Burrowing Dinosaurs?- Fossil Evidence Shows that some small Ornithischians Burrowed to Escape Polar Winters

Interestingly enough, Naveed of Naveed's Realm, sent me an article from News Scientist, an on-line science magazine (Well, that was obvious! Now forgive me for wasting your time with this obvious information.) about findings of small Hypsilophodontids in burrows in Australia (And even in Canada, mainly Alberta.)...sound familiar? It should because this was covered in my First Fossil Fact and even a Paleo Fact by Traumador the Tyrannosaur over at the Tyrannosaur Chronicles. Well, despite the fact that I was only correct in describing the Cretaceous world and, basically regurgitating what I'd heard in a Walking with Dinosaurs episode (which is exactly what I did! Thankfully, Traum was kind of enough to give me some help and kindly correct me about this information. Hopefully he'll read this post, because I, personally, think he would be interested to see this new research and see that BBC and I may have been correct after all. Huh....Who knew?). Orginally, my first Fossil Fact was basically to supplement Traumador's well-researched, knowledgeable and well-written Paleo Fact. Now, there is actually fossil evidence to suggest such a thing, though the behavior of the Leaellynasaura as organized as they were is still speculation. Anywho, it's about time I stop here with this Introduction and begin with the details of the finds.

Did they actually Burrow?

Well....that's what the fossil record seems to tell us. In the Polar regions of the Earth (In Alberta, Canada, and as far south as Australia), several remains of small Ornithischian Dinosaurs ("Bird-hipped," mainly referring to the majority of herbiverous dinosaurs) have been found in what looked to be burrows. The scientists who played a prominent role in the research of Dinosaur migratory patterns of the Polar regions, Eric Snively and Now, the Hypsilophodont, Leaellynasaura was only known from fragmentary bones from that region, but, now, we seem to have a more complete picture of life at the Polar regions during the Cretaceous.

Measurements of burrows from Alberta, Montana, USA, and Australia suggest their occupants, though possibly temporary, were small Hypsilophodontids roughly around the same size as Leaellynasaura (and the same size as their contemporaries.) Of course, what does this mean?

Eric Snively, of the University of Alberta in Edmonton, with David Varrichio of Montana State University in Bozeman, theorize that, though they were selectively adapted to wait out the chilling Polar, Cretaceous winters, they couldn't stay their year round because, as evidence also suggests, the burrows were made in soil that was deposited by flood waters, indicating the risk of flood.


As new evidence comes to light, more insight into the life and behavior of the Dinosaurs becomes available. That's the beauty of Paleontology. One day, perhaps, we'll find complete vertebrate fossils in Oceania and Antarctica and gain MORE insights into their behavior.

Dinosaurs To Live Again?

Dinosaurs have captured the imagination for centuries since their disappearance 65 million years ago. Since then, the media has attempted ressurected this amazing group of animals and their environment through films, novels, encyclopedias, kids books, scientific journals, etc. Who wouldn't want to see them up close and personal? Now it might be possible. New techniques in genetics brings back the hope of seeing these great animals alive again.


The novel Jurassic Park suggests that one can extract dinosaur DNA from mosquitos fossilized in amber. In fact, one geneticist attempted to do just that...or rather using a slightly different method and from a relatively younger mosquito. The result was an apparent DNA strand, yet when it was attempted by others, people gave up when they got no DNA , leading to the idea that maybe the DNA was a contaminant from the scientist. Thus, diminishing the hope of resurrecting these fantastic animals.


However, Dr. John R. Horner has another idea, if you recall from my Wired article post. If you DO recall, he mentions that modern birds have the same genes as the avian-theropods (Coelurosaurs, mainly). They're just turned off or slightly modified. In fact, these "old-dogs" can learn new tricks. Experimenting with these genes (more specifically, these hox genes, or genes that make up the body plan of an organism. Hox genes correspond to a specific body part.), is Horner's former student Hans Larsson notices that as an chicken embryo develops, the embryo has about 16 vertebrae in their tails and then it shrinks to about 4-5 vetebrae in their tails. Larsson then attempts to see if he can keep the gene active longer than usual. In fact, it works. He not only succeeds in keeping the gene on in the chicken, he manages to extend the tail about 3 more vertebrae. Developmental Biologist Mathew Harris has managed to cause a bird's feet to develop downy feathers like the Dromaeosaurs would've had and the Chinese breed of chicken the silky bird. Harris and his mentor found that a chicken mutant was starting to develop embryonic teeth. Suddenly, Horner's idea of retro-engineering of birds into theropod dinosaurs seems possible.


However, it's not as easy as it sounds. Not only do they have to identify the particular genes, but they have to find the right mix of chemicals to start the fertilization process and to create the enzymes needed to control the genes as in what genes are turned on/off and when. Despite this setback, Horner and Larrson believe that at the rate at which we're decoding genomes and the rate at which the science of genetics is racing, we may be able to retro-engineer dinosaurs (mainly theropods) from modern birds within this century. Jurassic Park? Probably not. Living theropod dinosaurs or something like it? Yes!


Author's Note: Information obtained from the Discovery Channel documentary: "Dinosaurs: Return to Life?"

Author's Note: Wondering about the bird wings and the fore-limbs of Dinosaurs? I believe that at the rate at which Genetics is racing, we may able to find the gene that keeps the fingers separate and the arm long and capable of grasping prey and find the right enzymes and chemicals (with the right mixture, of course.) we could keep that gene turned on. Like I said, sounds easy, right? Well, easier said than done fits this situation. However, it will happen within this century I believe and you may see a theropod walking around in a zoo before you kick the bucket. That's the deal with the fore-limbs of the bird embryos and the theropods.

Me And The Houston Museum Of Natural History

It was vacation time again and I thought it was time to take a trip to the Houston Museum of Natural History as mentioned on my Boneyard post, if you recall. Yep and now I wanted to put my Paleo knowledge to the test and enjoy the exhibitions. Despite the fact, the museum was holding special exhibits, I could only choose one thing to do, sadly. I chose the permanent exhibits as I could not see "Leonardo" like I hoped. At least I enjoyed the the regular exhibits just fine, though I do not have pictures of everything, sadly. I do, however, have pictures of my visits to the Paleontology Hall.

First, let me tell you the layout of the museum, so you can get an idea of where we were in the Museum (Trust me, you'll enjoy the pictures much better if you know where I was). When we first entered the building, we entered a spacious lobby with the Ticket Counters, the Planetarium, which seemed to have interesting programs playing that day, the IMAX theater, which happened to be in 3-D (and in association with one of their new IMAX films, they had giant, life-sized inflatable sharks all around the lobby with a large life-sized inflatable whale shark on top of the roof near the entrance. Unfortunately my mom wasn't feeling well and we were celebrating her birthday too (which was a few days before, but I was staying with my Grandma's before she came down to stay with us and take me back that weekend, 4th of July weekend to be exact.), and encountered the longest line I had ever seen in my entire life!!!! It stretched about half way across the lobby (and, believe me, readers, it was a long line! If I had any photos of the lobby, you would see what I'm talking about, which I don't.) And, on the right were the entrances to the main part of the museum (starting with the Paleontology Hall ) and then, farther down, was the Gift Shop with, which had the most unusual thing in the most unusual place, which you'll see what I'm talking about in a few moments, so, please, bear with me. As soon as we purchased our tickets, we bypassed the crowd and entered the main exhibit hall (the Paleontology Hall), of which we saw an impressive display of fossils from the Paleozoic on the right with illustrated murals on the wall with fossils of the flora and fauna of each particular period. They had Trilobites as big as a man's torso, Crinoids, and, reaching the Permian, they had, what seemed to be the fossilized remains of an amphibian or reptile. And, on the left, (assuming your entering from the lobby), the Mesozoic begins, with specimens of the major animal groups, from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, somehow skipping the Triassic period. Here is a sample of what I saw when I was there:

As you can see, it's me in front of a Dromaeosaurus fossil. Theropod tracks on the back of a theropod (Tyrannosaurus rex , I think...or Dromaeosaurus) mount next to a nest beneath the glass.

Me in front of a Triceratops horridus skull.


Those are a sample of the Paleontology Hall at the Museum. If you want to see the rest of my pictures, shoot me an e-mail and I'll be happy to show them to you. In fact, let me explain the rest of the layout of the Muesum. Above the Paleontology Hall where you can see the Edmontosaurus adult and Juvenile next to a Tyrannosaurus rex cast skeleton from a specimen from the Hell Creek Formation in Montana. From up on the balcony on the second floor, you can still see the Diplodocus carnegiei and Quetzocoatilus (sp?). Up on the second floor is the Gem Gallery as I like to call it where you head into dark corridors with illuminated cases of beautiful gems and minerals. There's also the Halls of Texan and African Wildlife where, in the glass cases are stuffed animals (no, not the toys, I mean, dead animals) and displayed them in recreations of their natural habitats. Downstairs, is the local Mummy and they have a King Tut exhibit where they have the room built like the tomb, though the decor and treasures are gone. The "crack" in the wall has a creepy illumination of wildlife and the middle of the room is a Huge "table" where Tut laid in the tomb, except he's obviously not there and the computer was inside showing CT images of the corpse. There's even CT scanning of Tut's skeleton the visitor can manipulate. It's interactive. With the Mummy, there's a number of amulets and mummified animals in the nearby case. As you can see, the Houston Museum of Natural Science/History is pretty cool. I recommend you visit it at least once the next time your in Houston, TX, USA. It was also the home of "Leonardo," if you recall, temporarily.

The Origin Of Life On Earth (Dinosaur Home Post # 2)

Aside from Cryptozoology, most members focus on credible and relevant topics to Paleontology like the one I will be discussing right now: The Origin Of Life On Earth. No introduction should be needed as how this relates to the field of Paleontology and, thus, make it onto my blog and Dinosaur Home, for that matter. The only differences is that I will not recite the first chapter of Genesis from the Bible as that would be pointless and does nothing more than tell the myth and give no scientific explanation. That's not what I'm about. I want to explain how life came to be on this once inhospitable world, talking about what we DO know versus what we don't. Let's take a look some 2-3 billion years where the Earth was chaotic giant rock in orbit in a very young Solar System.



According to the Bible, God created the heavens and the Earth, then He separated the sky from the waters, and created light. Then He created all the marine life at the same time and the birds in the sky and then on land created all land fauna of the Quaternary period with Adam and Eve as the first humans. Now, we know this to be incorrect on many accounts. First of all the Earth is about 4.6 billion years old and the fossil record is proof of the fact of Natural Selection in stone. Need I go on? Now, not to deprive God of His credit and glory as He is reading over my shoulder as I type this, He did create the Universe and life on Earth, just not in the way described in the Bible and Torah (the Jewish/Hebrew's Sacred Text that shares the same Old Testament with the Christians) .



Now here's the Scientific story! We know that the fossil record has a great deal of gaps as to the fact that because of the composition of organisms during the Pre-Cambrian, they don't fossilize particuarly well so our knowledge of life that far back is a bit hazy, but it becomes clearer as more paleontological finds and biochemical experiments are done to see exactly the sort of processes God used to create the first molecules of life and even the first cells. We may even figure out how much of that first evolution and creation was God or independent of him. That's what we don't know. As well as exactly how those bio-molecules arranged themselves to form the basic polymers, sugars, lipids, carbohydrates, etc.



Despite our lack of knowledge of the beginning of life during the Pre-Cambrian, there have been many theories suggested as to those molecules even came about on the Earth. Some believe (as well as several members of that site, Dinosaur Home, which ironically isn't just about Dinosaurs) that the molecules and "ingredients" were "delivered" during the many asteroid impacts as Earth's atmosphere was very thin. Other theories include the bio-molecules being "stirred" up by an active "proto-atmosphere" into a primordial "soup" which is supposed to somehow fit together and make up the first prokaryotic cells. But how are the molecules supposed to fit together? My answer, again, is God. God is behind most of the seemingly coincidental events in life. Sure, sometimes those "coincidents" are just that, coincidents (sp?) . So, the only explanation for the seemingly impossible aspects as the bio-molecules "randomly" into the polymers that make up the basics of life. And, recently, there have been findings of primitive organisms beneath the Earth's surface (specifically Archae-Bacteria) , leading to the possibility that Life actually began beneath the Earth's surface and worked it's way to the surface where it remained for the last 3 billion years.


Now you, readers, know what we DO know about the Origin of Life versus what we Don't. This is, perhaps, one of the greatest mysteries of the Universe. However, the anwser is up to you, readers, I ask you: What do you think the answer is? Is it God or something else, you tell me.

Why Cryptozoology Isn't A Valid Or Credible Science

As promised I will begin to post about common topics on Dinosaur Home and give you a kind of taste of the site in case any of you are interested in which you all can just click the link. Ok...first on my mental "to-do" list of topics is on Cryptozoology because, whether one believes it or not, it makes up the majority of the fantasies of these young and old Paleo Enthusiasts on the site. Sure, they have plenty of fantasies about Prehistoric Life (Dinosaurs, mainly. Hey! Who Doesn't?), but I have found whole conversations of it on the site (Okay, I just exagerrated big time there, but there are at least a few people who truly accept Cryptozoology as a valid field of Science. There are several problems with Cryptozoology that I'll explain in a moment, but it is not something that one can believe and still be found credible. I'm a afraid that any respectable person, no matter how brilliant and smart they are and trustworthy, can be found to be insane. This is a sad fact, yet thankfully it's not just one-out-of-every-five hundred-or-so situations. Most are in certain groups who truly believe they are correct, though they may very well be. However, the general public will find you in need of the institution, while others may, to put it mildly, disagree with you. Sadly, the public is where your money comes from if your a scientist in the major fields (Especially, if your a Paleontologist through Museums and Universities, others taxes.) , so credibility is very important in the world of Science, and in today's world in general. Anywho, enough rambling, let's now look at Cryptozoology a little more closely and it's role on this site.


First, let's look at the definition of Cryptozoology. Cryptozoology is, by public definition, the study of creatures and things that most likely don't exist. Ok. Things that probably....no...most likely don't exist. Hmm....now does that make a credible person? That depends. Some people literally go insane with passion and determination to prove the public wrong and that he/she's a brillian man/woman. Most cases like that mean they're headed to the asylum. Now, I'm NOT saying that everyone who believes Cryptozoology is crazy! I'm merely saying that these people vary. Those who believes in Extra-terrestrials and UFOs is a popular one, but the most likely plausible than a Haunted Hotel or something or Nessie. Big-foot is another phenomonae that's plausible. The North American Western Rockies are a suitable environment to support animals like Sasquatch, this primate/hominid ( If it is real, then it maybe a another surviving species of hominid, which will explain the human like silhouette....or...that they're just random men in costumes). So far, it's not looking good for this "Science" and it's credibility.

I would, now, like to talk about the characteristics of a credible science. Most credible sciences are usually relevant to public life nowadays and concern subjects that can be studied by the basic Scientific method learned in the Elementary school science classroom. These are, of course, the fundamentals of Scientific reasoning And as such the subjects has to be at least capable of being observed as observation plays a big role in scientific thinking and exploration. On the other hand, in Cryptozoology, you can't really do that nor can any experiments or observation be performed. Since Cryptozoology does not fit the basic criteria for an actual field of science, it is NOT a science, yet it is the culmination of the Human imagination stemming from the root of some studies in a field of Science (i.e. Ghosts, Extra-Terrestrials, UFOs, Nessie, and even Sasquatch, just to name a few.

And, yet, I found a couple of people talking about whether even Mesozoic Marine Reptiles still live at the depths of today's Oceans and I had to tell him that is not possible because of a number of reasons, including Climate, different diet, etc. Just because the Coelocanth survived doesn't mean a Tylosaur or Liopleurodon could survive as the prey is just too small and the only prey that would come even close are the Whale Sharks and the Whales themselves which I doubt Liopleurodon would even consider taking down a mammal around the same size. It'd be too much of a hassle. Anyway, here's my answer to the member's comment.

I'm Back And Better Than Ever!!

As the title says, readers, I'm back and better than ever!! First of all, I would like to apologize for my sudden absence from the Paleo Blogosphere! I find it wasn't fair of me to leave you all hanging like that. You guys are loyal readers and you all mean a lot to me. Heck, I don't need to tell you that! If you've read a few of my Previous posts, you'll find me a bit..."paranoid" if you will. This is my first and only blog! I also want to apologize to those people (and dinosaurs, yes you, Traumador!) whose blogs I follow! Apparently, School had me in it's enormous grip and I really was too tired at the end of the day to do full posts. So, I hung out on the web and just surfed, doing whatever I felt like. However, I missed this blog and you all. So, as a treat this blog will cover my return as Raptor Lewis, Paleo Teacher and Blogger...as well as what I've been up to.

Here's a quick summary of what's been happening with my life:

• The Dinosaur forum that Traumador was the first of us Paleo bloggers on Blogger to do a blog post, has picked me to go from ''Fresh Boarder" to Moderator in less than a day! (Actually, though i had an account there, I still manily posted here adn didn't get into the forum until a few weeks later.) So, that's where the majority of my time has been spent. I am ONE rank below the Three Administrators, one of which picked me of all the members to be Moderator. So, of course I was flattered and I accepted. Thus leads me to my next topic. Starting now, the only posts are going to be the Discussions me and the other forum members had. It should be quite interesting.
• At this point, School! To be more precise, the Second and Final Semester of Sophomore year. The Good news is that the majority of my Grades were As and Bs with the ONLY C being in P.E. I aced Advanced Biology, and World Civilization (Both of which are Core Classes), and Bs in Advanced English 2, Spanish 1, Geometry, Probability and Statistics (Yes, that's One class, usually abbreivated as Prob. and Stats.).
• So, right now, I'm on my way to a Wedding, my Step-Brother's Wedding to be exact (though we're so close we consider each other to be Just Brothers.) So, it should be fun! Then, it's 6-weeks down in Louisiana at my Mom's house with a week in Houston, TX at my Grandma's to see my Great Grandma and head to the Houston Museum of Natural Science (Which you can get a gist of it and a link to their site here.) Here, I can see "Leo," the Mummy Brachylophosaur ( A reletively new genus of Hadrosaur found in in the Formation by which it's named in Montana.)

Well, that's a taste of what I've been up to. But, don't worry. I'll still do the "Artwork of the Day" posts as well as the Fossil Facts...maybe (That's a maybe on the Fossil Facts.)