Impossible Monsters by Michael Taylor review – fossil feuds
The Guardian » Dinosaurs
by Pratinav Anil
1w ago
A marvellous history of science vs creationism in Victorian Britain During the English civil war, in hiding and in boredom, the Archbishop of Armagh, James Ussher, set about pinning down the date of creation. A decade down the line, he publicised his research findings with breathtaking self-assurance: the world was a sprightly 6,000 years old. More specifically, God had created it on a Saturday night in October 4004BC. As it was, his hunch was a few zeros off the mark. The Earth was, in fact, formed 4.6bn years ago. Growing up in Ulster’s Bible belt, the historian Michael Taylor writ ..read more
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I discovered thousands of fossils after retiring. Now I’m nearly 80 and still going strong
The Guardian » Dinosaurs
by Heather Middleton
2w ago
I’ve built up a collection from a beach in Weymouth that could help to establish what biodiversity in the UK was like over the course of millions of years All photos by Alexander Turner My interest in fossils began at the age of 10 in my back garden in Glastonbury, Somerset, where I discovered ammonites. With hindsight, it wasn’t beauty that drew me to them, but the magic of discovery. I was drawn in by their sheer age, and the unfathomable nature of the distant past. After my degree in natural sciences in 1965 I wanted to go as far away as I could, so I applied to teach biology in Ghana. It ..read more
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Huge, bitey, freakishly ugly: is this the world’s nastiest prehistoric reptile?
The Guardian » Dinosaurs
by Guardian Staff
3w ago
Khinjaria acuta was bigger than a great white shark, with blade-like teeth and awesome jaws. Just as well it died out 67m years ago Name: Khinjaria acuta. Age: About 67m to 69m years old ..read more
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BBC amends Attenborough show to give fossil hunter more credit for pliosaur find
The Guardian » Dinosaurs
by Steven Morris
2M ago
Philip Jacobs was originally named only in the credits of Attenborough and the Giant Sea Monster The BBC has finally name-checked the man who found the prehistoric star of David Attenborough’s latest documentary after a barrage of complaints that he had been “airbrushed” from the programme. There was outrage that Philip Jacobs, who discovered the 150m-year-old fossilised pliosaur during a beach walk in Dorset, was only fleetingly mentioned in the credits of Attenborough and the Giant Sea Monster rather than in the main body of the much-lauded show ..read more
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David Attenborough film tells of risky mission to excavate ‘T rex of the seas’ from Dorset cliff
The Guardian » Dinosaurs
by Dalya Alberge
3M ago
BBC documentary uses cutting-edge science and visual effects to show how details about the Jurassic pliosaur came to light It’s not every day that Dorset farmer Rob Vearncombe has to come up with a way to get a gigantic fossilised creature down from a sheer cliff face. Yet this is what he found himself doing earlier this year when he designed a crate on which the skull of an enormous prehistoric reptile was lowered off part of England’s Jurassic coastline – a massive engineering challenge. “He deserves a lot of credit,” said fossil expert Steve Etches ..read more
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Prehistoric fast food: fossil reveals final meal of young tyrannosaur
The Guardian » Dinosaurs
by Nicola Davis Science correspondent
3M ago
Rare preserved stomach contents show young dinosaur feasted on drumsticks of speedy turkey-sized creature A remarkable fossil preserving the last meal of a young tyrannosaur has been discovered in Canada, revealing the dinosaur had a taste for prehistoric fast food. While tyrannosaurs were some of the most fearsome dinosaurs to roam the planet, with adults boasting massive bodies, huge heads and bone-crushing bites, juveniles were rather more puny, with long, skinny legs, blade-like teeth and narrow skulls ..read more
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Prehistoric Australian vultures and eagles brought to life in ‘gory’ new painting
The Guardian » Dinosaurs
by Tory Shepherd
4M ago
Flinders University palaeontologists use new details about ancient raptors to paint a more complete picture of Pleistocene-era Australia Ancient birds of prey feast on the carcass of a giant wombat-like creature; a committee of vultures waits its turn while a huge eagle feeds strips of bloody flesh to its chick. Flinders University researchers have discovered new details of these Pleistocene-era raptors, and their findings have been brought to life in a beautiful, “gory” painting. Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads ..read more
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Australian discovery of 120m-year-old footprints provides earliest evidence for birds in southern hemisphere
The Guardian » Dinosaurs
by Graham Readfearn
4M ago
Bird tracks found in Victoria were initially thought to have come from dinosaurs but later identified as ‘transitional’ animal Follow our Australia news live blog for the latest updates Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast Melissa Lowery was out looking for dinosaur fossils at a spot on Australia’s south coast where she’d found scores before, when she looked down at her feet. “The shadows fell into these gorgeous little shapes, they were so familiar. I stood staring at these shapes for around 10 minutes,” says Lowery, a volunteer fossil hunter ..read more
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The top Halloween costumes of 2023, modelled by Matilda Boseley – video
The Guardian » Dinosaurs
by Matilda Boseley Mike Hohnen Jerome Des Preaux
5M ago
Barbiemania refuses to die, with the doll promising to be Australia’s top Halloween costume pick this year – at least for some parts of the country. Matilda Boseley went to The Costumery in Melbourne's Reservoir to try on this year's top costumes, according to Google Trends on the most searched costumes in October. The national favourites in order of search popularity are: Barbie, pirate, witch, Harley Quinn, dinosaur and Wednesday Addams. But the top spot varies from state to state, as Matilda explains ► Subscribe to Guardian Australia on YouTube ..read more
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Dust drove dinosaurs’ extinction after asteroid impact, scientists say
The Guardian » Dinosaurs
by Ian Sample Science editor
5M ago
Researchers ran simulations to explore the ‘killing mechanisms’ that wiped out 75% of species In the end it was the dust that did it for the dinosaurs. At least that is the finding of computer simulations of the aftermath of the asteroid impact that reshaped life on Earth 66m years ago. The cataclysmic impact in what is now Chicxulub on Mexico’s Yucatán peninsula wiped out 75% of species on Earth, including non-avian dinosaurs. But the precise nature of the deadly blow has kept scientists busy for decades, with soot-spewing wildfires, volcanic eruptions and vast quantities of sulphur all consi ..read more
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