• Unknown dinosaur nearly blown to oblivion
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[img]http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/15B4C/production/_92380988_mediaitem92380987.jpg[/img] [quote]A newly discovered species of dinosaur has been identified from an extraordinarily complete Chinese fossil almost destroyed by dynamite. It was preserved raising its beaked head, with feathered wings outstretched in the mud it was mired in when it died 72 million years ago. The new creature has been named Tongtianlong limosus, "muddy dragon on the road to heaven". The discovery is published in the journal Nature Scientific Reports. "It was found at a construction site by workmen when they were dynamiting, so they nearly blasted this thing off the hillside," said University of Edinburgh palaeontologist Dr Stephen Brusatte. "We almost never knew about this dinosaur." A few small parts of the fossil were in fact blasted off, but considering the circumstances of its discovery, the fossil is remarkably complete. "It's about the size of a sheep, and it's part of a group of very advanced bird-like, feathered dinosaurs called oviraptorosaurs," said Dr Brusatte. "They were basically the last group of dinosaurs to blossom before the asteroid hit." The specimen comes from rocks belonging to the Nanxiong Formation in Jiangxi Province, southern China. The researchers, from China and the UK, say the fossil is particularly special for the insight it provides into the evolutionary transition from dinosaurs to birds. "Modern birds came from dinosaurs," said Dr Brusatte, "and its dinosaurs like Tongtianlong that give us a glimpse of what the ancestors of modern birds would have looked like. [/quote] [url]http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-37902583[/url]
[QUOTE]It was preserved raising its beaked head, with feathered wings outstretched in the mud it was mired in when it died 72 million years ago. The new creature has been named Tongtianlong limosus, "muddy dragon on the road to heaven".[/QUOTE] Imagine if every extinct species was named after how the first of its kind was discovered
It became extinct with a bang, and it was almost going to go physically extinct with another one. Poor thing couldn't catch a break, atleast it's preserved now.
[QUOTE=TCB;51351375]Imagine if every extinct species was named after how the first of its kind was discovered[/QUOTE] Most already are, though. Either that or they are named after the first impressions of it.
[QUOTE=piddlezmcfuz;51351524]Most already are, though. Either that or they are named after the first impressions of it.[/QUOTE] I don't know much about paleontology, are there any other examples that stand out this much? I know a bunch of them are named on what their bones would suggest their appearance to be like but this is like naming mammoths "furry elephant in an ice cube", I suppose 'woolly mammoth' literally rranslates to something like 'furry and huge' but are other species named after their apparent resting place? (genuinely interested ofc) [editline]11th November 2016[/editline] 'scaly bird met by meteor' It just seems so specific for every potential future finding of this species to call back to the exact setting it was first discovered in :v:
[QUOTE=TCB;51351837]I don't know much about paleontology, are there any other examples that stand out this much? I know a bunch of them are named on what their bones would suggest their appearance to be like but this is like naming mammoths "furry elephant in an ice cube", I suppose 'woolly mammoth' literally rranslates to something like 'furry and huge' but are other species named after their apparent resting place? (genuinely interested ofc) [editline]11th November 2016[/editline] 'scaly bird met by meteorite' It just seems so specific for every potential future finding of this species to call back to the exact setting it was first discovered in :v:[/QUOTE] [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kakuru"]Kakuru[/URL] is by far the most badass example; its name is a reference to the Rainbow Serpent of the Australian Aboriginals because it fossilized into opal gives me hope that one day i'll find a solid gold t. rex [editline]10th November 2016[/editline] [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasosaurus"]Gasosaurus [/URL]is by far the stupidest example it was named that in honour of the gasoline company that found the quarry it was discovered in
[QUOTE=_charon;51351865] [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasosaurus"]Gasosaurus [/URL]is by far the stupidest example it was named that in honour of the gasoline company that found the quarry it was discovered in[/QUOTE] Okay yeah this takes the cake :v: no idea how I've never heard of this, this is probably the laziest naming of a species (not even just dinosaurs tbh) I've ever seen Poor mighty jurassic monsters having the equivalent of "tombstone sponsored by BP", went from being ferocious predators to futile product placement
[img]http://i.giphy.com/14ru6pqZPExCNO.gif[/img] Pretty awesome. The bird-like features on dinos really fascinates me.
That is fucking cool can't wait to get a representation of what it may have looked like when alive
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