An international panel of experts have come to the conclusion that a space impact was responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs.

They reached the consensus after conducting the most wide-ranging analysis yet of the evidence.
Writing in Science journal, they rule out alternative theories such as large-scale volcanism

The analysis has been discussed at the 41st Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC) in the US.A panel of 41 international experts reviewed 20 years’ worth of research to determine the cause of the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) mass extinction, around 65 million years ago.

The extinction wiped out more than half of all species on the planet, including the dinosaurs, bird-like pterosaurs and large marine reptiles, clearing the way for mammals to become the dominant species on Earth.

Their review of the evidence shows that the extinction was caused by a massive asteroid or comet smashing into Earth at Chicxulub on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.

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A dinosaur-like creature has been found which is 10 million years older than the earliest known dinosaurs. [Thx Tron]

Asilisaurus kongwe is a newly discovered herbivore that lived during the middle Triassic period – about 245 million years ago.

The scientists say that its age suggests that dinosaurs were also on the Earth earlier than previously thought.

They described their findings in the journal Nature.

The study was led by Dr Sterling Nesbitt from the University of Texas at Austin in the US.

He said: “This new evidence suggests that [dinosaurs] were really only one of several large and distinct groups of animals that exploded in diversity in the Triassic period, including silesaurs [like this one], pterosaurs, and several groups of crocodilian relatives.”

Dr Randall Irmis from the Utah Museum of Natural History in the US was also involved in the study. He said that this group of creatures – the silesaurs – were the “closest relative of the dinosaurs”.

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A 67-million-year-old snake fossil has been found, eating baby dinosaurs.

Scientists have found a 67 million-year-old fossil of a snake coiled around dinosaur eggs and a hatchling. This is the first evidence of snakes eating dinosaurs.

“It’s a stunning, once-in-a-lifetime find,” said paleontologist Paul Sereno of the University of Chicago, who was not involved in the study. “We’ve caught one of the rarest moments in the fossil record, which is prey and predator, together.”

Geologist Dhanajay Mohabey of the Indian Geological Survey first unearthed the fossil 26 years ago in a rocky, limestone outcropping in the northwestern Indian village of Dholi Dungri. He thought all the bones at the site were those of dinosaur hatchlings.

But in 2001, University of Michigan paleontologist Jeff Wilson, took a second look at the fossils. The team then recognized they had actually found a snake coiled around a broken egg, with a hatchling and two other eggs nearby. The findings appeared Mar. 1 in Public Library of Science Biology.

The newly discovered species of snake, Sanajeh indicus, measures about 11.5 feet long. The hatchlings, part of a group called titanosaurs, measured about a foot and a half long. Titanosaurs were the largest animal to ever walk on land, with adults that could reach up to 100 feet long.

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A pensioner in England has discovered a 135-million-year old fossil of a plesiosaur’s paddle bone in his garden rockery.

Last week stunned John was told the results, which showed it was part of a Plesiosaur’s paddle bone from the Jurassic period in ‘’stunning condition”.

Experts described it as ”very rare”, as it has been so well preserved that blood vessels are still visible in the 12 by 8 inches (20 by 30cm) rock.

Retired British Gas meter reader John, who lives with wife Eileen, 70, in a two-bed bungalow in Downham Market, Norfolk, said it was lucky he never threw it away.

He said: ”When we moved in I thought it seemed different to any other rock I had seen but I didn’t know what it was so I just left it in the garden.

”But we were curious about it for a number of years and I thought I’m going to find out about it.

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A new species of sauropod has been found in Utah.

The discovery included two complete skulls from other types of sauropods — an extremely rare find, scientists said.

The fossils offer fresh insight into lives of dinosaurs some 105 million years ago, including the evolution of sauropod teeth, which reveal eating habits and other information, said Dan Chure, a paleontologist at the monument that straddles the Utah-Colorado border.

“You can hardly overstate the significance of these fossils,” he said.

Of the 120 or so known species of sauropods, complete skulls have been found for just eight. That’s mostly because their skulls were made of thin, fragile bones bound by soft tissue that were easily destroyed after death.

“This is absolutely No. 1 in terms of projects I’ve had the opportunity to work on,” said Brooks Britt, a Brigham Young University paleontologist who co-authored a study on the fossils along with University of Michigan researchers.

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