Discovery Of Dinosaurs Research Articles

A blast from the past: the lost world of dinosaurs at Tendaguru, East Africa

The superbly preserved dinosaurs and associated organisms from the Late Jurassic fossil Lagerstätte Tendaguru in southern Tanzania mark an exceptional success story in palaeontology. The new permanent exhibits of the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, highlighting the spectacular dinosaurs (Fig. 1), are telling evidence. In more than 100 years of research, geoscientists produced a considerable amount of knowledge about the composition and diversity of the ancient fauna and flora at Tendaguru, their unique palaeobiological characteristics, and the continental to marginal marine ecosystems in which they lived. Several questions are still open to debate. These include the detailed genesis of the Lagerstätte, aspects of dinosaur palaeobiology, and their biogeographical affinities to contemporaneous assemblages from the Northern Hemisphere.The discovery of Brachiosaurus was the crowning achievement of the German Tendaguru expedition of 1909–1913. The skeleton is about 13 metres tall and 23 metres long. It is on display in the dinosaur hall of the Museum für Naturkunde (MfN) in Berlin along with Dicraeosaurus, Kentrosaurus, Dysalotosaurus and Elaphrosaurus. They constitute the most significant dinosaur discoveries ever made in Africa. Photo: Antje Dittmann, MfN.image

Angolatitan adamastor, a new sauropod dinosaur and the first record from Angola

A forelimb of a new sauropod dinosaur (Angolatitan adamastor n. gen. et sp.) from the Late Turonian of Iembe (Bengo Province) represents the first dinosaur discovery in Angola, and is one of the few occurrences of sauropod dinosaurs in sub-Saharan Africa collected with good chronological controls. The marginal marine sediments yielding the specimen are reported to be late Turonian in age and, thus it represents a non-titanosaurian sauropod in sub-Saharan Africa at a time taken to be dominated by titanosaurian forms. Moreover, Angolatitan adamastor is the only basal Somphospondyli known in the Late Cretaceous which implies in the existence of relict forms in Africa.

The great dinosaur discoveries

The great dinosaur discoveries

About this title ‐ Dinosaurs and Other Extinct Saurians: A Historical Perspective

The discovery of dinosaurs and other large extinct ‘saurians’—a term under which the Victorians commonly lumped ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, pterosaurs and their kin—makes exciting reading and has caught the attention of palaeontologists, historians of science and the general public alike. The papers in this collection go beyond the familiar tales about famous ‘fossil hunters’ and focus on relatively little-known episodes in the discovery and interpretation (from both a scientific and an artistic point of view) of dinosaurs and other inhabitants of the Mesozoic world. They cover a long time span, from the beginnings of ‘modern’ scientific palaeontology in the 1700s to the present, and deal with many parts of the world, from the Yorkshire coast to Central India, from Bavaria to the Sahara. The characters in these stories include professional palaeontologists and geologists (some of them well-known, others quite obscure), explorers, amateur fossil collectors, and artists, linked together by their interest in Mesozoic creatures.

Wilhelm (Guillermo) Schulz and the earliest discoveries of dinosaurs and marine reptiles in Spain

Abstract Wilhelm Schulz (1805–1877), known in Spain as Guillermo Schulz, was one of the most outstanding representatives of the geology and mining industry in Spain during the nineteenth century. Schulz is, likewise, the author detailing the first discoveries of dinosaurs and marine reptiles in Spain. In 1858 Schulz described a supposed dinosaur tooth from the Jurassic of Ruedes (Asturias) as belonging to a shark. Schulz's description, mainly the occurrence of crenulated edges, suggests that the tooth was that of a large theropod. It probably comes from the altered grey marls of the Upper Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) Lastres Formation. Although the exact year of the discovery before 1858 is not known, the Ruedes tooth (currently lost) is presumably the earliest known discovery of a dinosaur body fossil in the Iberian Peninsula. Moreover, Schulz mentioned in 1858 the discovery of plesiosaur remains from the Liassic near Villaviciosa (Asturias). The material probably comes from the Pliensbachian marls and limestone rhythmites (Jamesoni zone) of the Rodiles Formation. As no figure was provided and the specimen is currently lost, we have no definitive certainty about its affinities. However, it represents the earliest marine reptile fossil found in Spain.

CPCP: Colorado Plateau Coring Project—100 Million Years of Early Mesozoic Climatic, Tectonic, and Biotic Evolution of an Epicontinental Basin Complex

No abstract available. doi:10.2204/iodp.sd.6.12.2008

Dinosaurs of Great Britain and the role of the Geological Society of London in their discovery: basal Dinosauria and Saurischia

Beginning with Buckland's 1824 description of Megalosaurus , the Geological Society of London played a leading role during the 19th century discovery of dinosaurs in Britain. Here we review the society's role and assess the current knowledge of saurischian dinosaurs in the country. Of Britain's 108 dinosaur species (excluding nomina nuda and objective synonyms), 32% have been named in the pages of Society publications. Britain has a rich and diverse dinosaur record ranging from the Rhaetian to the Cenomanian, and includes a surprising taxonomic diversity. Alleged Lower and Middle Triassic dinosaurs from Britain are suspect or erroneous. Sauropodomorphs represent all of the major clades and several have their earliest global appearances in the British record (Diplodocoidea, Rebbachisauridae and Titanosauria), implying that this region was biogeographically important for this group. The British theropod record is diverse, and includes the earliest spinosaurids, carcharodontosaurids and coelurosaurs. Although some specimens are represented by near-complete skeletons, much material is fragmentary and indeterminate, and c . 54% of British dinosaur taxa are considered nomina dubia . In part this high number results from the genesis of dinosaur science in Britain and the corresponding obsolescence of supposedly diagnostic characters.

Late Jurassic Climates, Vegetation, and Dinosaur Distributions

The Jurassic and Cretaceous are considered to have been warmer than today on the basis of various climate data and model studies. Here, we use the available global record of climate-sensitive sediments, plants, and dinosaurs to infer broadscale geographic patterns for the Late Jurassic. These provide a context for our more detailed accounts of the Morrison and Tendaguru Formations in North America and East Africa. At the global scale, evaporites predominated in low latitudes and coals in mid- to high latitudes. We ascribe these variations to a transition from drier to wetter conditions between the equator and poles. Plant diversity was lowest in equatorial regions, increasing to a maximum in midlatitudes and then decreasing toward the poles. Most dinosaur remains are known from low-latitude to marginally midlatitude regions where plant fossils are generally sparse and evaporites common. Conversely, few dinosaur remains are known from mid- to high latitudes, which have higher floral diversities and abundant coals. Hence, there is an obvious geographic mismatch between known dinosaur distributions and their primary food source. This may be due to taphonomic bias, indicating that most dinosaur discoveries provide only a small window on the diversity and lifestyles of this group. On the basis of our global- and local-scale studies, we suggest that dinosaur preservation was favored in environments toward the drier end of the climate spectrum, where savannas rather than forests predominated. A holistic approach, incorporating climate and vegetation as well as geography, is required to better understand patterns of dinosaur ecology and evolution.

The earliest discoveries of dinosaurs: the records re-examined

The history of English discoveries of dinosaurs is recounted, from Robert Plot's first illustration of a dinosaur bone in 1677 to the first formal scientific description and naming of a dinosaur genus by William Buckland in 1824. It is shown that the English discoveries were more numerous than recognized hitherto and that they amply predated the first finds in France and North America. Though bones of other dinosaur groups were discovered, the majority of English finds were of carnosaur (probably megalosaur) bones and teeth. It is considered probable that all the various bones and teeth of Megalosaurus , obtained piecemeal from the Stonesfield Slate at Stonesfield, Oxfordshire over 125 years, were the remains of a single individual dinosaur.

Terrible Lizard! The Dinosaur as Plaything

Dinosaurs were the strangest animals that ever lived. -Roy Chapman Andrews Without question, the popularity of dinosaurs and dinosaur has never been greater than now, at the turn of the second millennium. Visit any American toy store and you will find boxes, sets, and bags of dinosaur figures by Bully, Playvisions, Safari, PlaySkool, Battat, Kenner, Resaurus, Playmates, K & M International, Galileo, and Microverse-to name only some of the manufacturers-not to mention dinosaurian plush animals, games, puzzles, stickers, mobiles, models, and so on ad infinitum. Stephen Jay Gould concludes that the key to understanding the current popularity of dinosaurs, as reflected by the landslide of dinosaur-related products, resides in promotion, not new knowledge (14). By all accounts, children and adults have found dinosaur remains and dinosaur representations (models, etc.) fascinating ever since the first life-sized models of dinosaurs were built in the mid-nineteenth century. Near-complete fossil skeletons were fairly common by 1900, and soon the dinosaur entered the public imagination in a big way: in popular art, in fiction, in film, even as front-page headlines in the newspapers of the day.1 And yet dinosaur do not appear in any significant number until after World War II. If children, during the first half of the twentieth century, were attracted to lead, celluloid, wood, and plush figures of every kind, including jungle animals, why were virtually none of these dinosaurs? The surprisingly persistent absence of dinosaurs as playthings-long after their entrance into public education and entertainment-is a mystery worthy of investigation since, as Roland Barthes observed, toys always mean something, and this something is . . . entirely socialized, constituted by the myths or techniques of modern adult (53). The acceptance of the dinosaur as a cultural artifact-a toy-was a convoluted, complicated process and, as I will show, it describes a 200-year history of cultural change in America and the Western world. Mr. & Mrs. Popularity During the nineteenth century, geologists-soon to be called paleontologists-dug up fossils in increasing number, especially in the American West.2 In 1912, only a few years after some of the most spectacular fossil finds, American cartoonist Winsor McCay drew, produced, and distributed one of America's first cartoon shorts, Gertie the Dinosaur, which he also presented in a stage show. So new were dinosaurs to the public that McCay's advertisements strove to educate the audience in advance: According to science this monster [a brontosaurus] once ruled this planet, one flyer announced. Skeletons now being unearthed measuring from 90 ft. to 160 ft. in length. An elephant should be a mouse beside Gertie. The show's enormous success compelled McCay to release the cartoon to theaters in 1914 and then to produce a sequel, Gertie on Tour, in 1915. Two years after McCay's first appearance with Gertie, Willis O'Brien, an experimental animator, made a novelty film that showed the claymation antics of a brontosaurus. This won him studio backing to make, in 1917, a novelty feature (of animated puppets) entitled The Dinosaur and the Missing Link, which showcased, among other things, a fight to the death between an apeman and a brontosaurus. Ultimately it was purchased and distributed by the Thomas A. Edison Company, which suggests the short's wide appeal. Other O'Brien-animated films followed, culminating in the relatively sophisticated 1925 film, The Lost World, based on Conan Doyle's 1912 novel of the same name, which recounts the discovery of dinosaurs thriving today on a remote Amazonian plateau. Cartoons of the silent era, such as 1925's Felix The Cat Trifles With Time, featured dinosaurs. Pulp novelists, too, found prehistoric life rich with possibilities, as did artists of pulp magazines. In short, by the mid-1920s, dinosaurs loomed large in the imagination of the American public. …

Gideon Mantell and the discovery of dinosaurs

Gideon Mantell and the discovery of dinosaurs

Did dinosaurs come up to scratch?

The high specificity of bird ectoparasites has frequently been interpreted to mean that they have a long evolutionary history1. Either they were present as parasites before the main diversification of birds in the Cretaceous period2, or they evolved independently into avian parasites on several occasions. The recent discovery of dinosaurs with feathers3 suggests that birds may have inherited some of their ectoparasites from feathered theropod dinosaurs. We have now found microscopic egg-like structures on the surface of a fossil feather of approximately 120 million years old from the Crato Formation (Lower Cretaceous period) of northeast Brazil. They closely resemble the eggs of ectoparasitic feather mites and indicate an early origin for this specialized group of Acari.

Aspects of vertebrate fossils from Pranhita-godavari Valley with emphasis on dinosaur discoveries

Aspects of vertebrate fossils from Pranhita-godavari Valley with emphasis on dinosaur discoveries

Out of Africa: Meat-Eating Dinosaurs That Challenge Tyrannosaurus rex

A research report in this issue by Sereno et al. ( p. 986 ) describes a new fossil find: bones from a carnivorous dinosaur as big or bigger than Tyrannosaurus rex . In his Perspective, Currie discusses the finding in relation to other recent big dinosaur discoveries.

New Dinosaur Discoveries from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar: Implications for Gondwanan Biogeography

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Implications of body-mass estimates for dinosaurs

ABSTRACT Body-mass estimates have been made for 220 of the over 300 generally accepted dinosaur genera. The 1–10 ton body-mass category is the modal one for all dinosaur genera, dinosaurs on nearly every continent, dinosaurs during most stages of the Mesozoic, and dinosaurs in two of the three peak historical periods of dinosaur discoveries. Carnivorous dinosaurs were much smaller than herbivores during the Late Jurassic and again in the Late Cretaceous: at other times the two were roughly equivalent in mass. In terms of discovery of dinosaur genera over time, there has been a simultaneous increase in proportion of very small (under 10 kg) dinosaurs and a relative decline in giant dinosaurs (10–100 tons). This suggests that early researchers tended to collect giant dinosaurs.

Palaeontology, sedimentology and palaeoecology of the Iren Dabasu Formation (Upper Cretaceous), Inner Mongolia, People's Republic of China

Since the discovery of dinosaurs in the Iren Dabasu Formation at Iren Nor in 1922, several expeditions have collected fossils from the low-relief exposures in this relatively small area. Articulated dinosaur skeletons, bonebeds comprising dinosaurs and vertebrate microfossils, nests of dinosaur eggs, invertebrate shell beds and trace fossils have been found. Nevertheless, most of the Iren Dabasu collections have not been prepared or described and the geology of this site has remained unstudied. Thus, the fossil assemblages and depositional environments have remained poorly known and somewhat enigmatic. The Sino-Canadian expeditions of 1988 and 1990 rekindled an interest in this formation and new results from these and previous expeditions are presented here. The fossil assemblage is close to that of the Bayn Shire Formation of Mongolia, but the generally accepted Cenomanian designation may be too old. The Iren Dabasu Formation comprises the remains of a low-sinuosity braided fluvial system that flowed toward the north-west and was deposited in a semiarid climate. Channels were broad (up to 1 km wide) and relatively shallow (less than 4 m deep). The floodplain was the site of frequent and energetic overbank flooding and early stages of soil formation. Although ephemeral floodbasin lakes and playas—resulting from overbank flooding—existed from time to time, there is no sedimentological or palaeontological evidence for laterally extensive and long term lacustrine environments as suggested by previous workers.

A Volunteer-Powered Dinosaur Excavation in the Upper Triassic of Switzerland

Dinosaurs continue to fascinate the general public and are the best vehicle to attract attention to the earth sciences. While much information on the animals themselves is available to earth science teachers at all levels, there is a need for up-to-date descriptions of dinosaur discovery and excavation. This paper describes a large-scale, volunteer-powered dinosaur excavation in northern Switzerland in 1988. Working with volunteers provided by organizations such as EARTHWATCH to excavate the bonebed is also an aspect of general earth science education as well as an alternative way to do paleontological fieldwork. Our team members were characterized by a high degree of motivation and eagerness to learn, making the dinosaur excavation a paleontologically productive and rewarding teaching experience. The aim of our field campaign at the Frick clay quarry was to gather taphonomic information on a mass accumulation of the prosauropod dinosaur Plateosaurus. A number of such Plateosaurus bonebeds are known from ...

Dinosaur Field Trip: behind the scenes at the Natural History Museum, 25 January 1991

On 25 January 1991, a visit by G.A. members was made to the dinosaur collections and laboratories at the Natural History Museum. New dinosaur discoveries and many famous specimens were viewed, and the range of chemical and physical techniques used to reveal details of ancient skeletons were demonstrated.

Biography of William Harlow Reed: The Story of a Frontier Fossil Collector

William Harlow Reed was born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1848. His adventurous spirit led him to the Rocky Mountain West to take positions guiding, hunting game, and fighting Indians. In 1877, while working as a foreman for the Union Pacific Railroad at Como, Wyoming, he accidentally discovered large bones on the nearby ridge. These specimens, reported to O.C. Marsh at Yale University, heralded him into a career in vertebrate paleontology that he would pursue for the next 38 years. Although frustrated by certain aspects of field work and lack of recognition as a field paleontologist, he was a diligent and loyal collector for Marsh. He gave this same dedication in later years to W. C. Knight at the University of Wyoming and W. J. Holland at the Carnegie Museum. Although not formally educated in the sciences, Reed's desire to learn, interest in natural phenomena, and association with the notable paleontologists of his time, allowed him to gain a background in geology and paleontology. After more than 25 years of significant discoveries of dinosaurs, ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, pterosaurs, mammals, and cycads in Wyoming, Reed was given the position as curator of the museum and instructor in geology at the University of Wyoming in 1904. He held this position until his death in 1915.