All about dinosaurs, fossils and prehistoric animals by Everything Dinosaur team members.
4 05, 2019

New Scientific Study Could Provide Key to Origins of Flight

By |2023-12-08T07:45:33+00:00May 4th, 2019|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Dinosaur Fans, Main Page|0 Comments

Caudipteryx Flapped its “Wings” as it Ran

Scientists from Tsinghua University (Beijing), in collaboration with colleagues from the Chinese Academy of Sciences have suggested that the way in which some theropod dinosaurs ran caused their feathered arms to move up and down.  Involuntary wing flapping might have been the first stage in the evolution of powered, active flight.  This is the conclusion reached in a new scientific paper published in the academic journal “PLOS – Computational Biology”, after a series of highly innovative experiments that involved building a robotic dinosaur and strapping artificial wings to young ostriches.

Modelling the Running Action of Caudipteryx

Calculating the flapping of the wings (Caudipteryx).
Mechanically modelling the running action of the basal feathered dinosaur Caudipteryx.

Picture credit: PLOS – Computational Biology

Ground Up or Tree Down?

Most scientists now accept that the Dinosauria is divided into two divisions, the avian dinosaurs – the birds and the non-avian dinosaurs, essentially all the other dinosaurs.  In addition, it is also widely believed that a type of maniraptoran dinosaur (a clade that contains true birds and those dinosaurs closely related to birds), evolved into our feathered friends.

Trouble is, how did powered flight, a trait very closely associated with most birds alive today come about?  Were some dinosaurs arboreal, clambering amongst the branches of trees and they then evolved the ability to glide and finally powered flight came about in what is described as a “tree down” approach.  Or, were fast-running, cursorial dinosaurs learning to leap into the air and over many generations, feathered arms became longer and stronger and the lift generated led to the evolution of volant dinosaurs and subsequently the birds?  This theory is termed “ground up”.

The debate has persisted for more than a hundred years.

Proavis – A Hypothetical Attempt to Assess “Ground Up” – Fast Running Led to the Evolution of Powered Flight

A model of the hypothetical transitional animal Proavis.
A model of the hypothetical animal Proavis.  An early attempt to examine how fast-running bipedal animals might have evolved into birds.

Picture credit: Grant Museum of Zoology

Taking a Mechanical Approach to Caudipteryx

The researchers adopted a mechanical approach to this evolutionary conundrum.  They looked at one of the most basal, non-flying feathered dinosaurs known – Caudipteryx and assessed whether if this dinosaur ran fast enough, its running gait might have caused its feathered arms to flap involuntarily.

In theory, if the arms were strong enough, the wings and their feathers large enough, flapping whilst running fast could generate lift and if the lift to body weight ratios were right, then the dinosaur could take to the air.  In essence, passive wing flapping may have been an evolutionary precursor to later active wing flapping and powered flight.

An Illustration of Caudipteryx

Cauditperyx.
A basal feathered dinosaur that could not fly, but could it flap?

The Caudipteryx model is from the Safari Ltd range.

To view this range of prehistoric animal figures: Wild Safari Prehistoric World.

Assessing Fossil Bones

An assessment of the fossilised bones of the pheasant-sized Caudipteryx led the researchers to determine that Caudipteryx had a top speed of 8 metres per second (28.8 kmh or 18 mph).  However, simulations using mechanical and computer models suggested that at even lower speeds from 2.5 to 5.8 metres per second, the gait of Caudipteryx would have created strong enough vibrations through its body to cause the wings to flap.

Testing the Physical Movement of Artificial Wings on Young Ostriches

Young ostriches fitted with artificial wings.
Testing the movement of artificial wings in young ostrich locomotion study.

Picture credit: PLOS – Computational Biology

A Life-size Robotic Caudipteryx

To test their calculations, the scientists built a life-size, robotic Caudipteryx and tested its running performance on a treadmill.  Several young ostriches were kitted out with artificial wings equipped with sensors that could detect lift and forward thrust, or any coefficient drag.  These birds were then put on the treadmill to see how they would perform.  In addition, five different sizes of feathers on the wings were tried, the larger feathers producing more results akin to the development of powered flight.

Five Different Wing Sizes and Feathers were Tested

Wing and feather variations used in the locomotion experiment.
Five different wing and feather combinations were tested.

Picture credit: PLOS – Computational Biology

Professor John Hutchinson (Royal Veterinary College, London), an expert on animal locomotion, although not directly involved in the research, described this physical modelling approach as “ambitious and creative”, but questioned the paper’s main findings.

The study, for example, may have oversimplified the biology, reducing a living organism to a series of springs and constituent parts with individual mass, subsequently compiled to produce a single result.  Caudipteryx could have ran with its arms held very close to its body, helping it to reduce air resistance as it moved quickly, but also negating some of the lift and thrust that might have been generated by its feathered forelimbs.

Despite his reservations, Professor Hutchinson sees this study has helping to “lay groundwork that could be built upon and tested more rigorously.”

It seems that for the time being, the debate between “tree down” and “ground up” remains unresolved and it is not certain how much of a role passive arm flapping as a result of terrestrial locomotion influenced the evolution of active wing flapping, the precursor to a truly aerial existence.

Visit the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

3 05, 2019

Everything Dinosaur will be Stocking More PNSO Figures

By |2023-12-07T07:50:44+00:00May 3rd, 2019|Adobe CS5, Dinosaur Fans, Everything Dinosaur News and Updates, Everything Dinosaur Products, Main Page, Photos of Everything Dinosaur Products, Press Releases|0 Comments

More PNSO Prehistoric Animals Added to Everything Dinosaur’s Model Range

Everything Dinosaur will be bringing more PNSO prehistoric animal models into stock.  In the next few weeks, the UK-based company will take delivery of “Essien” the Spinosaurus, “Lucio” the Amargasaurus and the marine reptile “Ron” the Mosasaurus.  In addition, Everything Dinosaur will be stocking the new Ankylosaurus “Sede” along with the new Megalodon model “Patton”.

Coming into Stock at Everything Dinosaur – The PNSO Spinosaurus Model “Essien”

PNSO Spinosaurus model "Essien".
The PNSO Spinosaurus measures around 49 cm long.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

“Essien” the Spinosaurus

The PNSO Spinosaurus model represents a recent interpretation of Spinosaurus aegyptiacus, the North African theropod is depicted as a quadruped and the model measures around 49 cm long and the top of the sail on the back is some 18.5 cm off the ground.  This PNSO Spinosaurus would make a stunning centrepiece.

The Spinosaurus Has Captured an Onchopristis

The new PNSO Spinosaurus model.
PNSO Spinosaurus replica with the just caught Onchopristis.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

“Ron” the Mosasaurus

Swimming into view is the marine reptile “Ron” the Mosasaurus, which, like “Essien” the Spinosaurus has an articulated jaw.  The model is reported to be in 1:35 scale and it measures around 30 cm in length.  It truly is a monster-sized Mosasaurus model.

“Ron” The Beautiful PNSO Mosasaurus Figure

The PNSO Mosasaurus "Ron".
“Ron” the PNSO Mosasaurus replica.  It has an articulated lower jaw.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

This highly detailed figure even has pterygoid teeth located in the roof of its mouth, betraying the Squamata link with the Mosasauridae.

A Monster of a Marine Reptile with Fantastic Packaging – PNSO Mosasaurus

PNSO Mosasaurus model.
Marine reptile in a box – the PNSO Mosasaurus “Ron”.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

“Lucio” the Amargasaurus

For a company that has focused so much on Chinese dinosaurs, it is great to see the South American Amargasaurus figure enter the “Scientific Art Model” range.  “Lucio” the Amargasaurus measures around 30 cm in length and the figure is supplied with a base, on which to pose the figure.

PNSO Amargasaurus “Lucio”

"Lucio" the PNSO Amargasaurus model.
PNSO Amargasaurus “Lucio”.  A beautiful Amargasaurus model with a declared scale of 1:35.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The Amargasaurus figure with its polystone effect base depicts the model walking over soft mud, the base even has a couple of Amargasaurus footprints preserved within it.

New PNSO Prehistoric Animal Figures “Sede” and ” Patton”

Everything Dinosaur will be also be stocking a new range of PNSO prehistoric animal figures.

Visit the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

PNSO have introduced a range of large models under the straplines “PNSO prehistoric animal models that accompany your growth”, now extended to include “Scientific Art Models”.  The company has also made forty-eight small prehistoric animal figures under the strapline “PNSO prehistoric animal toys that accompany your growth”.   Today, Everything Dinosaur announces that there will also be a range of intermediate-sized models, including and Ankylosaurus “Sede” and a Megalodon model with an articulated lower jaw “Patton”.

The New PNSO Ankylosaurus Figure “Sede”

PNSO Ankylosaurus "Sede".
“Sede” the Ankylosaurus (PNSO).  The Ankylosaurus figure measures approximately 25 cm long.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The New PNSO Megalodon Model “Patton”

The PNSO Megalodon model "Patton".
PNSO Megalodon model.  This figure has an articulated lower jaw.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

PNSO Prehistoric Animal Figures

A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented:

“All these figures will be coming into stock in the next few weeks, perhaps as early as next month.  We will publish prices but for the time being we encourage collectors to email us, to join our no obligation, priority reserve lists for these exciting PNSO figures.”

Join our special, priority reserve list for these models: Email Everything Dinosaur.

Remember to state in your email which models you would like to reserve.

To view the current range of PNSO prehistoric animal figures available from Everything Dinosaur: PNSO Age of Dinosaurs Models and Figures.

2 05, 2019

The Search for Lost Prehistoric Settlements in the North Sea

By |2023-12-07T07:44:11+00:00May 2nd, 2019|Geology, Main Page|0 Comments

Brown Banks and White Cliffs – The Search for Lost Prehistoric Settlements

After a successful expedition in 2018, the second voyage in search of prehistoric landscapes and submerged settlements within the Brown Bank area of the southern North Sea will set off next week.  Marine experts will join archaeologists on the eleven-day voyage.   Researchers from the UK and Belgium will combine acoustic techniques and physical sampling of the seabed to unravel the topography and history of these landscapes and their inhabitants.  The scientists will be mapping a lost world.

Careful Analysis of North Sea Sediment Cores Looking for Evidence of Prehistoric Settlements

Seabed cores searched for signs of prehistoric settlement.
DNA sampling of sediment cores at the University of Warwick.

Picture credit: Lost Frontiers

Exploring Prehistoric Landscapes

The expedition will be led by Dr Tine Missiaen (Flanders Marine Institute – VLIZ), accompanied by scientists from Ghent University and the University of Bradford.  The voyage on board the Belgian research vessel “RV Belgica” takes place within the collaborative Belgian-UK-Dutch research project known as “Deep History: Revealing the palaeo-landscape of the southern North Sea”.

The research project aims to reconstruct the Quaternary history (roughly spanning the last half a million years) and human occupation of the wider Brown Bank area.  The project compliments the Bradford-led “Lost Frontiers” project, in which archaeologists are mapping the prehistoric North Sea landscape known as Doggerland.  The research is funded by the European Research Council (ERC).

Until sea levels rose at the end of the last Ice Age, between 8-10,000 years ago, an area of land connected Great Britain to Scandinavia and the continent.  The Lost Frontiers team has identified thousands of kilometres of plains, hills, marshlands and river valleys, but despite all this mapping, evidence of human settlement has been difficult to find.

Home to Thousands of Stone Age People

Archaeologists have long suspected that the southern North Sea plain, right in the centre of Doggerland, may have been home to thousands of people.  Tantalising clues have been brought up by trawlers over the years, but the researchers hope to find more evidence to substantiate the population hypothesis.

A concentration of archaeological material, including worked bone, stone and human remains, has been found within the area around the Brown Bank, an elongated,  eighteen-mile-long (thirty-kilometres) sand ridge roughly sixty miles (a hundred kilometres) due east from Great Yarmouth on the Norfolk coast.  The amount of artifacts found suggests the presence of a Stone Age settlement.

Exploration Areas (May 2019) – The Brown Banks and the Southern River

Map showing the 2019 exploration areas.
The Southern River and the Brown Banks 2019 exploration areas.  Note: VC45 core location.

Picture credit: Lost Frontiers/VLIZ/UGent

A Detailed Geophysical and Geotechnical Survey

In 2018, teams from the Flanders Marine Institute, Ghent University, the Dutch Geological Service and the University of Bradford collaborated on a detailed geophysical and geotechnical survey to identify prehistoric land surfaces, including ancient lakes and river valleys.  Sediment was extracted from the seabed to see if traces of human activity could be identified.

Thanks to the simultaneous use of different seismic sources, an uninterrupted image of the subbottom was obtained with unprecedented detail.  Combined with the study of sediment cores this allowed the scientists to refine the search for human activity to areas on the Brown Banks.

The May 2019 expedition will focus on detailed investigations in these areas, deploying VLIZ’s novel multitransducer echosounder, which uses sonar technology to obtain images of the subbottom with the highest possible resolution, and the collection of larger samples of sediment as well as video footage from the seafloor using VLIZ’s dedicated videoframe.

The Grab Sampler Ready to be Deployed

The grab sampler on the vessel ready to be deployed.
The grab sampler ready to be deployed.

Picture credit: Belgian Navy

Exploring the “Southern River”

The team will also be visiting another area, known as the “Southern River”, a major prehistoric river valley flowing across a submerged headland off the East Anglian coast.  Previously surveyed by Lost Frontiers, the team believes that the estuary of the river, which may also have been flanked by white chalk cliffs, provides another potential area for prehistoric settlement.  The detailed survey of this area during this expedition will be the first ever undertaken to assess the archaeological potential of this part of the North Sea.

Commenting on the importance of this research, Professor Vincent Gaffney (University of Bradford), stated:

“In 2018, the team demonstrated that we can find prehistoric land surfaces on the Brown Banks that date from the Mesolithic period.  This provides the exciting prospect to return and recover larger volumes of sediment from those land surfaces, and find out what evidence they may contain of human settlement.”

The Survey Vessel – The RV Belgica

The RV Belgica of the Belgian Navy.
The RV Belgica (Belgian Navy).

Picture credit: Belgian Navy

Doctor Tine Missiaen, (Flanders Marine Institute), added:

“The combined use of different state-of-the-art acoustic sources provides a major step forward in the identification and reconstruction of prehistoric land surfaces that now lie buried below the seafloor.  With the detailed investigations that will be carried out in May 2019 we hope to further unravel the unique history of these landscapes and their inhabitants.”

Everything Dinosaur acknowledges the assistance of a media release from the University of Bradford in the compilation of this article.

Visit the award-winning Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

1 05, 2019

The Start of a Dinosaur Inspired Term Topic

By |2023-12-08T09:05:40+00:00May 1st, 2019|Early Years Foundation Reception|Comments Off on The Start of a Dinosaur Inspired Term Topic

Starting a Dinosaur Inspired Term Topic

Children in the Foundation Stage at Almondbury Community School have started a term topic all about dinosaurs and prehistoric animals.  The budding young palaeontologists in the Nursery and Reception classes took part in some dinosaur-themed workshops today to help kick-start their summer term topic.

The walls of the well-appointed and tidy classrooms at the Greenside Centre were already crammed full of lots of colourful and creative artwork.  Our dinosaur expert who visited the school, spotted some beautiful drawings of monsters that had been created by the Foundation Stage 2 children.  There was some very imaginative artwork on display and many of the drawings were accompanied by a sentence or two.  The vibrant posters highlighted the children’s development of fine motor skills, they must have had lots of practice holding pencils and forming recognisable letters and words.

Spotting Drawings of Monsters in the Foundation Stage Classrooms

Dinosaur drawings and illustrations of monsters.
Dinosaur drawings and illustrations of monsters spotted outside the classroom. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Dinosaur Drawings

As part of the work with the children, our dinosaur expert set a challenge – could they draw him a dinosaur?  As a further extension for the Reception-aged children, could they label the body parts of their dinosaur including its skull?  During the workshop with the Reception class, it was explained that palaeontologists call your head a skull and when working with the Nursery children, the eager, young learners confidently asserted that the helmet that a palaeontologist wears fits on their head!

At this school, there is a strong emphasis on giving every pupil access to a stimulating and balanced curriculum, lots of tactile activities were being prepared for the children by the dedicated teaching team.  In one part of the spacious classroom, a cargo net had been brought in and facts about dinosaurs posted up on the walls, as this area was soon to be turned into a “dinosaur den” for the children to explore.

All Set to Build a “Dinosaur Den” in the Classroom

Dinosaur drawings feature in the dinosaur den.
Dinosaur drawings feature in the dinosaur den. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Dinosaur Footprints and a Dinosaur-themed “Hokey Cokey”

The Foundation Stage wing of the Greenside Centre was very busy with lots of activities for the children set out and the during the workshops the pupils demonstrated some super listening skills and they were very enthusiastic ammonites catching fish.  When pretending to be a giant, armoured dinosaur moving through the forest, our dinosaur expert witnessed super-sized steps, but slow moving dinosaurs keeping very quiet in case a hungry Tyrannosaurus rex came by.

The handy pronunciation guide we provided for the teachers should help with the scheme of work, along with the dinosaur footprints to measure and a special prehistoric animal-themed “hokey cokey” song for the children to learn.  Can they remember how many figures T. rex had?  How did a T. rex move its arms?

Visit the award-winning Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

1 05, 2019

Denisovans Lived on the “Roof of the World”

By |2023-12-06T07:25:08+00:00May 1st, 2019|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Main Page, Palaeontological articles, Photos/Pictures of Fossils|0 Comments

Jaw Fossil Indicates Denisovans Occupied the Tibetan Plateau

Denisovans, occupied the Tibetan Plateau long before Homo sapiens arrived in the region.  Furthermore, the ability to cope with less oxygen at high altitudes may have been passed onto our species when ancient members of Homo sapiens, bred with Denisovans.  The analysis of a fragmentary lower jaw bone reveals the presence of Denisovans at least 160,000 years ago at the Baishiya Karst Cave complex in Xiahe, China.

The ability to survive in such extreme climates had been thought to be a unique trait of H. sapiens, that is now not the case and what is more, the enigmatic and poorly known Denisovans seem to have passed on a gene that helps modern people cope with living at high elevations.

A Digital Reconstruction of the Fossil Mandible

A digital reconstruction of the Xiahe mandible identified as Denisovan.
View of the virtual reconstruction of the Xiahe mandible after digital removal of the adhering carbonate crust.  The mandible is so well preserved that it allows for a virtual reconstruction of the two sides of the mandible.  Mirrored parts are in grey.

Picture credit: Jean-Jacques Hublin (MPI-EVA)

The Enigmatic Denisovan People

The study, undertaken by a team of international researchers including Shara Bailey (New York University), as well as scientists from the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou University, and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, has been published in the journal “Nature”.

Using a technique known as ancient protein analysis, the researchers found that the mandible’s (lower jaw) owner belonged to a Denisovan population from Siberia.  This population occupied the Tibetan Plateau, regarded as the “Roof of the World” because it rises three miles (five kilometres), above sea level.  This suggests that the enigmatic Denisovans were adapted to a low oxygen environment.

In contrast, evidence of Neanderthals is rarely found above 2,000 metres and what evidence there is, probably indicates that Homo neanderthalensis populations only occasionally climbed to such heights, perhaps for the purpose of a special hunt or ceremony.  They do not seem to have persisted at high altitude.

The research team state that Denisovans had already adapted to living in this high-altitude setting significantly prior to the appearance of Homo sapiens.  Previous genetic studies found present-day Himalayan populations carry the EPAS1 allele in their genome, passed on to them by Denisovans, which helps with adaptation to their specific and demanding environment.

A Posterior View of the Fossil Mandible

Digital reconstruction of the Denisovan jaw bone from China.
Digital reconstruction of the Denisovan jaw bone.  Reconstructed area is shaded grey.

Picture credit: Jean-Jacques Hublin (MPI-EVA)

Who Were the Denisovans?

Denisovans are members of a hominin group currently only known directly from fragmentary fossils, the genomes of which have been studied from a single site, Denisova Cave in Siberia.  They are also known indirectly from their genetic legacy through gene flow into several low-altitude East Asian populations and high-altitude modern Tibetans.  The presence of a new species of ancient human was confirmed when a research team led by Svante Pääbo from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA), conducted a genetic study on a single fossil finger bone from the Denisova Cave site.

To read an article from 2010 that summarises the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology research: Finger Bone Hints at New Species of Hominin.

Commenting on the significance of linking a fossil to the Tibetan Plateau, one of the paper’s co-authors Jean-Jacques Hublin (MPI-EVA), stated:

“Traces of Denisovan DNA are found in present-day Asian, Australian, and Melanesian populations, suggesting that these ancient hominins may have once been widespread.  Yet, so far, the only fossils representing this ancient hominin group were identified at the Denisova Cave.”

Indeed, Everything Dinosaur published a report back in 2016 that linked the Inuit people of the Arctic to a Denisovan ancestry: Extinct Human Cousin Helped the Inuit Survive.

A Photograph of the Actual Fossil Jaw Bone (Lateral View)

Denisovan fossil jaw bone ( Baishiya Karst Cave).
Xiahe Denisovan jaw bone from the Baishiya Karst Cave (Gansu Province, China).

Picture credit: Dongju Zhang (Lanzhou University)

Discovered by a Monk

In this newly published paper, the researchers describe a hominin lower mandible that was found on the Tibetan Plateau in the Baishiya Karst Cave in Xiahe, Gansu Province, China.  The fossil was originally discovered in 1980 by a local monk who donated it to the 6th Gung-Thang Living Buddha who then passed it on to Lanzhou University.

Since 2010, researchers Fahu Chen and Dongju Zhang from Lanzhou University have been studying the cave site from where the mandible originated in a bid to find more human remains.  In 2016, a collaboration began with the Department of Human Evolution at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and although no DNA has been recovered, the team did manage to extract proteins from one of the large molars within the jaw.  These proteins were then categorised using a technique called ancient protein analysis.

The Reconstructed Denisovan Jaw Bone

Denisovan jaw bone identified on the Tibetan Plateau (digital reconstruction).
A view of the Denisovan jaw bone from China. The grey area represents reconstructed elements.

Picture credit: Jean-Jacques Hublin (MPI-EVA)

Piecing Together the Face of a Denisovan

The fossil record of the Denisovans is particularly sparse, it is limited to just some teeth and part of a finger.  This is the first fossil of its kind to be found and perhaps, if more Denisovan fossils can be discovered, then it hints at the possibility that anthropologists might be able to reconstruct the skull.

Co-author Shara Bailey explained:

“Although we still do not know the shape and size of the Denisovan skull, now with a lower jaw we can start to piece together the puzzle of what they actually looked like”.

Everything Dinosaur acknowledges the assistance of a press release from New York University in the compilation of this article.

Visit the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

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