On 10 February 1825, Gideon Algernon Mantell’s paper “Notice on the Iguanodon, a newly discovered fossil reptile from the sandstone of Tilgate Forest” was read by Davies Gilbert MP at a meeting of the Royal Society of London. In the paper, Mantell gives a brief description of the characteristics of the sandstones of Tilgate ..read more

In April 1842, Owen created the group “Dinosauria” using three taxa: Megalosaurus, Iguanodon, and Hylaeosaurus, based on three main characters: large size and terrestrial habits, upright posture, and sacrum with five vertebrae (because the specimens were all from the Late Jurassic and Cretaceous): “The combination of such characters, some, as it were, from groups now ..read more

It was the worst of times. It was the age of foolishness. It was the epoch of incredulity. 2024 was marked by the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the return of the totalitarisms, and extreme weather events.  It was the season of darkness. It has been one year since the presidency of Javier Milei and his ..read more

Dinosaurs likely originated in the Middle Triassic and the first unequivocal dinosaur fossils are known from the late Carnian. The main environmental changes that occurred at the very end of the Triassic period paved the way for the early radiation and increased abundance of dinosaurs. Two main models have been proposed to explain their success ..read more

Birds arose from a theropod lineage more than 150 million years ago. By the Early Cretaceous, they diversified and evolved into a number of groups with different anatomy and ecology. Enantiornithes were the most diverse group of Mesozoic birds. It has been proposed that they were primarily forest dwellers, so they disappeared after the Chicxulub ..read more

  Medieval bestiaries were manuscripts books written in Latin with descriptions and illustrations about real and imaginary beasts focusing in their characteristics and their spiritual significance. The influence of bestiaries resonates in modern literature. Jorge Luis Borges’ The Book of Imaginary Beasts is a compilation of mythological beasts that fuses folklore and literature.  During the ..read more

  In the last 540 million years, five mass extinction events shaped the history of the Earth. Those events were related to extreme climate change. On a global scale the main forces behind this phenomenon are: solar forcing, atmospheric CO2 concentration, and plate tectonics.  Earth’s climate has oscillated between two basic states: the “Icehouse”, and ..read more

During the World War II, the newly created Military Geology Unit of the Geological Survey recruited 114 professionals, including 88 geologists; 14 were women. Among them was Julia Anna Gardner. The main purpoise of the unit was produce maps with information of rivers, roads, potential construction materials, and water resources. In 1944, the Unit sent ..read more

Tyrannosauroidea, the superfamily of carnivorous dinosaurs that includes the iconic Tyrannosaurus rex, originated in the Middle Jurassic, approximately 165 million years ago, and was a dominant component of the dinosaur faunas of the Northern Hemisphere. All tyrannosaurs were bipedal predators characterized by premaxillary teeth with a D-shaped cross section, deep snouts, extreme pneumaticity in the skull roof ..read more

  3D reconstruction of Koleken inakayali. Image credit: Gabriel Díaz Yantén. Abelisauroidea is the best known carnivorous dinosaur group from Gondwana.  Their fossil remains have been recovered in Argentina, Brazil, Morocco, Niger, Libya, Madagascar, India, and some incomplete abelisaurid specimens were also discovered in France, adding evidence to the biogeographical link between southern Europe and Gondwana. The group was erected by the legendary paleontologist Jose Bonaparte with the description of Abelisaurus Comahuensis.  These ceratosaurian theropods exhibit spectacular ..read more