“I found something else over here,” she called, dusting the ancient ground away to uncover the evidence accompanying the bones.
Her fellows came over, looking over her shoulders to see what she found. There, beside the fallen Giraffatitan, was as set of small footprints, fossilised into the orange desert. But rather than naked animal prints, the dust soon cleared to reveal the lines and patterns of some workmate’s sneaker undersole.
“Damn time travellers!” she swore.
I’ve been interested in palaeontology ever since I saw Walking with Dinosaurs when I was younger. I used to have common daydreams of me as a palaeontologist sometimes. I would specialise in dinosaurs/animals from the south, or else strictly Australia.
Australia is basically the wild west of palaeontology. While countless dinosaurs have been discovered in North America, a minimal amount in comparison have been found in Australia. When I was younger, seeing the large variety of dinosaurs known, especially in America as well as China and others, I started wondering about Australia, expecting the same.
Not mention that sea level isn’t something they generally show on the ancient maps, and is something else I’ve wondered about ever since I learned that America was underwater in a large portion from Texas up to Canada at one point. That’s another thing about Australia I really want to know about. And I don’t just mean at one point; I want to know it all.
I never even considered New Zealand.
By Offeiriad, Staff News Writer
Fossilised remains of one of the largest penguinsever, an “elegant” giant standing 1.3 metres (52 inches) tall, have been found in New Zealand, scientists said Tuesday.
The penguin lived 27-24 million years ago, when New Zealand was mostly underwater and consisted of isolated, rocky outcrops that offered protection from predators and plentiful food supplies, researchers said.
The first traces of the penguin, dubbed Kairuku — Maori for diver who returns with food — were found embedded in a cliff at Waimate in the South Island by University of Otago paleontologist professor Ewen Fordyce in 1977.
Over the years, Fordyce discovered more complete remains and invited University of North Carolina specialist Dan Ksepka to help reconstruct the lost giant in 2009.
They determined the bird was much larger than the biggest modern penguin, the Emperor, which grows up to 1.0-metres, and weighed in at 60…
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littlewonder2 