New Kid on the Block

Everyone who is interested in dinosaurs knows Eoraptor, a small creature said to be the blueprint for all future theropod dinosaurs. However new findings report that Eoraptors may not have been the grandfather of all theropods after all, rather a similar looking creature that fills the criteria much better has stepped into the spotlight. Its name is Eodromaeus murphi and it lived around the same time as Eoraptor around 230 million years ago and it certainly checks all the must haves for a theropod dinosaur. Judging by its skeletal design it was an fast and active hunter, it had sharp saber-like serrated teeth for slicing through meat, it possessed strong hands with deadly claws at the end of each finger, it had the classical stiffened tail that allowed it to be incredibly agile at high speeds. The research conducted showed that Eodromaus most likely is the grandfather of all therapod dinosaurs while a closer inspection of Eoraptor suggests that it may have evolved into the largest land living creatures ever to walk to earth, the sauropods. All this is still being speculated within the paleontological community but it sure looks like we might be undergoing a few changes within the family trees fairly soon.

Certainly some really interesting pieces of information and a good read so make sure to read the article!

Kronosaurus... Awesome..!

Unfortunately I dont have alot of time to go looking for articles today so I found this little piece written by Brian Switek (again) about Kronosaurus and the history of this awesome pliosaur. Im sure most of you know about this creature already but you might learn a few new things from the article. Hope you enjoy it!

Id like to apologize for the lack of updates this weekend but im in the process of moving to a new appartment so I may not be able to spend as much time as I would like to on this project. It should all be back to normal in a week or so. Thanks for understanding.

Nom Nom Nom

Everyone has heard the story of how your father-in-law was about to reel in the biggest catch of his life when suddenly and even bigger fish comes up and snatches his trophy out of his hands right in front of him. Turns out that this doesnt just happen these days to father-in-laws but it also happened in the prehistoric world, and theres even proof in the fossil record to prove it. In this article Brian Switek writes about some really interesting stories of the permian food chain and some examples of these awesome fossils. Enjoy!

The little Shrew that could

Say hello to one of our earliest placental ancestors, Juramaia sinensis. This tiny little shrew-like creature made its home in what is now eastern asia and is thus far the oldest know placental mammal. It lived about 160 million years ago in the mid Jurassic period. Not only is this fossil very well preserved but it also marks the point in history where mammals started splitting into two different groups, Metatheria (Marsupials) and Eutheria (Placentals). A very interesting little creature well worthy of your attention.

"Badass" Crocs

When someone asks you what you see when you picture a crocodile one of two things will most likely pop into your head. One, Steve Irwin wrestling four meter monsters in the mud, or two, Crocodile Dundee. No one ever thinks of a terestrial predator with huge canines actively hunting dinosaurs in the late cretaceous, strange isnt it? If you didnt know that these amazing creatures existed then dont worry, your probably not the only one. Earlier this year a team in Brazil added a new species into the group, Pissarrachampsa sera. A real tongue twister if you ask me. Its time to get yourself acquainted with some of the less known monsters of the cretaceous.

Dinosaur Tracks in Australia

Another news story from Australia! The discovery of these amazing footprints were made early in August on the coast line of Victoria, Australia. More than 20 of these tracks were discovered from rocks that are around 105 million years old. The tracks were made by small therapods dinosaurs. Check out the rest of the article, theres also a video attached!

Polar Dinosaurs: Not So Different After All

Today I stumbled upon two news reports from Australia. Major behavioural and anatomical differences between arctic and non-arctic dinosaurs has long been a topic of great speculation amongst paleontologists. A well known example of this is the idea that some dinosaurs may have hibernated through the winters months instead of migrating the a warmer climate. This article provides evidence against these ideas and is quite an interesting read.

Real Life Sea Monsters

I love anything associated with water and I love palaeontology so obviously Mosasaurs are close to my heart. I find them absolutely fascinating and I think they are often overshadowed by their land dwelling counterparts. This article is about the evolution of these creatures, a great read for any paleontology enthusiast. The article is written by well known science journalist Brian Switek.

Mammoth Season

Some of you might remember the amazing discovery of an almost perfectly preserved mammoth calf a few years ago in northern Russia. The specimen, discovered in 2007, was named Lyuba after the wife of the reindeer herder who found it. Natural mummification had kept it perfectly intact for 40,000 years, even the internal organs were still intact! The only thing missing was the fur that covered these animals from head to toe. This was truely an incredible find and was the most complete specimen of a woolly mammoth ever found.

Last week a reindeer herder in the same region of Russia found yet another amazing mammoth calf mummy to add to the list of these incredibly well preserved specimens. Im not sure what to make of this, its astounding! The fact that not just one perfectly preserved woolly mammoth calf has been found but TWO in the same area is absolutely insane! How much new data will we be able to collect from this new specimen? How many more of these are there? Only time will tell. I havnt been able to find any more information on this new find but I will try my best to find out more as soon as possible.

Trilobite Mass Burials

This is a fairly old news story but I wanted to cover it anyway because I love Trilobites, and I know that im not the only one. To me they are one of the most fascinating and amazing creatures ever to have lived. No one who has had a chance to read about these little critters can argue otherwise. One of the big success stories in the history of life on our planet, these early arthropods were found in oceans all over the world in many shapes and forms. They first appear in the fossil record around 526 million years ago and spent the next 270  million years thriving in the planets early oceans until they finally met their end at the hands of the mass dying known to us today as the Permain-Triassic extinction even.

The article talks about how Carlton E. Brett, University of Cincinnati professor of geology, with two colleagues Adrian Kin of Poland's Institute of Geological Sciences at Jagiellonian University, and Brenda Hunda of the Cincinnati Museum Centre presented a co-authored paper on the findings of their research on trilobite death beds. Im sure this paper is incredibly interesting and I would love to get my hands on it!

It covers the findings made by Brett across a couple of these mass burials of trilobites that seem to be caused by violent storms that carry large amounts of sediment which buried them in the blink of an eye, perfectly preserving them and the environment they inhabited. These large groups of trilobites, just like their modern anthropod counterparts, seem to gather en masse to shed their old exoskeletons to find safety in numbers. The fact that most specimens are of the same size, suggesting they are around the same age, means that its more than likely they used this opportunity to mate. This seems to be a very effective way of doing it since the behaviour has essentially stayed the same for 520million years amongst some arthropods.

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That concludes the first news item of Palaeocast. It wasnt the best, I know, but I really wanted to put something up on the launch day and I didnt have the time needed to properly research to find a really great story (turns out 45minutes isnt quite enough to write something interesting, especially not at 1am on a tuesday night). I promise to get you all a couple of great articles in the next couple of days. There should be a link to the article, if not I will add one first thing in the morning. Thank you and Goodnight!

/Henrik

Welcome to PalaeoCast!

Hello and welcome to the PalaeoCast website!

Palaeocast is a blog and podcast run by paleontology enthusiast Henrik Osterman (Me!). This website will be dedicated to news within the world of paleontology and hopefully my podcast will be up and running within a few days. The podcast is aimed at anyone who is interested in paleontology and will consist of...

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- The News.
News within the world of paleontology.

- The Main feature!
Each podcast will have a different main feature. At first I will decide what the main feature will be about but hopefully as the podcast progresses listeners will be able to send in suggestions of what they would like me to cover within these segments.

- Q&A
This is where I answer some questions that will be sent in by the listeners. Dont be shy, theres no such thing as a bad question!

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As the project progresses I may add more segments to the show. Hopefully I will be able to release these podcasts on a weekly basis. I would also like to add that I am NOT a professional Paleontologist, I am simply an enthusiast of the subject and I will try my best to come up with fun, informative and educational content.

If you have any suggestions or questions feel free to message me here on the forums.
Cheers

Henrik