dinosaurs | Common News Update

May62021 by adminNo Comments

Owls may have inherited their night-hunting abilities from dinosaurs

Science

May 6 (UPI) -- New research suggests a small bird-like dinosaur's exacting night vision and owl-like hearing allowed it to track down prey in the black of night. Nocturnal hunting is relatively rare among predators, as it requires specialized sensory abilities -- many of the best night-hunters are birds, including owls, nightjars, nighthawks and more. Advertisement Because modern birds are the closest living relatives of the dinosaurs, scientists have previously surmised that the night-hunting capabilities of owls and other nocturnal birds might be inherited from their theropod ancestors. To investigate the possibility, scientists used detailed CT scans to compare the anatomical features of the eyes and inner ears of nearly 100 living bird and extinct dinosaur species. They shared the re...

Feb152021 by adminNo Comments

Drop in CO2 levels helped herbivorous dinosaurs migrate from South America to Greenland

Science

Feb. 15 (UPI) -- Every year, the Arctic tern migrates from pole to pole, flying thousands of miles in a matter of weeks. Species as small as dragonflies and as big as gray whales swim and fly from continent to continent in just a few months. According to a new study, it took the world's largest herbivorous dinosaurs, Brontosaurus and Brachiosaurus, some 15 million years to trek the length of the supercontinent Pangea, from present day South America to what's now Greenland. Advertisement The new research, published Monday in the journal PNAS, suggests climate-related barriers were responsible for the sluggish pace. It was only with the assistance of a 2 million-year-long dip in atmospheric CO2 that the dinosaurs were able to complete their journey, researchers found. Scientists knew Bront...

Jan252021 by adminNo Comments

New skull reveals evolutionary origins of tube-crested dinosaur’s unusual airways

Science

Jan. 25 (UPI) -- It's been almost a century since paleontologists last unearthed a skull belonging to the tube-crested dinosaur Parasaurolophus. But thanks to a newly excavated fossil, scientists have gained fresh insights into the evolutionary origins of the species' unusual tube-shaped nasal passage. Advertisement Originally recovered from the badlands of northwestern New Mexico in 2017, the newly analyzed skull -- described Monday in the journal PeerJ -- suggests the crests of Parasaurolophus dinosaurs formed much the same as those of other crested species, such as duckbilled dinosaurs. Though the tube-like crest of Parasaurolophus dinosaurs looks like something out of Star Wars, they worked more or less like a really big breathing apparatus. "Imagine your nose growing up your face, t...

Dec142020 by adminNo Comments

Bristol dinosaur’s brain rebuilt using digital technology

Technology

Digital technology has been used to rebuild the brain of Thecodontosaurus, giving new insights into one of the earliest dinosaurs to roam the planet.Better known as the Bristol dinosaur after its fossils were found in the city in the 1830s, it was only the fourth dinosaur to be named. Research now suggests it may have eaten meat and moved fast on two legs - after palaeontologists used 3D modelling and advanced imaging of fossils to reconstruct its brain.They concluded the small dinosaur was possibly carnivorous, unlike its giant long-necked later relatives Diplodocus and Brontosaurus, which only fed on plants.Antonio Ballell, lead author of the University of Bristol study, said: "Our analysis of Thecodontosaurus' brain uncovered many fascinating features, some of which were quite surprisin...

Oct222020 by adminNo Comments

Bird-sized dinosaurs evolved ability to glide, but time in the skies was short-lived

Science

Oct. 22 (UPI) -- Often, evolutionary biologists focus on success. The planet's tremendous biodiversity offers a treasure trove of success stories, but evolutionary history is also littered with short-lived experiments and forgotten failures. Yi and Ambopteryx are two such failures. Roughly 160 million years ago, during the Late Jurassic, evolutionary tinkering allowed the pair of bird-like dinosaurs to take the skies across Asia -- kind of. Their achievement was short-lived. Advertisement New research, published Thursday in the journal iScience, suggest Yi and Ambopteryx were unable to actually fly. Despite their bat-like wings, analysis of the duo's skeletal and musculature makeup suggests the two dinosaurs species were only able to glide short distances -- and clumsily. To more precisel...