Slashdot Mirror


New Dinosaurs Found in Antarctica

WorkEmail writes "Two new species of dinosaur, one a quick-moving meat-eater and the other a giant plant-eater, have been discovered in Antarctica, U.S. researchers said on Thursday. The 70 million-year-old fossils of the carnivore would have rested for millenniums at the bottom of an Antarctic sea, while remains of the 100-foot-long (30 meter) herbivore were found on the top of a mountain."

13 of 31 comments (clear)

  1. Don't you mean by sinergy · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Jesus Horses?"

    --
    ...
    1. Re:Don't you mean by sinergy · · Score: 3, Informative

      Sorry, but this isn't off-topic. This was a joke on this past week's Saturday Night Live about the banning of the word "evolution" in Georgia.

      --
      ...
  2. Still on antarctic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    "For whatever reason, they were still hanging out on the Antarctic continent," Case said in a statement.

    Maybe they just wanted to get away from the hustle-and-bustle of everyday Jurassic life?

  3. Original Article... by authenticgeek · · Score: 5, Informative

    I don't remember hearing about one of these since I was younger - I suppose my focus has shifted since then :) It still excites me nonetheless.

    Anyway, the original National Science Foundation article can be found here and contains a little more info and some better pictures.

  4. I was hoping for.... by webbroberts · · Score: 5, Funny

    I was hoping for Old Ones and Shoggoths.

  5. Spiffy! by Gothic_Walrus · · Score: 3, Funny
    Gentlemen, we have a breakthrough...

    The first known species of dinosaurs that could have survived the Ice Age!

    --
    Goo goo g'joob.
    1. Re:Spiffy! by Kethinov · · Score: 2, Informative

      Sorry, no. Star Trek Voyager showed us the Voth. A species which descended from dinosaurs and evolved into a space faring nomadic civilization. They left Earth before the ice age which makes THEM the first known species of dinosaurs to have survive the ice age...

      --
      You're right, I wouldn't steal a car. But if it were possible, I sure as hell would download one!
  6. I can see why the damn thing is extinct by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    It apparently had to run on its side snapping at the ankles of its prey.

  7. Scientists Confirm *saurs are Dead by GigsVT · · Score: 5, Funny

    It is official; Scientists confirm: *saurs are dead

    One more crippling bombshell hit the already beleaguered *saur community when scientists confirmed that *saur population has dropped yet again, now down to less than a fraction of 0 percent of all animals. Coming on the heels of a recent MIT survey which plainly states that *saurs have lost more population, this news serves to reinforce what we've known all along. *saurs are collapsing in complete disarray, as fittingly exemplified by falling dead last in the census of all animals.

    You don't need to be a Kreskin to predict *saurs's future. The hand writing is on the wall: *saurs face a bleak future. In fact there won't be any future at all for *saurs because *saurs are dead. Things are looking very bad for *saurs.

    Stegosaurus is the most dead of them all, having lost 100% of its core breeding population. The sudden and unpleasant departures of long time stegosaurus breeders Jordan Hubbard and Mike Smith only serve to underscore the point more clearly. There can no longer be any doubt: Stegosaurus is dead.

    Nothing short of a miracle could save them at this point in time. For all practical purposes, *saurs are dead.

    Fact: *saurs are dead

    --
    I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
  8. This makes me happy. by Gewis · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This makes me happy. I knew there were still paleontological digs and studies going on around the world, but I didn't know any were in Antarctica. (For those of you who don't know, it's COLD there.) It doesn't sound like these new discoveries have anything anatomical to make them significant otherwise, but the fact that paleotology found a useful place to do research in Antarctica bares out a good reminder that there's still a lot of stuff we don't know, even in fields unrelated to particle physics, nanoengineering, genetics, astrophysics, mathematics, or any other fields that see a lot of coverage in science.slashdot.org.

  9. Antarctica and Jurassic Park by feidaykin · · Score: 4, Interesting
    First, let me say that this discovery adds even more examples to the fact that Antarctica is a science sweet spot. From ancient fossils to some of the lowest natural temperatures on terra firma, Antarctica is a truly awesome place. It's really one of the last frontier's on the planet, second to perhaps the deepest oceans and the interior of the Earth.

    Next, I'd like to admit that I'm a huge fan of dinosaurs. Anyone else here credit an interest in dinosaurs to the original 1993 Jurassic Park movie? This was actually the first movie I ever saw in a theater, and it's hard to believe that come July that will be 11 years ago.

    When I saw the movie, I became obsessed with everything dinosaur. It shaped my entire future by also sparking a greater interest in science in general. So I'm basically the man I am today thanks to Jurassic Park. Which makes a good scapegoat for when people have a problem with me. ;)

    And for a good laugh be sure to check out the Jurassic Park game for the SNES. When you go inside buildings it turns into a weird FPS mode that looks like absolute ass. (That'd be a perfect spot for a goatse link, damn, I should be a troll...)

    --

    "To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit." -Stephen Hawking

    1. Re:Antarctica and Jurassic Park by WorkEmail · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I have read other places that there is deposits of water deep below the surface of Antarctica. Huge pockets of water surrounded by Ice that are as big as some of the great lakes they imagine. And whatever life, if any, is in them, has been there existing for possibly millions of years isolated from everything. They had huge debates about wether or not to eventually drill down and tap into these vast pockets of water for fear of what they may contain. Has anyone else read anything about that?

  10. Days late, but ah well... by cblguy · · Score: 2, Informative
    Too bad I missed this story the first time around.

    My son is 5, and I have strong fears that he's going to go in to the field of Paleontology. Rather than being a quasi-hip nerd like his old man (with a BSEE), he's looking to don the full Nerd jacket.

    I told him about these dinosaurs last week, he became very excited and wanted to know all about them. All he reads - all he wants as bedtime stories - all he plays with - are Dinosaurs. I've learned far more about the dinosaurs from helping him study than was ever available in "my day". Scientists have discovered TONS of "new" dinosaurs since the 1970s (when I was a kid). And my son can rattle them off like nobody's business. Want to know the difference between a hadrosaur and a sauropod? He can tell you, and then name off examples of each. Truly amazing at how much he's absorbed.

    If he continues this course, I'll probably end up taking him to Alberta, Canada, to the big dinosaur dig / museum up there. That looks pretty cool.

    PS - for a GREAT film, I higly recommend the BBK series Walking with Dinosaurs. You forget you're watching animation... It's that good.

    Hopefully somebody will read this, 3 days later... ;)