Latest news with #Cretaceous
ABC News
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Introducing the Dino Dome Knockout
Podcast: Dino Dome Episode Title: Introducing the Dino Dome Knockout Duration: 2 minutes 20 seconds Child's voice: ABC Listen Sounds: Dinosaurs snarl and growl as a rock song builds… Amanda: From Allosaurus to Avimimus, and Zalmoxes to Zuniceratops, get ready for another season of the greatest race of all time! Welcome to the… Tim: Wait, wait, wait… we need to tell the Domers about how we're shaking things up. Amanda: Ooh, more earthquakes? Tim: No, no, no, the special match-ups happening this season - remember? Amanda: Of course! After 50 Cretaceous clashes, we're bringing back some former racers to go head-to-head with some fresh faces in a nail-biting… Dino Dome Knockout! Tim: Wait, wait… they're not boxing are they? Amanda: No, no – it's still a race in an ever-changing landscape… but the winner will advance to the next round, until there are only two left in the grand final where they'll battle it out for the Dino Dome Cup! Tim: I can't wait to see who's racing! Amanda: You don't have to wait! You can see the Round One match-ups now! Get your grown-up to visit Dino Dome on the ABC Kids listen website where you can download the tournament poster! There are blank spaces for you to fill out when your fav dinos progress onto the next round! Tim: Roarsome! I'm gonna stick it on my wall! Amanda: I've already done it! There's Carnotaurus, Pterodactylus, Titanaboa…. Tim: So we can pick who we think will win!? Amanda: Exactly! I reckon Titanaboa is going to slither all the way to the top! Tim: No way – flyers first! Pterodactylus for the trophy! Child's voice: Go Carnotaurus! Child's voice: Come on Ferrodraco! Amanda: Choose your favourite, fastest dino and compare them with your friends! Tim: Visit the Dino Dome website to find the match-up sheet – the web address is in the show notes. Amanda: And we'll see you in the Dome soon! Until then… Tim and Amanda: Let's get ready to roar!
Daily Record
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
Britain's biggest dinosaur event to roar into Lanarkshire park to start summer holiday season
Cunigar Loop will play host to a prehistoric playground, featuring more than 50 animatronic beasts from the Jurassic, Triassic, and Cretaceous periods. Lanarkshire woodland will become a Jurassic Park, as dinosaurs roam free once more for The Lost Kingdom tour. This unmissable family experience is the biggest Jurassic event to hit Britain and will make its Scots debut, touring Rutherglen's Cunigar Loop from June 28 to July 13. The woodland park will play host to a prehistoric playground, featuring more than 50 animatronic beasts from the Jurassic, Triassic, and Cretaceous periods. These include a fearsome 18m tall T-Rex that roars and lashes its tail while hunting for prey; an Iguanodon's furious battle against a Deinonychus; Pterosaurs that screech as they soar through the trees; a 15m tall Brachiosaurus guarding her eggs; and a 16m long Diplodocus, who cries out to passers-by. Download the Lanarkshire Live app today Mini-palaeontologists can also enjoy a dinosaur ride, a fossil pit to dig for giant bones, endless photo opportunities with the giant beasts, as well as an entertainment marquee, brimming with Jurassic VR experience pods, face painting and dino balloons. There will also be an education marquee to test knowledge on some of the less familiar beasts they'll encounter on the adventure, from the Protoceratops, Plesiosaurus, Tsintaosaurus, Yunnanosaurus, and Lufengosaurus to the gentle but giant Sauropoda. All of the blinking, breathing and roaring creatures have information panels, to make them both educational and entertaining. For those who want to relax after braving the perilous quest through grasslands and woodlands, a refreshment area will offer street food, including churros, burgers, hotdogs, drinks, crepes, waffles and noodles. The tour begins at Cuningar Loop woodland park before heading to London, Southampton and Greater Manchester. Adult £14.50 (online) £16 (on the door); Child £12.50 (online) £14 (on the door);Concession £12.50 (online) £14 (on the door);Group Ticket £11.50 pp (online) £13 (on the door); Family Ticket £50 (online) £56 (on the door). *Don't miss the latest headlines from around Lanarkshire. Sign up to our newsletters here. Article continues below
Time of India
6 days ago
- Science
- Time of India
73-million-year-old bird fossils found in Arctic, hint at nesting during dinosaur age
At a time when the Arctic was home to some of the last remaining dinosaurs, birds were not just surviving there– they were nesting and raising their young. A new international study has found fossil evidence confirming that birds were breeding in polar regions as far back as 73 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period. The discovery significantly pushes back the known timeline of bird activity in the Arctic and reveals that these ancient species were far more adaptable than previously believed. Fossil clues from Alaska offer fresh insight The research was carried out by an international team led by the University of Alaska Fairbanks, with participation from the University of Reading in the UK. The team studied over 50 small fossil specimens, including bones and teeth, collected from the Prince Creek Formation in northern Alaska– an area already known for dinosaur discoveries. According to Dr Jacob Gardner from the University of Reading, a co-author of the study, and as quoted by the University of Reading website, 'For the first time, we determined the identities of large numbers of fossils using high-resolution scans and the latest computer tools, revealing an enormous diversity of birds in this ancient Arctic ecosystem.' Juvenile bird fossils point to nesting behaviour Among the fossils, researchers identified several bones belonging to very young birds. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like This Wrinkle Cream Keeps Selling Out At Costco (Find Out Why) The Skincare Magazine Undo This rare find strongly suggests that birds were not simply migrating through the Arctic but were nesting and raising their offspring in the region. 'Finding bird bones from the Cretaceous period is already very rare. To find baby bird bones is almost unheard of. That is why these fossils are significant,' said Lauren Wilson, the lead author of the study, as quoted by the UAF website. Polar nesting began much earlier than thought The fossils are around 73 million years old, showing that birds were nesting in the Arctic at least 30 million years earlier than scientists thought. This discovery changes what we know about how early birds lived and how they adapted to harsh environments. As Wilson stated, 'Birds have existed for 150 million years. For half of the time they have existed, they have been nesting in the Arctic.' Range of bird types identified According to the report, the fossil remains showed several types of birds, including early diving birds, gull-like birds, and ones similar to today's ducks and geese. These birds seemed well-suited to life in the ancient Arctic, which was warmer than it is now but still tough for nesting. The study gives a rare and important look at how birds lived with dinosaurs in northern regions, helping us learn more about life in ancient ecosystems.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
'Statistically, that shouldn't have happened': Something very weird occurred in the ocean after the dinosaur-killing asteroid hit
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. About 66 million years ago — perhaps on a downright unlucky day in May — an asteroid smashed into our planet. The fallout was immediate and severe. Evidence shows that about 70% of species went extinct in a geological instant, and not just those famous dinosaurs that once stalked the land. Masters of the Mesozoic oceans were also wiped out, from mosasaurs — a group of aquatic reptiles topping the food chain — to exquisitely shelled squid relatives known as ammonites. Even groups that weathered the catastrophe, such as mammals, fishes and flowering plants, suffered severe population declines and species loss. Invertebrate life in the oceans didn't fare much better. But bubbling away on the seafloor was a stolid group of animals that has left a fantastic fossil record and continues to thrive today: bivalves — clams, cockles, mussels, oysters and more. What happened to these creatures during the extinction event and how they rebounded tells an important story, both about the past and the future of biodiversity. Marine bivalves lost around three-quarters of their species during this mass extinction, which marked the end of the Cretaceous Period. My colleagues and I — each of us paleobiologists studying biodiversity — expected that losing so many species would have severely cut down the variety of roles that bivalves play within their environments, what we call their "modes of life." But, as we explain in a study published in the journal Sciences Advances, that wasn't the case. In assessing the fossils of thousands of bivalve species, we found that at least one species from nearly all their modes of life, no matter how rare or specialized, squeaked through the extinction event. Statistically, that shouldn't have happened. Kill 70% of bivalve species, even at random, and some modes of life should disappear. Related: The 5 mass extinction events that shaped the history of Earth — and the 6th that's happening now Most bivalves happily burrow into the sand and mud, feeding on phytoplankton they strain from the water. But others have adopted chemosymbionts and photosymbionts — bacteria and algae that produce nutrients for the bivalves from chemicals or sunlight in exchange for housing. A few have even become carnivorous. Some groups, including the oysters, can lay down a tough cement that hardens underwater, and mussels hold onto rocks by spinning silken threads. We thought surely these more specialized modes of life would have been snuffed out by the effects of the asteroid's impact, including dust and debris likely blocking sunlight and disrupting a huge part of the bivalves' food chain: photosynthetic algae and bacteria. Instead, most persisted, although biodiversity was forever scrambled as a new ecological landscape emerged. Species that were once dominant struggled, while evolutionary newcomers rose in their place. The reasons some species survived and others didn't leave many questions to explore. Those that filtered phytoplankton from the water column suffered some of the highest species losses, but so did species that fed on organic scraps and didn't rely as much on the Sun's energy. Narrow geographic distributions and different metabolisms may have contributed to these extinction patterns. Life rebounded from each of the Big Five mass extinctions throughout Earth's history, eventually punching through past diversity highs. The rich fossil record and spectacular ecological diversity of bivalves gives us a terrific opportunity to study these rebounds to understand how ecosystems and global biodiversity rebuild in the wake of extinctions. The extinction caused by the asteroid strike knocked down some thriving modes of life and opened the door for others to dominate the new landscape. While many people lament the loss of the dinosaurs, we malacologists miss the rudists. These bizarrely shaped bivalves resembled giant ice cream cones, sometimes reaching more than 3 feet (1 meter) in size, and they dominated the shallow, tropical Mesozoic seas as massive aggregations of contorted individuals, similar to today's coral reefs. At least a few harbored photosymbiotic algae, which provided them with nutrients and spurred their growth, much like modern corals. Today, giant clams (Tridacna) and their relatives fill parts of these unique photosymbiotic lifestyles once occupied by the rudists, but they lack the rudists' astonishing species diversity. Mass extinctions clearly upend the status quo. Now, our ocean floors are dominated by clams burrowed into sand and mud, the quahogs, cockles and their relatives — a scene far different from that of the seafloor 66 million years ago. Ecological traits alone didn't fully predict extinction patterns, nor do they entirely explain the rebound. We also see that simply surviving a mass extinction didn't necessarily provide a leg up as species diversified within their old and sometimes new modes of life — and few of those new modes dominate the ecological landscape today. Like the rudists, trigoniid bivalves had lots of different species prior to the extinction event. These highly ornamented clams built parts of their shells with a super strong biomaterial called nacre — think iridescent pearls — and had fractally interlocking hinges holding their two valves together. But despite surviving the extinction, which should have placed them in a prime position to accumulate species again, their diversification sputtered. Other types of bivalves that made a living in the same way proliferated instead, relegating this once mighty and global group to a handful of species now found only off the coast of Australia. These unexpected patterns of extinction and survival may offer lessons for the future. The fossil record shows us that biodiversity has definite breaking points, usually during a perfect storm of climatic and environmental upheaval. It's not just that species are lost, but the ecological landscape is overturned. Many scientists believe the current biodiversity crisis may cascade into a sixth mass extinction, this one driven by human activities that are changing ecosystems and the global climate. Corals, whose reefs are home to nearly a quarter of known marine species, have faced mass bleaching events as warming ocean water puts their future at risk. Acidification as the oceans absorb more carbon dioxide can also weaken the shells of organisms crucial to the ocean food web. Findings like ours suggest that, in the future, the rebound from extinction events will likely result in very different mixes of species and their modes of life in the oceans. And the result may not align with human needs if species providing the bulk of ecosystem services are driven genetically or functionally extinct. RELATED STORIES —Are we in a 6th mass extinction? —After the 'Great Dying,' life on Earth took millions of years to recover. Now, scientists know why. —Refuge from the worst mass extinction in Earth's history discovered fossilized in China The global oceans and their inhabitants are complex, and, as our team's latest research shows, it is difficult to predict the trajectory of biodiversity as it rebounds — even when extinction pressures are reduced. Billions of people depend on the ocean for food. As the history recorded by the world's bivalves shows, the upending of the pecking order — the number of species in each mode of life — won't necessarily settle into an arrangement that can feed as many people the next time around. This edited article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Time of India
14-06-2025
- Science
- Time of India
76-million-year-old mystery: Crocodile-like predator left its mark on this fossil
A fossil unearthed in the badlands of Alberta, Canada, has offered a rare glimpse into the interactions between ancient reptiles that lived over 76 million years ago. Researchers studying the remains of a young flying reptile have found what appears to be clear evidence of a crocodile-like predator bite, making it an unusual and scientifically valuable discovery from the Late Cretaceous period. Bone with a bite: Pterosaur fossil found with tooth mark The fossil, a small neck bone of a juvenile pterosaur, was discovered in July 2023 during a field course led by Dr Brian Pickles from the University of Reading. After a detailed analysis, scientists identified a puncture wound on the bone, which they believe was caused by the tooth of a crocodilian species from the same era. The research was conducted jointly by scientists from the University of Reading, the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology (Canada), and the University of New England (Australia). According to the team, micro-CT scans confirmed the mark was not the result of post-burial damage or fossilisation but a bite that likely occurred during the animal's lifetime or shortly after its death. Fragile fossil, uncommon evidence Pterosaur bones, due to their lightweight and hollow structure, rarely preserve well. This makes any fossilised sign of damage or interaction with other animals a rare find. As quoted by the BBC, according to Dr Caleb Brown from the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, 'Pterosaur bones are very delicate, so finding fossils where another animal has clearly taken a bite is exceptionally uncommon.' by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 5 motivi per rottamare ora la caldaia per una pompa di calore Aira Scopri di più Undo Dr Brown, who is the lead author of the research paper, further said, 'This specimen being a juvenile makes it even rarer.' The juvenile is believed to have belonged to the Azhdarchid group of pterosaurs. Researchers estimate this individual had a wingspan of about 2 metres. In contrast, adults of the same group were significantly larger, reaching wingspans of up to 10 metres. Insight into Cretaceous ecosystems Dr Brian Pickles, under whose supervision the discovery was made, highlighted the importance of such findings. 'Bite traces help to document species interactions from this period,' he said, as quoted by the BBC. He also explained that while it remains uncertain whether the young pterosaur was alive at the time of the bite, the fossil does indicate interaction between crocodilians and pterosaurs. 'We can't say if the pterosaur was alive or dead when it was bitten, but the specimen shows that crocodilians occasionally preyed on, or scavenged, juvenile pterosaurs in prehistoric Alberta over 70 million years ago,' Dr Pickles said, as quoted by the BBC. First of its kind in the North American fossil record This discovery is being noted as the first confirmed instance in North America of a crocodile-like predator feeding on a pterosaur. The scientific community regards it as a rare and significant addition to existing knowledge of Mesozoic-era life. The fossil provides a rare and direct record of how prehistoric creatures interacted within their ecosystems, especially involving species that rarely leave behind such detailed evidence. The study was published in the Journal of Palaeontology and adds a meaningful layer to our understanding of predator-prey dynamics in the Late Cretaceous period. Image credit: Created by Canva AI. For representational purposes only.
