Dinosaur toe pads were as diverse as modern birds’. The structures are painting clearer pictures of dinosaur behavior.
Toe pads are bundles of scale-covered flesh on the undersides of dinosaur feet, similar to “toe beans” on dogs and cats. Because the pads are points where the living animal interacted with surfaces, toe pads give paleontologists a “sense of where the rubber meets the road,” says Alexander Dececchi, a paleontologist at Mount Marty University in Yankton, S.D., who was not involved in the new study.
These contact points can paint a clearer picture of an animal’s behavior by providing “details that the skeleton itself wouldn’t show,” says Thomas Holtz Jr., a dinosaur paleobiologist at the University of Maryland in College Park, who was also not involved in the study. To investigate dinosaur toe pads, Pittman and colleagues turned to the Shandong Tianyu Museum of Nature in Linyi, China. It “has arguably the largest collection of feathered dinosaurs in the world, and, importantly, they haven’t been prepared extensively,” Pittman says. Many of these dinosaur skeletons are still surrounded by rock, which is where soft tissues can be preserved. Such a specimen “gives us the best chance of finding this wonderful soft tissue information,” he says.
Norge Siste Nytt, Norge Overskrifter
Similar News:Du kan også lese nyheter som ligner på denne som vi har samlet inn fra andre nyhetskilder.
Adorable toddler realizes he can walk, lets out 'little dinosaur noises' | VIDEOA one-year-old couldn't quite believe his own eyes when he realized he could walk, letting out 'little dinosaur noises.'
Les mer »
Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur Amaze in Red Carpet Featuretteio9 has an exclusive look at the premiere event for Marvel's fun new animated series.
Les mer »
Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur Interview: Gary Anthony Williams & Laurence FishburneComingSoon spoke to Marvel's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur stars Gary Anthony Williams and Laurence Fishburne at a press conference.
Les mer »
Even Parents Will Love The New Kids' Cartoon ‘Moon Girl And Devil Dinosaur’Disney's new comic-inspired series 'Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur' sees Marvel's first Black teen superheroine pair up with a giant red T-rex.
Les mer »
65 Commercial Previews A Different Type of Big GameAhead of the Super Bowl, a new 65 commercial has been released for the upcoming Adam Driver-led dinosaur sc-fi movie.
Les mer »
More than a third of US wildlife at risk of extinction, 'grim' new report showsHarry is a U.K.-based staff writer at Live Science. He studied Marine Biology at the University of Exeter (Penryn campus) and after graduating started his own blog site 'Marine Madness,' which he continues to run with other ocean enthusiasts. He is also interested in evolution, climate change, robots, space exploration, environmental conservation and anything that's been fossilized. When not at work he can be found watching sci-fi films, playing old Pokemon games or running (probably slower than he'd like).
Les mer »