Dinosaurs & Fossils News

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US scientists have found the oldest fossilized tracks of a tiny legged animal, from 570 million years ago, that push back the advent of more complex creatures on Earth by some 30 million years, a report said Sunday.

A catastrophic event 72.5 million years ago left a herd of giant, horned dinosaurs buried to become fossils. Now scientists have identified the extinct creatures as a new species.

Looking for fossils in old rocks is a tough job. Body parts degrade over the years, and the older the rock, the less likely it will be that you will find any evidence that life was once there. One question facing scientists is: Just how far back in time can we go before the traces of life are completely lost?

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Scientists have unearthed the remains of a large meat-eating dinosaur with a breathing apparatus much like a modern bird, fortifying the link between birds and dinosaurs and helping to explain the evolution of birds' unique system of breathing.

A huge carnivorous dinosaur that lived about 85 million years ago had a breathing system much like that of today's birds, a new analysis of fossils reveals, reinforcing the evolutionary link between dinos and modern birds.

Scientists have found a new huge and well-preserved fossil of a goose and duck relative that swam around what is now England 50 million years ago flashing sharp, toothy smiles.

An analysis of the gut contents from an exceptionally well-preserved juvenile dinosaur fossil suggests that the hadrosaur's last meal included plenty of well-chewed leaves digested into tiny bits. The fossil, Brachylophosaurus canadensis aka "Leonardo," is the second well-substantiated case in which the gut contents of a plant-eating dinosaur have been revealed, said Justin S. Tweet, who was a graduate student at the University of Colorado at Boulder when he studied the fossil with colleagues there including paleontologist Karen Chin. ...

Scientists find sun less blustery than before

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The sun's winds are less blustery than they used to be, NASA said on Tuesday, revealing data from a solar probe that promises new insights about Earth's local star but poses few if any consequences for humans -- unless you're an astronaut.

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - A Canadian researcher has discovered what is believed to be North America's smallest dinosaur, a 70-million-year-old chicken-sized beast that was also unusual for its diet of insects.

An ancient fish sported something like fingers that were the precursors to our own digits, according to an analysis of a new fossil skeleton. "It's really the last piece of evidence to say fingers are not new. They were really present in fish," said lead researcher Catherine Boisvert, an evolutionary biologist at Uppsala University in Sweden. The fossilized skeleton belonged to Panderichthys, a predatory fish that spanned up to 4 feet (130 cm) and likely dwelled in shallow waters where it inched along the muddy bottom about 385 million years ago. ...

Astronomy is the oldest of the sciences, and quite possibly the oldest use of astronomy is navigating by the stars. This craft dates from prehistoric times among humans, and is even practiced by certain animals.

BISMARCK, N.D. - Researchers are hoping a large cache of ancient crocodile bones in western North Dakota will yield the state's first complete croc skeleton.

SYDNEY (AFP) - Australian scientists were hopeful Tuesday that two tonnes of bones found in the country's northeast are the remains of a new species of dinosaur.