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VOL.439 NO.7077 DATED 9 FEBRUARY 2006
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* Palaeontology: Father of the tyrannosaurs found in China
* And finally...Krakatoa's impact felt for decades
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[1] Palaeontology: Father of the tyrannosaurs found in China (pp 715-718;N&V)
Fossil hunters in China have uncovered the most primitive member of the
group that went on to include the fearsome Tyrannosaurus rex. The
three-metre-long creature, found in the Junggar basin in the northwest of
the country, represents perhaps the earliest tyrannosaur, and allows
palaeontologists a glimpse of one of the murkiest chapters of dinosaur
evolution.
The new dinosaur hails from the Late Jurassic period, around 150 million
years ago - unlike T. rex, which despite starring in the Hollywood
blockbuster Jurassic Park actually lived during the Late Cretaceous period
that followed the Jurassic. Nevertheless, the new species shares several
limb characteristics with later dinosaurs, suggesting that it too was a
fierce predator, say Xing Xu and colleagues, who unveil the fossil in this
week's Nature.
The dinosaur's skull also features a huge nasal crest - a surprise in such a
primitive animal, the researchers report. They speculate that this structure
may even have been a cumbersome sexual ornament, similar to the peacock's
tail or the elk's antlers.
CONTACT
Xing Xu (Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology & Paleoanthropology, Beijing, China)
Tel: +86 10 883 69196; E-mail: [email protected]
Thomas Holtz (University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA)
Tel: +1 301 405 4084; E-mail: [email protected]
For further information please contact Media Relations at the University:
Wendy Carey Tel: +1 202 994 3087 or
Matt Lindsay Tel: +1 202 994 1423; E-mail: [email protected]
[2] Krakatoa's impact felt for decades (pp x0
The massive eruption of the volcano Krakatoa in 1883 substantially reduced
sea-level rise and ocean warming well into the following century, according
to a Brief Communication in this week's Nature.
Volcanoes emit sulphate aerosols and dust that can help to reflect the Sun's
rays, keeping the Earth's surface waters relatively cool.
P. J. Gleckler and colleagues use a computer simulation based on 12
state-of-the-art climate models to show that the cooling effects of Krakatoa
lasted for much longer than had been previously thought. They suggest that
the temperature anomaly persisted for decades because the cooled surface
water was subsequently drawn deeper into the ocean. This contrasts with more
recent eruptions on a similar scale - such as Pinatubo's in 1991 - whose
ocean-cooling effects have been offset by warming of the upper ocean,
primarily induced by human activity.
CONTACT
P.J. Gleckler (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, USA)
Tel: +1 925 422 7631; E-mail: [email protected]
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