User:Abyssal/Prehistory of North America

{ {{Portal maintenance status|date

Portal topics: Activities; Culture; Geography; Health; History; Mathematics; Nature; People; Philosophy; Religion; Society; Technology; Random portal

The Prehistory of North America Portal

Introduction

Read more...

Show new selections below (purge)

edit

Selected article on prehistoric North America

Artist's restoration of Tyrannosaurus rex.

Tyrannosaurus is a genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur. The species Tyrannosaurus rex is commonly abbreviated to T. rex. It lived throughout what is now western North America. Fossils are found in a variety of rock formations dating to the Maastrichtian age of the upper Cretaceous Period, 67 to 66 million years ago. It was among the last non-avian dinosaurs to exist before the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event.

Like other tyrannosaurids, Tyrannosaurus was a bipedal carnivore with a massive skull balanced by a long, heavy tail. Relative to its large and powerful hindlimbs, Tyrannosaurus forelimbs were short and bore two clawed digits. Although other theropods rivaled or exceeded Tyrannosaurus rex in size it is one of the largest known land predators in history. The most complete specimen measures up to 12.3 m (40 ft) in length, up to 4 metres (13 ft) tall at the hips, and up to 6.8 metric tons (7.5 short tons) in weight. Tyrannosaurus rex would have been an apex predator, preying upon hadrosaurs, ceratopsians, and possibly sauropods.

More than 50 specimens of Tyrannosaurus rex have been identified, some of which are nearly complete skeletons. Soft tissue and proteins have been reported in at least one of these specimens. The abundance of fossil material has allowed significant research into many aspects of its biology. Its taxonomy is also controversial: some scientists consider Tarbosaurus bataar from Asia to be a second species of Tyrannosaurus and others maintaining Tarbosaurus as a separate genus. (see more...)

More articles...

Need help?

Do you have a question about Abyssal/Prehistory of North America that you can't find the answer to?

Consider asking it at the Wikipedia reference desk.

edit

Selected article on the prehistory of North America in science, culture and economics

Edward Drinker Cope (left) and Othniel Charles Marsh (right).

The Bone Wars is the name given to a period of intense fossil speculation and discovery during the Gilded Age of American history, marked by a heated rivalry between Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh. The two paleontologists used underhanded methods to out-compete the other in the field, resorting to bribery, theft, and destruction of bones. The scientists also attacked each other in scientific publications, attempting to ruin the other's credibility and cut off his funding.

Originally colleagues who were civil to each other, Cope and Marsh became bitter enemies after several personal slights between them. Their pursuit of bones led them west to rich bone beds in Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming. From 1877 to 1892, both paleontologists used their wealth and influence to finance their own expeditions and to procure services and fossils from dinosaur hunters. By the end of the Bone Wars, both men exhausted their funds in fueling their intense rivalry.

Cope and Marsh were financially and socially ruined by their efforts to disgrace each other, but their contributions to science and the field of paleontology were massive; the scientists left behind tons of unopened boxes of fossils on their deaths. The feud between the two men led to over 142 new species of dinosaurs being discovered and described. Several historical books and fictional adaptations have also been published about this period of intense paleontological activity. (see more...)

More articles...

edit

Did you know?

... that Ohio's first archaeological investigation was conducted at the Marietta Earthworks?
... that seeds of the fossil yew genus Diploporus are larger than Taxus seeds and smaller than Torreya seeds?
... that Pseudarmadillo tuberculatus was one of two Pseudarmadillo species described in 1984 from fossils in Dominican amber?
...that the University of Cambridge denied Edward A. Irving a PhD when he submitted evidence supporting continental drift?
... that the extinct sawfly Pseudosiobla cambelli is one of three species of Pseudosiobla known from the fossil record?

... that Takalik Abaj, an archaeological site in lowland Guatemala, has one of the greatest concentrations of Olmec-style sculpture outside of the Gulf of Mexico coast?
... that Marshman Edward Wadsworth served as president of the Michigan Mining School and as State Geologist of Michigan at the same time?
... that the distinct fauna of the Kirtlandian includes the dinosaur Pentaceratops sternbergii?
... that highlights from the history of ornithomimosaur research include the ostrich-like Ornithomimus (skeletal mount pictured), an Archaeornithomimus bonebed in Mongolia, and the bizarre, giant-armed Deinocheirus?
... that the fossil horse Scaphohippus became extinct when tectonic barriers between the Great Plains and Great Basin of North America disappeared about 13 million years ago?

More DYKs...

edit

Selected image

The middle of a polished 15.34 cm × 18.04 cm slice of a petrified tree from Arizona, USA. After the enlargement of the image it is possible to see insect borings in the wood. The tree lived approximately 230 million years ago during the Late Triassic.
Photo credit: Michael Gäbler