New Dinosaur Species Found in India

AP ^ | August 13, 2003 | RAMOLA TALWAR BADAM

[nwrep]

New Dinosaur Species Found in India

2 hours, 55 minutes ago

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By RAMOLA TALWAR BADAM, Associated Press Writer

BOMBAY, India - U.S. and Indian scientists said Wednesday they have discovered a new carnivorous dinosaur species in India after finding bones in the western part of the country.

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The new dinosaur species was named Rajasaurus narmadensis, or "Regal reptile from the Narmada," after the Narmada River region where the bones were found.

The dinosaurs were between 25-30 feet long, had a horn above their skulls, were relatively heavy and walked on two legs, scientists said. They preyed on long-necked herbivorous dinosaurs on the Indian subcontinent during the Cretaceous Period at the end of the dinosaur age, 65 million years ago.

"It's fabulous to be able to see this dinosaur which lived as the age of dinosaurs came to a close," said Paul Sereno, a paleontologist at the University of Chicago. "It was a significant predator that was related to species on continental Africa, Madagascar and South America."

Working with Indian scientists, Sereno and paleontologist Jeff Wilson of the University of Michigan reconstructed the dinosaur skull in a project funded partly by the National Geographic (news - web sites) Society.

A model of the assembled skull was presented Wednesday by the American scientists to their counterparts from Punjab University in northern India and the Geological Survey of India during a Bombay news conference.

Scientists said they hope the discovery will help explain the extinction of the dinosaurs and the shifting of the continents — how India separated from Africa, Madagascar, Australia and Antarctica and collided with Asia.

The dinosaur bones were discovered during the past 18 years by Indian scientists Suresh Srivastava of the Geological Survey of India and Ashok Sahni, a paleontologist at Punjab University.

When the bones were examined, "we realized we had a partial skeleton of an undiscovered species," Sereno said.

The scientists said they believe the Rajasaurus roamed the Southern Hemisphere land masses of present-day Madagascar, Africa and South America.

"People don't realize dinosaurs are the only large-bodied animal that lived, evolved and died at a time when all continents were united," Sereno said.

The cause of the dinosaurs' extinction is still debated by scientists. The Rajasaurus discovery may provide crucial clues, Sereno said.

India has seen quite a few paleontological discoveries recently.

In 1997, villagers discovered about 300 fossilized dinosaur eggs in Pisdura, 440 miles northeast of Bombay, that Indian scientists said were laid by four-legged, long-necked vegetarian creatures.

Indian scientists said the dinosaur embryos in the eggs may have suffocated during volcanic eruptions.

[Aric2000]

My apologies, I just assumed that you were a he.

I will make sure that I make that correction and will not make that mistake again.

Again, my apologies.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

RadioAstronomer (who has been doing double duty at work, and will be for some time) says hi, and asks in hurt tones why we haven't been pinging him, and whether it's his breath?

It's the effect of the baleful glare of Mars peering over the horizon, blocking all communication with him...

[Aric2000]

Yeah, where is he anyway, they got him locked up in his lab again?

I swear, they lock him in there and take the key, then let him out when they feel like it.

You need to get a lock pick RA!!!

Hmm, I may have one of those laying around here somewhere!! ;)

[AndrewC]

1,509 posted on 08/19/2003 8:16 PM CDT by Jim Robinson
1,511 posted on 08/19/2003 8:16 PM CDT by AndrewC
Coincidences, the general knows what I mean. He may post what I wrote him on Vietnam. God works in strange ways.

[Right Wing Professor]

All that means is that one element of the technology used in the scanner is covered by the patent. As I've said (and I've posted the link before; I'll find it in my own posts tomorrow) Damadian has admitted that Lauterbur came up with imaging first. Damadian did some important discoveries in medical NMR, but he did not invent imaging, and in his attempts to grab credit for Lauterbur's discovery, he's done a huge injustice to Lauterbur. As I said - go look in the 1972 patent, and see if there's any claim to a new imaging method.

Damadian succeeds at this by making a pest of himself. If he or his lawyers see a publication or web page giving credit to Lauterbur, he send them a letter demanding he get co-billing. Lauterbur's a solitary scientist working at U., Illinois; he doesn't have the time or resources to wage the kind of war Damadian is waging.

As Nebullis posted, the people in the field, who actually know what happened, give credit to Lauterbur for the idea, and Ernst for the most practial way of implementing it.

All this may seem petty, but the controversy, which really isn't a controversy in the NMR community, has deprived Lauterbur of the Nobel Prize he almost certainly would have won for the invention. Damadian is a rich man, who was scooped on a major invention and has used his cash to bully the guy who beat him. If I were looking for a Christian role model, it wouldn't be he.

[DittoJed2]

That's okay. I'm not even sure that it was you I spoke to earlier. Probably wasn't. Doesn't really matter anyway. Was just being cantankerous :)

[Right Wing Professor]

It would be cool if I'd come up with anything 1/10 as good.

[Aric2000]

Was just being cantankerous :)


Yeah, I'm pretty good at that too, but I'm a night person, so I'll be OK for a while...;)

[NewLand]

Just Enjoying Science Under Scrutiny … placemarker

[DittoJed2]

There was a geologist on the dig as well at Liscomb. And, I don't see where Gangloff was with them. The sculptor may indeed be wrong about even ANY additional unfossilized bones at Liscomb, but it doesn't negate his original discovery.

[Aric2000]

If you want to call this scrutiny...

1550?

[DittoJed2]

I am a night person too, but have to get up in the AM, so I'll probably be signing off pretty quickly.

[Aric2000]

You beat me, argh!!

Oh well, I'll get ya at 1600!! ;)

[Aric2000]

I just took a look at your profile.

You do geneaology?

Cool, my mom is BIG into geneaology, has tracked us back to France in the 1600's, so now of course she has to take a trip to france to take it back even further.

This geneaology thing is getting out of control!! LOL ;)

[NewLand]

hehehe...you have one more poster request to make...good luck with THAT one...hehehe

[general_re]

I am presently pondering the sphere. Anything else will have to wait until tomorrow, I fear ;)

[Ichneumon]

1550?

< Missed it by *that* much...

[NewLand]

"If someone asks you to stop posting to him, stop posting. This is not complicated."

"If someone asks you to stop posting to him, stop posting. This is not complicated."

"If someone asks you to stop posting to him, stop posting. This is not complicated."

1,509 posted on 08/19/2003 6:16 PM PDT by Jim Robinson
--------------------------------------------
For the last time? Pretty please? With sugar on top?

[DittoJed2]

Yeah, particularly coming from France. I've got French in me but won't admit it :)

[jennyp]

As I mentioned earlier, I do wish you would stop calling me a "he".

I think we all assumed you looked like this... :-)