Gigantic dinosaurs like the sauropod Diplodocus, which weighed over 15 tons and was longer than an 18-wheeler truck, would have had problems with potentially lethal overheating. Hot blood from the body core would have been pumped to the head, damaging the delicate brain. New research shows that in sauropods, evaporation of moisture in the nose and mouth would have cooled extensive networks of venous blood destined for the brain. Other large dinosaurs evolved different brain-cooling mechanisms, but all involving evaporative cooling of blood in different regions of the head. Credit: Life restoration by Michael Skrepnick. Courtesy of WitmerLab at Ohio University.

Huge dinosaurs evolved different cooling systems to combat heat stroke

A small, feathered theropod dinosaur, Saurornitholestes langstoni was long thought to be so closely related to Velociraptor mongoliensis that some researchers called it Velociraptor langstoni—until now. Credit: Jan Sovak.

Paleontologists discover complete Saurornitholestes langstoni specimen

The Sosnogorsk lagoon just before a deadly storm. Credit: Mikhail Shekhanov for the Ukhta Local Museum

The earliest well-preserved tetrapod may never have left the water

Siamraptor skull reconstruction. Credit: Chokchaloemwong et al., 2019

Meet Siamraptor suwati, a new species of giant predatory dinosaur from...

Ancient fossils reveal fresh clues about early life on land

Ancient fossils reveal fresh clues about early life on land

Fossils preserved in Dominican amber reveal a new family, genus and species of microinvertebrate from the mid-Tertiary period, a discovery that shows unique lineages of the tiny creatures were living 30 million years ago. Credit: Provided by George Poinar Jr.

Meet the ‘mold pigs’ a new group of invertebrates from 30...

Plotosaurus bennisoni is a mosasaur from the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) North America. Restoration illustration from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.

Did mosasaurs do the breast stroke?

Pterosaur

New Australian pterosaur may have survived the longest

One of the three fossils of Lessiniabatis aenigmatica (MNHN F.Bol.566) from the famous fossil site of Monte Bolca (Italy) preserved as part and counterpart. The specimen is housed in the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle of Paris. Credit: Giuseppe Marramà

Fossil fish provides new insights into the evolution

A life reconstruction of the feathered dinosaur Anchiornis huxleyi based on fossil evidence of its color and patterning. This evidence included inferences about melanin pigments. Credit: HKU MOOC / Julius T Csotonyi / Michael Pittman.

What color were fossil animals?

Artist's reconstruction of two rauisuchians fighting over a desiccated corpse of a mammal-relative in the Triassic of southern Africa. In the background, dinosaurs and mammal-like reptiles form other parts of the ecosystem. Credit: Viktor Radermacher, owns copyright

Croc-like carnivores terrorized Triassic dinosaurs in southern Africa 210 million years...

An artist’s rendition of the Tyrannosaurus rex with the 3D imaging showing muscle activation in its head. Illustration courtesy of Brian Engh.

T. rex used a stiff skull to eat its prey

An artist's interpretation of the asteroid impact that wiped out all non-avian dinosaurs. Credit: NASA/Don Davis.

Rocks at asteroid impact site record first day of dinosaur extinction

Cryodrakon boreas. Credit David Maas

New reptile species was one of largest ever flying animals

Jurassic crocodile. Artist's impression (credit: Julia Beier)

Jurassic crocodile identified 250 years after fossil find

Giant extinct kangaroo

Giant Kangaroo Had Crushing Bites

Prof. Michael Coates holds a 3-D printed model of the Tristychius skull and jaws. Photo courtesy of Matt Wood

3-D reconstructions show how ancient sharks found an alternative way to...

Reconstruction of Mollisonia plenovenatrix, by Joanna Liang ©Royal Ontario Museum

Half-a-billion-year-old tiny predator unveils the rise of scorpions and spiders

A reconstruction of Kamuysaurus japonicus. Credit: Kobayashi Y., et al, Scientific Reports, September 5, 2019

A new duck-billed dinosaur, Kamuysaurus japonicus, identified

A graphic thermal image of a T. rex with its dorsotemporal fenestra glowing on the skull. Illustration courtesy of Brian Engh.

T. rex had an air conditioner in its head

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