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Ostrich-like dinosaurs from Mississippi are among the world's largest at over 800kg by Staff Writers Washington DC (SPX) Oct 21, 2022
Ostrich-like dinosaurs called ornithomimosaurs grew to enormous sizes in ancient eastern North America, according to a study published October 19, 2022 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Chinzorig Tsogtbaatar of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and colleagues. During the Late Cretaceous Period, North America was split by a seaway into two landmasses: Laramidia to the west and Appalachia to the east. But fossils from Appalachia are rare, and therefore ancient ecosystems from this region are poorly understood. In this study, Chinzorig and colleagues describe new fossils of ornithomimosaur dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous Eutaw Formation of Mississippi. Ornithomimosaurs, the so-called "bird-mimic" dinosaurs, were superficially ostrich-shaped with small heads, long arms, and strong legs. The new fossils, including foot bones, are around 85 million years old, making them a rare glimpse into a poorly known interval of North American dinosaur evolution By comparing the proportions of these fossils and the patterns of growth within the bones, the authors determined that the fossils likely represent two different species of ornithomimosaurs, one relatively small and one very large. They estimate the larger species to have weighed over 800kg, and the individual examined was likely still growing when it died. This makes it among the largest ornithomimosaurs known. These fossils provide valuable insights into the otherwise poorly understood dinosaur ecosystems of Late Cretaceous eastern North America. They also shed light on ornithomimosaur evolution; giant body sizes and multiple species living side-by-side are recurring trends for these dinosaurs across North America and Asia. Further study will hopefully elucidate the reasons behind the success of these life strategies. The authors add: "The co-existence of medium- and large-bodied ornithomimosaur taxa during the Late Cretaceous Santonian of North America does not only provide key information on the diversity and distribution of North American ornithomimosaurs from the Appalachian landmass, but it also suggests broader evidence of multiple cohabiting species of ornithomimosaurian dinosaurs in Late Cretaceous ecosystems of Laurasia."
Research Report:Large-bodied ornithomimosaurs inhabited Appalachia during the Late Cretaceous of North America
How fluctuating oxygen levels may have accelerated animal evolution Leeds UK (SPX) Oct 17, 2022 Oxygen levels in the Earth's atmosphere are likely to have "fluctuated wildly" one billion years ago, creating conditions that could have accelerated the development of early animal life, according to new research. Scientists believe atmospheric oxygen developed in three stages, starting with what is known as the Great Oxidation Event around two billion years ago, when oxygen first appeared in the atmosphere. The third stage, around 400 million years ago, saw atmospheric oxygen rise to levels that ... read more
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