Free Republic

Tyrannosaurids... formidable but solitary and dull-witted creatures because their skeletons were found alone. But new research based on finds in the Gobi Desert suggests that the species was not only equipped with the build and speed for pack hunting, but also the brain capacity to work together as a team, experts claim. Dr Philip Currie, of the University of Alberta, said that evidence from 90 skeletons of Tarbosaurus Bataar -- a cousin of the Tyrannosaurus Rex -- suggested strongly that about half a dozen of the dinosaurs were part of a social group that died together. He said Tyrannosaurids' hunting...

New Haven, Conn.—It turns out that the undisputed king of the dinosaurs, Tyrannosaurus rex, didn't just eat other dinosaurs but also each other. Paleontologists from the United States and Canada have found bite marks on the giants' bones that were made by other T. rex, according to a new study published online Oct. 15 in the journal PLoS ONE. While searching through dinosaur fossil collections for another study on dinosaur bones with mammal tooth marks, Yale researcher Nick Longrich discovered a bone with especially large gouges in them. Given the age and location of the fossil, the marks had to...

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...

AP - In an undated photo provided by Professor Rodolfo Coria, a dog sits by a replica of the head of a Mapusaurus roseae at the Carmen Funes Museum in Plaza Huincul, Argentina. The dinosaur was discovered in the Patagonia region of Argentina and appears to be one of the biggest meat-eating dinosaurs known. (AP Photo/HO/Prof. Rodolfo Coria) Scientists are learning more about what appears to be one of the biggest meat-eating dinosaurs known, a two-legged beast whose bones were found several years ago in the fossil-rich Patagonia region of Argentina. One expert called the discovery the first substantial...

EDMONTON — Bones belonging to an entire herd of dinosaurs have been found next to a new subdivision in southwest Edmonton. Fittingly, the bones belong to the Edmontosaurus, one of the largest duck-billed dinosaurs. The site contains some of the most complete skeletons scientists have of the dinosaur, and will help answer questions about its migratory habits and its development, said Phil Currie, a University of Alberta paleontologist. "With a herd of dinosaurs we can learn a lot about how they grew up, how they changed as they grew, and differences in individuals," said Currie. "That’s significant because we rarely...

NEW YORK - Scientists say they've found the earliest known tyrannosaur, shedding light on the lineage that produced the fearsome Tyrannosaurus rex. The discovery comes with a puzzle: Why did this beast have a strange crest on its head? Digging in the badlands of northwestern China that appeared in the movie "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," researchers found two skeletons of a creature that lived some 160 million years ago. That's more than 90 million years before T. rex came along. A two-legged meat-eater, the beast was far smaller than T. rex, measuring about 10 feet from its snout to the...

Finding dinosaurs in Antarctica is both easier and harder than finding them on another continent. Easier, because like looking for meteorites, dinosaur bones show up against the stark landscape. Harder, because the dinosaur's cold-bloodedness wouldn't have lasted long prior to continental drift and climate changes. Antarctic Lost Worlds Tale of Two Dinosaursbased on National Science Foundation report Against incredible odds, researchers working in separate sites, thousands of miles apart in Antarctica have found what they believe are the fossilized remains of two species of dinosaurs previously unknown to science. Life on the Edge. South Pole view from Space.Credit: NASA One...