. | . |
Giant bird-like dinosaur species found in China: study by Staff Writers Beijing (AFP) May 9, 2017
Researchers have discovered a new species of giant, bird-like dinosaur that made nests larger than monster truck tires in what is now central China, a study said. Measuring about eight metres (26 feet) long and weighing up to 3,000 kilograms (6,600 pounds), the Beibeilong sinensis -- "baby dragon from China" -- lived about 90 million years ago and is only the second known species of the giant oviraptorosaur in the world. Darla Zelenitsky, a Canadian paleontologist who co-authored the study, told AFP that the Beibeilong would have looked like an "overgrown cassowary," a flightless bird resembling an emu. Likely covered in feathers, oviraptorosaurs had robust, toothless beaks and often sported a crest on the top of their heads. "It has been a big mystery for many years as to which species laid the largest-known dinosaur eggs," Zelenitsky said. "The identification of the baby skeleton in this study revealed that these eggs were laid by giant oviraptorosaurs, a group of dinosaurs that are very poorly known from fossil bones." The discovery, detailed in Nature Communications journal Tuesday, was made using a dinosaur skeleton and egg fossil known as "Baby Louie." Baby Louie was among the thousands of dinosaur eggs excavated and collected from Cretaceous rocks by local farmers in central Henan province in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The specimen was then illegally sold and smuggled into the United States, where it was featured in National Geographic magazine and publicly exhibited at the Indianapolis Children's Museum. Though the museum always intended to repatriate the Chinese fossil, the study noted, an agreement for its return was not reached until 2013, when Baby Louie found its final resting place at the Henan Geological Museum. Because of legal concerns, only after Baby Louie had returned home was a team of Chinese and Canadian scientists able to start researching the specimen, which consisted of the bones of an embryo that died while hatching and 45 centimetre- (17.7 inch-)long eggs found in a ring-shaped clutch.
Bristol UK (SPX) May 04, 2017 A team of researchers, led by the University of Bristol, has uncovered that ancient fossils, thought to be some of the world's earliest examples of animal remains, could in fact belong to other groups such as algae. The Weng'an Biota is a fossil Konservat-Lagerstatte in South China that is around 600 million-years-old and provides an unparalleled snapshot of marine life during the interval ... read more Related Links Explore The Early Earth at TerraDaily.com
|
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us. |