Two articles, one published in the “Journal of Herpetology” and another in the journal “Palaeogeography, palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology”, describe a research about the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis). A team of researchers led by Dr. Evan Whiting of the University of Minnesota states that 8 million years ago they looked the same as today and even 30 million years ago they were not very different so they’re older than expected.
An article published in the journal “Current Biology” describes a research on a dinosaur belonging to the genus Psittacosaurus that lived in modern China at the beginning of the Cretaceous period, about 120 million years ago. A team from the University of Bristol examined the skin remains of a very well preserved specimen cataloged as SMF R 4970 concluding that its coloration provided it some camouflage.
An article published in the journal “Nature” describes a research on Acanthostega gunnari (photo ©Ghedoghedo), that about 360 million years ago was one of the first tetrapods as it was one of the first vertebrates to have limbs recognizable as legs. A team of researchers from the universities of Cambridge and Copenhagen led by Jennifer Clack, who in 1987 discovered a deposit containing many skeletons of Acanthostega, examined those specimens and concluded that they were juveniles.
An article published in the “Royal Society journal Open Science” describes the discovery of a pterosaur attributed to the azhdarchid family. This flying reptile lived about 77 million years ago, in the Late Cretaceous period and is the first of its kind discovered in the British Columbia coast. For now indicated only as RBCM.EH.2009.019.0001, the specimen is a partial skeleton found subjected to CT scans to obtain information about a rare type of small-sized pterosaur.
An article published in the journal “PeerJ” describes the discovery of a new species of pterosaur that was called Allkauren koi from the early Jurassic period. A team of scientists discovered a partial skeleton in the Cañadón Asfalto Formation, in the province of Chubut, Patagonia, Argentina, with a braincase in excellent conditions. For this reason its study can provide new information about the origins and evolution of these flying reptiles.
