Dinosaurs & Fossils News

Scientist Greg Browne sits next to one of six 70 million-year-old footprints found in various locations in the Nelson region. They are the first dinosaur footprints found in New Zealand although bones, mostly vertebrae, have been found in two North Island locations. Browne, a sedimentologist, believes the footprints belonged to sauropods -- plant-eating dinosaurs.(AFP/HO)

Dinosaur prints found on NZealand's South Island

AFP - Sat Nov 7, 12:58 AM ET

NELSON, New Zealand (AFP) - Scientists have discovered the first evidence that dinosaurs roamed the South Island of New Zealand with 70-million-year-old footprints found in six locations.

  • T. rex's Oldest Relative Discovered LiveScience.com - Tue Nov 3, 8:00 PM ET

    Spanning just 10 feet in length and sporting a tiny horn on its nose, a newly identified dinosaur has become the oldest known relative of the fierce meat-eater, Tyrannosaurus rex. The discovery suggests such tyrannosaurs were quite petite before they evolved into giant killing machines just before their demise.

  • New Dinosaur Built Like a Sherman Tank LiveScience.com - Fri Oct 30, 2:35 PM ET

    A husband and wife team of paleontologists has discovered a newfound species of armored dinosaur that lived 112 million years ago in what is now Montana.

  • Paleontologist Richard Forrest with the jaw bone of a fossilized pliosaur found on the southern coast of England in Dorchester, England Tuesday Oct. 27, 2009. A local council says the fossilized skull of a giant sea monster has been found off the southern coast of England. The fossil came from a pliosaur, a ferocious predator that lived in the oceans 150 million years ago. The skull was discovered in Dorset by a collector and measures 2.4 meters (8 feet) in length. The discovery was announced Tuesday. Scientists believe the creature would have been some 16 meters (52 feet) long. (AP Photo/Chris Ison/PA Wire)
    Fossilized skull of sea monster found on UK coast AP - Tue Oct 27, 4:28 PM ET

    LONDON - British authorities say the fossilized skull of a giant sea monster has been found off England's southern coast.

  • Fossils of tiny dinosaur on first public display Reuters - Thu Oct 22, 10:40 AM ET

    LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Fossils from the smallest dinosaur found in North America, a fleet-footed species only 28 inches long and weighing less than a rabbit, have gone on public display for the first time at a Los Angeles museum.

  • FILE -- A May 19, 2009 file photo shows Dr. Jorn Hurum speaking to reporters as a photo of 'Ida', the 47 million year old fossilized remains of a primate, is projected on a screen during a news conference at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Erik Seiffert of Stony Brook University in New York reports in Nature the results of studies by Seiffert and his colleagues indicate 'Ida' does not belong in the same primate category as monkeys, apes and humans. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
    Primate fossil called only a distant relative AP - Wed Oct 21, 8:34 PM ET

    NEW YORK - Remember Ida, the fossil discovery announced last May with its own book and TV documentary? A publicity blitz called it "the link" that would reveal the earliest evolutionary roots of monkeys, apes and humans. Experts protested that Ida wasn't even a close relative. And now a new analysis supports their reaction.

  • Scientists ID fossil bones of smallest dinosaur AP - Tue Oct 20, 10:18 PM ET

    LOS ANGELES - Fossil bones housed at a Los Angeles museum belong to the smallest dinosaur discovered in North America, scientists said Tuesday.

  • New Dino-destroying Theory Fuels Hot Debate SPACE.com - Mon Oct 19, 1:15 PM ET

    The extinction of the dinosaurs has often been traced to a giant space rock impact on the Earth 65 million years ago. But now a scientist is saying experts have blamed the wrong impact. The new thinking was met with sharp criticism from other researchers, however.

  • A worker is seen uncovering a piece of bone at a gully that is strewn with thousands of dinosaur bones in Zhucheng, northeast China's Shandong province, October 11. Paleontologists in east China may have discovered the remains of a new species of dinosaur at what is said to be the world's largest group of fossilised dinosaur bones.(AFP/File)
    Huge dinosaur find in China 'may include new species' AFP - Wed Oct 14, 6:48 AM ET

    BEIJING (AFP) - Paleontologists in east China may have discovered the remains of a new species of dinosaur at what is said to be the world's largest group of fossilised dinosaur bones, state media said Wednesday.

  • Scientist: Dinos trampled after death by own kind AP - Tue Oct 13, 8:16 PM ET

    SALT LAKE CITY - A vast collection of broken dinosaur bones unearthed in southeast Utah indicates they were smashed underfoot by other dinosaurs shortly after they died, according to paleontologists.

  • A mockup is seen during a presentation of a pterosaurus wing structures study in Brazil in August 2009. Chinese and British palaeontologists have identified a crow-sized fossil that they believe fills a key gap in our understanding of the mysterious flying reptiles known as pterosaurs.(AFP/File/Antonio Scorza)
    'Missing link' pterosaur found in China AFP - Tue Oct 13, 7:33 PM ET

    PARIS (AFP) - Chinese and British palaeontologists have identified a crow-sized fossil that they believe fills a key gap in our understanding of the mysterious flying reptiles known as pterosaurs.

  • Flying Reptile May Have Snatched Dinosaurs in Midair LiveScience.com - Tue Oct 13, 7:16 PM ET

    A crow-sized reptile sporting a lengthy tail likely soared through the skies some 160 million years ago, snatching feathered dinosaurs and tiny flying mammals from the air, suggest fossils of a newly identified pterosaur.

  • Big dino prints found in Jurassic park in France AP - Wed Oct 7, 6:27 PM ET

    PARIS - Now that's one big foot. Paleontologists in eastern France have reported the discovery of some of the largest dinosaur footprints ever documented, measuring about 1.4 meters to 1.5 meters (4.6 feet to 4.9 feet) in diameter.