Paleo Discoveries of 2018

A new year for new discoveries.

Fossilized butterfly scales prove that moths and butterflies have been around for 200 million years.

A new 113 million year old small ornithopod found in Australia is named Diluvicursor pickeringi.

That one lizard that was eaten by that one Compsagnathus turned out to be a new species: Schoenesmahl dyspepsia. The name is Latin for 'beautiful meal that is difficult to digest'.

A new Late Jurassic dinosaur-161 million year old-dinosaur the size of a crow had iridescent feathers on its head, neck, and arms. Its name is Caihong, Mandarin for Rainbow.

2 newly described, 78.5 million year old horn cores from Southern Alberta help the understanding of ceratopian evolution.

We are learning more about Australia's polar dinosaurs via fossilized bone tissue.

This article explains why Stegosaurus and Ankylosaurus had tail weapons.

A fossilized egg found broken was discovered in India. People thikn it might belong to the abelisaur, Rajasaurus.


A Late Jurassic plesiosaur has been found in Antarctica.

HUGE NEWS!

The 11th Archaeopteryx fossil has been found in Germany and it's the oldest one yet.

New fairly small titanosaur named Mansourasaurus shahina, has been described. Lived in Egypt 80 MYA.

Early Jurassic footprints from one of the earliest super theropods described as Kayentapus ambrokholohali.

110 mya Mid-Cretaceous dinosaur footprints found near Washington DC.

HUGE NEWS!

A 99 million year old bird trapped in amber has been found in Myanmar aka: The country formally known as Burma.

New dinosaur species found in Las Vegas, Nevada.

It's 100 million years old.

A new fossil of a 127 million year old bay bird from Spain shows more progress in knowledge of the evolution of birds.

A new study showed that Archaeopteryx could fly.

3 boys in Mississippi have found a 100,000 year old mastodon in their backyard.

Here's an interesting article about here predatory dinosaur teeth showed how they lived and hunted.

A very well preserved skull of Ichthyornis was found in Kansas and gives us knowledge about dinosaurs and their bird relatives.

It looks like Tyrannosaurus rex was MUCH smarter then we thought. Recent evidence has shown that had the intellegence of a chimpanze.

Rhedosaurus wrote:

It looks like Tyrannosaurus rex was MUCH smarter then we thought. Recent evidence has shown that had the intellegence of a chimpanze.

It's one thing when Hollywood movies seemingly aggrandize the T. rex to be this incredible alpha predator, but it seems that nature agrees for once! The more we find out about T. rex, the more badass and incredible it's revealed to be.

Also, the chimpanzee quote reminded me very much of Grant's quote about Raptor intelligence in JP3:
"They were smarter than dolphins or whales. They were smarter than primates."

I used to hate that line as a kid, and I still think it's melodramatic in its presentation and context, but now it might not seem so far from reality.

BarrytheOnyx wrote:

Rhedosaurus wrote:

It looks like Tyrannosaurus rex was MUCH smarter then we thought. Recent evidence has shown that had the intellegence of a chimpanze.

It's one thing when Hollywood movies seemingly aggrandize the T. rex to be this incredible alpha predator, but it seems that nature agrees for once! The more we find out about T. rex, the more badass and incredible it's revealed to be.

Also, the chimpanzee quote reminded me very much of Grant's quote about Raptor intelligence in JP3:
"They were smarter than dolphins or whales. They were smarter than primates."

I used to hate that line as a kid, and I still think it's melodramatic in its presentation and context, but now it might not seem so far from reality.

I'd like to see either a new batch of T. rexes in this 3rd JW/6th JP movie show how scary they are via their intelligence. TBH, I was thinking of having the T. rexes in my one Creation synopsis be smarter via advanced intelligence myself.

Rhedosaurus wrote:

I'd like to see either a new batch of T. rexes in this 3rd JW/6th JP movie show how scary they are via their intelligence. TBH, I was thinking of having the T. rexes in my one Creation synopsis be smarter via advanced intelligence myself.

I also have my own ideas on how to portray T. rexes in my novels in the future, and portraying it with a simian-like intelligence would ratchet the fear factor up considerably. Considering that Raptors and Troodonts are regarded as the "smart dinosaur" antagonists, they might be having the spotlight taken off them.

BarrytheOnyx wrote:

Rhedosaurus wrote:

I'd like to see either a new batch of T. rexes in this 3rd JW/6th JP movie show how scary they are via their intelligence. TBH, I was thinking of having the T. rexes in my one Creation synopsis be smarter via advanced intelligence myself.

I also have my own ideas on how to portray T. rexes in my novels in the future, and portraying it with a simian-like intelligence would ratchet the fear factor up considerably. Considering that Raptors and Troodonts are regarded as the "smart dinosaur" antagonists, they might be having the spotlight taken off them.

That or they would be forced to make them even smarter then they are currently portrayed which would really be a thing to see.

New research indicates that T.rex was as smart as a chimp.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/t-rex-was-smarter-than-we-thought?via=twitter_page

This is all pure speculation of course, but this would be so cool if true.

edit: Just saw it was already posted.

^Already posted that.

Rhedosaurus wrote:

^Already posted that.

Dang. Took me two seconds to scroll up and find it xD

A 180 million year old crocodile found in Hungary back in 1996 has been described and it's the missing link between ocean/sea crocodiles and terrestial crocodiles. It's name is Magyarosuchus fitosi, after the man who found it and it was 16 feet long.

According to this, Coelurosaurian dinosaurs had avian skin as far back as the Middle Jurassic.

It's a long read.

A new reptile like mammal, Cifelliodon wahkarmoosuch, has been described from an Early Cretaceous era skull found in Utah.

A footbone of a juvenile Spinosaurus has been described.

It came from the Kem Kem beds of Morocco. I still wish that we could find another skeleton that's reasonably complete.


Fossilized dandruff of the feathered dinosaurs Beipiaosaurus, Sinornithosaurus and Microraptor has also been discovered.