Browsing: Paleontology

– 201107beak fossil 1

Using a new X-raying technique and device, based on synchrotron radiation, scientists have been able to  map the pigmentation of creatures dead for million of years just by reading the traces metals in fossils left. “Every once in a while we are lucky enough to discover something new, something that nobody has ever seen before,” […]

– 201101new human species

Svante Paabo, the researcher whose work provided the basis for the Jurassic Park movies seems to have struck gold once again; this time it’s about a finger bone older than 30.000 years, found in the Altai mountains, that as far as DNA analysis has shown, belongs to no known species of humans. They also found […]

– 201011the wave arizona

The geek inside was nagging me for quite a while to make a category like this. So, starting today, every Wednesday I’ll be adding an awesome geological picture, along with some short explanation of what’s happening. Would really like some feedback on this, your opinions are appreciated as always. The picture shows a sandstone formation […]

– 201010amber1

Amber is not very common, but you can’t say it’s really uncommon either. Bugs in amber – that’s rare, but a huge “stash” such as the one that was found in India – that’s really something out of this world. The bug “collection” that was unearthed seems to suggest that the Indian continent was not […]

– 201009Kosmoceratops horned dino 008

Fossil hunters have recently unearthed the fossil remains of a species that can easily claim the title of the horniest dinosaur ever to be found. Kosmoceratops lived some 76 million years ago, in the warm and wet swamps of (what is today) Utah; but what’s really fascinating about him is the fact that he has […]

– 201009humpback dinosaur spain 100908 02

About 125 million years ago, these hunchback dinosaurs roamed today’s central Spain, measuring approximately 6 meters and feasting off of smaller animals of all sorts. However, what’s really surprising about the dinosaurs is its “hump”, a body structure never before seen in dinosaurs. A recently exposed skeletal structure revealed some unique features that has researchers […]

– 201008100729203321

It was more than 300 million years ago that reptiles made tracks on earth. The exact moment when this happened is unknown, however; oh, and by exact moment, I’m talking about pinning it down to a couple million years (you gotta love geologists for their sense of time). So, a discovery of fossilized footprints was […]

– 201007triceratops

A recent study conducted by a Montana State University doctoral student and one of the world’s top paleontologists shed some new light on more than 100 years of thought regarding the dinosaurs known as Triceratops and Torsaurus. The general belief since the late 1800s was that they were two separate dinosaurs: Triceratops had three horns […]