Dinosaur show a trip back in time

SunDome spectators travel to prehistoric era at Arena Spectacular

YAKIMA, Wash. -- Seven-year-old Destiny Crowder found only one drawback to "Walking With Dinosaurs: The Arena Spectacular."

The life-size, life-like lizards roaming the Yakima Valley SunDome floor: Great. The backdrop of enormous teeth: Impressive. An allosaurus that leaned over the rail to growl at her: Awesome.

"I want to pet the dinosaurs," said Crowder, who pointed, "oohed" and "aahed" Thursday night as she watched the opening performance with her family and friends. Seven more shows over the next three days will follow.

Alas for her, the dinosaurs don't get close enough to touch at the $20 million show, which uses animatronics and puppetry to bring to life 15 full-size dinosaurs. (No flash photography is allowed, either.)

A packed crowd saw a 200 million-year saga of dinosaurs, with climatic and tectonic changes, compressed into about 90 minutes and narrated by "Huxley," the paleontologist. A baby dinosaur hatches out of an egg. Brachiosaurus cuddle with each other. A stegosaurus grazes on inflatable and well-lit ferns.

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Dinosaur footprint fossils face the triple threats

Dinosaur footprint fossils discovered in Yongjing County in the northwestern province of Gansu are significant on a global scale. The size of the fossils, their diversity and good condition all add to their scientific research value. But these valuable finds now face the triple threats of erosion, weathering and landslides.

The fossils have been left untended for too long. Some of them are covered by grass, while others are now buried by sand. Those that are left on the ground have broken into pieces.

The history of the fossils can be traced back over 100 million years, though they were only discovered in 1998. So far only a few of the fossils have been protected.

Officials at the Liujiaxia Dinosaur Geological Park say the main problem is a lack of funds. Since 2002, Yongjing County has spent more than seven million yuan, or about one million US dollars on protecting the fossils. But as one of the poorest counties in the nation, Yongjing can no longer afford the huge expense.

From CCTV.com

Mini dinosaurs prowled North America

Massive predators like Albertosaurus and Tyrannosaurus rex may have been at the top of the food chain, but they were not the only meat-eating dinosaurs to roam North America, according to researchers who have discovered the smallest dinosaur species on the continent to date. Their work is also helping re-draw the picture of North America’s ecosystem at the height of the dinosaur age 75 million years ago.

“Hesperonychus is currently the smallest dinosaur known from North America. But its discovery just emphasizes how little we actually know, and it raises the possibility that there are even smaller ones out there, waiting to be found,” said Nick Longrich, a paleontology research associate in the University of Calgary’s Department of Biological Sciences. “Small carnivorous dinosaurs seemed to be completely absent from the environment, which seemed bizarre because today, the small carnivores outnumber the big ones,” he said. “It turns out that they were here and they played a more important role in the ecosystem than we realized. So for the past 100 years, we've completely overlooked a major part of North America's dinosaur community."

In a paper published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Longrich and University of Alberta paleontologist Philip Currie describe a new genus of carnivorous dinosaur that was smaller than a modern housecat and likely hunted insects, small mammals and other prey through the swamps and forests of the late Cretaceous period in southeastern Alberta, Canada. Weighing approximately two kilograms and standing about 50 centimetres tall, Hesperonychus elizabethae resembled a miniature version of the famous bipedal predator Velociraptor, to which it was closely related. Hesperonychus ran about on two legs and had razor-like claws and an enlarged sickle-shaped claw on its second toe. It had a slender build and slender head with dagger-like teeth.

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Ancestor of T rex found in China

Fossils found in China may give clues to the evolution of Tyrannosaurus rex.

Uncovered near the city of Jiayuguan, the fossil finds come from a novel tyrannosaur dubbed Xiongguanlong baimoensis.

The fossils date from the middle of the Cretaceous period, and may be a "missing link", tying the familiar big T rex to its much smaller ancestors.

The fossils show early signs of the features that became pronounced with later tyrannosaurs.

Paleontological knowledge about the family of dinosaurs known as tyrannosaurs is based around two distinct groups of fossils from different parts of the Cretaceous period, which ran from approximately 145 to 65 million years ago.

One group dates from an early part of the period, the Barremian, and the other is from tens of millions of years later.

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Revelação sobre a evolução dos «lagartos terríveis»

Paleontólogo Octávio Mateus no Museu da Ciência da UC

Do Lourinhanosaurus ao Miragaia, passando pelo Dinheirosauros, o paleontólogo Octávio Mateus tem-se desdobrado para dar nome aos dinossauros que descobre. Mas que segredos guarda a evolução dos "lagartos terríveis"?

Na quinta-feira, às 15h, o cientista português vai estar no Museu da Ciência da Universidade de Coimbra (UC) para revelar algumas das suas descobertas sobre a evolução dos dinossauros e explicar por que se considera um "grande fã" de Darwin.

A conferência "A Evolução e a Paleontologia: o Caso dos Dinossauros e Outros Vertebrados" é a segunda do ciclo de conferências «Darwin e a Evoluçã»", que até ao fim do ano vai trazer a Coimbra alguns dos mais reputados cientistas evolutivos da actualidade em Portugal. O evento está integrado nas comemorações do bicentenário do nascimento de Charles Darwin e dos 150 anos da publicação da sua obra mais famosa, «A Origem das Espécies». A entrada é gratuita.

"Como paleontólogo, sou obviamente um grande adepto e fã de Darwin. Os dinossauros são um óptimo testemunho da evolução. Por exemplo, tenho descoberto novas espécies de dinossauros que permitem compreender, um pouco mais além, a evolução destes animais", avança o paleontólogo Octávio Mateus.

Portugal tem, de resto, um papel de grande importância a desempenhar no conhecimento da evolução das espécies, defende o investigador da Universidade Nova de Lisboa. "Portugal tem um registo fóssil riquíssimo, um dos melhores do mundo", garante.

Até porque, para o investigador, a Paleontologia (a ciência que estuda os fósseis) é, das várias disciplinas científicas, uma das que melhor ilustra a teoria de Charles Darwin. "A vida actual, ou seja, não-extinta, estudada pelos 'neo-biológos' é uma minúscula fracção da perspectiva da evolução da vida. A Paleontologia tem oferecido exemplos de inúmeros estádios intermédios da evolução dos animais e plantas que são dos mais evidentes testemunhos da evolução darwiniana", sublinha.

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Dinosaur exhibition captures visitors’ imagination

KUALA LUMPUR: Dinosaurs like the menacing meat-eating Tyranno-saurus Rex as well as giant furry spiders came to life and awed visitors to the Backyard Monsters and Dinosaurs Are Back exhibition.

Visitors were impressed by the life-like interactive models of dinosaurs and gained insights into the world of various insects such as ants, beetles and the praying mantis.

The exhibition features exhibits of 11 dinosaur and 25 insect structures from Denmark.

“We decided to present this exhibition because it will help educate people, especially children, about pre-historic creatures.

“It is important for us to know history and enrich our knowledge,” said F&R Exhibition and Conference Sdn Bhd chairman Admiral (Retired) Tan Sri Abu Bakar Jamal.

The exhibition, organised by F&R Exhibition and Conference, is supported by the Education Ministry and the National Cancer Council. It will be held until May 17.

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Dinosaurs Roam Museum Center

If you’ve ever wanted to live the life of the paleontologists in Jurassic Park (minus the whole bit about being eaten while using the outhouse), you’re in luck.

The Cincinnati Museum Center is currently home to Dinosaurs Unearthed, an exhibit featuring 24 life-size dinosaurs –including everything from the always crowd-pleasing Tyrannosaurus Rex, to the Baryonyx and the Parasaurolophus.

What some longtime dinosaur lovers might notice is a serious change in costume for some of the scaly looking reptiles.

The T. rex, which was once thought to have leather-like skin, is now believed, from its hatching to some time in its juvenile stage, to have a covering of scales and feathers used to help regulate heat.

The exhibit contains three T. rex’s – one animatronic adult and two juveniles.

Joining the T. rex family are other feathered friends that are obviously much smaller than the king of all dinosaurs, but are just as, if not more, terrifying.

The smallest of the bird-like dinosaurs has a ferocious growl much too large for its stature. (Think young Simba in The Lion King when he mistakes his father’s growl for his own.)

Including the T. rex, there are eight animatronic dinosaurs using a new technology that puts a small motor in most of the joints compared to older models that were run using air technology. The motors are much quieter and allow for a smoother movement of the beasts.

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Fossil fun at dino day

Children got to learn the difference between a Tyrannosaurus and a Meagalodon at a special dinosaur event held in Oxford.

Science Oxford in St Clement’s Street held Dino Day on Saturday.

Dozens of children and their parents turned up to take part in activities on the day, including a dinosaur design class, making fossils and looking at some real fossils brought in by experts.

Angus Crichton, from Littlemore, took along his children Anna, five, Joshua, nine, and their brother Samuel, seven.

Joshua said: “It was really good fun and we all had a good time and liked it.

“I liked the talk about the dinosaurs most and we got to look at some bones which was fun.”

The day was open for people to drop in between 12pm and 5pm.

Joshua added: “We learnt all about the T-Rex and how the claws of Veloceraptors worked.”

From Oxford Mail

Some Dinosaurs Have Escaped At Detroit Zoo - Public Is Safe

Royal Oak, MI - They’re big, they’re bold, and they’re coming soon to the Detroit Zoo. Nineteen large animatronic dinosaurs arrived today in preparation for the May 13 opening of Dinosauria.

The mammoth creatures were unloaded from several large semis onto a lush, three-acre DinoTrail recreating prehistoric life. Each dinosaur is built on a steel frame by Billings Productions of McKinney, Tex., and covered with intricately painted foam rubber skin.

Supported by Hungry Howie’s Pizza, Dinosauria will be open daily May 13 through Labor Day, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (until 7 p.m. Wednesdays during July and August). Tickets are $3 for visitors of all ages and will be available at main admissions and at the Dinosauria exhibit during regular Zoo hours or online at www.detroitzoo.org.

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Construyen una réplica del carnotauro para Toro Toro

Unos 2.500 kilos de arcilla están siendo moldeadas para dar vida a una de las especies de dinosaurios depredadores más temidos que ha existido en la tierra: el carnotauro, cuya ficha de vida indica que vivió del Jurásico Inferior al Cretácico Superior, hace unos 65 millones de años atrás.

Esta fábrica cretácica, por decir así, se encuentra nada menos que en la zona sur de la ciudad de Cochabamba, más propiamente en el barrio de Santa Bárbara: los artífices de esta hazaña también son escultores cochabambinos, quienes, junto a paleoartistas argentinos igualmente participaron del diseño y modelado de los dinosaurios de la ciudad de Sucre.

En esta oportunidad, el carnotauro que trabajan será para el Parque Nacional Toro Toro, que gracias a la existencia de una variedad de huellas de dinosaurios y otros fósiles marinos prehistóricos, hoy pretende convertirse en el segundo parque cretácico de Bolivia, y por consiguiente en un destino turístico paleontológico de importancia.

Por ese mismo hecho, el escultor Roger Araos indica que este carnotauro medirá unos ocho metros de la cabeza a la cola y cuatro y medio de alto; además, será el primero, de 21 especies que se tiene previsto hacer posteriormente.

Entre algunos dinosaurios proyectados están el apatosaurus, gallimimus, avimimus, tortugas marinas; de todos ellos el giganotosaurus será la especie más grande a trabajarse, ya que medirá unos 35 metros de largo.

En cuanto al modelado del carnotauro, si bien se está empleando cientos de kilos de arcilla, pero este material solamente será utilizado como molde, porque el acabado final se hará en fibra de vidrio y fibrocemento, según explicó el paleoartista argentino Jorge Gonsalez, quien está a cargo del trabajo de los detalles de la anatomía del dinosaurio.

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