TOP 100 SCIENCE SITES
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| Humpback dinosaur – theropod of the north Concavenator corcovatus found in Spain shows signs of flight feather appendagesMeet the humpback dinosaur. The previously unknown Concavenator corcovatus was a meat eater that lived in the Lower Cretaceous 130m years ago and died in what is now in Las Hoyas, Spain.The details of the fossil, reported today in Nature, paint a picture of a six-metre-long theropod, a family of dinosaurs previously thought to be confined to southern continents.Most interesting for the scientists who found the fossil, Francisco Ortega and Jose Sanz of the Universidad Nacional de EducacÃon a Distancia in Madrid, is a hump-like structure on the dinosaur's back and a series of small knobs on the forearm. The bumps could be analagous to the parts of modern birds' skeletons that anchor the flight feathers. Since the knobs are unlikely to be representative of feathers on Concavenator, the researchers propose instead that they are "non-scale skin appendages", such as tubular filaments, present in modern-day poultry.DinosaursFossilsZoologyEvolutionAlok Jhaguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Onward to Ethiopia, and Gelada Monkeys A doctoral student studying social behavior in primates begins his journey seeking permits in Addis Ababa. feeds.nytimes.com |
Wild water A rare undersea encounter with a British otter news.bbc.co.uk |
Green: On Our Radar: A Super Typhoon Megi heads toward China after touching down in the Philippines. feeds.nytimes.com |
Female snails growing penises FEMALE marine snails off the Perth coast are growing male sex organs on their heads after exposure to the chemical TBT, according to researchers. news.com.au |