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Dino-Bitestm:
News
Nibbles
2001
The
Dinosaur
Count Up
in
collaboration with
DinoGeorge
Olshevsky
Every day in every way the list of dinosaurs discovered and named by paleontologists gets longer and longer and longer. In fact, more dinosaurs have been discovered in the last several decades than in all of human history!
To make it easier for our awesome readers to follow, D.I.G. has decided to do a Dinosaur Count Up. Unlike Space Shuttle launches which count down to blast off, we are going to count up to the current total number of dinosaurs that we know about.
CLICK
HERE FOR THE LATEST DINO COUNT UP!
April
25, 2001 
American Museum of Natural History,
Did those feathers tickle or what?
First
complete specimen of a feather-covered dinosaur that couldn't fly
unveiled
at American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
February 26, 2001 American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York,
United States
First Annual Paleontology Update at AMNH
Extinction and commercial
fossil hunters are a big concern!
Michael J. Novacek, Senior Vice President and Provost, Curator, Division of Paleontology at the AMNH; Mark A. Norell, Chairman and Curator, Division of Paleontology; Andrew H. Knoll, Curator of Paleobotanical Collections Harvard Univeristy; and Warren D. Allmon, Director, Paleontological Research Institution all gathered at a little table in the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) near a display of fossils while about two dozen reporters sipped orange juice and ate granola with berries. Despite the fact that reporters got more breakfast than they did, these fine scientists explained what's been going on in paleontology for the past year.
The biggest dinosaur news, of course, were some new papers in Nature about new bird (avian) fossils found in China that helped to fill in our knowledge of the evolution of birds: especially one about Apsaravis ukhaana, a Mesozoic ornithurine bird. There was also a huge new dinosaur discovered in Argentina, and a now infamous "forgery" of a Chinese bird fossil.
On the dinosaur front once again, Dr. Mark Norell pointed out that so many new dinosaurs have been found in so many countries -- China, Africa, Venezuela and more -- that we will have to revise our idea of when certain famous dinosaurs lived. It was once thought that some sauropods only lived during one era, but as more digging is done, paleontologists find fossils like Ceratopsians, for example, that cross the Triassic and Jurassic.
Drs. Novacek and Knoll both agreed that commercial fossil hunters are creating problems. For the first time ever, paleontologists must take security measures at their dig sites to prevent fossils from being stolen. In addition, several auctions for fossils encouraged people to dig them up without proper care and documentation just to make money. If amateur paleontolgists followed good procedures, the information about what surrounds the fossils would not be lost to science.
Dr. Knoll explained that paleobiology is becoming very important and useful. There are new techniques for studying microscopic evidence that surrounds or is a part of fossils. This evidence lets scientists correlate theories about evolution with much better evidence (biochemical responses to environment, especially) that tells us things about extinct animals that are not obvious from just looking at their shape. Apparently, some of this evidence will make us reconsider just how animals evolved! Also, the biochemical evidence shows that the world was not always the same: the atmosphere and climate in the time of the dinosaurs may have been so different from out own that it would have been impossible for people to exist back then.
What career should young paleontologists choose? Dr. Allman recommend the study of the Cambrian and Pre-Cambrian boundary (about 5,700,000 years ago). While there are no dinosaurs back then, there are amazingly well preserved fossils including whole embryos! Many of these are just being found around the world. Using the tools of developmental biology, there is much to be learned about how early evolution took place.
Once considered to be sort of outsiders, Paleontologists are now consulted by modern conservationists to help understand how animal and plant species are becoming extinct. Paleontology has studied extinction for almost 2 centuries, but conservationists are only beginning to understand how the destruction of the rain forests in South America or pollution in the United States may resemble events that happened at the K/T (Cretaceous/Triassic) extinction.
They have a scary message. Within the next 50 to 100 years, nearly 30% of the life forms (animals and plants) now alive on earth may become extinct! This is because human beings so dominate this planet that they have stopped being careful of what they do and how it affects other living beings. Humans are using up all the land area that other animals used to live in. People use it to build houses or grow food, but the other animals have no place else to go.
They've all promised to come back next February to tell us what's new. We only hope that they get some breakfast before then.
| RESOURCES |
February 26, 2001 American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York,
United States
What Color Was That Dino?
Will Chinese Dino Feathers
Reveal Their Secrets?
Sometime in the fall of 2001, we may start to find out what the real colors were.
How is this possible? The answer is in pigments and bacteria.
We know from the remains of modern birds, that pigments of certain colors leave specific chemical "traces" (tiny, microscopic bits of chemicals) when bacteria "digest" them. There are also chemical "traces" in fossils. A red pigment leaves a different trace than a blue pigment or a green pigment.
By studying the chemical traces in fossilized feathers, Dr. Norell hopes to discover some of their secrets! Stay tuned!
February 26, 2001 American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York,
United States
Andrew H. Knoll of Harvard University wins first Chang Ying-Chien prize in Paleontology.
Big Paleo Winner!
Dr. Andrew H. Knoll, a specialist in Proterozoic paleontology, Precambriant ecosystems and plant evolution at Harvard, has done just that!
So Michael J. Novacek of the AMNH has awarded Dr. Knoll the very first Chang Ying-Chien prize in paleontology.
Chang Ying-Chien was born in China and raised in Taiwan. SHe has degrees in astrophysics and mathematics. Ms. Chang is self-taught in paleontology and worked on many digs in Mongolia, Canada, China and Argentina. SHe has made many donations for scholarships, awards and prizes to encourage paleontological research and training for young scientists. Currently she is working with Dong Zhiming to establish a new museum in Lufeng, Yunna, China.
Dr. Knoll's research has illuminated the so-called "Cambrian Explosion" of more than 500 million years ago. AT the beginning of the Paleozoic era, animals suddenly became very diverse. Dr. Knolls research into the biochemistry of carbonates (a type of chemical compound) helps to explain how ecosystems and ocean chemistry may have evolved. He is also studying the mass extinction at the end of the Permian period more than 245 million years ago.
He is a busy paleontologist! He has written more than 134 scientific articles and edited five volumes of papers! He has also advised NASA and other goverment agencies on Earth's ecosystems. No wonder he doesn't have time for breakfast at press conferences.
July
5, 2000 - LANCE FORMATION, Wyoming, United States
A
Friend for Sue? New T. rex!
T. rex's are not all there usually. That doesn't mean they're crazy, it just means that many of the bones are missing: they could have been washed away or crushed or who knows what!
It
seems like Monte might have most of his or her bones! We'll just have to
wait and see!
| RESOURCES |
May, 2000 - Mongolia, Poland and 
American Museum of Natural History, New York City, New York
Can you believe it? In this, the age of political correctness, two dinosaurs have been caught auditioning for the World Wrestling Federation millions of years before the WWF was even formed! Yes, a Protoceratops and a Velociraptor (with feathers no less) were discovered in a death grip buried in the deserts of Mongolia. They were, of course, totally fosillized. They probably got bored waiting for Hulk Hogan or Mankind to come along and discover them.
Years of hard work by team of scientists including AMNH paleontologists Dr. Mark Norrell and Dr. Michael Novacek found some of the amazing fossils in this exhibit at Ukhaa Tolgod, Mongolia.
The actual "Fighting Dinosaurs" (as this awesome exhibit is called) were actually found in 1971 by a Polish-Mongolian team. They've never been seen before in the United States!
Can you imagine being trapped in a headlock for about 80 million years? We can't.
Get over to the AMNH in New York City and check this out.
The exhibit runs through October 29, 2000 and is extended through January 2001.
| RESOURCES |
AMNH
Fighting Dinosaurs Official Website - Great Pictures!
ABC NEWS - Interview with Mankind
April 20, 2000 - Raleigh, North Carolina
Heart of Stone!
Too Late for Valentine's Day!
Dinosaur
Heart Found!
Were dinosaurs absoutely, positively
warmblooded?
University of North Carolina cat-scans
fossil heart.
Thescelosaurus neglectus,
the marvelous neglected lizard.
One of the big questions about big dinosaurs is whether they were warm-blooded or cold-blooded. So far, paleontologists could only take good guesses based upon the size of the animals and other fossil factors.
But in 1993 an amazing fossil was found in northwest South Dakota. It was acquired by the museum of the University of North Carolina in 1996 and is on permanent display in the museum’s new "Prehistoric North Carolina" exhibit.
Many of the organs of this 66 million year old dinosaur, Thescelosaurus neglectus, the marvelous neglected lizard and now nicknamed "Willo," were present in its chest cavity. Willo is, in fact, the only dinosaur ever found with these soft tissues still in place. And one of them seemed to be a heart!
Led by Dale Russell
a
team which included Dr. Michael Stoskopf, did a Cat Scan of what they believed
was the heart. Further chemical tests by Dr. Ross Barrick showed that this
fossil had the large concentrations of iron that would be expected
in a heart. And the heart had four chambers like a "modern" warm-blooded
animal's
heart!
On April 21, a paper was published in the journal nature which describes all of this in detail:
"Cardiovascular Evidence for an Intermediate or Higher Metabolic Rate in an Ornithischian Dinosaur"
Authors: Paul E. Fisher, Dale A. Russell, Michael K. Stoskopf, Reese E.
Barrick,
Michael Hammer, Andrew A. Kuzmitz
Published: April 21, 2000, in Science
ABSTRACT: Computerized tomography (CT) scans of a ferruginous concretion
within
the chest region of an ornithischian dinosaur reveal structures suggestive
of a four
chambered heart and single systemic aorta. The apparently derived condition
of the
cardiovascular system in turn suggests the existence of intermediate to
high metabolic
rates among dinosaurs.
We think that is a mouthful.
Personally we prefer chocolate hearts, but this is pretty interesting!
| RESOURCES |
CNN
Coverage
North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
Fox
News Coverage
ABC
News Coverage
If
you have a paid membership, you can read the full paper here
NPR
Science Friday, April 21, 2000 Interview with Dale Russell
Monday, 20 March 2000, La Buitrera (”The Vulture Cage”), Patagonia,
Argentina
The
dig site at La Buitrera ![Argentina [41KB]](dinos/dnnargen03.jpg)
An
exclusive statement from Sebastian
Apesteguia
At the end of January 2000, the notice about the
founding of “The” biggest dinosaur in Argentina traveled the world. The
partial skeleton of a really huge sauropod was found by an Argentinean
paleontological expedition lead by Sebastian Apesteguia, from the team
of Dr. Fernando Novas. They belong to the Laboratory of Comparative Anatomy
and Vertebrate Evolution from the Argentinean Museum of Natural Sciences
“B. Rivadavia”, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The dinosaur was found in northern Patagonia, Rio Negro Province during the last days of February 1999 with the valuable help of the owners of the place, the Avelas family. The discovery authors didn’t realize at the time that the huge bones were actually cervical vertebrae: that really happened later in the year while reviewing the pictures in the lab.
This is caused by logical taphonomic problems. A dead. whale-sized terrestrial animal lying on the ground for many months would have been exposed to scavengers, rain, floods, earthquakes and whatever you could imagine. Of course, the skull would be lost at first, followed by the disarticulation and loss of cervical vertebrae and phalanxes. The rest of the bones would be dispersed all around the ground randomly.
Sometimes pure luck allows us to get an entire neck or maybe only several associated cervical vertebrae. Identifying the right position in the whole cervical sequence and knowing the relative proportions in a regular sauropod neck, we could estimate the total length of the neck.
For example, in this new patagonian sauropod, knowing the size and position of both vertebrae, we can estimate about the average in cervical vertebrae length for these taxa. (Bone size varies with location in the spine: Because between the middle of the neck and their basal zone, the cervical vertebrae must have been even larger than what we’ve just found, and nearer the skull, even shorter).
The vertebrae remain still unprepared. For that reason, we still don’t know exactly what was the systematic position of this taxon (i.e. if it was a slender-necked Titanosauriform or a low and undivided neural spined Diplodocimorph).
![Truck used to haul dino bones in Argentina [37 KB]](dinos/dnnargen02.jpg)
The
unique exploration vehicle. Should we call it the PaleoMobile?
Knowing that sauropods commonly have between twelve and seventeen cervical vertebrae, we could estimate at least fifteen meters for the neck length and additionally fifteen more for the tail (if was a long-tailed sauropod). The body could reach between twelve to fifteen meters long. So we’re dealing with a sauropod whose entire length would have been at least 45 to 50 meters.
That’s why we could consider it ranking among the largest sauropods in the world and that’s why we can’t say that any known giant sauropod is “THE” longest sauropod that “ever” existed: Firstly because they are incompleten and secondly because almost every year new giant sauropods are found that can affect the ranking.
Anyway, all of them -- the “really, really big sauropods” -- would seemed to have reached near or around the fifty meters long. Why? Why not 100 or 200 meters, or at least 70? Is 50 meters the maximum length that an animal or at least a sauropod dinosaur could reach? Are there concrete physical constraints for that size?
Many
authors wrote about the problems that sauropods dealt with to reach their
sizes. But they got big anyway and even bigger than people thought they
could!. Maybe the neck was carried not vertically but horizontally. Maybe
the femora were anteroventrally flattened in transversal section instead
of rounded to avoid lateral bending. But was Mother Nature's inventive
capacity all over? Is that the best she could do? Maybe yes; but when you
contemplate the size of the bones we just found under the open blue stepparian
skies of Patagonia, it makes you think: No, we still haven’t reached
the limit.
Monday, 24 January 2000, La Buitrera (”The Vulture Cage”), Patagonia,
Argentina
Big, Bigger,
Biggest? A New Contender
Now it's an un-named herbivore (plant-eater) that was found by an Argentine villager. This baby was proabaly between 157 and 167 feet (48 to 51 meters) according to various estimates. This is way bigger than Ultrasaurus one of the previous record holders for a long, long, long time. It's even bigger than Argentinosaurus which was the latest record breaker!
Paleontologist Carlos Munozis carting the bones off to the Florentino Ameghino museum in southern Rio Negro province. He's the director there. The cervical vertebrae alone is 3.94 feet high (1.2 meters)! Either he will study the bones or make one heckuva big pot of soup!
All
we can think of is that one of these beasties must have eaten everything
green for miles around to grow that big. Maybe the dinos became extinct
from growing so big and eating up all of their own food supply!
Resources
Wanna buya Z.
rex? $5 or 6 Mill will do it!
You read right!
Z. rex. Yep, he's back on the auction block.
This time around Lycos will make you give them your bank account number
before you can bid. Pretty smart. I'll be they can take some nice vacations
with your money even if you don't bid. (Just kidding).
According to the Lycos auction:
The fossil is nicknamed Mr. Z-Rex in honor of the owners of the private property where the fossil was discovered.
Bids for the T-Rex are beginning
at $5.8 million. Appraisers believe a T-Rex fossil of this quality can
bring an additional $40 million in permanent, annual revenue to the museum
that acquires it."
Mr. Z. rex was discovered in 1992 and has been laying around gathering dust since then.
Some people are upset that such an important fossil is being sold to the highest bidder instead of being given to a museum. They think scientists should be able to examine it and learn things from it whenever they need to. DIG hopes that whoever buys it will give real paleontologists a crack at it so that the world can learn new things from this special fossil.
Get out your check books!
Resources
29 August 1999, Vernal, Utah, USA
New Dino in a
Ditch!
Dr. Sue Ann Bilbey of Uinta
Paleo, who examined the bones said they are: "...older and more primitive
than the ones from the big quarry at the [Dinosaur National]
monument, maybe as much
as five to 10 million years older."
Resources
17 May 1999, Washington, DC. USA
POSTAGE
STAMP DEPARTMENT 
VOTE DINOSAUR!
The
United States Postal Service would like to know what sort of stamps
to issue next year. Well, isn't it obvious guys? DINOSAUR STAMPS!
So, now, all you DIno Fans, jump right in there and VOTE.
http://stampvote.msn.com/(we think this link has died)
Then click on Science and Technology. That will take you to the voting list.
At the TOP OF THE LIST you'll find
Dinosaur fossil discovery
While "Jurassic Park" renewed
popular interest in the big lizards,
scientists weren't far behind. From
South Dakota to Mongolia's Gobi desert, some of the
most significant fossil records in existence have turned
up in recent years.
Click on the little white box and then on the REGISTER ALL OF MY VOTES Bullseye and you'll automatically record your vote. Do it LOTS! Tell all your friends. Get your baby sister to vote. If you are abducted by aliens, get them to stop those annoying medical examinations long enough to have them vote, too!
There is further information on Paleontology: click through from the voting page where it says Click Here for 90's Facts.
Let's make sure those dinos win! Who wants to see another Elvis stamp? (Don't answer that, okay? Just kidding.)
Resources
Stamps Online US Postal Service http://www.stampsonline.com/
29 March 1999, Monday, Pennsylvania, USA
DECAPITATION DEPARTMENT
The
Return of Ed's Head! You heard it here first!
Long missing from it's place on a shelf at University of Pennsylvania, the head of Edward Drinker Cope -- world famous Paleontologist -- has been returned. Actually, it's not really his real head, it is a plaster bust of his head.
Two years ago in D.I.G. we publicized a ONE HUNDRED DOLLAR REWARD offered by Jane Davidson, author of The Bone Sharp, a biography of Cope.
It turns out the police found it in a fraternity house at Penn State. The e-mail is below.
Now what we wonder is, what do you do with the plaster bust of the head of a paleontologist at a frat party?
The mind boggles.
<< Subj:
Edward Cope Returns Home
Date: 99-03-29
17:03:04 EST
From: rxh5@xyzabcde
(Randy Hoffman)
To:
jdhexen@xyzabcde
Just wanted to drop
you a quick note and let you know the missing bust of
Edward Drinker Cope
is or will shortly be returned to Univ. of Pennsylvania.
Our town police found
the bust in a local fraternity and checked with us to
see if we were missing
one. We weren't and the next day they asked if we
could find out anything.
I did an internet search by Cope's name and the first hit
I got was an article
from the Univ. Penn almanac talking about your efforts to
have the bust returned
and with a link to the report of the original theft. I
then got the town
police in touch with Univ. Penn police and the bust should
be home soon if it
isn't there already.
Since the bust was
important to you I wanted to make sure you were advised of
its return. Have a
good day and I enjoyed your website.
Officer Randy Hoffman
University Police
Penn State
-----------------------
Headers -------------------------------- >>
Well!! Thanks
Officer for letting me know. That is a surprise; it has been
missing for a long long
time. I am glad it is returning. I will have to get
in touch with the University
Biology Dept at Penn as I had offered a reward of
$100. for its return.
Since your police found it, perhaps if Penn agrees I
can make the donation to
a police charity or to Penn State scholarship funds?
or some such. I will
get in touch with them and let you know what is what.
I am copying this note from
you to the webzine Dinosaur Interplanetary
Gazette, which helped to
advertise that Ed's Head was gone. Best. Jane
Davidson
Resources.
25 March 1999, Friday, Beijing, China
Oldest Mammal ever found! Ate Insects, not Chow Fun.
A Triconodont skelton was found in Northeastern China. It is the size of a modern mouse, and probably ate insects. Condering that it is about 145 Million Years old (Tithonian). (Check our DINOSAUR TIME LINE ), it couldn't eat Chow Fun ( a kind of chinese noodles).
It is the first time that a skeleton this complete was ever found! It will help us to understand what early mammals were like. Previously only small fragments of teeth or bones were available for study. The skeleton indicates that the animal might have been able to walk almost standing up!
Resources.
MSNBC-
Reuters Article http://www.msnbc.com/news/253521.asp
25 February 1999, Thursday, Tokyo, Japan
PALEO-ROBOTICS REPORT
Coelacanth
Swins Again! Cyberfish for dinner, anyone?
Coelacanth? What's a Coelacanth? It is a prehistoric fish known from fossils which date back about 400 million years. It was supposedly extinct around 80 million years ago. Ha ha. Fooled you! In 1938 it was back in the news swimming around the Comoros Islands near Madagasar. Then in 1998, Mark Erdmann found more Coelocanths living near Indonesia.
Just in case everybody decided that fresh caught Coelocanth was the yummiest thing since lobster, Yuuji Terada and submarine builders at MHI spent over a four years and over a million dollars building a robotic Coelacanth as well as some robotic sea breams.
These cyberfishies look so real that it is hard to tell them from actual fish until you try to take a bite. The scientists think that robotic fish (which run on batteries just like the Energizer Bunny... hmmm Energizer Fishie anyone?) may swim more efficiently on less power than a small submarine. That is why they are researching them.
The first robotic fish was
a tuna. It was developed in the United States at MIT (Massachusetts
Institute of Technology). Scientists there want to use such robots to explore
the deepest parts of the ocean.
Resources.
BBC
Coverage with Real Video of Robo Fish swimming. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_286000/286345.stm
MIT
Robotic
Fish Project - Robo
Pike Videos can be seen there, too.
RoboRex - Robotic Dinosaur
Virtual Institute of Cryptozoology (kewl music, too.) http://perso.wanadoo.fr/cryptozoo/welcome.htm
Coelocanth in Danger!Article
Ben S. Roesch's On-Line Cryptozoology Archives Articles on recent discoveries.
The Fortean Times - CryptoZoology Links.
Discovery
Channel had short news item.
CNN archives has some material on robo fish.
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created September 1996
updated June 28, 1997, 1/16/99, 3/4/99, 1/1/2001
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