Examining a model of the ancient fish Mandageria fairfaxi, the new fossil emblem for NSW are (l-r) NSW MP Anthony Roberts, director and CEO of the Australian Museum Kim McKay, NSW MPs Andrew Gee and Troy Grant, and Dr Ian Percival from the Geological Survey of NSW.
AAP Image/Supplied
Every state and territory in Australia should have one: a fossil emblem. Not only can they be good for tourism but they can also help teach people about the ancient history of the regions.
A new fossil has reminded us that the real velociraptors were a world away from the huge scaly lizards seen in Juarssic World.
What’s in a name? Plenty, if it is a dinosaur such as the Changyuraptor, a genus of the ‘four-winged’ predatory dinosaur.
S. Abramowicz, Dinosaur Institute
A dinosaur’s name says something about the dinosaur itself. They are grouped together according to similarities they share, which also indicates their ancestral relationships to one another.
One of Kitching’s original find of eggs, after being prepared by Diane Scott.
Supplied
Philosophers and blockbusters There are at least three reasons why philosophers take an interest in hugely popular cultural products such Hollywood blockbuster action movies. First is a kind of (non-objectionable…
How we think things may have looked: In early Cretaceous China, a pair of Beipiaosaurus make way for a pack of Yutyrannus trudging over a recent snowfall. Large pterosaurs (Feilongus) and tiny birds (Eoenantiornis) take flight.
Brian Choo
The latest Jurassic World movie has been criticised for its less than accurate portrayal of some of the dinosaurs. But how we imagine they looked and behaved has changed many times over the years.
Bruce Rubidge, University of the Witwatersrand y Mike Day, University of the Witwatersrand
The Karoo provides not only a historical record of biological change over a period of Earth’s history but also a means to test theories of evolutionary processes over long periods of time.
You couldn’t just plop dinosaurs anywhere and expect them to survive.
Wikimedia Commons
Plenty of action in the new dinosaur movie Jurassic World, in cinemas from Thursday. But how realistic are the dinosaurs and who are the real monsters when we play around with nature?
Roaming among the dinosaurs in Jurassic World.
ILM/Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment
Organic dinosaur remains were thought to be extremely rare – until now.
Hold on: before we bring dinosaurs back to life as in Jurassic World, we need to look at other extinct critters first.
Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment
Jurassic World is opening in cinemas this Thursday and again raises the idea of resurrecting extinct creatures. But there’s plenty of other contenders before we even think of recreating dinosaurs.
Since 1903, pop culture has been struggling to catch up with the fact that there was no such creature as a Brontosaurus. But now it turns out that there was, so thank goodness for that.
Toilet jaws: the scourge of people and dinosaurs 200m years ago.
University of Edinburgh
Metoposaurus algarvensis, aka toilet jaws, was all over our early ancestors. The thing that got us off the hook? A big hot interception 200m years ago.