Number 11.
Asteroid that killed the dinosaurs 66 million years ago an asteroid six miles wide smashed into the earth in what is now mexico's yucatan peninsula the impact created a 93-mile wide depression known today as The chiksulube crater this caused an entire sequence of events that would lead to the end of the dinosaurs but the scary thing is that it looks like this could happen again all the creatures in the immediate vicinity were instantly wiped out while dinosaurs in other parts of the world succumbed to the collision's secondary effects following the blast there was a big heat wave and massive tidal waves swept onto the americas devastating fires erupted and soot blanketed the planet blocking out the sun and making all the plants die the ensuing food shortage killed plant-eating dinosaurs in mass and the carnivores that relied on them as food died next a new study claims to finally reveal the origins of the massive rock that eliminated the dinosaurs in one fell swoop ending their 180 million year presence in the world scientists examined core samples taken from the chiksulub crater and identified chemicals that are only found in three percent of all meteorites that fall to earth these primitive asteroids reflect very little light making them noticeably darker than others created very early on in our solar system's history they are found between mars and jupiter on the outer limits of our main asteroid belt computer models show that around every 250 million years a large asteroid was yanked out of the belt by thermal forces and the gravitational pull of nearby planets the scientific community praised this study as the best argument yet for where the dinosaur destroying asteroid came from and to keep an eye out just in case it happens again it looks like large debris like this can hit earth once every 250 million years about 10 times more often than scientists previously thought.
Number 10.
Giant flying dragon reptile once terrorized the skies over what is now australia researchers have discovered a giant fossil of a rare specimen that lived over 105 million years ago a team of scientists at the university of queensland analyzed a jaw fossil that was found in northeastern queensland over a decade ago and identified the creature as australia's largest flying reptile the new species had an estimated 23-foot wingspan that's roughly the size of a school bus and its head alone measured three feet long it used its 40 razor sharp teeth for grabbing up fish and small dinosaurs from the prehistoric aeromanga sea a shallow inland water body that once covered parts of australia the guardian reports it has been given this scientific name sapoon gaka shawi a combination of the wanamara nation words for spear and mouth and the surname of the person who discovered the fossil and it wasn't built to eat broccoli this is only the third pterosaur species ever found on the continent evidence of these flying giants is rare throughout the entire world because they had extremely thin hollow and fragile bones that rarely became fossilized pterosaurs were cousins of the dinosaurs that went extinct at the same time and have no living relatives which is probably a good thing unless you really wish we had giant reptiles in the sky that could swoop down and grab you.
Number 9.
A new feathered species between 72 and 66 million years ago during the late cretaceous period a feathered theropod dinosaur roamed the landscape of southeastern brazil in what is now the state of minas gerais dubbed Ypupiara lopai the recently described species was a piscivore meaning it fed solely on fish as a member of the dromae soradae family it had relatives all over the world but it was the first member of its kind to be found in the region and only the second ever discovered in brazil scientists identified y lopai based on partial jaw bones and teeth the findings are proving helpful for learning more about the evolution of drumasaurids who lived on the gondwanan supercontinent commonly called raptors these dinosaurs share a common ancestor with modern birds they range from the size of a wolf to as much as 30 feet long based on their prominent slashing talons strong jaws sharp teeth and agile frames experts believe that the so-called raptor dinosaurs were fierce fast-moving predators.
Number 8.
Arctic dwelling dinosaurs toward the tail end of the dinosaur's existence around 70 million years ago the earth's climate was much warmer than it is now but places like alaska still saw snowy winters and below freezing temperatures and since dinosaurs are known to be cold-blooded creatures scientists long dismissed the possibility that they lived in these frigid environments year-round that all changed with the discoveries of fossilized evidence from seven dinosaur species as far north as 250 miles above the arctic circle it's the farthest north that dinosaur eggs have ever been found and their presence suggests that these creatures overwintered in the arctic this means that some dinosaurs must have been partially warm blooded in other words at the very least they were capable of using internal functions to warm their bodies and survive the extreme cold and months-long darkness that came with a polar winter news like this reminds us of how little even the experts know about dinosaurs still and that there may be equally surprising discoveries yet to come.
Number 7.
New duckbill dinosaur a large family of duck-billed dinosaurs known as hadrosaurs roamed the earth during the late cretaceous period between 86 and 66 million years ago these plant eaters were equipped with rows of teeth designed for grinding plants which replaced each other as the dinosaur's chompers wore down adults normally walked on four legs but were capable of walking or running on two legs when they needed to earlier this year scientists identified a new hadrosaur genus and species based on a fossil that was found on a small japanese island in 2004. nicknamed the yamatosaurus it's one of only two late cretaceous dinosaurs ever found in japan the other kumuysaurus was identified two years ago after being discovered on the island of hokkaido unlike other hadrosaurs the yamatosaurus had tough teeth that did not fall out or grow back easily this suggests that it may have had a different diet than its relatives on the mainland the creature's skeletal structure is also different from other hadrosaurs falling somewhere between that of a four-legged and two-legged walker from an evolutionary standpoint this indicates that hadrosaurs may have originated in asia the discovery is helping scientists piece together the migration patterns of these dinosaurs previously experts believe that hadrosaurs migrated from north america to asia via the bering land bridge but now it looks like it was the opposite.
Number 6.
Fossilized nesting dinosaur earlier this year scientists made the first ever discovery of a fossilized dinosaur on a nest of eggs containing fossilized embryos the specimens were found embedded in 70 million year old rock in gen zoo city china they were a type of feathered bird-like dinosaur known as an oviraptosaurus which lived during the cretaceous period when the mother dinosaur died she was sitting on a clutch of 24 eggs which contained at least three partially developed embryos some which had visible limbs four arms and partial tails the babies were nearly ready to hatch showing that the mom was very attentive to her nest this marked the first discovery of non-avian dinosaur eggs with embryos still inside the amount of time the expecting parents spent tending to the eggs shows that some dinosaurs were very nurturing toward their young in this particular instance the dedicated mother died while incubating her nest scientists also found gastroliths or stomach stones inside the adult's abdomen dinosaurs purposely ate these pebbles to help them digest their food it's the first time gastroliths have been detected inside of an oviraptoroid offering new insight into these feathered creatures diets.
Number 5.
Australia's largest dinosaur imagine looking out your window and seeing a two-story tall reptile as long as a basketball court this was the size of a gargantuan dinosaur that dominated the landscape of queensland australia from 96 million to 92 million years ago measuring 80 to 100 feet long and 16 to 21 feet tall at the hip astrello titan cuperensis was the largest dinosaur ever known to live in australia and one of the biggest in the world tipping the scale somewhere between 25 and 81 tons it would have dwarfed the t-rex which was less than half its length and one-third of its weight at the most australo titan was from a group of dinosaurs called sauropods these plant-eating giants had long necks and tails and walked on all fours scientists excavated the creature's bones back in 2007. but only recently identified australotitan as a new species speaking with abc australia earlier this year paleontologist scott hucknell explained that the process of removing preparing and studying the fossils was painstaking in order to determine if the bones were in fact from a new species the team had to compare the specimen against all other known dinosaur species in the world australo titan was from a lineage of massive dinosaurs called titanosaurs which have been found on nearly all continents most of the largest examples come from south america's patagonia region the presence of super large titanosaurs in australia and south america suggests that they lived on an interconnected land mass that also included antarctica according to paleontologist diego pol who told national public radio that this means there could be undiscovered titanosaur fossils in antarctica.
Number 4.
Argentine apex predator roughly 85 million years ago during the so-called twilight period of the dinosaurs leading up to their extinction several carnivorous giants called abelosaurids wreaked havoc on the argentine patagonia region this terrifying group of predators includes a new genus and species described earlier this year lucalcan aleocrenianus it measured 16.4 feet long and was armed with huge claws and a 20-inch skull filled with serrated teeth while the species was far from record-breaking in size it was formidable in its own right at a time when modern-day south america was part of the gondwana supercontinent this gargantuan beast lived in alarmingly close proximity to via venator axoni another abella sword that was found just 2 300 feet away in 2018. they probably competed for food and occasionally fought and killed one another according to paleontologist dr federico giannakini who told reuters that it was unusual but not unbelievable to find the pair so near to each other a study revealed that a allio cranianos had better hearing and a superior sense of smell compared to other abuela swords giving it an advantage over dinosaurs with an equally strong bite and ability to shred prey these and other discoveries show that ebellasaurus were surprisingly diverse and abundant in patagonia and elsewhere throughout the world as the dinosaur's final days on earth approached.
Nnumber 3.
Long-necked pterosaur roughly 100 million years ago modern-day morocco was filled with massive dragon-like pterosaurs with necks as long as those of giraffes these winged beasts called as dark hit pterosaurs had large jaws and preyed on fish small mammals and baby dinosaurs with wingspans of up to 26 feet and necks measuring up to five feet long these creatures were some of the largest flying animals that ever lived due to their size and proportions scientists have long questioned how they managed to get airborne without snapping their necks a closer look at the fossilized vertebrae of an as dark hit pterosaur showed that its bones were filled with dozens of millimeter thick spikes the protrusions were crisscrossed like the spokes of a bicycle wheel forming a helix around the bone experts had never seen anything like it using mathematical methods the team determined that these unusual structures enabled the pterosaurs to carry nearly twice as much weight as they would have been able to without the spikes these colossal creatures would have been able to lift prey as heavy as 20 to 24 pounds the unique bone structure also protected the azdarkid pterosaurs from strong winds they encountered in flight and against male rivals during fights unfortunately the scientists did not test the bones of pterosaurs from outside the region where the as dark kid specimens lived leaving some critics of the study a little unimpressed are you impressed let me know in the comments below.
Number 2.
A plant-eating giant around 130 million years ago a large herbivorous dinosaur with multiple claws big nostrils and a huge tail lived in modern day spain's castellon province it was somewhere between 20 and 26 feet long and weighed as much as 3 600 kilograms the recently identified species belonged to a new genus and was closely related to dinosaurs found in what are now china and niger it was a duck-billed dinosaur or hadrosaur and its presence in eastern spain supports the scientific belief that the iberian peninsula once contained a diverse array of similar creatures from the same family a 2009 study theorized that hadrosaurs migrated to the area from asia and north america because these specimens found throughout europe appear more evolved than their seemingly primitive relatives elsewhere scientists believe that modern-day spain was home to the last surviving hadrosaurs in europe leading up to the extinction event that killed the dinosaurs.
Number 1.
New species in asia back in 1997 scientists unearthed a single fossilized dinosaur vertebra and navoi villa uzbekistan it belonged to a large plant-eating sauropod that lived around 92 million years ago during the cretaceous the creature was finally identified as a new species zara titanus kingi earlier this year it belongs to a large family of herbivorous dinosaurs called rebecca sarah day and is the first dinosaur of this type to be found in asia all the other recorded rebecca sarid fossils were found in south america africa and europe the discovery stretches the family's known range considerably far east of its previous boundaries this specimen also represents one of the youngest rebecca swords in the fossil record according to the study's co-authors dr alexander and dr hans dieter they believe that these dinosaurs migrated to asia from europe via a land bridge across the tour guide strait that no longer exists but they're not sure when this happened only a few other non-avian dinosaurs have been found in the bisetsky formation where the species was discovered including another sauropod group and an unidentified titanosaur.
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