This is a crucial dinosaur for palaeontologists; the variety of fossils available means researchers can study the species’ growth through its whole life span.
As an intellectual history of the disciplines of paleontology and paleoanthropology, Kuljan’s book is especially adept at narrating the interwoven connections between science and power.
Local people at Tendaguru (Tanzania) excavation site in 1909 with Giraffatitan fossils.
Wikimedia Commons/Public domain
Africa has one of the world’s richest fossil records, and evidence suggests that amateurs collected really important fossils long before professionals arrived on the scene.
Researchers believe newly uncovered fossils suggest some dinosaurs had similar courtship practices to modern birds. But can ancient footprints really reveal so much?
Professor Lee Berger from the University of the Witwatersrand holding the skull of Homo Naledi.
EPA/Shiraaz Mohamed
The big question being asked is: where does Homo naledi fit in the evolutionary tree? Assessing the similarity or dissimilarity between fossil skulls has provided a possible clue to the answer.
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.