/newsroom/taxonomy/term/1627/all en /newsroom/channels/news/other-paleo-diet-rare-discovery-dinosaur-remains-preserved-its-last-meal-344495 <p><i>Microraptor</i> was an opportunistic predator, feeding on fish, birds, lizards – and now small mammals. The discovery of a rare fossil reveals the creature was a generalist carnivore in the ancient ecosystem of dinosaurs.</p> Tue, 20 Dec 2022 21:36:11 +0000 shirley.cardenas@mcgill.ca 288588 at /newsroom /newsroom/channels/news/extinct-swordfish-shaped-marine-reptile-discovered-335199 <p>A team of international researchers from Canada, Colombia, and Germany has discovered a new marine reptile. The specimen, a stunningly preserved metre-long skull, is one of the last surviving ichthyosaurs – ancient animals that look eerily like living swordfish.</p> Mon, 29 Nov 2021 16:31:01 +0000 shirley.cardenas@mcgill.ca 283667 at /newsroom /newsroom/channels/news/crocodile-evolution-rebooted-ice-age-glaciations-328615 <p>Crocodiles are resilient animals from a lineage that has survived for over 200 million years. Skilled swimmers, crocodiles can travel long distances and live in freshwater or marine environments. But they can’t roam far on land. American crocodiles (<i>Crocodylus acutus</i>) are found in the Caribbean and Pacific coasts of the Neotropics but they arrived in the Pacific before Panama existed, according to <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/evo.14139">researchers from ƽ���岻��</a>.</p> Mon, 15 Feb 2021 21:33:32 +0000 shirley.cardenas@mcgill.ca 256622 at /newsroom /newsroom/channels/news/bat-winged-dinosaurs-could-glide-325614 <p>Despite having bat-like wings, two small dinosaurs, <i>Yi</i> and <i>Ambopteryx, </i>struggled to fly, only managing to glide clumsily between the trees where they lived, according to a new study led by an international team of researchers, including ƽ���岻�� Professor <a href="http://redpath-staff.mcgill.ca/larsson/personalpages/hans_larsson/hans_larsson.htm">Hans Larsson</a>. Unable to compete with other tree-dwelling dinosaurs and early birds, they went extinct after just a few million years.</p> Wed, 21 Oct 2020 19:49:44 +0000 shirley.cardenas@mcgill.ca 244354 at /newsroom /newsroom/channels/news/ctv-news-some-dinosaurs-were-flying-there-were-birds-new-research-suggests-323691 <p>Biologists now have a better idea of the origin of birds and the evolution of flight, two iconic events in the history of life on earth, thanks to work by a group of international scientists including a ƽ���岻�� professor. In updating the evolutionary tree, the team’s findings show some dinosaurs could fly before they evolved into birds, and many others were experimenting with powered flight.</p> Thu, 13 Aug 2020 23:28:35 +0000 amelia.souffrant@mail.mcgill.ca 233899 at /newsroom /newsroom/channels/news/some-dinosaurs-could-fly-they-were-birds-323548 <p>New research using the most comprehensive study of feathered dinosaurs and early birds has revised the evolutionary relationships of dinosaurs at the origin of birds.</p> Sat, 08 Aug 2020 02:07:50 +0000 shirley.cardenas@mcgill.ca 232645 at /newsroom /newsroom/channels/news/new-species-ichthyosaur-discovered-museum-collection-323090 <p><i>Hauffiopteryx altera</i> (Latin for <i>different from</i>) has been identified as a new species of Ichthyosaurs by researchers from ƽ���岻�� and the State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart in Germany.</p> <p>Ichthyosaurs (‘fish lizards’), a group of tuna-shaped reptiles that inhabited Earth’s seas during the Mesozoic Era, were discovered by scientists in the early 19<sup>th</sup> century. Similar to the modern-day dolphin, ichthyosaurs underwent profound adaptions to aquatic environments including limbs transformed into flippers, a dorsal fin, and a tail fin.</p> Thu, 02 Jul 2020 14:37:17 +0000 frederique.mazerolle@mcgill.ca 220746 at /newsroom /newsroom/channels/news/t-rex-was-champion-walker-super-efficient-lower-speeds-322130 <p>While smaller dinosaurs needed speed, huge predators like T. rex were optimized for energy-efficient walking, according to a <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0223698">study</a> published in PLOS ONE.</p> Wed, 13 May 2020 18:19:54 +0000 amelia.souffrant@mail.mcgill.ca 210711 at /newsroom /newsroom/channels/news/toronto-star-research-says-tyrannosaurus-rex-was-built-distance-not-speed-322146 <p>Tyrannosaurus rex, one of the most feared predators in the Age of Dinosaurs, may have been built for endurance, not speed. A paper published Wednesday takes recent research on how mammals move and applies it to dinosaurs. Its conclusions support theories that the massive meat-eaters hunted in packs and opens a window into the ecology of the ancient forests they roamed. “We’re trying to figure out how much energy is going into and flowing through paleo ecosystems,” said <strong>Hans Larsson</strong> of Montreal’s ƽ���岻��, one of the paper’s co-authors.</p> Thu, 14 May 2020 16:31:44 +0000 amelia.souffrant@mail.mcgill.ca 210820 at /newsroom /newsroom/channels/news/fossilized-wing-gives-clues-about-labradors-biodiversity-during-cretaceous-320712 <p>A fossilised insect wing discovered in an abandoned mine in Labrador has led palaeontologists from ƽ���岻�� and the University of Gdańsk to identify a new hairy cicada species that lived around 100 million years ago.</p> <p><i>Maculaferrum blaisi</i>,<i> </i>described in a study published in <i><a href="https://www.app.pan.pl/article/item/app006692019.html">Acta Palaeontologica Polonica</a></i>, is the first hemipteran insect (true bug) to be discovered at the Redmond Formation, a fossil site from the Cretaceous period near Schefferville, Labrador.</p> Fri, 21 Feb 2020 15:11:44 +0000 laurie.devine@mcgill.ca 199213 at /newsroom /newsroom/channels/news/artificial-turf-crumb-rubber-leaches-environmental-toxins-302754 <p>New research spearheaded by scientists at ƽ���岻�� reports that exposing chicken embryos, a model of higher vertebrate development, to leachate from crumb rubber used for example in artificial turf infill allowed to assess the toxicity of environmental pollutants contained in such material.</p> Thu, 21 Nov 2019 17:55:55 +0000 justin.dupuis@mcgill.ca 188799 at /newsroom /newsroom/channels/news/ancient-snakes-cheekbone-sheds-light-evolution-modern-snake-skulls-302723 <p>New research from a collaboration between Argentinian and University of Alberta and ƽ���岻�� palaeontologists adds a new piece to the puzzle of snake evolution.</p> <p>The researchers examined a strikingly well-preserved fossil of the rear-limbed snake Najash rionegrina, found in Argentina. The study shows that nearly 100 million years ago, these legged snakes still had a cheekbone—also known as a jugal bone—that has all but disappeared in their modern descendants.</p> Wed, 20 Nov 2019 18:09:28 +0000 shirley.cardenas@mcgill.ca 188699 at /newsroom /newsroom/hans-larsson Thu, 19 Dec 2019 19:35:06 +0000 Anonymous 23362 at /newsroom /newsroom/spotlight <p><img height="240" width="160" style="float: right;" class="media-element file-default rt" src="/newsroom/files/newsroom/styles/wysiwyg_medium/public/channels/image/img_1154_copy.jpg?itok=i2YzRwbK" alt="" /></p> Tue, 13 May 2014 20:22:19 +0000 laurie.devine@mcgill.ca 20741 at /newsroom