Fri
Feb
12
BREAKING!
Tiny Sauropods lived in a Transylvanian Neverland, NOT a land called Honalee.
Get it RIGHT.
In other news, an old Hungarian Baron was vindicated.
A new study has confirmed that dwarf dinosaurs existed on an island in Transylvania, as well as explained how dinosaurs shrank during the Late Cretaceous at the Neverland-like place where they never really grew up.
Earlier, Hungarian baron Franz [ed: “Jackie Paper”] Nopcsa claimed that his sister in 1895 found bones belonging to dwarf dinosaurs on his family’s Transylvanian estate.
But now, according to a report in Discovery News, a new study not only confirms the existence of dwarf dinosaurs, but also explains how dinosaurs shrank at Hateg Island in Romania.
…
The diminutive dinosaurs included the titanosaurian sauropod Magyarosaurus, which had a body length of about 16 to 19 feet.
That’s impressive by human standards, but is miniature compared to a sauropod such as Argentinosaurus, which grew to be at least 82 feet long.
Tue
Feb
2
High-profile whupping for some unfortunate dino-cladist in Paleontology:
The sauropod dinosaur ‘Bothriospondylus’, originally named on the basis of Late Jurassic remains from England, is demonstrated to be invalid, and the characters used to diagnose it are shown to be obsolescent features which are widespread throughout Sauropoda.
SLAM JAM!
Wed
Nov
11
OMFG!!!!! Scientists have discovered THE MISSING LINK (of sauropods)!!!
It’s easy to get caught up in the gigantism of sauropodomorphs, to get embroiled in the keeping up with the titanosaurs, race-to-the-top that seems endemic to amateur sauropod-lovers. But step back from the obsession for a moment and ask yourself. WHY? The fundamental morpholology of the dinosaur is birdlike, ain’t it? How did some of them get so big and bulky, with those long, long necks, and tiny, hilarious heads?
We are one bulky, entaxony-prone step closer to the answer. AP sez:
A newly discovered dinosaur species that roamed the Earth about 200 million years ago may help explain how the creatures evolved into the largest animals on land, scientists in South Africa said Wednesday.
The Aardonyx celestae was a small-headed herbivore with huge barrel of a chest, and the scientists said it could prove to be a missing evolutionary link.
“This is definitely without a shadow of a doubt a brand new type of dinosaur — one that no one has seen before and one that has a very significant position in the family tree of dinosaurs,” said Australian paleontologist Adam Yates.
This is super exciting! But some paleontologists just can’t work up the proper enthusiasm:
“This is a very interesting animal,” says Paul Upchurch, a vertebrate paleontologist at University College London.
Tue
Nov
10
New Zealand, the island country formerly known for its flightless birds and Rogernomics, was apparently CHOCK FULL OF SWEET SWEET SAUROPODS. Its true. See if you can decipher this New Zealand jargon:
“A scientist who went exploring in the South Island for oil and gas came back with a much rarer find.
Dr Greg Browne accidentally discovered the first ever dinosaur footprints in the country.
To the untrained eye it looks like a puddle in the rock, but the footprint is rarer than a Welsh win over the All Blacks .
“This is incredibly exciting,” says Dr Hamish Campbell, palaeontologist. “This is the first evidence of dinosaurs that we know of for certain from the South Island.”
They are also the first dinosaur footprints found anywhere in the country.”
Thanks Hamish! But wait? What is the South Island? Who are the All Blacks? Hamish?
K. Here it is.
Some initial thoughts: (a) That must be a really big jetpack. (b) It’s an apatosaurus, not a brontosaurus. (c) Does this sauropod not need oxygen? (d) How much is that dippy helmet* going to help if this space-sauropod crashes into something? (e) Given the mass of a sauropod, could a space sail be effective?
Most importantly, will someone please play this flashgame and report back? Our sources say it’s like Starfox, but with a jetpack brontosaurus.
***************
* LATFS supports helmet safety for humans!
