Dinosaurs in the news

Dinosaurs in the news

  • Patagotitan on show in London, UK
  • Did dinosaurs have lips? Canadian scientists say they have cracked the mystery
  • What fossil eggs found in Alberta reveal about how dinosaurs became birds
Patagotitan on show in London, UK
A colossus has landed in London: A cast of what was one of the biggest animals ever to walk the Earth is now on show at the Natural History Museum.

Watch: A timelapse movie of Patagotitan’s assembly at the Natural History Museum

Patagotitan was a dinosaur that lived 100 million years ago in South America.

Measuring some 37m (121ft) from nose to tail, the beast could have weighed up to 60 or 70 tonnes in life.

The museum has brought over not just a representative skeleton but some of the real fossil bones first discovered in Argentina in 2014.

The largest is a 2.4m-long femur, or thigh bone. It’s been erected upright to give visitors an extraordinary selfie opportunity.

READ MORE: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-65094602

Did dinosaurs have lips? Canadian scientists say they have cracked the mystery

As with many details about dinosaur physiology, an absence of living specimens has left a lot to the artistic imagination. Perhaps because humans are smaller than many dinosaur species, and also edible, popular representations of the ancient creatures are often strongly focused on their teeth.

Scientists and artists have developed two principal models of predatory dinosaur facial appearance: crocodylian-like lipless jaws, or a lizard-like lipped mouth. New data suggests that the latter model, lizard-like lips, applies to most or all predatory dinosaur species. This finding challenges many popular depictions of carnivorous species like Tyrannosaurus rex.Mark Witton

 

This tradition is evident in the Hollywood version of dinosaurs as depicted the 1993 film Jurassic Park. Many of the movie’s most memorable scenes feature a tyrannosaur with jaws agape. But even when the giant reptile’s mouth is shut its teeth remain plainly visible, like a row of murderous icicles.

READ MORE: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-dinosaur-lips-canada-scientists/

What fossil eggs found in Alberta reveal about how dinosaurs became birds