New Dinosaur 'Siats Meekerorum' Discovered In Utah

minty3 writes with word of the discovery of a new carnivorous dinosaur from a time when T-Rex's ancestors were the size of small dogs "Named Siats meekerorum, after the man-eating monster from the Ute tribal legend, the fossil belongs to a species of giant meat eaters known as carcharodontosaurs and is the second one discovered in North America. 'This thing is gigantic,' Lindsay Zanno, a paleontologist at North Carolina State University, who discovered the species, said. 'There's simply nothing even close in this ecosystem to the size of this animal that could've been interpreted as an apex predator.'"

Comments

CUTE!

[ColdWetDog]

I dunno.

I'm finding it hard to get scared by fuzzy dinosaurs. I mean, look at that picture. So soft and cuddly. You want to pet it.

I don't think even Randall would be impressed.

Re:CUTE!

[laejoh]

The bloody thing did all its programming in COBOL, isn't that sufficient enough to hate IT???

how about a page without login?

[ganjadude]

this is first day stuff people, dont make me sign up to a page just to view an article, and dont use that article for the summary. Find a link that "just works"

here you guys go http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/5036/20131122/siats-meekerorum-new-carnivorous-dinosaur-species-kept-t-rex-check.htm

Re:how about a page without login?

[thegarbz]

Huh what logon? Wait you don't browse the the web without noscript do you?

Though I agree, this is actually a dick move. I fired the page up in another browser and it won't let you bypass it at all. Very VERY average from a media company like National Geographic which I actually respect somewhat.

Re:how about a page without login?

[93 Escort Wagon]

So that little "X" up in the upper right corner of the pop up window didn't do it for you?

I read the story without having to register. They made it simple to close the "we'd like you to register" pop up - I've got no complaints about the site.

Ironic, Utah doesn't believe in dinosaurs!

[Anonymous Coward]

Always like when evolution enforcing finds are found in Utah.

Leaps of Imagination

[Toad-san]

It always amazes me, the staggering conclusions not just the media but the scientists themselves draw from such sketchy evidence.

Three-clawed, they say (as opposed to T-Rex's two) .. but with NO, repeat, NO hand bones. Not a trace of the head: do we even KNOW it's a carnivore?

Yeah, I know .. if you want to get published, you have to use a little imagination. Still ...

I submit that Siats probably would enjoy a nice tea and biscuit snack if he were still around.

Re:Leaps of Imagination

[Anonymous Coward]

but with NO, repeat, NO hand bones

They have bones from the hands and feet. There is a diagram in the Nature article, which doesn't require the subscription to see.

Not a trace of the head: do we even KNOW it's a carnivore?

The rest of the skeleton is incredibly similar to other carnivores. It is possible some side branch evolved back to not being a carnivore, but it is probably a pretty safe guess that this one didn't deviate that much. A drastic change in diet would be a bigger deal than a change in the number of digits.

Re:Leaps of Imagination

[93 Escort Wagon]

You must've missed the mention of a steak knife and bottle of A-1 that was also found with the skeleton.

Re:Leaps of Imagination

[femtobyte]

After I finish a meal, there is sometimes a steak knife and a bottle of A-1 left with a skeleton. This is not generally a reliable indicator that said skeleton originally supported a carnivore.

Re:Leaps of Imagination

[Daniel Dvorkin]

Okay, tell you what: bury half a human skeleton in your yard, call the cops, and tell them you've found some interesting bones but you're not sure what they are. Be sure to let us know what happens next.