A partially mummified hadrosaur discovered by a teenager in North Dakota may be the most complete dinosaur ever found, with intact skin that shows evidence of stripes and perhaps soft tissue, researchers said on Monday.
Enough of the animal remains to show it ran quickly and was far more muscular than scientists believed such dinosaurs were.
"It's sort of King Tut meets T. Rex," paleontologist Phil Manning of the University of Manchester in Britain said in a telephone interview.
The creature is fossilized, with the skin and bone turned to stone. But unlike most dinosaur fossils, tissues are preserved as well.
This includes large expanses of the animal's skin, with clear remains of scales.
"This is not a skin impression. This is fossilized skin," Manning said. "When you run your hands over this dinosaur's skin, this is the closest you are going to get to touching a real dinosaur, ever."
The remains of the hadrosaur, dubbed Dakota, were found in 2000 by Tyler Lyson, then 17, on his uncle's ranch in North Dakota.
The hadrosaur, a plant-eating dinosaur that walked on two legs, lived 67 million years ago, during the late Cretaceous Period.
Lyson contacted Manning. The National Geographic Society, which helped pay for the expedition, will air a television program about the team's work on Sunday.
Manning had the team remove the monstrous specimen almost intact, with just the tail in a separate block.
It weighed close to 10,000 pounds (4,500 kilograms).
They persuaded the Boeing Company and NASA to use a huge computed tomography, or CT, scanner in Canoga Park, California, that is usually used to scan space shuttle parts.
Showing posts with label animals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label animals. Show all posts
Monday, December 3, 2007
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Crocodile Tears
Ukrainian officials summoned a vet Friday to determine whether a crocodile, captured after six months on the run, was comatose or dead.
"The crocodile is showing no signs of life. We are not specialists and, to be honest, we don't know whether it's dead or alive," Nikolai Ranga of Ukraine's Emergencies Ministry said in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk.
"The vet is coming to see the crocodile tomorrow."
The crocodile, nicknamed Godzilla or Godzi, was captured alive this week after escaping from a traveling circus in May.
The reptile had been spotted several times lurking around industrial sites near the city of Mariupol, on the coast of the Sea of Azov. But it repeatedly eluded search teams.
It was finally found basking in a pool at a thermal power station, where the water was warmer than the nearby sea.
Ranga said the crocodile was then taken 100 km (60 miles) by car to Donetsk where it was freed into a fire service tank.
"We did what the specialists told us and poured in water at about 25 degrees (77 Fahrenheit)," he said. "We really do not know what to do next."
The crocodile's owner, quoted by the daily Segodnya, said he could only collect it Monday because of circus commitments.
"The crocodile is showing no signs of life. We are not specialists and, to be honest, we don't know whether it's dead or alive," Nikolai Ranga of Ukraine's Emergencies Ministry said in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk.
"The vet is coming to see the crocodile tomorrow."
The crocodile, nicknamed Godzilla or Godzi, was captured alive this week after escaping from a traveling circus in May.
The reptile had been spotted several times lurking around industrial sites near the city of Mariupol, on the coast of the Sea of Azov. But it repeatedly eluded search teams.
It was finally found basking in a pool at a thermal power station, where the water was warmer than the nearby sea.
Ranga said the crocodile was then taken 100 km (60 miles) by car to Donetsk where it was freed into a fire service tank.
"We did what the specialists told us and poured in water at about 25 degrees (77 Fahrenheit)," he said. "We really do not know what to do next."
The crocodile's owner, quoted by the daily Segodnya, said he could only collect it Monday because of circus commitments.
Watch Out for What You Might Get for Christmas
The International Rhino Foundation has come up with a unique gift for under the Christmas tree that stands out from most of the other charity gifts on other -- rhino poop.
From Friday, the foundation will start an auction on eBay for four separate pieces of rhino dung, representing the four species of rhino living in zoos across the United States -- the White Rhino, Black Rhino, Sumatran Rhino and Indian Rhino.
The only rhino species not represented is the Javan Rhino which is so rare with only 60-75 of this species still around that obtaining dung was not possible.
"Everyone knows about rhinos, but not everyone knows that they are disappearing from the earth," said International Rhino Foundation Executive Director Dr. Susie Ellis in a statement.
"It might sound silly, but the money raised by the rhino poop auction will benefit conservation programs, raise awareness, and help us to save rhinos."
The top bid is expected for the poop from the Sumatran Rhino, which is the rarest of the four on offer with only 275 of them estimated to be remaining. The opening bid? $500.
From Friday, the foundation will start an auction on eBay for four separate pieces of rhino dung, representing the four species of rhino living in zoos across the United States -- the White Rhino, Black Rhino, Sumatran Rhino and Indian Rhino.
The only rhino species not represented is the Javan Rhino which is so rare with only 60-75 of this species still around that obtaining dung was not possible.
"Everyone knows about rhinos, but not everyone knows that they are disappearing from the earth," said International Rhino Foundation Executive Director Dr. Susie Ellis in a statement.
"It might sound silly, but the money raised by the rhino poop auction will benefit conservation programs, raise awareness, and help us to save rhinos."
The top bid is expected for the poop from the Sumatran Rhino, which is the rarest of the four on offer with only 275 of them estimated to be remaining. The opening bid? $500.
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