[x]

Dinosaur News #36New dinosaurs include sauropods Comahuesaurus windhauseni and Astrophocaudia slaughteri, hadrosaur Latirhinus uitstlani, and ceratopsids Xenoceratops foremostensis and Coronosaurus brinkmani (formerly a species of Centrosaurus).
New studies were published on avian diversity through time, the benefits of bright blue coloration in malurids, the preservation of hadrosaur skin, large Eocene bird footprints, how Columba livia learn new flight paths, forelimb posture in hadrosaurs (they didn't have pronated hands), the wing structure of Archaeopteryx lithographica and Anchiornis huxleyi (revealing that they had more covert layers than modern birds), the evolution of vocal mimicry in psittaciforms, the evolution of size in herbivorous theropods, and the anatomies of Jeholosaurus shangyuanensis and Coloradisaurus brevis, as is a monograph on Tenontosaurus tilletii. Cacatua goffiniana was observed making

Dinosaur News #38New dinosaurs include ornithopod Trinisaura santamartaensis, oviraptorosaur Yulong mini, deinonychosaur Eosinopteryx brevipenna, and bird Sulcavis geeorum. Scolosaurus cutleri is resurrected as a valid taxon.
Oviraptorosaurs are shown to have had very muscular tails, probably for use in visual display. Studies on the osteology of Khaan mckennai, convergence between the tails of dromaeosaurids and rhamphorhynchid pterosaurs, an injured sauropodomorph tail, hunting methods of Pygoscelis adeliae, neuroanatomy of Ampelosaurus, the benefits of pheomelanin in birds, genomic diversity in Columba livia, and new specimens of Archaeorhynchus spathula are published. Confuciusornis sanctus specimens without retrices are confirmed to be female. Parts of the long-lost Titanosaurus indicus holotype have been rediscovered. Detailed analysis is done on theropod teeth from the Late Cretaceous of North America, allowing f

At last, the Hell Creek Archosaur Calendar!We went through a bit of a rough patch, but the Hell Creek 2013 Archosaur Calendar is finally available! It features artwork by :iconDracontes:, :iconTomozaurus:, :iconDurbed:, :iconPilsator:, :iconshinreddear:, :iconEWilloughby:, :iconyoult:, :iconagathaumas:, :iconT-PEKC:, :iconChrisMasna:, and :iconSmnt2000:, most featuring an archosaur discovery from 2012, and was organized by :iconTomozaurus:, :iconEWilloughby:, and myself. Due to the limited functionality of most online calendar creators, the doodles I shared a while back were scrapped, but who needs them

I'm thinking about Bunyips.The more I hear about bunyips, the more I think that they were inspired by megafauna.
The shapes and forms ascribed to the bunyip seem to not be easily equated with one animal. But perhaps this is to be expected, if such a creature is merely a memory in the myths of an ancient people.
Common attributes given to the bunyip do suggest perhaps Diprotodon or Palorchestes. It is said to be like a large bull, but with large feet or flippers, and tusks like a walrus, and make prodigious roaring sounds.
Nowdays, the sounds attributed to the Bunyip are simply Bittern calls, but the fact that Diprotodon posessed large sinuses to amplify calls, much like a koala, conjors up images and sounds of truly terrifying proportions. Koalas make a very noticeable and unpleasant roar with rather less bodily stature and sinus space, so imagine how loud and fearful the bellows of the Diprotodon must have been.
The size and shape usually attributed, that of a large beast similar in size to the largest bull, is

Items of interest on April 1stAs usual, this was a prolific time of the year. Aside from the evidence for a single origin of flight, we also got the following:
The size and nature of Bruhathkayosaurus.
Andrea Cau's megamatrix published.
Strange new Triassic pseudosuchian Gojirasuchus insularis.
New material of Deinocheirus published.
All about the Squamozoic.

Check the freshness date on your skeletalsAs my "watchers" are most likely aware by now, I'm rolling out a bunch of updated skeletal reconstructions. Any time I provide a skeletal reconstruction to a client (museum, publisher, app maker, producer, etc.) I update the skeletal to bring it into line with the most current research. Many times these are subtle changes, but over time they add up. I realized that I'd done a large number of these over the last couple months without updating any of my DA skeletals, so as I am able to grab a few spare minutes here or there I'll be continuing these updates over the coming weeks.
The reason I've been checking the "notify" tab is because anyone who wants to use them as the basis of either a reconstruction or for understanding dinosaur anatomy should really be using the most recent versions, so if you're ogling one of my skeletals be sure to check the date on it for maximum freshness.
-Scott

Time to do some speed paintingsThe last several months I decided that i wanted to start pushing myself to become a better artist. As I said in my Jersey Boys Dig Dinosaurs interview last week http://jerseyboyhuntsdinosaurs.blogspot.com/2013/02/interview-with-artist-and-scientist.html I really have no training as an artist, and indeed most of my career has been more of the technical diagram variety of illustrations. And I doubt that will change, as skeletal reconstructions and other anatomy diagrams are what I do. That said, I also value improvement, and I intend to do so by starting to do regular speed paintings, as well as trying my hand at some artwork types I've not considered in well over a decade.
I've in fact been doing speed paintings now for several weeks, but many of them were not finished to a level where I wanted to share them (some of them I was just working on particular aspects of artwork that I need to improve). But I feel like I will work that much harder if i plan to share them, so I've started a sp

Dinosaur News #37New dinosaurs include Nyasasaurus parringtoni (a fragmentary but very old Triassic dinosaur or dinosaur relative), sauropod Kaatedocus siberi, and iguanodontians Lapampasaurus cholinoi and Proa valdearinnoensis.
New studies were published on the brains of charadriiforms and therizinosaurs, the implications of claw curvature on behavior in theropods, and theory of mind in Garrulus glandarius. Piksi barbarulna, Palaeocursornis corneti, and Eurolimnornis corneti are found to be pterosaurs instead of birds.

Could Alvarezsaurs Be Nectar-Eating Dinosaurs?The "What I Want for 2013" Wishlist (link: http://smnt2000.deviantart.com/#/d5mpmlh) opened up an interesting question. Among the various species that I'd like to see there is a small member of Alvarezsauridae that feeds on nectar. Pondering and pondering, I have been talking a lot about these critters and their diets. Could it be that these small coelurosaurs, with unclear eating habits, OCCASIONALLY fed on nectar? Excluding taxa like Haplocheirus (the most basal member and that probably hunted smaller animals) and Kol (possibly an oviraptorosaur), have these animals necessary features to feed on an apparently bizarre food source?
If you want to read more, go here: http://ktboundary-smnt2000.blogspot.it/#!/2012/12/could-alvarezsaurs-be-nectar-eating.html

Happy World Penguin Day!Go and show your appreciation for the most specialized of marine theropods today! (Okay, extant marine theropods, for any hesperornithine fans out there. Also, I realize that linked video only covers Antarctic penguins.)

Happy Darwin Day!It's that time again.

Feathered ornithomimosaurs! At last!A new Jehol find? Nope! It's Ornithomimus itself! Two new specimens (an adult and a juvenile) have been found with feather traces, and a long-known adult specimen has been discovered to have what may be attachment points for large feathers on the arms. This means that pennibrachiae go down to the base of maniraptoriforms! The juvenile, however, doesn't preserve pennibrachiae, so it might mean that in these basal maniraptoriforms only the adults had pennibrachiae, and that pennibrachiae originally evolved for display. In addition, this also opens up the possibility of finding feathered dinosaur specimens in coarser-grained sediment than usually expected, as long as fossil hunters keep a sharp eye out for those delicate feather traces.

Browse More Like This

more ▶

Featured in Groups:

Not currently featured in any groups.

Details

Submitted: February 13

Link

Thumb

Statistics

Comments: 5
Favourites: 7 [who?]
Views: 1,014 (0 today)

[x]

Crowning Moment of Awesome #17

by ~Albertonykus, Feb 13, 2013, 5:34:20 AM
Journals / Personal

Those who keep up with paleontology-related news are probably aware of a newly-published phylogenetic analysis of placental mammals, often accompanied by a hypothetical life restoration of the last common ancestor of all placentals in news reports.

But did you know how much detail was put into said restoration?

5 Comments

Crowning Moment of Awesome #17by ~Albertonykus

Journals / Personal

©2013 ~Albertonykus

~JD-man Feb 13, 2013

While not as awesome as my suggestion for this journal entry (

), it's still a really cool restoration. Specifically, I'm impressed be the extreme attention to detail.

Reply

~classicalguy Feb 13, 2013 Student General Artist

Now that is impressive!
I appreciate this image much more now that I've seen how much work went into it...
The only problem I have with this study is just how controversial their phylogeny is: [link]
Phylogeny-peeps can back me up on this

Reply

~NinjaMonkey38 Feb 13, 2013 Hobbyist General Artist

Crowning Moment of Awesome indeed.

Reply

~Tyrannotitan333 Feb 13, 2013 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

...that is amazing.

Reply

~ChocolateStarfire Feb 13, 2013 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

Now that's accuracy.

Reply

Previous
Next