Dirty dancing

A research team led by Martin Lockley and Karen Houck of the University of Colorado Denver have found new evidence for courtship behavior in theropod dinosaurs. According to Lockley et al, "scraping" traces associated with theropod footprints are morphologically similar to those left by modern ground-nesting birds in leks. If the behavior was indeed similar, then we can add courtship displays to the ever-growing list of similarities between avian and non-avian dinosaurs.

The relevant paper can be found here.

Patient(s) Zero of the K-Pg Event?

A paleontologist in New Jersey is looking close to home for evidence of the K-Pg event. Kenneth Lacovara of Rowan University hopes to find an assemblage that can be directly associated with the proximate cause of the non-avian dinosaurs' extinction. More at the New York Times.

A beautiful beetle preserved in amber, 99 million years old

Very nice images are available here, at The Artful Amoeba, a Scientific American blog.

A very large duckbilled dinosaur with a very small cranial crest

Scientists are calling it the "superduck."

But the really interesting thing is the suggestion that heterochrony (or changes in developmental timing) might explain the evolution of duckbill cranial crests. 

Welcome to the News section!

Here in Extinct Blog's news section, we'll post the latest palaeontology and philosophy of palaeontology research with minimal editorial commentary. Posts will go up as the news comes in, so check back frequently!