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Old 28-11-2015, 16:27
TelevisionUser
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Thanks for keeping this thread going, Keyser will be happy. I love reading it.
Thanks. I particularly liked the dino egg nest article because it answered a previously undetermined question.

PS I used to once work in a museum where there were loads of skellingtons (and still are!).
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Old 28-11-2015, 19:01
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Wow, you lucky thing. I went to the Oxford University Museum of Natural History and absolutely loved it, I could have spent all day there. Fascinating.
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Old 05-12-2015, 17:07
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Below we've got some interesting dino news from the UK itself:

Hundreds of giant dinosaur footprints found in Scottish lagoon. Nessie may be a mythical creature, but Scotland was once home to enormous dinosaurs that waded in shallow waters.

And now for something that's decidedly controversial in nature:

Most of Earth’s mass extinctions caused by… mineral deficiencies. Could a lack of essential trace elements in the world’s oceans be the cause of most of Earth’s mass extinctions?

I remain to be convinced by that article and I'd like to see further research on that particular subject. I can't see it being a primary cause of mass extinctions but as an ancillary factor, possibly. For example, mineral deficiencies might hinder species recover after an extinction event.
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Old 19-12-2015, 14:04
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We have two completely separate items today.

The first is a new dinosaur find in Spain and it's a type that's entirely new to science:

A distinctive new dinosaur with a “sail” on its back has just been unearthed in Spain. The new plant-eating dino, named Morelladon beltrani, adds to a growing number of medium to large-bodied dinosaurs of a similar kind that have all been found in the region that now comprises parts of Spain and Portugal.

Secondly, we have the solution to the mystery of how the huge marine reptiles, the plesiosaurs, moved along in the water:

200-year-old fossil mystery resolved. Scientists have reconstructed how an ancient reptile swam in the oceans at the time of the dinosaurs.
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Old 22-12-2015, 12:54
CLL Dodge
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Nicolas Cage to return a Mongolian Tyrannosaurus skull now known to have been stolen:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-35159082
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Old 22-12-2015, 16:53
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Nicolas Cage to return a Mongolian Tyrannosaurus skull now known to have been stolen:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-35159082
He's done the right thing and what I would like to see is anyone in the supply chain, including that Beverly Hills gallery, prosecuted for their involvement in the trade of stolen fossils which is a problem in some areas of the world. That means that stolen fossils aren't available to museums and scientist to examine and so important discoveries can be missed. It's a highly unethical and irresponsible thing to do.
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Old 05-01-2016, 22:47
Keyser_Soze1
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More links to follow later.

*Edit - Bloody links did not work.

Bah! Humbug!
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Old 06-01-2016, 13:21
Keyser_Soze1
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An fascinating article that some of you may enjoy.

I do not necessarily agree that the other giant theropods have had such a bad rap - remember Horner's T.rex 'scavenger' cobblers forever (and wrongly) reported in the media for decades?

Also the endless hype over the last twenty years of every new theropod approaching rexy in size - all were initially described as larger including Spinosaurus (JPIII tosh), Giganotosaurus, Carcharodontosaurus, Mapusaurus etc.

But in the end every species was found to be lighter and less powerful than the Tyrant King (although some were slightly longer).

But as always this blogger has an interesting perspective on non-avian dinosaurian behaviour.

http://antediluviansalad.blogspot.fr...ia-taking.html
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Old 06-01-2016, 14:47
Shrike
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Keyser, you're back!

I was worried you'd gone extinct!
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Old 06-01-2016, 15:41
njp
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Keyser, you're back!

I was worried you'd gone extinct!
Luckily, they were able to recover some of his DNA from a piece of amber and recreate him.
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Old 07-01-2016, 16:15
WhatJoeThinks
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Luckily, they were able to recover some of his DNA from a piece of amber and recreate him.
Life, uh, finds a way.
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Old 07-01-2016, 16:24
Shrike
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Luckily, they were able to recover some of his DNA from a piece of amber and recreate him.
Life, uh, finds a way.
But they were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should!

Now Keyser Soze prowls DS again!
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Old 07-01-2016, 16:28
Keyser_Soze1
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But they were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should!

Now Keyser Soze prowls DS again!
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Old 08-01-2016, 18:35
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The Spinosaurus saga rumbles on, the Palaeontology year of 2015 in review (with predictions for 2016) and theropod lek (mating display) behaviour in the brutal sauropod killer Acrocanthosaurus.

https://qilong.wordpress.com/2016/01...t-spinosaurus/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0tqDtk_gZM

http://www.livescience.com/53294-din...-evidence.html

http://news.discovery.com/animals/di...als-160107.htm

http://news.sciencemag.org/plants-an...irds-woo-mates
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Old 08-01-2016, 20:17
CLL Dodge
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Great news, Keyser's back. We didn't do a great job of keeping this thread on the front page where it belongs.
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Old 08-01-2016, 20:26
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Luckily, they were able to recover some of his DNA from a piece of amber and recreate him.
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Old 08-01-2016, 21:44
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Great news, Keyser's back. We didn't do a great job of keeping this thread on the front page where it belongs.
However, some of us did try to the keep the threads going by the posting of new and relevant items.

The Spinosaurus saga rumbles on, the Palaeontology year of 2015 in review (with predictions for 2016) and theropod lek (mating display) behaviour in the brutal sauropod killer Acrocanthosaurus.

http://news.discovery.com/animals/di...als-160107.htm

http://news.sciencemag.org/plants-an...irds-woo-mates
Those reports are quite interesting because they show that the mating ritual behaviour was ingrained and had been developing and going on for millions of years.

That very display behaviour can, of course, be seen in the descendents of the dinosaurs, the birds, as we can see right here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcCP4_R8QBw
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Old 08-01-2016, 22:27
Keyser_Soze1
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However, some of us did try to the keep the threads going by the posting of new and relevant items.


Those reports are quite interesting because they show that the mating ritual behaviour was ingrained and had been developing and going on for millions of years.

That very display behaviour can, of course, be seen in the descendents of the dinosaurs, the birds, as we can see right here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcCP4_R8QBw
Yes, and it was much appreciated - I expected the thread to disappear.

What I want in 2016 is the discovery of some superbly preserved fossils that finally prove that all dinosaurs (not just the theropods) had feathers or proto-feathers - even the mighty sauropods.
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Old 10-01-2016, 09:45
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There have been some interesting developments in the world of palaeoanthropology. Possible evidence of archaic hominids surviving until the last 11,000 years, in China. That evidence includes a possible hybrid of modern and archaic humans. (These are basically the same article, but they have different pictures.)

https://www.newscientist.com/article...aves-and-beds/

https://www.newscientist.com/article...aves-and-beds/

I hope they manage to get some good DNA samples from these. The discovery of the Denisovans from DNA evidence a few years ago was very exciting.
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Old 10-01-2016, 16:08
Keyser_Soze1
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There have been some interesting developments in the world of palaeoanthropology. Possible evidence of archaic hominids surviving until the last 11,000 years, in China. That evidence includes a possible hybrid of modern and archaic humans. (These are basically the same article, but they have different pictures.)

https://www.newscientist.com/article...aves-and-beds/

https://www.newscientist.com/article...aves-and-beds/

I hope they manage to get some good DNA samples from these. The discovery of the Denisovans from DNA evidence a few years ago was very exciting.
Very good stuff.

Loads of bits and bobs (most from late last year).

http://markwitton-com.blogspot.co.uk...us-part-1.html

http://markwitton-com.blogspot.co.uk...us-part-2.html

http://markwitton-com.blogspot.co.uk...ughts-for.html

http://siberiantimes.com/science/cas...siberian-cold/

http://www.eartharchives.org/article...e-for-a-mouth/

http://www.statepress.com/article/20...lica-sound-art

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/11/25/as...saurs-special/

http://www.slate.com/blogs/wild_thin...o_erectus.html

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic....tyrannosaurus/
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Old 10-01-2016, 17:38
CLL Dodge
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There have been some interesting developments in the world of palaeoanthropology. Possible evidence of archaic hominids surviving until the last 11,000 years, in China. That evidence includes a possible hybrid of modern and archaic humans. (These are basically the same article, but they have different pictures.)

https://www.newscientist.com/article...aves-and-beds/

https://www.newscientist.com/article...aves-and-beds/

I hope they manage to get some good DNA samples from these. The discovery of the Denisovans from DNA evidence a few years ago was very exciting.
Would be great if recent (even living) non-Sapiens hominins were discovered but without that DNA it's going to be difficult to distinguish between variation within a single species (i.e. ours) and variation between two different species.
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Old 10-01-2016, 20:10
Keyser_Soze1
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Would be great if recent (even living) non-Sapiens hominins were discovered but without that DNA it's going to be difficult to distinguish between variation within a single species (i.e. ours) and variation between two different species.
It is interesting to speculate if any of our relatives/direct ancestors survived long enough to become distant legends in folk memory.

For example Trolls = Neanderthals?

Another legendary animal the Unicorn may well have had it's origins in the very last surviving Elasmotherium.

Who knows?

Just something to think about.
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Old 11-01-2016, 19:46
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Glyplodont shell discovered in Argentina, Cretaceous mantids in Amber, Machimosaurus rex and the extinction of history's largest primate - Gigantopithecus.

http://www.natureworldnews.com/artic...-argentina.htm

http://www.livescience.com/53311-cre...tis-amber.html

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2...-paleontology/

http://www.livescience.com/53313-big...t-dweller.html
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