such conversations has evolved in recent years. This video provides an update on where we are presently. Rethinking Dietary Causes We've long emphasized diet in the management of diverticulosis and diverticulitis, and we considered it axiomatic that patients need to avoid corn, nuts, and seeds. However, a 2008 prospective cohort study in men challenged that approach, observing no association between consuming those dietary components and the risk of developing diverticulosis or diverticular complications. Although that study was performed exclusively in men, the lifetime risk for diverticulitis is actually higher in women, at approximately 5% vs 3.1%, respectively. A recent prospective analysis published in Annals of Internal Medicine from researchers at University of North Carolina adds important insights. It used validated dietary questionnaires in a large cohort of women [who had a sister with breast cancer but did not have breast cancer themselves at enrollment]. This allowed investigators to determine incident cases of diverticulitis over time, without the risk of recall bias. Researchers identified more than 1500 incident cases of diverticulitis for nearly 415,000 patient years of follow-up. They reported no association between a primary diagnosis of diverticulitis and consumption of corn, nuts, or seeds, including fresh fruits with seeds. Similarly, there was no link between those foods and the development of complicated diverticulitis resulting in abscess surgery or fistula. Collectively, these findings indicate that our patients do not necessarily need to avoid these foods. Instead, we can advise them to adopt an anti-inflammatory diet, such as the Mediterranean diet, which this recent study in women indicated had risk-reduction benefits. My own patients find these diets very easy to follow and quite practical. Modifiable Risk Factors for Recurrence The recurrence rate for diverticulitis is notably high. Within the first year after complete recovery, 8% of patients have an episode of recurrence, and approximately 20% within 10 years. The risk increases with subsequent episodes. After a second episode, it rises to 18% at 1 year and 50% at 10 years. After a third episode, the risk for recurrence is 40% at 3 years. Therefore, it's important to identify for our patients anything they can prospectively and proactively do to prevent a recurrent episode. There are several commonsense risk factors our patients should avoid. Smoking reduction or abstinence has proven benefits. Alcoholism, but not alcohol in and of itself, is associated with a higher risk. Chronic nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) use is a known risk factor. Guidelines recommend the avoidance of regular NSAID use, although aspirin should be continued when justified for cardiac indications. Weight reduction, particularly among those with truncal obesity, seems to reduce the risk for diverticulitis. Vigorous physical activity also has an inverse, beneficial relationship for diverticulitis. Identifying all these approaches is a good, simple way to help patients going forward. Symptoms, Scans, and Supplementation The guidelines are shifting around the rush to use antibiotics for episodes of recurrence. For uncomplicated diverticulitis, antibiotics don't seem to do better than not using antibiotics. In general, we have shifted toward advising that patients adopt a clear liquid diet, avoid antibiotics, and inform us if they experience any alarm features, particularly fever or worsening pain. Exceptions to the recommendations to avoid antibiotics are made for patients who are frail, have multiple comorbidities, are immunocompromised, or have laboratory findings of severe inflammation, including C-reactive protein > 140 mg/L or a white blood count > 15,000. In such patients, antibiotics are still indicated right away. The extent of diverticulitis involvement on a CT scan would also be an indication for antibiotics. However, we don't want to rush to recommend a CT scan in all patients. This reflects our increasing awareness of the radiogenic risk of CT scans and abdominal CT scans, which I discussed in a recent video. CT scans are really overutilized, and we potentially need to take a step back in when we use them. Vitamin D status is another important factor, which I touched on in a recent article. Low vitamin D levels are associated with a higher risk for diverticulitis. I routinely check the vitamin D levels in my patients and generally recommend vitamin D supplementation, given its very low risk and potential prophylactic value in patients with a history of diverticulitis. Genetic Predisposition There's a strong genetic predisposition for diverticulitis, which we often overlook in our discussions with patients. Over 30 genetic loci have been associated with diverticulosis, and at least four seem to be associated with diverticulitis. This is key when considering patients with a family history of diverticulitis, including their siblings. In monozygotic twins, the risk is higher than in dizygotic twins, accounting for about 50% of the recurrence risk for diverticulitis. We need to be proactive when asking about family history in order to identify patients who are at greater risk for disease development or recurrence. Lastly, I always tell my patients that intermittent, lingering symptoms, such as cramping, are quite common. About 45% of patients experience intermittent symptoms after recovery, which is mostly attributable to visceral hypersensitivity. There may also be a microbiome-related explanation for motility-related muscular changes related to diverticular disease. We can assure patients that they don't need to be alarmed by such symptoms, nor must they seek out immediate help from their healthcare provider. These symptoms are different from the acute and persistent worsening pain typified for diverticulitis. Instead, we can consider treating them with antispasmodics or low-dose antidepressants to manage their symptoms. I hope this overview gives you practical, evidence-based tools for discussing the management of diverticular disease with your patients. These conversations can be a lot more meaningful when supported by the latest data, allowing us all to do a better job. I'm Dr David Johnson. Thanks for listening, and I look forward to chatting with you again soon.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Large dinosaur mating 'dance arena' discovered in Colorado
Researchers have discovered evidence of one of the largest dinosaur mating "dance arenas" in present-day Colorado. Previous studies have identified a couple of "dinosaur lek" areas -- where male dinosaurs likely congregated to perform courtship displays for females, primarily for the purpose of finding a mate -- at Dinosaur Ridge, 20 miles west of Denver. However, using high-resolution drone photography and photogrammetry to make 3D models of the sandstone at Dinosaur Ridge, a team reexamined the area to see if there were more markings on the surface. MORE: Jurassic Park-ing lot: Dino fossil turns Denver museum into dig site What they found were dozens of lek traces tightly clustered together, suggesting the area was once a site to perform mating rituals, similar to some modern-day birds. "So, these trace fossils, we interpret them to be evidence of dinosaur courtship activities, just from kind of process of elimination," Caldwell Buntin, co-author of the study and a lecturer at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, told ABC News. Buntin said the team ruled out that these "scrapes" were caused by dinosaurs digging for food and water, from marking their territories or from colonial nesting, which is when animals build their nests close together in groups. "Basically, these were a lot of organisms that were coming together, performing some kind of activity that would include building some kind of nest to display to a female, and then maybe doing some kind of a dance or scraping activity, which generates a lot of the scrapes around the nest display structure," Buntin said. The scrapes belong to theropod dinosaurs, characterized by hollow bones and three toes and claws on each limb, which were alive during the Cretaceous period, between 145 million and 66 million years ago. It's not clear which species made the scrapes, but they were likely three to four feet high at the hip and were between 2.5 and 5 meters (8 to 16 feet) long, from the size of an emu to the size of an ostrich, according to Buntin. MORE: New horned dinosaur species discovered 'largest and most ornate' of its kind ever found There's a "spectrum of different scrapes," according to Buntin. Some are simple, shallow toe claw marks, indicating one or two scrapes from the left and right legs. There are also longer scrapes overprinting one another, resembling a wagon rut. Additionally, there are semicircular bowl-shaped marks "associated with a step backward" with a second set of scrapes "indicating a counterclockwise or a clockwise turn." Lastly, there are deep bowl-shaped marks with some shallow toe claw marks, Buntin said. In terms of behavior, Buntin said these dinosaurs most resemble that of banded plovers, which are small shorebirds. "Basically, they will dig out a nest display, basically a fake nest, to be able to show a female that, 'Hey, I'm a strong male. I can dig this. I can make a good, strong place for you to lay your eggs,'" Buntin said. "And then when a female comes to visit, they'll perform a dance which consists of kind of bowing, bobbing, raising their wings out, creating some scratches around the sides of that display nest." The authors emphasized that the site is public, meaning anybody can visit and see the scrapes for themselves compared to other scrap sites, which are on federally protected land. "It does really make it a very, very unique site, because not only does it have this amazing like type behavior displayed, but it also is so accessible for lots of people to be able to see it and understand better about the behavior of these wonderful animals that we can see now," Neffra Matthews, study co-author and former employee of the Bureau of Land Management, told ABC News. Solve the daily Crossword
5 days ago
- Science
Large dinosaur mating 'dance arena' discovered in Colorado
Researchers have discovered evidence of one of the largest dinosaur mating "dance arenas" in present-day Colorado. Previous studies have identified a couple of "dinosaur lek" areas -- where male dinosaurs likely congregated to perform courtship displays for females, primarily for the purpose of finding a mate -- at Dinosaur Ridge, 20 miles west of Denver. However, using high-resolution drone photography and photogrammetry to make 3D models of the sandstone at Dinosaur Ridge, a team reexamined the area to see if there were more markings on the surface. What they found were dozens of lek traces tightly clustered together, suggesting the area was once a site to perform mating rituals, similar to some modern-day birds. "So, these trace fossils, we interpret them to be evidence of dinosaur courtship activities, just from kind of process of elimination," Caldwell Buntin, co-author of the study and a lecturer at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, told ABC News. Buntin said the team ruled out that these "scrapes" were caused by dinosaurs digging for food and water, from marking their territories or from colonial nesting, which is when animals build their nests close together in groups. "Basically, these were a lot of organisms that were coming together, performing some kind of activity that would include building some kind of nest to display to a female, and then maybe doing some kind of a dance or scraping activity, which generates a lot of the scrapes around the nest display structure," Buntin said. The scrapes belong to theropod dinosaurs, characterized by hollow bones and three toes and claws on each limb, which were alive during the Cretaceous period, between 145 million and 66 million years ago. It's not clear which species made the scrapes, but they were likely three to four feet high at the hip and were between 2.5 and 5 meters (8 to 16 feet) long, from the size of an emu to the size of an ostrich, according to Buntin. There's a "spectrum of different scrapes," according to Buntin. Some are simple, shallow toe claw marks, indicating one or two scrapes from the left and right legs. There are also longer scrapes overprinting one another, resembling a wagon rut. Additionally, there are semicircular bowl-shaped marks "associated with a step backward" with a second set of scrapes "indicating a counterclockwise or a clockwise turn." Lastly, there are deep bowl-shaped marks with some shallow toe claw marks, Buntin said. In terms of behavior, Buntin said these dinosaurs most resemble that of banded plovers, which are small shorebirds. "Basically, they will dig out a nest display, basically a fake nest, to be able to show a female that, 'Hey, I'm a strong male. I can dig this. I can make a good, strong place for you to lay your eggs,'" Buntin said. "And then when a female comes to visit, they'll perform a dance which consists of kind of bowing, bobbing, raising their wings out, creating some scratches around the sides of that display nest." The authors emphasized that the site is public, meaning anybody can visit and see the scrapes for themselves compared to other scrap sites, which are on federally protected land. "It does really make it a very, very unique site, because not only does it have this amazing like type behavior displayed, but it also is so accessible for lots of people to be able to see it and understand better about the behavior of these wonderful animals that we can see now," Neffra Matthews, study co-author and former employee of the Bureau of Land Management, told ABC News.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Large dinosaur mating 'dance arena' discovered in Colorado
Researchers have discovered evidence of one of the largest dinosaur mating "dance arenas" in present-day Colorado. Previous studies have identified a couple of "dinosaur lek" areas -- where male dinosaurs likely congregated to perform courtship displays for females, primarily for the purpose of finding a mate -- at Dinosaur Ridge, 20 miles west of Denver. However, using high-resolution drone photography and photogrammetry to make 3D models of the sandstone at Dinosaur Ridge, a team reexamined the area to see if there were more markings on the surface. MORE: Jurassic Park-ing lot: Dino fossil turns Denver museum into dig site What they found were dozens of lek traces tightly clustered together, suggesting the area was once a site to perform mating rituals, similar to some modern-day birds. "So, these trace fossils, we interpret them to be evidence of dinosaur courtship activities, just from kind of process of elimination," Caldwell Buntin, co-author of the study and a lecturer at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, told ABC News. Buntin said the team ruled out that these "scrapes" were caused by dinosaurs digging for food and water, from marking their territories or from colonial nesting, which is when animals build their nests close together in groups. "Basically, these were a lot of organisms that were coming together, performing some kind of activity that would include building some kind of nest to display to a female, and then maybe doing some kind of a dance or scraping activity, which generates a lot of the scrapes around the nest display structure," Buntin said. The scrapes belong to theropod dinosaurs, characterized by hollow bones and three toes and claws on each limb, which were alive during the Cretaceous period, between 145 million and 66 million years ago. It's not clear which species made the scrapes, but they were likely three to four feet high at the hip and were between 2.5 and 5 meters (8 to 16 feet) long, from the size of an emu to the size of an ostrich, according to Buntin. MORE: New horned dinosaur species discovered 'largest and most ornate' of its kind ever found There's a "spectrum of different scrapes," according to Buntin. Some are simple, shallow toe claw marks, indicating one or two scrapes from the left and right legs. There are also longer scrapes overprinting one another, resembling a wagon rut. Additionally, there are semicircular bowl-shaped marks "associated with a step backward" with a second set of scrapes "indicating a counterclockwise or a clockwise turn." Lastly, there are deep bowl-shaped marks with some shallow toe claw marks, Buntin said. In terms of behavior, Buntin said these dinosaurs most resemble that of banded plovers, which are small shorebirds. "Basically, they will dig out a nest display, basically a fake nest, to be able to show a female that, 'Hey, I'm a strong male. I can dig this. I can make a good, strong place for you to lay your eggs,'" Buntin said. "And then when a female comes to visit, they'll perform a dance which consists of kind of bowing, bobbing, raising their wings out, creating some scratches around the sides of that display nest." The authors emphasized that the site is public, meaning anybody can visit and see the scrapes for themselves compared to other scrap sites, which are on federally protected land. "It does really make it a very, very unique site, because not only does it have this amazing like type behavior displayed, but it also is so accessible for lots of people to be able to see it and understand better about the behavior of these wonderful animals that we can see now," Neffra Matthews, study co-author and former employee of the Bureau of Land Management, told ABC News.
