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Dinosaurs: New Findings & Theories

I guess it had to happen sooner or later ... Paleontologists have published the first detailed analysis of a dinosaur's multi-purpose poop-chute / piss-nozzle / egg-chute ...

You in the back - knock it off with the snickering! ...

Dinosaur-Butthole.jpg
Scientists Have Described a Dinosaur's Butthole in Exquisite Detail

When a dog-sized Psittacosaurus was living out its days on Earth, it was probably concerned with mating, eating, and not being killed by other dinosaurs. It would never even have crossed its mind that, 120 million or so years later, scientists would be peering intensely up its clacker. ...

However, that's precisely what they have done, yielding the most detailed description yet of a non-avian dinosaur's cloaca: the catch-all hole used for peeing, pooping, mating, and laying eggs.

This Swiss Army knife of buttholes is common throughout the animal kingdom today - all birds, amphibians, reptiles, and even a few mammals possess a cloaca. But we know little about the cloacae of dinosaurs, including their anatomy, what they looked like, and how the animals used them. ...

Other features, however, were also similar to crocodilians. The cloacal lips were covered in small, overlapping scales and heavily pigmented with melanin. In crocodilians, these lobes function as musky scent glands that are used during social displays - a function, the researchers said, that would be supported by the heavy pigmentation. ...

"Knowing that at least some dinosaurs were signalling to each other gives palaeoartists exciting freedom to speculate on a whole variety of now plausible interactions during dinosaur courtship. It is a game changer!" ...

For lack of samples, this is a very understudied region of dinosaur anatomy, and only by examining a wide range of dinosaur cloacae can we learn more about how they functioned in the social and reproductive lives of these ancient animals.

No doubt, other palaeontologists will now be on the lookout for fossilised buttholes to try to fill this gap in our understanding of dinosaur life.

The research has been published in Current Biology.

SOURCE: https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-have-described-a-dinosaur-s-butthole-in-exquisite-detail
 
This is no good.

How did they get this new data (exciting as it may be?)

evidence or speculation?
 
... How did they get this new data (exciting as it may be?) ...

By both analyzing the structure(s) of a very rare fossilized cloaca and comparing features with known / current species' corresponding organs, features and functionalities ...
 
And did they analyse what it might do to their academic reputation?

Or is that an experiment in process?
 
I guess it had to happen sooner or later ... Paleontologists have published the first detailed analysis of a dinosaur's multi-purpose poop-chute / piss-nozzle / egg-chute ...
"When a dog-sized Psittacosaurus"
They should rename that species the Pissacoterus in honor of the discovery.
 
And did they analyse what it might do to their academic reputation?

Or is that an experiment in process?
It's probably great for their reputation. Academics can probably discuss it without giggling too much. Us, on the other hand.......
 
And did they analyse what it might do to their academic reputation?
Or is that an experiment in process?

It seems to me these researchers are not as subject to ridicule as those paleontologists who specialize in coprolites (fossilized dung), whose academic reputations don't seem to be in the toilet.

These researchers were given a golden opportunity to examine a saurian organ system in detail for the first time - an opening that's every bit as rare in a scientific field where all you can study is whatever you happen to find as the focal subject itself (an opening that hadn't been preserved well enough to inspect ever before). Such a "first" is a big deal in scholarly circles.

In any case, these researchers are similarly blessed with a ready-made comeback against any dismissive or mocking opinions by way of their subject and a longstanding sarcastic maxim - i.e., "opinions are like assholes; everybody's got one." :evillaugh:
 
Meanwhile ... Argentinian paleontologists have reported their discovery of titanosaur remains (partially excavated to date) which might turn out to be the largest known terrestrial animal of all time.
Dinosaur fossils could belong to the world's largest ever creature

Experts have uncovered the remains of a gigantic dinosaur in Argentina, and believe it could be one of the largest creatures to have ever walked the Earth.

Paleontologists discovered the fossilized remains of a 98 million-year-old titanosaur in Neuquén Province in Argentina's northwest Patagonia, in thick, sedimentary deposits known as the Candeleros Formation.

The 24 vertebrae of the tail and elements of the pelvic and pectoral girdle discovered are thought to belong to a titanosaur, a diverse group of sauropod dinosaurs, characterized by their large size, a long neck and tail, and four-legged stance.

In research published in the journal Cretaceous Research, experts say they believe the creature to be "one of the largest sauropods ever found" and could exceed the size of a Patagotitan, a species which lived 100 million to 95 million years ago and measured up to a staggering 37.2 meters (122 feet) long. ...

Without analyzing the dinosaur's humerus or femur, experts say it is not yet possible to say how much the creature weighs. However, the partially recovered dinosaur "can be considered one of the largest titanosaurs," experts said, with a probable body mass exceeding or comparable to that of a Patagotitan or Argentinosaurus. ...

Researchers said that, while they don't believe the creature to belong to a new species, they have so far been unable to assign it to a known genus of dinosaur. ...

FULL STORY: https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/19/americas/dinosaur-largest-titanosaur-intl-scli-scn/index.html
 
Here are the bibliographic particulars and abstract for the newly reported Argentinian discovery.

Alejandro Otero, José L. Carballido, Leonardo Salgado, José Ignacio Canudo, Alberto C. Garrido
Report of a giant titanosaur sauropod from the Upper Cretaceous of Neuquén Province, Argentina
Cretaceous Research, 2021, 104754.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2021.104754.

Abstract
One of the most fascinating research topics in the field of sauropod dinosaurs is the evolution of gigantism. In the particular case of Titanosauria, the record of multi-ton species (those exceeding 40 tons) comes mainly from Patagonia. The record of super-sized titanosaur sauropods has traditionally been extremely fragmentary, although recent discoveries of more complete taxa have revealed significant anatomical information previously unavailable due to preservation biases. In this contribution we present a giant titanosaur sauropod from the Candeleros Formation (Cenomanian, circa 98 Ma) of Neuquén Province, composed of an articulated sequence of 20 most anterior plus 4 posterior caudal vertebrae and several appendicular bones. This specimen clearly proves the presence of a second taxon from Candeleros Formation, in addition to Andesaurus, and is here considered one of the largest sauropods ever found, probably exceeding Patagotitan in size. While anatomical analysis does not currently allow us to regard it as a new species, the morphological disparity and the lack of equivalent elements with respect to coeval taxa also prevent us from assigning this new material to already known genera. A preliminary phylogenetic analysis places this new specimen at the base of the clade leading to Lognkosauria, in a polytomy with Bonitasaura. The specimen here reported strongly suggests the co-existence of the largest and middle-sized titanosaurs with small-sized rebbachisaurids at the beginning of the Late Cretaceous in Neuquén Province, indicating putative niche partitioning. This set of extremely large taxa from Patagonia has contributed to a better understanding of the phylogenetic relationships of titanosaurs, revealing the existence of a previously unknown lineage and shedding new light on body mass evolution.

SOURCE: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S019566712100001X
 
Just so long as it isn't a giant albino penguin. Really don't want to wake up the Elder Things, let alone meet a shoggoth.
 
Wouldn't let them herd sheep though.

Baby tyrannosaurs were only the size of a Border Collie dog when they took their first steps, a team of palaeontologists has discovered.

Led by Dr Greg Funston, a University of Edinburgh researcher, the team examined fossilised remains of a tiny jaw bone and claw which had been found in Canada and the US. They were revealed to belong to a baby tyrannosaur – cousin of the fabled T-Rex – in 3D scans and are the first-known fossils of tyrannosaur embryos.

It suggests the creatures which lived more than 70 million years ago were only around three-feet long when they hatched, despite being able to grow to 40ft long and weigh around eight tonnes.

The team has also estimated that tyrannosaur eggs – remains of which have never been found – were around 17 inches long. ...

https://www.irishexaminer.com/world/arid-40213682.html
 
A well-preserved dinosaur footprint has been discovered by a four-year-old girl on a beach.
Lily Wilder spotted it at Bendricks Bay, Barry, in the Vale of Glamorgan - and scientists believe it could help establish how they walked.
The footprint, spotted in January, is 220 million years old and had been preserved in mud.
While it is impossible to tell what type left it, the print is 10cm long and likely from a 75cm tall dinosaur.
National Museum Wales palaeontology curator Cindy Howells described it as "the best specimen ever found on this beach".
(Continues in longer article)

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A well-preserved dinosaur footprint has been discovered by a four-year-old girl on a beach.
Lily Wilder spotted it at Bendricks Bay, Barry, in the Vale of Glamorgan - and scientists believe it could help establish how they walked.
The footprint, spotted in January, is 220 million years old and had been preserved in mud.
While it is impossible to tell what type left it, the print is 10cm long and likely from a 75cm tall dinosaur.
National Museum Wales palaeontology curator Cindy Howells described it as "the best specimen ever found on this beach".
(Continues in longer article)

View attachment 34378
I'm no expert but that doesn't look quite right somehow to be an impression made by the weight of something or is it just me?.
 
A bit late, this one.

Footprints of crocodile-like prehistoric reptile found in Italian Alps



Fossilised track dates back to period immediately following mass extinction 252m years ago

PrehistoricCroc.jpg

The reptile was hypothetically similar to a four-metre long crocodile. Photograph: Trento Science Museum (MUSE).

Angela Giuffrida in Rome
Fri 15 Jan 2021 16.06 GMT
Last modified on Fri 15 Jan 2021 18.53 GMT

Footprints believed to have belonged to a crocodile-like prehistoric reptile have been found in the Italian Alps in an extraordinary discovery that scientists say proves there were survivors of a mass extinction 252m years ago.
The well-preserved fossilised track, made up of about 10 footprints, was found at an altitude of 2,200-metres in Altopiano della Gardetta, in the province of Cuneo in the western Alps.

The traces of front and rear claws, about 30cm in length, date back to about 250m years ago, after the area was rendered inhospitable by the mass extinction at the end of Permian geological period.

A team of palaeontologists and geologists at the Trento Science Museum (Muse), Zurich University’s Palaeontology Museum and the universities of Turin, Rome La Sapienza and Genoa were behind the discovery. Their study was published in Peer J, the biological, medical and environmental sciences journal.


(C) The Guardian. '21.
 
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Newly revised dating of western hemisphere fossils suggests carnivorous dinosaurs migrated worldwide from their region of origin (what's now South America) millions of years before herbivorous dinosaurs spread as far. Known climatic conditions are suggested as the explanation.
Some dinosaur migration was delayed by climate, study shows

Plant-eating dinosaurs probably arrived in the Northern Hemisphere millions of years after their meat-eating cousins, a delay likely caused by climate change, a new study found.

A new way of calculating the dates of dinosaur fossils found in Greenland shows that the plant eaters, called sauropodomorphs, were about 215 million years old, according to a study in Monday’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The fossils previously were thought to be as old as 228 million years.

That changes how scientists think about dinosaur migration.

The earliest dinosaurs all seemed to first develop in what’s now South America about 230 million years ago or longer. They then wandered north and all over the globe. The new study suggests not all dinosaurs could migrate at the same time.

So far, scientists haven’t found any example of the earliest plant-eating dinosaur family in the Northern Hemisphere that’s more than 215 million years old. ...

Yet scientists find meat-eaters were pretty much worldwide by at least 220 million years ago ...

The plant eaters “were late comers in the Northern Hemisphere,” said study lead author Dennis Kent, of Columbia University. “What took them so long?”

Kent figured out what probably happened by looking at the atmosphere and climate at the time. During the Triassic era, 230 million years ago, carbon dioxide levels were 10 times higher than now. It was a hotter world with no ice sheets at the poles and two bands of extreme deserts north and south of the equator, he said.

It was so dry in those regions that there were not enough plants for the sauropodomorphs to survive the journey, but there were enough insects that meat-eaters could, Kent said.

But then about about 215 million years ago, carbon dioxide levels briefly dropped in half and that allowed the deserts to have a bit more plant life and the sauropodomorphs were able to make the trip. ...

FULL STORY: https://apnews.com/article/climate-...imate-change-3e9865a26459f76e9c65d5102f17b240
 
Newly revised dating of western hemisphere fossils suggests carnivorous dinosaurs migrated worldwide from their region of origin (what's now South America) millions of years before herbivorous dinosaurs spread as far. Known climatic conditions are suggested as the explanation.


FULL STORY: https://apnews.com/article/climate-...imate-change-3e9865a26459f76e9c65d5102f17b240
My question would be, whst did the carnivorous dinosaurs eat? I was under the impression they ate herbivorous dinosaurs, and followed the heards in search of prey
 
My question would be, whst did the carnivorous dinosaurs eat? I was under the impression they ate herbivorous dinosaurs, and followed the heards in search of prey

The article says

It was so dry in those regions that there were not enough plants for the sauropodomorphs to survive the journey, but there were enough insects that meat-eaters could.
 
My question would be, whst did the carnivorous dinosaurs eat? I was under the impression they ate herbivorous dinosaurs, and followed the heards in search of prey
Carnivorous dinosaurs ate other carnivorous dinosaurs as well. They also ate eggs, fish, avian dinosaurs, etc.
 
Why did large dinosaur species outnumber small species (the reverse distribution seen in all species since then)? A new hypothesis blames the gap in dinosaur size distribution on teenage carnivorous dinosaurs.
We Finally Know Why Dinosaurs Were Either Humongous or Tiny, Unlike Modern Animals

A team of US scientists has demonstrated that the offspring of huge carnivorous dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex, who grew from the size of house cats to towering monsters, reshaped their ecosystems by outcompeting smaller rival species.

Their study, published in the journal Science on Thursday, helps answer an enduring mystery about the 150-million-year rule of dinosaurs: why were there many more large species compared to small, which is the opposite of what we see in land animals today?

"Dinosaur communities were like shopping malls on a Saturday afternoon, jam-packed with teenagers," said Kat Schroeder, a graduate student at the University of New Mexico who led the research.

"They made up a significant portion of the individuals in a species and would have had a very real impact on the resources available in communities."

Even given the limitations of the fossil record, it's thought that overall, dinosaurs were not particularly diverse: there are only some 1,500 known species, compared to tens of thousands of modern mammalian and bird species.

What's more, across the entirety of the Mesozoic era, from 252 to 66 million years ago, there were relatively many more species of large bodied dinosaurs weighing 1,000 kilograms (a ton) compared to species weighing less than 60 kilograms (130 pounds).

Some scientists put forward the idea that since even the most gigantic dinosaurs begin life as tiny hatchlings, they could be using different resources as they were growing up - occupying the space in ecosystems where smaller species might otherwise flourish. ...

FULL STORY: https://www.sciencealert.com/teenage-t-rex-edged-out-smaller-dinosaur-species-says-study

See Also:

Do Teenage “Tyrants” – Carnivorous Dinosaur Offspring – Explain Lack of Dinosaur Diversity?
https://scitechdaily.com/do-teenage...offspring-explain-lack-of-dinosaur-diversity/
 
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Sheep-sized dinosaur attracted sexual partners with huge neck frill, new study suggests Size mattered for an amorous protoceratops

Article: 3 February, 2021

PRI181323268dino.jpg


A sheep-sized dinosaur that lived more than 70 million years ago evolved to have a huge neck frill as a result of sexual selection, according to scientists.

The protoceratops was a 1.8m-long plant-eater that roamed what is now Mongolia's Gobi Desert.

It was previously believed that its elaborate frill was there to protect its neck from predators or possibly as a means of regulating body temperature.

[...]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...-sexual-selection-protoceratops-b1796627.html
 
The skull of a new dinosaur, "one who causes fear" named in the local dialect, has been found in Argentina.

'The horned Llukalkan aliocranianus was around 5 metres (16 feet) long and roamed South America 85 million years ago.

Researchers found remains nearby of another carnivorous dinosaur, something they said was highly unusual.'

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-56590733
 
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