An eight-year-old boy has discovered a set of dinosaur footprints on a beach which date back an incredible 160 million years.
Rhys Nichols was strolling along the sands with dad Richard when he spotted the perfectly preserved nine-inch prints on a rock.
Rhys and the dinosaur footprint he spotted (Image courtesy of
Mailonsunday, hat tip to
Spluch)
Experts have hailed the find, saying that dinosaur footprints ‘are not normally that clear’. It’s suggested that the footprints are from a plant-eating dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic period, which would make the prints about 160 million years old.
A fossilised “sea monster” unearthed on an Arctic island is the largest marine reptile known to science, Norwegian scientists have announced.
The 150 million-year-old specimen was found on Spitspergen, in the Arctic island chain of Svalbard, in 2006. The Jurassic-era leviathan is one of 40 sea reptiles from a fossil “treasure trove” uncovered on the island.
Nicknamed “The Monster”, the immense creature would have measured 15m (50ft) from nose to tail. [BBC]
The fossil and artist illustration of the sea monster ‘in action’
A one-tonne “fossil rat” has been discovered in South America.
The giant rodent in comparison with a ‘normal’ rodent (Image courtesy of
Xinhuanet)
The megarodent lived in lowland rain forests between two and four million years ago and weighed about 1,000 kilograms, based on an analysis of its 53-centimetre-long skull.
The newfound species, called Josephoartigasia monesi, is reported on Jan 16 in a study led by Andrés Rinderknecht of the National Museum of Natural History and Anthropology in Montevideo, Uruguay. [National Geographic]
A 100-million-year-old turtle remain was found in central China’s Henan province.
Turtle fossil
The fossil was discovered by 2 locals of Pingdingshan city a while ago at a nearby river. The turtle fossil still has its limbs and tail intact, but the head was accidentally broken when it was found.
An expert from institute of paleontology of Henan’s Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources estimated that the fossil is about 100 million years old.
