Fossilized bones discovered in Texas from a flying reptile that died 89 million years ago may be the earliest occurrence in the world of the prehistoric creature known as Pteranodon.
Previously, Pteranodon bones have been found in Kansas, South …
Tag Archives | 65 million years
Rare 89 million-year-old flying reptile fossil from Texas may be world’s oldest Pteranodon
Oldest species of a marine mollusc discovered
An international research team, with Spanish participation, has discovered a new species of mollusc, Polyconites hadriani, in various parts of the Iberian Peninsula. The researchers say this species, which is the oldest in its genus, adapted to …
Species loss tied to ecosystem collapse and recovery
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — The world’s oceans are under siege. Conservation biologists regularly note the precipitous decline of key species, such as cod, bluefin tuna, swordfish and sharks. Lose enough of these top-line predators …
Size of mammals exploded after dinosaur extinction
Researchers demonstrate that the extinction of dinosaurs 65 million years ago made way for mammals to get bigger – about a thousand times bigger than they had been. The study, which is published in the prestigious journal Science, is the first to …
New discoveries in North America’s Great Plains bring ammonites to life
Although ammonites have been extinct for 65 million years, newly published data based on 35 years of field work and analysis is providing invaluable insights into their paleobiology. Ammonites, shelled mollusks closely related to modern day na…
NASA’S LRO exposes moon’s complex, turbulent youth
The moon was bombarded by two distinct populations of asteroids or comets in its youth, and its surface is more complex than previously thought, according to new results from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft featured in three…
NASA Maps Reveal Dinosaur Crater
From Canada to Central America, the many grandeurs of North America’s diverse topography star in a just-released high-resolution map from NASA’s Shuttle Radar Topography Mission. But a relatively obscure feature, all but hidden in the flat limestone plateau of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, is what emerges as the initial showstopper from the mission’s first released continental data set. The existence of the impact crater known as Chicxulub (Chik-sah-loob) was first proposed in 1980. In the 1990s, satellite data and ground studies allowed it to gain prominence among many scientists as the long sought-after “smoking gun” responsible for the demise of the dinosaurs and more than 70 percent of Earth’s living species 65 million years ago. Now, the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission has provided the most telling visible evidence to date of a 180-kilometer (112-mile) wide, 900-meter (3,000-foot) deep impact crater, the result of a collision with a giant comet or asteroid on one of Earth’s all-time worst days.