Paleobiology. (Science News of the year: the weekly newsmagazine of science).Veggle bites Fossil remains of a creature that had rodentlike incisors and a hefty overbite overbite /over·bite/ (o´ver-bit?) the extension of the upper incisor teeth over the lower ones vertically when the opposing posterior teeth are in contact. o·ver·bite n. provided the first distinct dental evidence for plant-eating habits among theropod theropod Any species of bipedal, carnivorous saurischian in the suborder Theropoda. The chicken-sized Compsognathus,the smallest known adult dinosaur, probably weighed 2–4 lb (1–2 kg); the tyrannosaurs weighed tons. dinosaurs (162: 179 *). NO Olympian A biomechanical analysis of Tyrannosaurus Tyrannosaurus (tīrăn'ōsôr`əs, tĭr–) [Gr.,=tyrant lizard], member of a family, Tyrannosauridae, of bipedal carnivorous saurischian dinosaurs characterized by having strong hind limbs, a muscular tail, and short rex hinted that the creature ran only slowly, if at all (161: 131 *). Moist beat Fossil leaves unearthed in central Colorado suggested that the region contained one of the world's first tropical rain forests just 1.4 million years after the demise of the dinosaurs (161: 403 *). Gap-filler A fossil originally misidentified as an ancient fish turned out to be the nearly intact remains of a four-limbed creature that lived during a period that left few fossils of land animals (162: 5). Swoop-n-scoop Fossils unearthed in Brazil strengthened the notion that some species of ancient flying reptiles swooped low over the water's surface and snapped up fish (162: 35). Only traces Scientists found the birdlike footprints of a yet undiscovered creature in rocks more than 60 million years older than Archaeopteryx Archaeopteryx (är'kēŏp`tərĭks) [Gr.,=primitive wing], most primitive known bird, a 150 million-year-old fossil of which was first discovered in 1860 and described the following year in the late Jurassic limestone of Solnhofen, , the first bird to leave fossil remains (162: 62). Say cheese Paleontologists unearthed fossils of a tiny, duck-billed crocodile that boasted a smile like no other: The animal had no front teeth (161:142). Marine mamas Newly discovered fossils of aquatic reptiles known as mosasaurs This list of mosasaurs is a comprehensive listing of all genera that have ever been included in the family Mosasauridae or the parent clade Mosasauroidea, excluding purely vernacular terms. suggested that the creatures gave birth in mid-ocean rather than in near-shore sanctuaries, as previously suspected (162: 270). On the go Scientists said that a sediment filled, bathtub-shape depression at one of North America's largest dinosaur trackway Track´way` n. 1. Any of two or more narrow paths, of steel, smooth stone, or the like, laid in a public roadway otherwise formed of an inferior pavement, as cobblestones, to provide an easy way for wheels. sites is the first recognized evidence of dinosaur urination (162: 270). * An asterisk indicates that the text of the item is available free on SCIENCE NEWS ONLINE (http://www.sciencenews.org). |
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