Cretaceous

Dinosaurs Were Already in Big Trouble Before the Asteroid, More Evidence Suggests

The conclusion is based on an analysis of over 1,600 dinosaur fossils.

Biology George Dvorsky Jun 29

Discovery of Mass Death Site Bolsters Theory That Tyrannosaurs Hunted in Packs

A remarkable fossil site in Utah, in which several tyrannosaurs were found buried together, strengthens a burgeoning theory that these fearsome creatures hunted in packs, similar to wolves. That tyrannosaurs were social hunters is a possibility paleontologists have been considering for more than 20 years. Back in 1910, paleontologists working in Alberta, Canada, discovered the…

Biology George Dvorsky Apr 21

Illustration: Jorge Blanco and Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology

Dinosaur Found in Argentina Looked Like a Bumpy-Headed T. Rex

Eighty million years ago, a large dinosaur curled up and died in what is today western Argentina. The dinosaur was a bipedal, meat-eating predator from the little-known family Abelisauridae, which could grow to nearly 30 feet long and are characterized by their stubby, rugged skulls. This particular abelisaur, dubbed Llukalkan aliocranianus, is a newly identified species.…

Biology Isaac Schultz Mar 30

Armored Dinos May Have Dug Trenches to Protect Themselves, Fossil Study Suggests

The headless horseman would make fast friends with an Asian ankylosaur; where the former tends to be missing its head, these dinosaurs are often found without their body. In fact, the dearth of ankylosaur bodies has vexed paleontologists, who are eager to learn more about how the hefty herbivores became clubbed-tailed, heavily armored tanks. Now,…

Biology Isaac Schultz Mar 18

Image: Fossil: Shundong Bi; Artwork: Zhao Chuang

Extraordinary Fossil Captures Nesting Oviraptor Dinosaur Alongside Unhatched Offspring

Paleontologists in China have unearthed the fossil of an oviraptorosaur sitting on a nest of eggs. By itself that’s an amazing and rare discovery, but this fossil is unique in that the eggs still preserve evidence of the unhatched progeny inside. “Here we report the first [non-avian] dinosaur fossil known to preserve an adult skeleton…

Biology George Dvorsky Mar 11

Tyrannosaur Teens Didn’t Have the Bone-Crushing Bite of Adults

Adult tyrannosaurs were basically bone crushing machines on two feet. New research suggests juvenile tyrannosaurs couldn’t match the same level of brutality, resulting in a distinctive bite that set them apart from their adult counterparts. Nothing like tyrannosaurs exist today, and thank goodness for that. As the quintessential apex predator of the Mesozoic, these megatheropods…

Biology George Dvorsky Mar 9

Dinosaurs Like T. Rex Were More Tyrannical Than We Realized, New Research Suggests

Large meat-eating dinosaurs took on the role of multiple species while growing up, resulting in a shocking lack of ecological diversity during the Mesozoic, according to new research. Megatheropods—gigantic two-legged carnivores like Tyrannosaurus, Allosaurus, and Daspletosaurus—didn’t instantly dominate the ecological space belonging to monstrously huge dinosaurs. Like other dinosaurs, they hatched from eggs and had…

Biology George Dvorsky Feb 25

Illustration: Alfred-Wegener-Institut/J. McKay

Shocking Study Reveals Ancient Rainforest Existed Near the South Pole

During the Cretaceous period, a balmy forest grew less than 600 miles from the South Pole, according to new research that uncovered ancient spores and roots. Millions of years ago, Earth’s atmosphere had several times more carbon dioxide than it does even today, making the Cretaceous one of the warmest periods of the planet. But…

Earth Science Ryan F. Mandelbaum Apr 1

Meet the ‘Cold Dragon of the North Winds,’ a Gigantic Canadian Pterosaur

An updated analysis of a 77-million-year-old fossil found in Alberta, Canada has resulted in the creation of a new genus and species of pterosaur. The newly named flying reptile, dubbed Cryodrakon boreas, featured an impressive 32-foot wingspan (but probably not the Canadian flag colors depicted above). When this species was first discovered in 1992, paleontologists…

Biology George Dvorsky Sep 9

Research Sheds Light on Strange Seaway That Once Covered the Sahara

The Sahara might seem like one of Earth’s most lifeless regions today, but its fossils show it was once a vast seaway filled with giant fish and some of the largest sea snakes the planet has ever seen. From 100 million to 50 million years ago, a large seaway up to 160 feet deep covered much…

Biology Ryan F. Mandelbaum Jul 8

What Killed the Dinosaurs Was More Devastating Than an Asteroid

For nearly 40 years, paleontologists have argued over what really killed the dinosaurs. Was it an massive asteroid impact, or a spate of volcanic eruptions? Or what if a powerful impact ignited volcanoes, walloping Earth’s biosphere with a deadly 1-2 punch? That double-whammy scenario has been around for a while, but new evidence to support…

Tech News Maddie Stone Oct 1

Behold The Oldest Known Relative Of Modern Birds

Introducing Archaeornithura meemannae, a newly discovered species that is now the oldest-known member of an evolutionary branch that includes all living birds. Illustration: Zongda Zhang. A.meemannae lived about 130 million years ago during the Early Cretaceous period. It’s now the earliest member of the Ornithuromorpha clade ever found, and its discovery is setting back the…

io9 George Dvorsky May 6

Big, 100-Million-Year-Old Bird Tracks Discovered in Australia

The oldest bird footprints ever discovered in Australia suggest there were birds – big ones – soaring over the continent as long ago as the Early Cretaceous Period. How do researchers know these birds were flying, and not just walking? Science! Above: Drawing of bird and prints by researcher Anthony Martin. The prints were found…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Oct 29

Barack Obama just had a prehistoric lizard named in his honor. Can you guess why?

Creative taxonomy — it’s what happens when scientists discover an as-yet unnamed species and find some way to connect it to a person, place, or thing. Sometimes that person/place/thing is famous. Sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes the connections between the two make perfect sense. Other times the connections are more tenuous. So when we heard the…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Jan 2

Meet the two newest, tiniest horned dinosaurs

Two pint-sized relatives of the famous Triceratops have been discovered in Alberta, giving us our best understanding yet of how these horned dinosaurs expanded into North America. The best part? Neither was much more than a meter or so long. The Cleveland Museum of Natural History is unveiling these two new species, Unescopceratops koppelhusae and…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Mar 13

This giant fossil flea once feasted on dinosaurs

This fossil reveals a flea that is about twice as big as any known species alive today. It dates back about 165 million years, and its razor-sharp mouth likely evolved for one purpose: to pierce and feed on dinosaur hides. The fossil is one of about nine fossil specimens recently analyzed by paleontologists at the…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Feb 29

How did a heavily-armored dinosaur end up at the bottom of the ocean?

Although a few dinosaurs were adapted to live underwater, most dinosaurs were landlubbers through and through. And perhaps no dinosaur had less business going for a swim that this fellow, the heavily-armored, 13,000-pound Ankylosaurus. That’s why it’s so bizarre that the fossils of one of these tank-like behemoths was found in the Suncor mine of…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Jan 30

Carnotaurus had the most ridiculously powerful dinosaur tail ever

Here’s a nice counterbalance for our previous report on Carnotaurus’s wimpy arms – it turns out any shortcomings in its arms were more than made up for with its super-strong tail, which made it one of the fastest hunters around. https://gizmodo.com/carnotaurus-had-the-most-ridiculously-weak-dinosaur-arm-5843614 Native to South America in the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, Carnotaurus was a fearsome…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Oct 16

Carnotaurus had the most ridiculously weak dinosaur arms ever

The image of the hulking T. rex and its comically undersized arms is deeply ingrained in pop culture, but it isn’t really fair. They were muscular little appendages well-suited to their evolutionary purpose. The wimpy-armed Carnotaurus is another story entirely. As you can see in the skeleton up top, Carnotaurus had arms that even T.…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Sep 25

Birds from the Cretaceous period went out the same way as the dinosaurs — with a bang

For years, paleontologists have disagreed over whether birds from the Cretaceous period went out with a whimper — dying out gradually over the course of millions of years — or with a bang — getting wiped out by the same mass extinction event that is believed to have killed off Earth’s most recent (and final)…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Sep 19

Dinosaurs Were Already in Big Trouble Before the Asteroid, More Evidence Suggests

Discovery of Mass Death Site Bolsters Theory That Tyrannosaurs Hunted in Packs

Dinosaur Found in Argentina Looked Like a Bumpy-Headed T. Rex

Armored Dinos May Have Dug Trenches to Protect Themselves, Fossil Study Suggests

Extraordinary Fossil Captures Nesting Oviraptor Dinosaur Alongside Unhatched Offspring

Tyrannosaur Teens Didn’t Have the Bone-Crushing Bite of Adults

Dinosaurs Like T. Rex Were More Tyrannical Than We Realized, New Research Suggests

Shocking Study Reveals Ancient Rainforest Existed Near the South Pole

Meet the ‘Cold Dragon of the North Winds,’ a Gigantic Canadian Pterosaur

Research Sheds Light on Strange Seaway That Once Covered the Sahara

What Killed the Dinosaurs Was More Devastating Than an Asteroid

Behold The Oldest Known Relative Of Modern Birds

Big, 100-Million-Year-Old Bird Tracks Discovered in Australia

Barack Obama just had a prehistoric lizard named in his honor. Can you guess why?

Meet the two newest, tiniest horned dinosaurs

This giant fossil flea once feasted on dinosaurs

How did a heavily-armored dinosaur end up at the bottom of the ocean?

Carnotaurus had the most ridiculously powerful dinosaur tail ever

Carnotaurus had the most ridiculously weak dinosaur arms ever

Birds from the Cretaceous period went out the same way as the dinosaurs — with a bang

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