Hello and welcome to my first paleontology for a considerable period of time. Life has been hectic and I apologise for being so quiet. I have for this piece chosen to focus on two very interesting and important discoveries. The titan shark Megalodon the largest shark ever to grace our oceans may have been a fearsome sight but was still not immortal and scientists have recently discovered the cause of its eventual demise. Meanwhile a new species of tyrannosaur has been unearthed providing the answer to the missing gap in the tyrannosaur fossil record and proving further dinosaurs didn't have to be big to be bad in the process. As always thank you for reading it is much appreciated.
The demise of Megalodon.
The great white shark may arguably
be the most infamous shark to grace the planet however millions of years
previously, far larger sharks ruled the oceans. The biggest of all was Megalodon.
This goliath has been recorded to measure up to 18 meters in length and lived between
23 and 2.6 million years ago. During the early Miocene period, they were found
predominantly in the Northern Hemisphere, they would later move into the coasts
around Australia, South America and Asia. Despite their size, longevity as a
species, and widespread distribution, eventually they succumbed to extinction.
The cause for this has recently been discovered by a team lead by Catalina
Pimiento from the Paleontological Institute and Museum of the University of
Zurich.
To do this, 200 records of
Megalodon were examined from collections courtesy of museums and databases. The
scientists were then able to piece together the sharks geographical range and abundance.
As Catalina Pimiento explains, variation in global temperatures would not have
impacted enough to subsequently cause the extinction of this species. “We were not able to ascertain any direct link
between the extinction of C. megalodon and the global fluctuations in
temperatures during this time. Changing climatic conditions do not appear to
have had any influence on the population density and range of the giant sharks”.
The ultimate demise of Megalodon seems
to instead come as a result of the evolutionary paths of other species. As the
range of Megalodon became smaller, so too did available food resources. These
were fiercely competed for with emergence of the ancestors of Orca’s and the
Great White Shark. Ultimately this was to prove more than this enormous shark
could cope with and became consigned to the history books like many species before
and after it.
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| Picture credit http://www.prehistoric-wildlife.com/species/m/megalodon.html |
Catalina Pimiento, Bruce J. MacFadden, Christopher Clements, Sara Varela, Carlos Jaramillo, Jorge Velez-Juarbe and Brian Silliman.Geographical distributional patterns of Carcharocles megalodon over time reveal clues about extinction mechanisms.
University of Zurich. "Prey scarcity and competition led to extinction of ancient monster shark." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 31 March 2016.
The missing piece of the jigsaw.
A new species of tyrannosaur
named Timurlengia euotica has been discovered in Uzbekistan. This species lived
during the Cretaceous period estimated 90 million years ago. This discovery
provides the missing piece to a 20 million year gap in the tyrannosaur fossil
record. A nimble hunter, duck billed dinosaurs would have likely been a preferred
prey item. Blade like teeth which would have provided the perfect tools for cutting
through flesh.
Dr. Brusatte of the University of
Edinburgh alongside his colleagues noted that the skull was far smaller than
that of Tyrannosaurus Rex indicating a large difference in size. Despite this
however the skull also revealed that both the brain and key senses had already become
very well developed. Appearing 80
million years into the tyrannosaur
fossil record, this species further illustrates how long the tyrannosaurs took
to take the enormous size of species such as Tyrannosaurus Rex which would
appear a further 20 million years later.
Stephen L. Brusatte et al. New tyrannosaur from the mid-Cretaceous of Uzbekistan clarifies evolution of giant body sizes and advanced senses in tyrant dinosaurs.
Experts at work.
This is an interesting video,
where a team of twenty scientists are working on one of the world’s largest
excavation sites situated in Chile. The findings so far discovered include those
belonging to giant sauropods.
Attenborough and the giant dinosaur.
If you did not get a chance to see this incredible programme than I advise that you do it really is quite incredible. For now enjoy this clip with the great man and prepare to be amazed.
That is all on this occasion, I really hope you got enjoyment from reading this. Once again thank you for doing so and the all the best,
George.
