Jurassic Park Roundup –The Top 10 Discoveries of '07

This year was a great one, at least in terms of dinosaur discoveries. Here’s a sampling of some of the most odd, interesting, fantastic and unusual findings of the year.

1. A Huge Shark-Eating Predator

The remains of an enormous, previously unknown carnivorous dinosaur was found. The monster once thrived around a giant lake 200 million years ago. The fearsome predator specialized in eating and catching giant sharks and huge bony fish that, when consumed, would have been "like biting through chain mail," Utah State paleontologist James Kirkland said. These dinos also make it to the top of the “10 Dinosaurs You’d Never Want to Pet” list. Link

2. Dinosaur Mass Grave Unearthed in Switzerland

There is hope for those of us who like to dig around in our backyard for prehistoric remains. Some random dude in Switzerland discovered what appears to be Europe's largest dinosaur graveyard. "A hobby paleontologist looked at a construction site for a house and happened to discover the bones," said Monica Ruembeli from the Frick dinosaur museum. The area contains the bones of more than 100 Plateosaurus. Not a bad find for an amateur! Link

3. Tyrannosaurus Rex Tasted Like Chicken

Protein resembling chicken has been extracted from a 68-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex bone, reinforcing the evolutionary link between dinosaurs and birds. The collagen tissue was removed from a fossilized thighbone belonging to the giant predator. Analysis showed it was structurally very similar to chicken protein. The bones were unearthed still surrounded by soft tissues, including blood vessels, making it a very rare find. Link

4. Research Likely Solves the World’s Biggest Murder Mystery

Apparently, even killing off the dinosaurs was a job outsourced to India. The latest research reveals that a series of monumental volcanic eruptions in India is likely responsible for killing off the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Previously it was believed that the likely suspect was a meteor impact in the Gulf of Mexico. However, the volcanic eruptions in India created the gigantic Deccan Traps lava beds that spewed ten times more climate altering gases into the atmosphere than the nearly concurrent Chicxulub meteor impact. This makes the volcanoes the prime suspect in the most famous and persistent paleontological murder mystery. Scientists have recently conducted several new investigations and were able to hone in on the eruptions timing, which matched nearly perfectly with the dinos extinction. Very suspicious, indeed. "It's the first time we can directly link the main phase of the Deccan Traps to the mass extinction," said Princeton University paleontologist Gerta Keller. Link

5. Teenage Pregnancy Was Widespread Among Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs probably did not enjoy many carefree teenage years, since most were parents before they reached adulthood, according to research announced this year. The find puts dinosaurs on the list of other animals with teenage pregnancy, including crocodiles, lizards and humans. Link

6. 4-Story Tall Prehistoric Species Discovered

Paleontologists have discovered a nearly complete fossil of a new species of giant dinosaur that once roamed what is now northern Patagonia. It is one of the biggest dinosaurs yet found on the planet. Named Futalognkosaurus dukei, the massive herbivore lived about 80 million years ago. It measured an estimated 105 feet to 112 feet and was as tall as a four-storey building. "It's a new species, it's a new group," confirmed Argentine paleontologist Juan Porfiri. "Its neck was very big in diameter, strong and huge." The huge herbivore was so big that it now ranks in the worlds top 3 largest dinos ever discovered.
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7. Jurassic Park Turns Out to Be Scientific Prophecy

Remember the Velociraptor nightmare in Jurassic park? Most of the fictional attributes they made up for these nightmarish predators turned out to not be fiction after all. One aspect of the book/movie was the way that the Velociraptor’s hunted in packs. There is now solid proof that such behavior was the norm for raptors. Even more incredible, the third claw prediction of the Jurassic Park dinosaurs proved to be accurate as well. In the movie, the Velociraptor had evolved to hold its third claw up off the ground so it wouldn’t wear. There has so far been no archaeological evidence to support such an idea, until now. Raptor tracks were found with two long toes but only a stub of the toes that would have bore the long third claw. This indicates that the animal did indeed hold its third claw off the ground when it moved, keeping it razor sharp. Link

8. The Toothy “Arnold Schwarzenegger” Giant Duckbill

The ultimate prehistoric lawnmower was discovered this year. The lumbering duck-billed giant had more than enough teeth to eat almost any vegetation it stumbled across. The 75 million year old monster found in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and was approximately 30 ft long, weighed several tons and had a most impressive set of gnashers. The business-end of its lower jaws measured two feet and carried 40 rows of teeth. At any given time, the dinosaur had over 300 teeth available for chomping and numerous replacement teeth waiting as back up, so in all this duckbill could have carried more than 800 teeth around. That's a lot of teeth, and for an herbivore it was an unusually muscular fellow to boot. It was "the Arnold Schwarzenegger of duck-billed dinosaurs," says Scott Sampson of the Utah Museum of Natural History. Link

9. Ancient Sea Scorpion Bigger than Humans Unearthed

This next isn’t technically a dinosaur, and its origins are long before dinos roamed the Earth. But it is prehistoric and gigantic, so we’ll let it slide. Researchers have found the fossilized claw of a 2.5-meter (8-foot) sea scorpion, a creature straight seemingly straight from a B-grade horror movie, living long before the age of dinosaurs. The 390-million-year-old specimen unearthed in a German quarry is leading scientists to believe that prehistoric spiders, insects and crabs were likely all much larger than previously believed, note scientists at Britain's Bristol University. "This is an amazing discovery," said researcher Simon Braddy. "We have known for some time that the fossil record yields monster millipedes, super-sized scorpions, colossal cockroaches, and jumbo dragonflies but we never realized, until now, just how big some of these ancient creepy-crawlies were." Link

10. Some Dinos Liked to Burrow and Were Loving Parents

Dinosaurs are always getting a bad rap for being neglectful parents. The popular idea is that they laid their eggs and ran, but now the 95-million-year-old skeletal remains of some diminutive dinosaurs—along with the bones of two juveniles suggest otherwise. They were found tucked into a fossilized chamber at the end of a sediment-filled burrow in southwestern Montana. "The discovery represents the first scientific evidence that some dinosaurs not only dug burrows but also cared extensively for their young inside their dens," says Anthony Martin, senior lecturer in Emory's Department of Environmental Studies. This newly named species of dinosaur is called Oryctodromeus cubicularis, meaning "digging runner of the lair." So there, everyone can just stop making generalized judgments about dinosaur parenting skills.
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Posted by Rebecca Sato

Comments

[80's Guy]

Killing Dinosaurs was outsourced to India! Ha ha ha! Brilliant!