T. rex's Cousin

For paleontology right now, Asia is the place to be. A few days ago, I wrote about Raptorex, the miniature tyrannosaur. Now, not far away, in Mongolia, another tyrannosaur has been added to the family tree: Alioramus altai. Specimens of this creature that had been found previously were very poorly preserved, and it was difficult to tell if Alioramus was even a tyrannosaurid at all. The newest specimen is extremely well-preserved, shedding light on the nature of this dinosaur. It also throws another wrench into what we know about the tyrannosaurs.

Tyrannosaurus rex, and its close cousin Tabrosaurus, are known for enormous bulk. They look the part of the ferocious carnivore. Most striking are the gargantuan heads, with banana-sized, serrated teeth and a powerful bite. Alioramus has a very different body type. In fact, Stephen Bursette, a graduate student associated with the project, described it as being "like a ballerina," in comparison to other tyrannosaurs. It is half the size of Tabrosaurus, probably weighing only 810 pounds. Its skull is what truly sets it apart, however. Alioramus has a slender, gracile skull, with a long snout and eight horns. Horns have never been found on tyrannosaurs before, so this is a bizarre feature. Yet, looking at the brain case, Alioramus has all the hallmarks of a tyrannosaur: large air sacks, a great sense of smell, and a small inner ear.

One final feature that makes this discovery so interesting is that Alioramus was found in a quarry with a Tabrosaurus. Obviously, they must have shared some of their range. Perhaps Alioramus and Tabrosaurus had a similar relationship to that of lions and cheetahs today. Both are large cats, but they hunt in different ways and don't often interfere with each other.

The discovery of Alioramus completely changes what we know about tyrannosaurs. Between it and Raptorex, scientists are rethinking this branch of dinosaur entirely. T. rex and its relatives are interesting; there has been a lot of research done on them. Many paleontologists believed we even understood tyrannosaurs. These new discoveries go to show that nothing in science is absolutely determined; just when we think we know it all, something new pops up that makes us take another look.

Credit: Science Daily-Bizarre New Horned Tyrannosaur From Asia: Carnivorous But Smaller T. Rex Relative  'Like Ballerina'

Water Found on the Surface of the Moon; Is There More Underground?

Life has been more than a little crazy, so I haven't had much time to write recently. This coming Friday is going to be a historic day in our exploration of the moon.

Last week, scientists found water on the moon.  You read that right, water on the moon!  This is incredible.  The amount of water is really small, but they could only see what was on the surface.  Jim Green, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA said "[this discovery] is truly astounding, and generating much excitement. But please keep in mind that even the driest deserts on the Earth have more water than is at the poles and the surfaces of the moon."  So now the question becomes 'What is under the lunar regolith?"

This coming Friday, at way too early in the morning, NASA will crash LCROSS into the Moon.  NASA is going to have live coverage on NASA TV as it crashes into the moon.  This is really exciting because scientists will be able to study the plume of material from the impact.  This will give us a glimpse of what is under that regolith.  LCROSS will impact near the south pole in a crater called Cabeus.  With a large telescope you should be able to see the plume.  This is a once in a lifetime event.  The impact itself will be taking place around 5:30 Mountain Time.  The results will be exciting. Who knows what we will find?

Image credit: ISRO/NASA/JPL-Caltech/USGS/Brown Univ.

Introducing Ardi

Human evolution is one of the most interesting, and controversial, topics in paleontology and paleoanthropology. We've found specimens of many early homonids, primarily in Africa. One of the oldest of these was 'Lucy', a partial skeleton of Australopithecus afarensis. There were few, to no, remains of any hominids older than it.

That is, until the discovery of 'Ardi', an Ardipithecus ramidus, in modern Ethiopia. It is about 1 million years older than Australopithecus, and has an interesting mosaic of traits. Some are very "primitive:" an opposable big toe, for instance. Others are "derived," existing in later homonids. Curiously, it has many traits that are not in modern African apes. Thus, chimpanzees and gorillas have evolved significantly in the past 4.4 million years. This means they are also poor examples of what our common ancestor may have looked and acted like. Ardi brings us closer to that elusive creature, but is still not the branching points scientists are looking for. Nevertheless, Ardi is an exciting new addition to the hominid family tree. It brings some new insights, and, as with most new discoveries, a whole bunch of new questions. Only further discoveries will clear up the questions of human evolution.

Discovery Channel will be airing a special on Ardi and the importance of this discovery on October 11. Check their website for more information.

Credit: Science Daily- Before 'Lucy', There was 'Ardi': First Major Analysis of Early Hominid Published in Science.

Who Killed Sue?

The mystery of how Sue died has been 67 millions years in the making. Sue is a Tyrannosaurus rex, and currently lives at the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois, although it was initially discovered in South Dakota. It is the largest, most complete, and best preserved specimen ever discovered. Paleontologists have intricate detail on the fossil bones, including muscle scars and bone density. More interesting, however, are a series of small holes on the side of Sue's skull. Investigating these holes has helped paleontologists to learn about how this massive creature died.

One early guess about these holes is that another T. rex bit Sue here. It seems like a reasonable guess; the size and position of Tyrannosaur teeth about match up with the series of holes. Several scientists, including Ewan D.S. Wolff of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Steven W. Salisbury of the University of Queensland, Australia, felt there was something "off" about that explanation. If these holes, and similar lesions on other Tyrannosaur jaws, were bite marks, they should be more ragged, and the jaw would appear more crushed. Also, bite marks were rarely consistent between specimens; however, the holes in the T. rex jaws were very consistent. They turned to a more mundane explanation.

In modern raptors, there is a parasite that causes something called trichomonosis. It attacks the jaw of these raptors, leaving a pattern of lesions that is very similar to that on the Tyrannosaur jaws. The scientists now suspect that the trichomonosis parasite, or something similar, was passed within Tyrannosaurs (there is no evidence of the disease in other dinosaurs). These creatures were known to attack, and even cannabalize each other, so the parasite could spread easily.

In Sue, the infection was very severe to drill holes in the jaw. It would have also created a film across the back of the dinosaur's throat. This would have made it very difficult for Sue to eat. This parasite could have easily lead to Sue's death, by starvation.

Credit: Science Daily: Was the Mighty T. Rex 'Sue' Felled By A Lowly Parasite?

See the Field Museum site for more information about Sue.

A Sweet Energy Source

A few months ago, I wrote about the potential of "pee power." A little weird, but, hey. It's not like we need it for anything else.

Another odd energy source caught my eye recently. "Sugar + Weed Killer = Potential Clean Energy Source." I was intrigued. I knew sugar was an energy source for living creatures. We break down sugars all the time, and gain energy from them. That's part of why little kids start bouncing off the wall when you give them a chocolate bar. They metabolize the sugar really quickly, giving them a huge energy spike.

Scientists at Brigham Young University saw the potential of sugars as an energy source outside of living things. The question was how to take the electrons in the glucose (sugar) and transfer them to the electrode. Another household item ended up being the answer. A common herbicide acts as a catalyst for the reaction. Currently, the prototype fuel cell takes 7 of 24 available electrons from glucose. The team hope to refine the process, so that it becomes commercially attractive. It's already doing better than some hydrogen fuel cells, which use expensive platinum as a catalyst. Neither sugar or weed killer is expensive or hard to find. This is a promising, unique approach to creating a feasible carbohydrate-based fuel cell.

Credit: Science Daily- Sugar + Weed Killer = Potential Clean Energy Source