In the News: The Terror of the Midwest

Fig.1. Artist illustration of Dakotaraptor steini, DePalma et al 2015
(Credit: Emily Willoughby, 2015) 

The recently described Dakotaraptor, found in the Hell Creek Formation of South Dakota, is only one of several species in the news this week who give a glimpse into ancient history. Read to learn about a baby Pentaceratops, fire-frogs, sea urchins, and more!

• The first baby Pentaceratops skull ever discovered was unveiled yesterday at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. The museum’s paleontologists are still hard at work to dig out fossils that have been in rock for around 70 million years: “New Mexico Museum Unveils Rare Fossil Find,” New York Times (06 November 2015)

• Scientists from natural history museums around the world are expanding the reach of fossil exploration beyond well-known digs in North America and Europe: “‘Fire Frogs’ And Eel-Like Amphibians: The Field Museum’s Brazilian Fossil Discovery,” EurekAlert! (05 November 2015)

• You would not want to run into this Midwestern terror 66 million years ago. Fittingly, the bones were discovered in the Hell Creek Formation in South Dakota: “Meet The ‘Dakotaraptor,’ The Freaky Feathered Dinosaur That Once Roamed South Dakota,” Washington Post (05 November 2015)

• Hidden in collections at the National Museum of Natural History is a fossil sea urchin that pushes back divergence of two groups in the family tree nearly 10 million years: “Newly Discovered Fossil Sea Urchin Is The Oldest Of Its Kind,” PhysOrg (04 November 2015)