Brain Cramps

Birds may have more in common with dinosaurs than we once thought. Paleontologists have discovered a small North American dinosaur that incubated its eggs in a similar way to brooding birds. (Photo : Flickr/Benoit Dupont)

Birds may have more in common with dinosaurs than we once thought. Paleontologists have discovered a small North American dinosaur that incubated its eggs in a similar way to brooding birds. The finding could point to a strong, evolutionary link between the two.

How dinosaurs cared for and hatched their young has baffled paleontologists for years. It’s possible that they buried their eggs in nest materials like crocodiles, or placed them in open nests like brooding birds. Until now, though, researchers weren’t sure which theory was most likely.

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Using clutches found in Alberta and Montana, researchers closely examined the shells of the fossil eggs found within them. The eggs themselves were laid by a small, meat-eating dinosaur called Troodon. Existing around the Late Cretaceous period, this creature ranged widely; its fossils can be found all the way from Texas to Alaska. Possessing one of the largest known brains of any dinosaur group relative to its body mass, this creature also possessed large eyes that were slightly forward facing, which probably aided in hunting.

After examining the eggs, the researchers found that only the bottoms of them would have been buried in mud while the tops would have stuck out vertically. It turned out that, like brooding birds, this particular dinosaur did not bury its eggs.

“Both the eggs and the surrounding sediments indicate only partial burial,” said Darla Zelenitsky, co-author of the paper recording the study, in a press release. “Thus an adult would have directly contacted the exposed parts of the eggs during incubation.”  read more:  http://goo.gl/J7LJu

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(Reuters) – A 2 million-year-old ancestor of man had a mixture of ape and human-like features that allowed it to hike vast distances on two legs with as much ease as it could scurry up trees, according to research published on Friday.

Discovered in cave near Johannesburg in 2008, the fossils of a species named “Australopithecus sediba” have given researchers clues about the evolution of man and which traits in our ancestors fell by the wayside.

Standing about 1.3 meters (4 ft) tall, sediba had a narrow rib cage similar to apes but a flexible spine more similar to that of a human. Its long arms and powerful torso helped in climbing, according to the research published in the journal Science.

Sediba’s small heel resembled a chimpanzee’s and it walked with an inward rotation of the knee and hip on slightly twisted feet with a flat-footed gait that would have helped it cover ground, the researchers said.

“It is the perfect compromise of something that has the need to walk on the ground efficiently for long distances. At the same time, it is a very capable climber,” said Lee Berger, project leader at the Wits Evolutionary Studies Institute in South Africa.

The researchers plan further studies to see how these fossils of early human relatives known as hominin compare to other remains, to help put together the pieces of evolution.

“We have more complete specimens of fossils than for any other early hominin species that has ever been discovered. What this means is that we can make assessments of the anatomy and behavior of this species with a great deal of confidence,” Berger told Reuters.

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