Free Republic

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Meat-eating dinosaurs the size of a small chicken roamed areas of North America 75 million years ago, according to research by Canadian paleontologists. The mini-dinosaur, similar in appearance to the Velociraptor, is named Hesperonychus elizabethae and is the smallest carnivorous dinosaur known to have lived in North America. "Hesperonychus is currently the smallest dinosaur known from North America," said University of Calgary paleontologist Nick Longrich. "Its discovery just emphasizes how little we actually know, and it raises the possibility that there are even smaller ones out there." Longrich, together with University of Alberta paleontologist Philip Currie, are...

<p>Sickness is not preventing John Paul II from fighting out his last battle. But in the meantime, maneuvers over his succession are underway.</p> <p>In short, two or three Italian candidates might enter the conclave and jockey for leadership, as happened between Giuseppe Siri and Giovanni Benelli in the memorable head-to-head of the second conclave of 1978, the one from which a new man, Wojtyla, finally emerged.</p>