250 lines
6.8 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
250 lines
6.8 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
science
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dinosaurs
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7705470
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-----
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# Giant flying dinosaur fossil found
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## Evidence of flying dinosaurs with a 9ft wingspan and more than 100 razor-
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sharp teeth that dominated the skies 95 million years ago has been discovered
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on a building site.
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9:35AM BST 10 May 2010
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A 14 inch long lower jaw belonging to one of the reptiles was found by an
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amateur fossil hunter.
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Two of its teeth were still present and experts were able to analyse it and
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produce an artists impression of what the beast looked like.
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Paleontologists are now hailing the discovery as 'remarkable'.
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They have named it Aetodactylus halli after it was uncovered by amateur fossil
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collector Lance Hall on a construction site near Dallas, Texas.
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The long, narrow bone was embedded in a powdery shale but had been exposed by
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the excavation of a hillside next to a road.
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## Related Articles
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* [Fossil of pre-dinosaur predator found in Brazil][1]
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12 May 2010
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Mr Hall said: "I was scanning the exposure and noticed what at first I thought
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was a piece of oyster shell spanning across a small erosion valley.
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"Only about an inch or two was exposed and I almost passed it up thinking it
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was oyster, but then I realised it was more tan-coloured like bone.
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"I started uncovering it and realised it was the jaw to something but I had no
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idea what.
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"It was upside down and when I turned over the snout portion it was nothing
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but a long row of teeth sockets, which was very exciting."
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Mr Hall donated the fossil to the Shuler Museum of Palaeontology at southern
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Methodist University, in Dallas, where it was examined by experts.
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Paleontologist Dr Timothy Myers, from the university, said the animal would
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have had a wingspan of around 9ft.
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He said: "The roughly 14 inch long lower jaw is nearly complete and would have
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held 54 sharp, pointed teeth.
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"Almost all the teeth fell out shortly after the animal died, leaving only a
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single, broken tooth base and the tip of a small replacement tooth visible in
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the sockets.
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"The jaw itself is very thin and delicate and widens slightly near the tip to
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accommodate the slightly larger first four tooth pairs.
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"This find is remarkable because of its excellent three-dimensional
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preservation.
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"Pterosaur bones were exceedingly delicate, so these animals are relatively
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poorly represented in the fossil record.
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"When they are preserved, their bones are often flattened and distorted by
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compaction."
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Dr Myers said the creature's lower teeth were evenly spaced and extended far
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back along the jaw, covering nearly three quarters of its length.
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The upper and lower teeth interlaced when the jaws were closed.
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He said the thinness of the jaws, the upward angle of the back half of the
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mandible and the lack of a pronounced expansion of the jaw tips indicate
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Aetodactylus is a new genus and species
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Aetodactylus halli is a type of pterosaur, a group of flying reptiles commonly
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referred to as pterodactyls.
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Pterosaurs ruled the skies from the late Triassic period, more than 200
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million years ago, to the end of the Cretaceous period, about 65 million years
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ago, when they went extinct.
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They represent the earliest vertebrates capable of flying.
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Dr Myers said the Aetodactylus halli is one of the youngest examples of the
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pterosaur family, which are known as Ornithocheiridae, worldwide.
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He added: "Aetodactylus represents one of the final occurrences of
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ornithocheirids prior to the transition to toothless species."
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Aetodactylus halli would have soared above the Dallas-Fort Worth area during
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the Cretaceous Period when much of the state was under water.
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Professor Louis Jacobs, from SMU's Huffington Department of Earth Sciences,
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said the conditions found in the area have proved perfect for preserving
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fossils.
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He said: "The ancient sea that covered Dallas provided the right conditions to
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preserve marine reptiles and other denizens of the deep, as well as the
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delicate bones of flying reptiles that fell from their flight to the water
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below.
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"The rocks and fossils here record a time not well represented elsewhere."
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* Share: [Share][2] [ ][4] [ ][5]
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[Tweet][6]
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/dinosaurs/7705470/Giant-flying-dinosaur-
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fossil-found.html
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Telegraph
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## [Dinosaurs][7]
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* ### [News »][8]
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* ### [UK News »][9]
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In science
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[![Model of Tyrannosaurus rex's: Dinosaurs the 'couch potatoes' of prehistoric
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world ][10] ][11]
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### [Tyrannosaurus Rex: the cannibal][11]
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[![A bizarre dinosaur with a ''crown of horns'' has been discovered by
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scientists. ][12] ][13]
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### [Horned dinosaurs discovered][13]
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[![An artist's impression of Pakasuchus][14] ][15]
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### [Cat-like crocodile roamed earth][15]
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[![Mojoceratops, a relative of the triceratops which lived 75 million years
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ago. Mojoceratops, the frilly dinosaur named over beers][16] ][17]
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### [The 'Mojoceratops' is named][17]
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[X][2] Share & bookmark
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[What are these?][3]
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Share:
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* [ ][2]
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* [ ][4]
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* [ ][5]
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* [Tweet][6]
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* Advertisement
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var puffs_8255319 = new Array();
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