Scientists who analyzed rare Tyrannosaurus rex footprints in North Dakota say the fearsome predator strolled at roughly 3.5 miles per hour, a pace a healthy human could match without breaking a sweat. A team from Liverpool John Moores University and the Denver Museum of Nature & Science studied a 23-foot trackway preserved in the Hell […] The post A T. rex walked slower than most joggers, new fossil trackway study finds appeared first on American Almanac .
Scientists who analyzed rare Tyrannosaurus rex footprints in North Dakota say the fearsome predator strolled at roughly 3.5 miles per hour, a pace a healthy human could match without breaking a sweat. A team from Liverpool John Moores University and the Denver Museum of Nature & Science studied a 23-foot trackway preserved in the Hell Creek Formation of southwestern North Dakota. The trail holds four three-toed footprints, each about three feet long, spaced at a stride length of roughly 13 feet. Using 3D surface scanning and physical reproductions of the prints, the researchers calculated that the animal moved at between 3.5 and 4.5 miles per hour, barely faster than a brisk walk for a fit adult. Professor Peter Falkingham, who led the…Open
A scientist surveying a California creek bed for a frog habitat project accidentally discovered a pristinely preserved Pacific Mastodon tooth estimated to be 2.5 million years old, now headed to Stanford University for research. Brigid Lynch, a geomorphologist with Balance Hydrologics, was picking through rocks in a San Mateo County creek bed when one caught […] The post Geomorphologist stumbles onto 2.5-million-year-old mastodon molar in California creek bed appeared first on American Almanac .
A scientist surveying a California creek bed for a frog habitat project accidentally discovered a pristinely preserved Pacific Mastodon tooth estimated to be 2.5 million years old, now headed to Stanford University for research. Brigid Lynch, a geomorphologist with Balance Hydrologics, was picking through rocks in a San Mateo County creek bed when one caught her eye. She photographed the oddly shaped stone and moved on. The next day, reviewing the image, she realized she wasn't looking at a rock at all. It was a mastodon molar, an upper left third molar from a beast that roamed Ice Age California. The accidental find, The Sun reported , has now been donated to Stanford University's Doerr School of Sustainability, where researchers plan…Open
Scientists have used fossilized insect wings and advanced modeling to recreate the strange calls that once filled Jurassic forests, offering a glimpse into a long-lost world that challenges our assumptions about the past. A team led by Dr. Fernando Montealegre-Zapata from the University of Lincoln analyzed 20 fossils from nine insect species, all found in […] The post Researchers reconstruct sounds of Jurassic insects from fossilized wings appeared first on American Almanac .
Scientists have used fossilized insect wings and advanced modeling to recreate the strange calls that once filled Jurassic forests, offering a glimpse into a long-lost world that challenges our assumptions about the past. A team led by Dr. Fernando Montealegre-Zapata from the University of Lincoln analyzed 20 fossils from nine insect species, all found in China’s Inner Mongolia region and dating back roughly 165 million years. These ancient bugs, ancestors of today’s grasshoppers and katydids, left behind wing structures with microscopic ridges and a scraper known as a plectrum, clues that helped the team reconstruct their calls. Using microscope scans, laser measurements, computer modeling, and machine learning, the researchers…Open
Scientists digging in Egypt's southwestern desert have uncovered fossilized remains of five extinct shark species dating to the Late Cretaceous period, a find that includes the first fossil record of its kind for Egypt and the African continent. Archaeologists excavating phosphate beds in the Duwi Formation, a geological deposit laid down when sea levels ran […] The post Five extinct shark species unearthed in Egypt's desert from the age of dinosaurs appeared first on American Almanac .
Scientists digging in Egypt's southwestern desert have uncovered fossilized remains of five extinct shark species dating to the Late Cretaceous period, a find that includes the first fossil record of its kind for Egypt and the African continent. Archaeologists excavating phosphate beds in the Duwi Formation, a geological deposit laid down when sea levels ran between 320 and 850 feet higher than they stand today, pulled 14 fossilized shark teeth from what was once a warm, tropical marine environment. The discovery, published in the journal Cretaceous Research , represents a new assemblage of extinct lamniform sharks, an order that includes some of the most formidable predators ever to patrol the world's oceans. The find matters because it…Open
Cairo University researchers pulled 14 fossilized shark teeth from a remote Egyptian plateau, identifying five extinct species that once prowled a warm sea where sand and rock now stretch for hundreds of miles. The teeth came from the Abu-Tartur Plateau, a phosphate-rich highland in Egypt's Western Desert roughly 400 miles southwest of Cairo. The plateau […] The post Fossilized shark teeth reveal a prehistoric ocean hidden beneath Egypt's desert appeared first on American Almanac .
Cairo University researchers pulled 14 fossilized shark teeth from a remote Egyptian plateau, identifying five extinct species that once prowled a warm sea where sand and rock now stretch for hundreds of miles. The teeth came from the Abu-Tartur Plateau, a phosphate-rich highland in Egypt's Western Desert roughly 400 miles southwest of Cairo. The plateau sits between the Kharga and Dakhla oases, today one of the country's most important mining and fertilizer sites. More than 70 million years ago, it was the floor of a tropical ocean. A team led by Cairo University recovered the fossils from a phosphate layer at the site and matched them against specimens found elsewhere in the world. Their findings, published in the peer-reviewed journal…Open
Looking for my key amid the shrubbery, I found a fossil instead. The post On the Death and Consolations of Reading appeared first on The American Conservative .
Takimag On the Death and Consolations of Reading Looking for my key amid the shrubbery, I found a fossil instead. TakiMag Slight setbacks may have disproportionate effects upon one’s mood, and despair may be induced by trivia. For example, the other day I lost the key to my post-box somewhere between the latter and the house, 500 yards away. The track is somewhat overgrown, and despite several prolonged searches, I could not find the key. Even on the very small scale of my own life, this was no tragedy, but the inconvenience of it—having to buy and install a new post-box—nevertheless made me wonder whether it (that is to…Open
A Tyrannosaurus rex fossil billed as one of the world's largest and most complete specimens was sold for a record $50.1 million Tuesday to a mystery bidder.
Young people at work are finding strange places during their lunch break to nap or cry. The generation is known as the mental health generation. Are they getting things right? On today’s “Hot Take with Jesse Weber”: We break down how a single fossil reshaped our understanding of Earth's ancient past, what it reveals about prehistoric Antarctica and why overlooked discoveries can change science forever. What do you think is still waiting to be discovered? Drop your questions, comments and hot takes in the chat!
The Tyrannosaurus rex fossil known as "Gus" will go up for auction on Tuesday. It's not the first time dinosaur bones have been sold to the highest bidder.
Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton, is pictured during a press preview at Sotheby's in New York City on July 1.'/Open
