Skye's Storr Lochs Monster fossil unveiled in Edinburgh

By Steven McKenzieBBC Scotland Highlands and Islands reporter

The fossilised skeleton of a 170 million-year-old Jurassic predator discovered on the Isle of Skye has been unveiled in Edinburgh.

Named the Storr Lochs Monster, the fossil of the sea-living reptile was found in 1966.

Fifty years on from the find, scientists from the University of Edinburgh and National Museums Scotland are preparing a detailed study of it.

It has been identified as being from a family of animals called ichthyosaurs.

The ancient reptiles grew to about 4m (13ft) in length and had long, pointed heads filled with hundreds of cone-shaped teeth, which they used to feed on fish and squid.

The Storr Lochs Monster is the most complete skeleton of a sea-living reptile from the "Age of Dinosaurs" that has ever been found in Scotland, the researchers said.

Skye is one of the few places in the world where fossils from the Middle Jurassic Period can be found.

Continued 

Photos: Incredible Near-Complete Stegosaurus Skeleton

by Laura Geggel, Staff Writer | November 19, 2014 07:10am ET

For the first time in nearly 100 years, the near-complete skeleton of a dinosaur will go on display at the Natural History Museum in London. The dinosaur, a stegosaurus, is only missing its left arm and the base of its tail, and will likely spur a handful of studies about the anatomy of theStegosaurus stenops species. [Read full story on the stegosaurus skeleton] 

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Mammoth skeleton unearthed in Mexico City - video

An ancient mammoth skeleton, estimated to be more than 10,000 years old, is displayed after being discovered in Mexico City. The bones found in the borough of Milpa Alta are thought to be one of the most complete sets found in Mexico. Excavators think the mammal weighed 10 tonnes and stood at three metres high

Video:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2013/apr/10/mammoth-skeleton-mexico-city-video

UPDATE: First Antarctic whale skeleton is home to 9 new species

Antarctica's first whale skeleton found with nine new deep-sea species

March 2013. Marine biologists have, for the first time, found a whale skeleton on the ocean floor near Antarctica, giving new insights into life in the sea depths. The discovery was made almost a mile below the surface in an undersea crater and includes the find of at least nine new species of deep-sea organisms thriving on the bones.

Whale carcasses provide nutrients on sea-bed

"The planet's largest animals are also a part of the ecology of the very deep ocean, providing a rich habitat of food and shelter for deep sea animals for many years after their death," says Diva Amon, lead author of the paper based at University of Southampton Ocean and Earth Science, which is based at NOC, and the Natural History Museum. "Examining the remains of this southern Minke whale gives insight into how nutrients are recycled in the ocean, which may be a globally important process in our oceans." 

Whale fall

Worldwide, only six natural whale skeletons have ever been found on the seafloor. Scientists have previously studied whale carcasses, known as a ‘whale fall', by sinking bones and whole carcasses. Despite large populations of whales in the Antarctic, whale falls have not been studied in this region until now. 

Chance finding

"At the moment, the only way to find a whale fall is to navigate right over one with an underwater vehicle," says co-author Dr Jon Copley of University of Southampton Ocean and Earth Science. Exploring an undersea crater near the South Sandwich Islands gave scientists just that chance encounter. "We were just finishing a dive with the UK's remotely operated vehicle, Isis, when we glimpsed a row of pale-coloured blocks in the distance, which turned out to be whale vertebrae on the seabed," continues Dr Copley. 

Continued:  http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/whale-carcass.html

Rare skeleton of 'vampire' discovered in Britain with spikes through shoulders, heart and ankles

Long dismissed as myth and legend, the vampire is associated with spooky stories or - for many teenagers - a Twilight heartthrob.

But for those who lived in the Middle Ages, it was a deadly serious business - and they took extreme measures against anyone suspected of being able to haunt them in the afterlife.
Now, details of one of the few 'vampire' burials in Britain have emerged.

A new archaeology report tells of the discovery of a skeleton, dating from 550-700AD, buried in the ancient minster town of Southwell, Nottinghamshire, with metal spikes through its shoulders, heart and ankles.
It is believed to be a 'deviant burial', where people considered the 'dangerous dead', such as vampires, were interred to prevent them rising from their graves to plague the living.

Only a handful of such burials have been unearthed in the UK.

The discovery is detailed in a new report by Matthew Beresford, of Southwell Archaeology.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2227701/Rare-skeleton-vampire-discovered-Britain-spikes-shoulders-heart-ankles.html#ixzz2BdaIDwve

Early Human Ancestor, Australopithecus Sediba, Fossils Discovered in Rock

ScienceDaily (July 12, 2012) — Scientists from the Wits Institute for Human Evolution based at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg have just announced the discovery of a large rock containing significant parts of a skeleton of an early human ancestor. The skeleton is believed to be the remains of 'Karabo', the type skeleton of Australopithecus sediba, discovered at the Malapa Site in the Cradle of Humankind in 2009.

Professor Lee Berger, a Reader in Palaeoanthropology and the Public Understanding of Science at the Wits Institute for Human Evolution, will make the announcement at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum in Shanghai, China on 13 July 2012.

"We have discovered parts of a jaw and critical aspects of the body including what appear to be a complete femur (thigh bone), ribs, vertebrae and other important limb elements, some never before seen in such completeness in the human fossil record," says Berger. "This discovery will almost certainly make Karabo the most complete early human ancestor skeleton ever discovered. We are obviously quite excited as it appears that we now have some of the most critical and complete remains of the skeleton, albeit encased in solid rock. It's a big day for us as a team and for our field as a whole."

Continued:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120712162744.htm

Rare Tyrannosaurus skeleton to be auctioned

A nearly complete skeleton of a towering Tyrannosaurus bataar is set to go on auction on May 20. The skeleton measures some 8 feet tall and 24 feet long.

This is the first full Tyrannosaurus specimen to go on auction since "Sue," a Tyrannosaurus rex, sold for $8.3 million in 1997, said David Herskowitz, director of Natural History at Heritage Auctions, the auction house conducting the sale.  

The Tyrannosaurus bataar was uncovered in the Gobi Desert roughly eight years ago and has an estimated value of $950,000. Also called Tarbosaurus bataar, this species is an Asian relative to the North American T. rex.

While the specimen's skull is 80 percent complete, the body is about 75 percent complete, Herskowitz said, adding that it is "an impeccably preserved specimen of the sort that is almost never seen on the open market."

The auction is scheduled to include other fossils and minerals, including a T. bataar tooth, an akylosaur skull from the dinosaur Saichania chulsanensis, and a skeleton from a troodontid — a group of dinosaurs whose anatomy suggests they were closely related to birds.

The auction takes place at Center 548 (548 W. 22nd Street in New York City), and the specimens will be on public display before the auction, from May 17–19.

Read on:  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47421185/ns/technology_and_science-science/#.T7IyM-hDtPc

Ancient Horse Bones Tell Story of Tibetan Plateau

A newly discovered skeleton from an ancient three-toed horse not only provides information about ancient Tibetan wildlife, but it also sheds light on the habitat and elevation of Tibet nearly 5 million years ago.

This area of the world, called the Tibetan plateau, is the youngest and highest plateau on Earth, its average elevation exceeding 14,800 feet (4,500 meters), but researchers don't know exactly when this happened. Some researchers think that 5 million years ago, the plateau was once much higher than it is today, but others think it was much lower.

More data is needed to get a good grip on when the plateau rose up, and these researchers used the fossilized horse to shed some light on the debate.

"We have an extinct horse that apparently is adapted to grasslands, these open nonwooded areas," study researcher Xiaoming Wang, of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, told LiveScience. "Therefore, in turn, it might have some implications about the environment that it came from."

Continued:  http://www.livescience.com/19856-tibetan-ancient-horse.html