Dinosaurs & Fossils News

New fossils reveal a world full of crocodiles

Reuters - Thu Nov 19, 4:21 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New fossils unearthed in what is now the Sahara desert reveal a once-swampy world

  • In this image released by National Geographic, National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Paul Sereno, enveloped by the jaws of SuperCroc, holds the fossil head of DogCroc. DogCroc, along with four other newly described crocs, lived in the Sahara when the 8-ton SuperCroc did, at a time when dinosaurs ruled. (AP Photo/National Geographic, Mike Hettwer)
    3 new ancient crocodile species fossils found AP - Thu Nov 19, 3:25 PM ET

    WASHINGTON - A 20-foot-long crocodile with three sets of fangs — like wild boar tusks — roamed parts of northern Africa millions of years ago, researchers reported Thursday. While this fearsome creature hunted meat, not far away another newly found type of croc with a wide, flat snout like a pancake was fishing for food.

  • A woman inspects a crocodile display in 2001 in Mexico. The fossils of five hitherto unknown bizarre-looking crocodiles which roamed the world 100 million years ago have been unearthed in the Sahara desert, US scientists revealed Thursday.(AFP/File/Jorge Uzon)
    Five strange ancient crocs found in Sahara desert AFP - Thu Nov 19, 12:48 PM ET

    WASHINGTON (AFP) - The fossils of five hitherto unknown bizarre-looking crocodiles which roamed the world 100 million years ago have been unearthed in the Sahara desert, US scientists revealed Thursday.

  • The mystery of the mastodons gets a few big clues The Christian Science Monitor - Thu Nov 19, 4:00 AM ET

    Ever since Europeans first uncovered mastodon fossils along Big Bone Lick in Kentucky in 1739, the demise of these huge animals and other lumbering contemporaries at the end of the last ice age has been an enduring puzzle to paleontologists.

  • A handout photo taken by Japanese researchers of Aquamarine Fukushima aquarium in October shows a juvenile coelacanth. Japanese marine researchers have said they found and successfully filmed a young coelacanth -- a rare type of fish known as "a living fossil" -- in deep water off Indonesia.(AFP/AQUAMARINE FUKUSHIMA/File/Ho)
    Japanese researchers film rare baby fish 'fossil' AFP - Tue Nov 17, 6:39 AM ET

    TOKYO (AFP) - Japanese marine researchers said on Tuesday they had found and successfully filmed a young coelacanth -- a rare type of fish known as "a living fossil" -- in deep water off Indonesia.

  • Paleontologist Adam Yates , second left, displays fossilized bones of a new dinosaur species, Aardonyx Celestae, from the early Jurassic period (about 200 million years old) during an announcement of the discovery at the University of the Witwatersrand, in Johannesburg, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009. The fossils, displayed on the table, were found in the town of Senekal, near Bethlehem in the Northern Free State, in South Africa. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)
    Scientists: New dinosaur species found in SAfrica AP - Wed Nov 11, 8:25 PM ET

    JOHANNESBURG - A newly discovered dinosaur species that roamed the Earth about 200 million years ago may help explain how the creatures evolved into the largest animals on land, scientists in South Africa said Wednesday.

  • FILE - In this Thursday, May 13, 2004 picture, fifth graders from the Laurel Highlands School district peer through the glass surrounding the PaleoLab at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History as Norm Wuerthele, right, and Alan Tabrum work on 'Samson' after the unveiling of the dinosaur head in the Pittsburgh museum. The specimen, considered by experts to be the most complete skull of a Tyrannosaurus Rex ever discovered, will be on display as scientists work on removing the embedded bone from the dirt and rock. On Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009 an auctioneer said a the fossil that failed to sell at auction in Las Vegas last month has been bought by a private buyer who intends to have it displayed in a museum. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
    Auctioneer: T. rex fossil headed for museum AP - Wed Nov 11, 8:12 PM ET

    LAS VEGAS - A fossilized Tyrannosaurus rex that failed to sell at auction in Las Vegas last month has been bought by a private buyer who intends to see it displayed in a museum, an auctioneer told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

  • South African palaeontologist Adam Yates announces the discovery of a new species of dinosaur during a news conference in Johannesburg November 11 ,2009. Yates, a palaeontologist at Johannesburg's Wits University, said the seven-metre-long Aardonyx Celestae occupied a "very significant position in the family tree of dinosaurs". REUTERS/Stringer
    South African find gives clue to dinosaur evolution Reuters - Wed Nov 11, 10:48 AM ET

    JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A huge dinosaur discovered in South Africa is a previously unknown species that sheds light on the evolution of the largest creatures ever to walk the earth, a scientist said Wednesday.

  • Bones of the 'Aardonyx Celestae', a newly discovered fossil skeleton are pictured in Johannesburg. The new species of dinosaur that roamed the Earth 197 million years ago, likely an ancestor of the enormous brontosaurus, has been discovered in South Africa, scientists said.(AFP/Alexander Joe)
    New dinosaur discovered in S. Africa AFP - Wed Nov 11, 8:45 AM ET

    JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - A new species of dinosaur that roamed the Earth 197 million years ago, likely an ancestor of the enormous brontosaurus, has been discovered in South Africa, scientists said Wednesday.

  • Key to Success? Dinosaurs May Have Been Warm-Blooded LiveScience.com - Tue Nov 10, 8:05 PM ET

    Many dinosaurs may have been warm-blooded just like mammals or birds, potentially explaining their extraordinary success before their extinction.

  • Scientist Greg Browne sits next to one of six 70 million-year-old footprints found in various locations in the Nelson region. They are the first dinosaur footprints found in New Zealand although bones, mostly vertebrae, have been found in two North Island locations. Browne, a sedimentologist, believes the footprints belonged to sauropods -- plant-eating dinosaurs.(AFP/HO)
    Dinosaur prints found on NZealand's South Island AFP - Sat Nov 7, 12:58 AM ET

    NELSON, New Zealand (AFP) - Scientists have discovered the first evidence that dinosaurs roamed the South Island of New Zealand with 70-million-year-old footprints found in six locations.

  • T. rex's Oldest Relative Discovered LiveScience.com - Tue Nov 3, 8:00 PM ET

    Spanning just 10 feet in length and sporting a tiny horn on its nose, a newly identified dinosaur has become the oldest known relative of the fierce meat-eater, Tyrannosaurus rex. The discovery suggests such tyrannosaurs were quite petite before they evolved into giant killing machines just before their demise.

  • New Dinosaur Built Like a Sherman Tank LiveScience.com - Fri Oct 30, 2:35 PM ET

    A husband and wife team of paleontologists has discovered a newfound species of armored dinosaur that lived 112 million years ago in what is now Montana.

  • Paleontologist Richard Forrest with the jaw bone of a fossilized pliosaur found on the southern coast of England in Dorchester, England Tuesday Oct. 27, 2009. A local council says the fossilized skull of a giant sea monster has been found off the southern coast of England. The fossil came from a pliosaur, a ferocious predator that lived in the oceans 150 million years ago. The skull was discovered in Dorset by a collector and measures 2.4 meters (8 feet) in length. The discovery was announced Tuesday. Scientists believe the creature would have been some 16 meters (52 feet) long. (AP Photo/Chris Ison/PA Wire)
    Fossilized skull of sea monster found on UK coast AP - Tue Oct 27, 4:28 PM ET

    LONDON - British authorities say the fossilized skull of a giant sea monster has been found off England's southern coast.