Latest news with #TyrannosaurusRex
New York Post
8 hours ago
- Science
- New York Post
Florida utility crew accidentally unearths massive claw belonging to 11,000-year-old giant ground sloth named by Thomas Jefferson
A utility crew digging a trench in Florida came across a fossilized part of an 11,000-year-old giant ground sloth that was originally named by Thomas Jefferson. The team in Florida's Manatee County was excavating to install a waterline when they encountered what they believed was just an ordinary tool buried in the Earth. 4 A utility crew in Florida found part of a giant ground sloth fossil. Manatee County Government 'They were digging away and found what they thought was an ordinary tool,' Charlie Hunsicker, the director of Manatee County's Natural Resources Department, told Fox 13. The tool turned out to be a fossilized claw from a giant ground sloth, an 800-pound behemoth that lived during the tail end of the Great Ice Age. 4 The claw belonged to a medium-sized Megalonyx jeffersonii. Manatee County Government 'This was a wonderful story of happenstance,' Hunsicker said. The giant ground sloth was given its scientific name, Megalonyx jeffersonii, by Jefferson, the US's third president, in 1797 after some fossils belonging to the extinct beast were found in a cave in West Virginia, according to the Sloth Sanctuary. The ones dubbed by Jefferson are medium-sized compared to other ground sloths, primarily being smaller than the much larger Megatherium, Hunsicker explained. 'When South America and North America joined, those animals migrated up through Texas, Mexico and into the Southeast. All of this was really a tropical jungle and forest at the time,' he told Fox 13. 4 The Megalonyx jeffersonii was named by Thomas Jefferson. auntspray – The largest ground sloths could weigh up to a staggering 8,000 pounds and stand 13 feet tall. The mammal had a blunt snout and a large jaw riddled with peg-like teeth. It was able to stand on its hind legs on occasion to eat high-up plants but could also shred any enemy with its three sharp claws, according to Sloth Sanctuary. The Florida fossil was brought to a nearby science and nature museum to be properly preserved and eventually placed on display. 4 The largest of the ground sloths could weigh up to 8,000 pounds. auntspray – Very few ground sloth fossils have been discovered on the East Coast. The majority are primarily found in states along the Rocky Mountains, bits of the West Coast and even Alaska, according to Sloth Sanctuary. Recently, fossils have turned up in the least expected places. In March, an 'absolutely massive' footprint likely belonging to an Iguanodon was discovered on a coastal town's beach in England. Last June, three tweens found a Tyrannosaurus Rex fossil on a hike in North Dakota and even had their journeys later recounted in a documentary.
Daily Record
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
Give your kids an immersive dino experience as Jurassic Earth comes to Scotland
The show stars a giant T-Rex, triceratops, brontosaurus, and other lifelike dinosaurs like spinosaurs, velociraptors, and baby dinos As Glasgow continues to embrace dinosaur fever this summer, a prehistoric spectacle is gearing up to storm into Braehead Arena for the September weekend, promising a jaw-dropping experience for families. The hit show Jurassic Earth is set to take over the arena on Friday, September 27, bringing lifelike animatronic dinosaurs to the stage for a thrilling 75-minute interactive adventure, Glasgow Live reports. Two performances will take place on the day, at 12 noon and 3pm, with tickets now available through the Braehead Arena website. Featuring an extraordinary cast of creatures, the show includes a 22-foot-long, 14-foot-tall walking Tyrannosaurus Rex, reportedly the largest in the world, alongside an 18-foot triceratops, a towering 26-foot brontosaurus, and a range of other species. Dinosaur fans can also expect to meet characters like Spencer and Stevo the spinosaurs, Rocky and Richie the velociraptors, Dash the carnotaurus, Tank the triceratops and a host of baby dinosaurs. The show promises up-close encounters, audience participation, songs, dances and even dinosaur ranger training for the younger crowd. Russ Smith, CEO of Braehead Arena, said the upcoming event is a perfect fit for the venue's future vision. 'We have big plans here at Braehead Arena so what better way to kick them off than with the biggest show of all – literally,' he said. 'These dinosaurs are incredible, I saw the show with my kids and they loved it so it was something I definitely wanted to bring to the arena. 'Apparently space is sometimes an issue for the larger dinos so this is the perfect venue – we certainly don't have any concerns on that front so let's go BIG. 'We want to be everything to everyone here at Braehead Arena, so this amazing modern marvel of a show is perfect for us… you'll have a roaring good time.' At the centre of the action is Ranger Danger, the audience's guide through the experience. Children will take part in a special training session to prepare them in case of an unexpected dinosaur escape, all part of the immersive fun. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. The show has toured successfully across the UK, selling out venues with its high-energy performances that aim to educate and entertain. It's been billed as the 'original dinosaur show' and is recommended for families with children of all ages, and even parents looking to get in on the action. Organisers say the event offers a great way to 'keep the kids occupied and burn off a LOT of energy to make the September bank holiday fun for parents too'. Jurassic Earth adds to the wave of dinosaur-themed events sweeping Glasgow this summer, following on from the popular Lost Kingdom trail and exhibitions throughout the city.
Euronews
6 days ago
- Science
- Euronews
Largest Martian meteorite fetches more than €4.3 million at auction
'Geek Week' could have a myriad of meanings for a New York gathering of rare objects on sale this week but what's certain is that those attending Sotheby's would need to have deep pockets. A massive meteorite from Mars was trailed as the prized object and fetched more than $5 million (just over €4.3m) on Wednesday at the auction of very special geological and archaeological items Billed as the largest piece of Mars ever found on Earth, the 25 kilogramme rock named NWA 16788 was discovered in the Sahara Desert in Niger by a meteorite hunter in November 2023. It was blown off the surface of Mars by a massive asteroid strike and travelled 225 million kilometers to Earth, according to Sotheby's. The estimated sale price before the auction was $2 million to $4 million. The final bid was $4.3 million. Adding various fees and costs, the official sale price was about $5.3 million, making it the most valuable meteorite ever sold at auction. The identity of the buyer was not immediately disclosed. Elsewhere during the auction, a rare young dinosaur skeleton sparked a war among six bidders over six minutes, eventually fetching more than $30 million (€25.8m). With a pre-auction estimate of $4 million to $6 million, it is one of only four known Ceratosaurus nasicornis skeletons and the only juvenile skeleton of the species, which resembles the Tyrannosaurus Rex... But smaller. The buyer, whose identity was also not immediately disclosed, plans to loan dino skeleton to an institution, according to Sotheby's. It was the third-highest amount paid for a dinosaur at auction. A Stegosaurus skeleton called 'Apex' holds the record after it was sold for $44.6 million (€38.4m) last year at Sotheby's.
The Herald Scotland
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Jurassic Lanark: Adventure and thrills millions of years in the making
The centrepiece, the Monster Trail, winds through the town centre and Castlebank Park, where explorers come face-to-face with ferocious carnivores such as Tyrannosaurus Rex, Spinosaurus and Velociraptor, as well as the gentle giants Triceratops and Brachiosaurus. Younger adventurers can also tackle the Mini Trail, a bite-sized route past town shop windows hiding dinosaur clues. Participants completing the trails earn the coveted Jurassic Lanark Badge, marking them a certified dinosaur hunter. They can also enter a Prize Draw to win a Bumper Dino Bundle packed with goodies by returning their completed map when collecting their badges at the town's Tolbooth. 'This is the fifth Jurassic Lanark event and each has been timed perfectly for the school summer holidays,' says Discover Lanark Manager Antonia Pompa. 'We wanted to offer a fun trail where we can create scenes in some of the smaller spaces around our local streets. There is something quite magical about seeing dinosaurs so out of context – you certainly don't expect to see them in the town centre. 'The second part of our Monster Trail is in Castlebank Park where you might expect to find activities such as this. It's a lovely park with a picnic area, Fairy Dell and play area, and certainly adds a lot to the event.' Participants can pick up their free trail map at the Tolbooth Lanark (ML11 7EX), open daily from 10am to 5pm. Volunteers are on hand to offer helpful tips and route advice. Digital trail maps are also available for download, allowing adventurers to plan their expedition in advance. Each Saturday and Sunday, from 11am to 3pm, Castlebank Park is the place for youngsters to meet baby dinos Trixie and Tom and have their photo taken with Roary the mascot. Storytelling and games are all part of the free activity programme. 'There is something about dinosaurs that fascinates children,' says Antonia. 'They are so knowledgeable about them at a young age and I'm astounded by youngsters who can name all the dinosaurs. Let's be honest: they're not names that trip off the tongue. 'Children really get something out of finding out more. The timing of the Jurassic World Rebirth movie is just good luck but it's nice to have it out there. There are also the BBC programmes so people are really interested in dinosaurs and learning more about them.' Antonia notes the physical reality of Lanark's dinosaurs takes them beyond the screen for youngsters. 'Children are really excited by them. Sometimes they're really surprised by the animatronic ones – they don't expect to be growled at but it's also the sheer size of the models that bring them to life.' Last year no fewer than 6,500 trail maps were handed out and this year the event looks to be just as popular. 'It's a slightly weather dependent event because the majority of it is outdoors and it's more enjoyable to stop and look at things and read the information on the signs when the weather is good,' says Antonia. 'But there are plenty of dinosaur hunters who have arrived with their wet weather gear. There are often dinosaurs on the children's clothes and that's just brilliant to see. They really do enter into the spirit of it.' As Lanark is a Business Improvement District, it's hoped the event will also encourage visitors to discover more of what the town has to offer. 'This is a free event but we hope people will pop into our cafés and shops and make some purchases,' says Antonia. 'Some of the businesses, particularly the charity shops, save up all their dinosaur goodies and pop them out on display – it's really nice to see people going in and coming out with little mementos of their day.' So, whether you're a budding palaeontologist or just up for summer fun with a big difference, pack your explorer hat and grab a trail map before Lanark's dinosaurs find you first! Click here for more details
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
First They Brought Back Dire Wolves. Next Up Is the World's Tallest Bird
On Tuesday, Colossal Biosciences announced their plans to bring back the tallest bird that ever lived, which has been extinct for nearly 600 years. The giant moa — a husky, wingless bird that could stand almost 12 feet tall — once booked it across New Zealand's landscapes on legs that looked like a cross between an overgrown chicken and a Tyrannosaurus Rex. The moa has become closely linked with New Zealanders' cultural identity, and for the Māori, the nation's indigenous Polynseian people, it's a symbol of resourcefulness, as well as a reminder of the importance of caring for the environment. Colossal hopes to welcome the first new moas within five to 10 years, after they finish collecting enough ancient DNA samples to sequence the bird's genome. This isn't the first such announcement for the biosciences startup, which recently revealed they'd created three living dire wolves, a species not seen since roughly 10,000 BCE. The Dallas-based company has also been working to bring back the dodo, the Tasmanian tiger, and the woolly mammoth — their flagship project, which has so far produced some headline-making (and heart-capturing) woolly mice. More from Rolling Stone Oxygen May Have Caused a Mass Extinction. Then It Led to Human Life 'Completely Unqualified': Pa. Governor Torches RFK Jr. at Pharma Conference Naomi Klein: 'What They Want Is Absolutely Everything' Colossal's work has attracted a lot of attention from the public, and some controversy among conservationists and gene-editing scientists. In April, they debuted their dire wolf pups, which were created by editing parts of genomes sequenced from ancient DNA fragments into the genome of gray wolves, giving them dire wolf attributes. This prompted some in the scientific community to say they weren't actually dire wolves, just genetically-modified gray wolves with a stellar PR team. Colossal's chief science officer Beth Shapiro responded to taxonomical criticism by arguing that species are categories we use to group animals with similar attributes: 'If it looks like a dire wolf and it acts like a dire wolf, I'm gonna call it a dire wolf,' she told Rolling Stone at the time. The company's 'de-extinction' announcements, as the company calls their efforts to create animals with the attributes of species that have died off, have also attracted some major celebrity investors. While the dire wolves were promoted by investor George R.R. Martin, this latest project started with a pitch from Lord of Rings director and unofficial New Zealand tourism czar Peter Jackson, whose films introduced the world to the stunning mountain ranges and grassy plains of his homeland. He had long dreamed of bringing back the moa, right alongside wishing for personal submarines and jetpacks. 'Growing up in New Zealand, where the moa is such a predominant part of our national identity and culture, it was just like, wouldn't it be fantastic if the moa could be brought back?' he tells Rolling Stone. 'For decades, it seemed like a harebrained thought, just a pie in the sky. But then, when I spoke with Colossal for the first time a couple of years ago, I got the distinct impression that such a thing was no longer harebrained.' Jackson suggested adding the moa to their roster for de-extinction. He also encouraged a partnership between Colossal and the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre at the University of Canterbury, a leading institute of Māori indigenous scholarship in the region. According to Ngāi Tahu Research Centre director Mike Stevens, hunting the moa for food — and using its bones and feathers for tools and decoration — played a crucial role in helping the Māori people adapt to living in New Zealand after they migrated from Polynesia in the 1300s. '[The moa was] the key resource that allowed this relatively small founding population to survive and grow and flourish,' Stevens says. The Ngāi Tahu are the principal Māori tribe of the southern region of New Zealand — home to the South Island giant moa, the largest of the nine moa species Colossal plans to restore over the next five to 10 years. According to Māori lore, the 500-pound herbivores were fast runners who, once cornered, would defend themselves by kicking with those dino-chicken legs. Over time, the Māori's rate of harvesting the moa caught up with the bird's population — in part because crops grew and replenished themselves less quickly in New Zealand's subtropical climate than in the tropical Polynesian islands. '[The Māori] figured out that these islands offered a 'fragile plenty,' to borrow a phrase from one of the esteemed archeologists within our tribe,' Stevens says, referring to the nation's abundant but vulnerable ecosystem. After millions of years of shaping the nation's grasslands and forests through their feeding habits and seed dispersal, the moa went extinct roughly 150 years after the Māori arrived. In researching the moa through their partnership with Colossal, Stevens sees an opportunity for the Māori people to make new discoveries about themselves. 'We'll learn more about our earlier ancestors and their distinct interactions with this landscape,' he says. 'The way nature and culture continually shape one another.' For the next six months, Colossal scientists and archeologists from the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre will focus on collecting ancient DNA samples. They have recently been searching for moa fossils in New Zealand caves, and they've already managed to extract around two dozen samples from Jackson's personal collection of more than 300 moa fossils. They'll combine these with some samples from the Canterbury Museum in their quest to have enough DNA to begin building moa genomes for all nine species — the first of which they aim to complete in the summer of 2026. In the meantime, they've already built a reference genome of the tinamou, a South American bird thought to be the moa's closest living relative. Colossal CEO Ben Lamm says the partnership with the research center signals a new step in the company's work with indigenous groups. 'The stewards and the people of this land, the Māori, inviting us in, and working with them in a true collaborative fashion, where the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre is the driver of the project is not a way we've ever collaborated before,' he says. 'This is a long term partnership. We have gone so deep now in not just the ecological or environmental benefit of this species, but in the cultural history, it's been awesome.' 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