Hi, this is Ezekiel O'Callaghan with Raptor Chatter here with my monthly reviews. This time March 2018.
Pterosaurs often have small light bones that are very hard to fossilize because they break up so easily
Because of this, the late Cretaceous has a lot of lacking fossils for pterosaurs as
mainly Azhdarchids have been found the large massive giraffe sized flying predators of the late cretaceous
However, there was a find announced this month coming from north africa
showing multiple families of pterosaurs including the Azhdarchids
But also Pteronodontids and Nyctosaurids to groups previously unknown from the late cretaceous
New evidence shows that
Archaeopteryx likely flew like an awkward chicken. Using powerful x-rays, scientists were able to look at the bone structure of the bones
before they had fossilized and we're able to deduce that based on their shape it likely had a flight pattern that resembled that of modern-day
Partridges or wild chickens, which still fly quite well.
If you were like I was growing up
you probably spent some time catching lizards and
Sometimes you would notice that they would shed their tails to try and avoid being caught
This adaptation is called caudal autonomy as it separates the bones in the vertebra from the tail in order
to try and escape
A study this month shows that this adaptation goes as far back as the end-permian
specifically in Captorhinids
a group of early reptiles which lived during the period
This adaptation being so early shows just how key it was to the continued survival of reptiles while they were
beset by larger synapsid and amphibian predators, and how we were able to get to our modern day reptiles that we recognize
Ceratopsians are well known for their diverse frill and horn shape with some
Paleontologists suggesting that these evolved to help differentiate one species from other species that are living in the area
However a new study suggests that is very unlikely the case
By looking at the morphology of the bones in the frill and of the horns
They found that it was far more likely that these frills and horns were used for interspecies communication
and competition rather than strictly for just
Differentiating species as has been seen in other places such as modern-day animals with horns and antlers who don't use it as
differentiation, but rather competition
The eastern half of the United States is more widely known in paleontology for not housing very many fossils
However that doesn't mean there aren't any
Specifically this month, Arkansaurus was announced, an ornithomimid. This species was found in
Arkansas and helps to shed light into how the
differentiation of species occurred in the eastern half of North America when it was split during the Cretaceous by the Western interior Seaway
The Megaraptorians are group of dinosaurs of currently
indeterminate origins with some scientists having them come out of the Carchardontosaurs and
Others having to be very basil  coelurosaurs and even potentially very basal Tyrannosaurids
However with such an indeterminate fossil record for them, it's hard to tell.
But a new fossil helped to shed at least some light on it
An Argentine team has found the youngest, as far as the rocks are concerned, most recent to us
fossil of a Megaraptorian dinosaur coming from 85 million years ago in Argentina
This fossil has the best preserved hips of the Megaraptorian dinosaurs
and so could shed light into how exactly they evolved and where exactly on the dinosaur family tree the Megaraptorians belong
Finally, brains
specifically brains that are
520 million years old coming from Greenland. This fossil shows preserved brain matter
which is actually rather different than what we see in modern animals. In modern animals brains are composed of three main parts
The forebrain, the midbrain, and the hind brain. This early fossil brain however
Shows a lack of these components. Rather, just having a singular mass
composing of the whole brain. This helps to give insight into just how brains evolved and how we got to life that we have today
Hi, everyone. Thank you for watching. We really appreciate the support I've been getting. I do want to mention real briefly for news
Jurassic world evolution was announced and it's a park building game. That was designed around Jurassic world
It's very similar seemingly at least to the old Jurassic Park operation Genesis
Which is one of my old favorite games from when I was a kid so
Really exciting about that if you're interested in video games and dinosaurs it might be something to look into
There are some scientific inaccuracies in it, but I'll cover those at some point just as a reminder be safe
Don't go extinct take care
