Hairy Museum of Natural History

Back in sunny New Mexico after a long weekend in overcast Pennsylvania, which was considerably brightened by the nuptials of my sister, Carrie, and her new husband, Chris. Best of luck to them both in their future together!

While I was out, several news items of a paleo persuasion have hit the presses. Here’s a quick wrap-up of the stories that grabbed my attention upon returning:

Couple of new pterosaurs from China: Feilongius youngi and Nurhachius ignaciobritoi.
Abstract and photos from the Nature article describing them and discussing the role of pterosaurs in Cretaceous ecosystems.
Article and restorations at National Geographic
Additional restorations from Dinosaur.net.cn (Chinese)

In additional pterosaur news, a team of researchers has proposed a new interpretation of the front of pterosaurs’ wings. If they are correct, a forewing controlled by a moveable pteroid bone would provide additional lift, allowing these flying reptiles to take off more easily and land at slower speeds than previously believed. A 4.5 Mb .avi movie showing the new, improved pterosaur wing is available here.

Two plesiosaur fossils from Australia have been found with pieces of clam and snail shells preserved in their stomachs. Plesiosaurs are widely thought to have used their long necks and sharp teeth to catch fast-swimming fish, but this find suggests that at least some were bottom-feeders.

A new study of the ‘killer claw’ of Velociraptor and its relatives finds that it may have been more useful for hanging onto prey than slicing them open. Looks like someone had fun building the robotic model.

And in other ‘raptor’ news, a new dromaeosaur has been described from South America. Buitreraptor gonzalezorum sheds light on a unique radiation of southern ‘raptors’ called unenlagiines, that has interesting implications for the evolution of both dromaeosaurs and birds.

Speaking of which, a collection of ornithological observations has been brought to my attention: a new edition of “I and the Bird” is up at Science and Sarcasm.

—Matt Celeskey.

File under: Miscellany, Recent Discoveries.