This nearly whole, deep-black skull belongs to the most complete specimen of Tyrannosaurus rex on display in Europe, an individual nicknamed Tristan Otto. A lot of marine life would have needed to thrive there to satisfy the appetite of such a large creature, so the fact that these animals continued to exist so late in the Cretaceous adds to the evidence that the aquatic world, at least, was doing just fine right up until the sudden mass extinction. NASA warns of 3 skyscraper-sized asteroids headed toward Earth this week. Son Doong is the largest cave in the world, and also contains a number of large underground lakes. "I would guess this is somewhere in the region of 15 to 20ft. But instead, they found that the roof was very uneven and had lots of steep undulations. MUST-HAVE: Before you head out on your trip, make sure you have travel insurance.
This nearly whole, deep-black skull belongs to the most complete specimen of Tyrannosaurus rex on display in Europe, an individual nicknamed Tristan Otto. That is what the katabatic winds are doing in the polynya, removing the ice, exposing the water and making more ice form.". Here's how to watch. They are associated with deep waterholes, rain, rivers, and, you guessed it, rainbows. Can we bring a species back from the brink? BBC's correspondent predicts leadership chaos even after CDU vote[VIDEO]Stunning backlash grows in revolt over EU's vaccine rollout[VIDEO]Prince William 'concerned' that Harry is trying to 'exploit' Diana[INSIGHT]. 108K views 2 years ago When we think of Antarctica, we think of snow, clusters of wildlife and beautiful landscapes. And when Habib, Hone, and Royal Tyrrell Museum paleontologist Franois Therrien compared the holes in the Canadian pterosaurs neck vertebrae against those for all other known azhdarchids, they found that its arrangement is unique. We may earn commission if you buy from a link. Discovered in 2010 in Montanas famed Hell Creek Formation of the late Cretaceous, the 40-foot-long fossil took four years to excavate and prepare. What comes to your mind when you hear the word iceberg? Dragonflies are widely spread throughout the world and can be found on every continent except Antarctica. "We will spend the next two weeks taking advantage of quiet periods when the katabatic winds drop off to observe the increase in salinity of the shelf waters below polynyas as brine rejected during sea-ice formation rains down to depths below 1,000 meters [3,280 feet]," Williams said. YouTube channel Third Phase of Moon shared the anomaly back in August, sent to them by a viewer. Know more about this news here by reading this article now! Its amazing, she says, just to see how far were going., Copyright 1996-2015 National Geographic SocietyCopyright 2015-2023 National Geographic Partners, LLC. ", Largest fish nursery discovered beneath Weddell Sea in Antarctica, 'Giant MRI of Antarctica' reveals 'fossil seawater' under ice sheet, Rare wispy ice formations streak across the sea near Antarctica in beautiful satellite image. Research aboard the Nathaniel B. Palmer vessel is ongoing as the icebreaker continues to sail across the Ross Sea in West Antarctica. The extremely well-preserved frozen bodies of three Incan child sacrifice victims were found entombed on the Llullaillaco volcano in Argentina in 1999. It was visible as a long depression, or groove, stretching across the ice a hallmark of an underground river. The new specimen is also very interesting because it dates so close to the end of the Cretaceousjust 30,000 years before the mass extinction event that wiped out the non-avian dinosaurs about 66 million years ago. The find came months after NASA successfully destroyed a 530-foot-wide . Bizzard was a young IceWing dragonet, covered in scars. A Fish Equipped With Antifreeze. It was an adventure., Copyright 1996-2015 National Geographic SocietyCopyright 2015-2023 National Geographic Partners, LLC. If youve seen Jurassic World, its the giant whale-like colossus from the feeding show. They estimate that the as-yet-unnamed elasmosaur weighed between 11.8 tons and 14.8 tons, with a head-to-tail length of nearly 40 feet. Antarctic researchers have shared images of the rarely seen scaly ice formation referred to as dragon ice. With such a young history of Antarctic exploration, it is no wonder that there are still many strange things about Antarctica that remain mysterious to this day. Related: Alarming heat waves hit Arctic and Antarctica at the same time. Dragon ice is basically pancake ice frozen on a larger sheet of ice. Tell us below which one of theweird things in Antarctica you are the most shocked about! There are probably plenty of discoveries in Antarctica still to be made. [If] the organisms evolved to live beneath ice shelves, they may provide us with a molecular clock that can be used to gauge past climate driven changes in Antarctic ice., The discovery shows that life can exist in environments where science suggests it should not: There are still things that we have to learn, Griffiths said. The remains first gained notoriety for their scars. The wreck of Endurance has been found in the Antarctic, 106 years after the historic ship was crushed in pack ice and sank during an expedition by the explorer Ernest Shackleton. In the past 15 years, paleontologists have found more types of azhdarchids in France, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Hungary, Romania, and elsewhere, giving a much better reference for diversity within this pterosaur group. But the question of how these animals get food will have to wait until another scientific expedition can visit the spot, perhaps equipped with a remotely operated underwater vehicle that can recover samples of the animals. The male characters all stand on their own, being easily distinguishable from each other. It wasnt until this year that researchers have found out that the waterfall springs from a lake trapped under the ice for over a million years! But if you empty and refill the tray each night, you get so much more," Williams said in a statement. The flying reptile was mostly head and neckand had at least a 16-foot wingspan, if not bigger. Schulp adds that the work moves our knowledge of plesiosaurs forward, and he is excited to see Argentine paleontologists go back out there and find more fossils. I did say there were some scary facts about Antarctica! He is also interested in evolution, climate change, robots, space exploration, environmental conservation and anything that's been fossilized. The researchers also unexpectedly discovered that the water column underground split into four or five distinct layers of water flowing in opposite directions. Great images too. While some previously known Aristonectes have weighed about 11 tons or so, most other elasmosaurs only come in at around five tons. He then zoomed in on the neck vertebra, whose ends are shot through with pneumatophores, the holes through which air sacs once entered the bones interior. Well, in 2016 a team of researchers discovered some very interesting things found frozen in Antarctica. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). He studied Marine Biology at the University of Exeter (Penryn campus) and after graduating started his own blog site "Marine Madness," which he continues to run with other ocean enthusiasts. The climate of Antarctica can vary depending on where you are and the time of the season. The egg case belongs to the class Clitellata worm, species of which are long extinct which makes it quite an extraordinary finding. Immediately, we'd get about 2 feet of sea level rise. Theres some weird stuff in Antarctica. But if you empty and refill the tray each night, you get so much more. But for [biologists], it is amazing because no one has ever seen these [organisms] before.. One of Earth's loneliest volcanoes holds an extraordinary secret. The more that he compared his measurements of Quetzalcoatlus to the Canadian fossil, the more he suspected it wasnt Quetzalcoatlus at all. Such an interesting post, Anita. Researchers recently brought this "hidden world" into the light, revealing a dark and jagged cavern filled with swarms of tiny, shrimplike creatures. We dont have a skull, but we have a lot of pieces of the specimen, OGorman says. MrMBB333 has previously posted videos of 'mysterious' Google Maps in Antarctica, including what he alleged was a huge man-made disc emerging from the snow in the region. This dragon drawn on a rock weighing a staggering 120 tons is believed to be exceptionally old, a megalith designed by a mysterious ancient population about whom we know nothing. "Getting to observe and sample this river was like being the first to enter a hidden world," lead researcher Huw Horgan, a glaciologist at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand, told The Guardian (opens in new tab). Fact or fiction .An ancient species of dragon was found living in Antarctica? Science correspondent Scientists drilling off the coast of West Antarctica have found the fossil remains of forests that grew in the region 90 million years ago - in the time of the dinosaurs. The team drilled down around 1,640 feet (500 meters) below the ice's surface using a powerful hot-water hose to reach the underground chamber. The attribution of "Rainbow Serpent" stems from the belief that rainbows appear when they move from one river or waterhole to occupy another. . NASA Found a Manhattan-Sized Cavern in Antarctica, 60 Scientists Are Trying to Block the Sun, giant underground cavern in the glacier almost as big as Manhattan, map out glaciers and ice sheets in three dimensions, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. With 170 of its 300-odd bones preserved, this scientifically important but privately owned skeleton is currently at the Museum fr Naturkunde in Berlin, Germany. Dragon skin occurs when strong "katabatic" winds downslope winds that exist only over icy regions continually lift the polynya's surface ice, subsequently freezing the water below, according to Guy Williams, a polar oceanographer from the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania in Australia. October is coming up, and you just know social media will be flooded with Halloween posts even before the event. Flat-earthers believe that the North Pole is at the center of the world while the South Pole surrounds the Earth. A new study in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology describes a new pterosaur called Cryodrakon boreas, "frozen dragon of the north winds." Both animals belong to a group known as the azhdarchid (azh-DAHR-kid) pterosaurs, which were notable for being mostly head and neck. The finding waspublished Mondayin Frontiers in Marine Science. These skeletons may have the answer, Scientists are making advancements in birth controlfor men, Blood cleaning? Predator as my only frame of reference with Antarctica, and have to remind myself that theres no underground temple housing such scary creatures. A fossil from Antarctica is now the heaviest known animal in this group of prehistoric marine reptiles. At current prices, a metallic mineral deposit found in Antarctica . One of the most exciting discoveries is the HMS Endurance, a ship that belonged to explorer Ernest Shackleton that sank in 1915. But after refocusing the camera, they realized that the lens was being swarmed by tiny crustaceans known as amphipods. Dragon-skin ice is very rare, bizarre, evidence of a darker chaos in the cryospheric realm, not seen in Antarctica since 2007, saidIMAS researcher Dr. If you asked a friend, it would probably be the thing that sunk the Titanic in that famous DeCaprio movie. The azhdarchids are also known for reaching immense sizes, none more so than Quetzalcoatlus. That guy is big! Schulp says from looking at photos of the bones. Their appearance is vastly different depending on which ocean you spot them in, but one thing is for certain: the sea pig is the stuff of nightmares, and definitely one of the weirdest things found in Antarctica. And for his part, OGorman seems thrilled with the whole experience: It was quite cold, and quite cool, too. Site Powered by Pix & Hue. You get some strange things found in icebergs these days, and what better way to end a Halloween-themed article about Antarctica than with some classic skeletons? Heres the science.). According to a study published in Frontiers in Marine Science, researchers have discovered a massive living world below Antarctica's icy surface that could be as big as 5 million square. Maybe were being too harsh here after all, this is just a satellite image were talking about. The animal would have weighed as much as 15 tons, and it is now one of the most complete ancient reptile fossils ever discovered in Antarctica. Jun 26, 2021 12 The discovery of a huge fossilised skull that was wrapped up and hidden in a Chinese well nearly 90 years ago has forced scientists to rewrite the story of human evolution. This agreement was introduced in 1959 and has been endorsed signed by twelve countries including the United States, Russia, Japan and Australia, among others. It could be a lot of different things. Scary flick, great performance by Kirk Russell. In the meantime, North American paleontologists have been caught in a catch-22. "This could be very, very old, going back to prehistoric Antartica. The bloblike protrusions seen in the right of the video are clearly a type of sponge, while the stalked creatures on the left are similar to some other sponges found near the Antarctic, he said. Antarctica is unlike the rest of the planet. The red of our blood is caused by hemoglobin, which carries oxygen throughout our body. They had expected the seafloor to be mud, but were dismayed when they hit a boulder, which meant they couldnt get the intended sediment samples. The weather controls all. They used jackhammers, rock saws and chisels at a punishing 4200 metres to unearth the dinosaur, which represents a new genus and species. Can we bring a species back from the brink?, Video Story, Copyright 1996-2015 National Geographic Society, Copyright 2015-2023 National Geographic Partners, LLC. The tail of a 99-million-year-old dinosaur was found entombed in amber in 2016, an unprecedented discovery that has blown away scientists. Especially since you need to zoom in on a dark ocean cavern to spot it. The noisy red and blue part in the bottom corner comes from ice breaking off into the sea. After lowering the sediment corer through the borehole, the scientists then lowered it through about 1,600 feet of seawater below the floating ice shelf. Their eyes are compound -they consist of 24,000 ommatidia (or tiny eyes). Published on 5/11/2017 at 1:25 AM. Thanks for sharing. But what was most intresting about her was that she could see Antarctica, something no other dragon could do. Benedikt von Imhoff. Jupiter and Venus 'kiss' in a stunning planetary conjunction tonight. "Seeing the effect of the Tongan volcano, which erupted thousands of kilometres away, was quite remarkable," Stevens said. At the coordinates 66 36 14 S 99 43 40 E the strange shape is clearly visible among the rock and snow in the hostile continent. All Rights Reserved. ", JUST IN:Stonehenge builders branded just as clever as us. Footage of the oddity was uploaded on the YouTube channel of MrMBB333 who regularly shares weird . Well, theyre not actually spiders, but a type of primitive marine arthropod. Today, there are still accounts of reptilian monsters said to haunt and harass villages throughout the remaining corners of largely unexplored forests, mountains and oceans of the world. Can we bring a species back from the brink? Heres why each season begins twice. PACKING TIP: Dont leave home without a solar powered battery pack so you can keep your devices connected at all times. Fossil remains found by a Chilean research team in the Atacama Desert have been determined to belong to a prehistoric pterosaur flying dragon, it was reported. Antarctica is an ice covered continent. While the animals exact diet cant be known without fossilized stomach contents or other evidence, OGorman says that it likely fed on crustaceans and small fish, based on the small size of its teeth. Find out which creatures belonged in this group, how they grew to incredible sizes, and how they've captivated both scientists and storytellers alike. In 2003, however, a team discovered that the color was a result of oxidized iron. What if we could clean them out? More info. Even more worrying to scientists beyond the cavern's existing is how quickly it appeared. Guy Williams in a statement. The cavern sits where nearly 14 billion tons of ice used to be, all of which melted in the last few years. True to their name, the Antarctic Icefish lives in the icy cold waters of the Arctic and has icy-looking blood to match. I'm a fun-loving blogger and coach from New Zealand, living in the south of Albania! formed in Antarctica, just as they have on adjacent continents once connected to Antarctica, but be-cause nearly 98 percent of the continent is covered by ice, few mineral deposits are likely to be exposed. The geologists used hot-water equipment to drill the borehole through more than half a mile of the ice shelf, on the southern edge of Antarctica's Weddell Sea. The roughly 5,000-year-old human remains were found in graves from the Yamnaya culture, and the discovery may partially explain their rapid expansion throughout Europe. But it wouldnt be AS exciting if they didnt also discover massive dinosaur bones, such as from the mosasaurus. Mining is illegal in Antarctica due to the Antarctic Treaty. In the icy badlands of Alberta, paleontologists have found a "frozen dragon": a new genus of pterosaur that once soared over the heads of dinosaurs with a wingspan that stretched at least 16. (GiMa38 / CC BY-SA 4.0 ) Accounts of Reptilian Monsters in Modern-Day New Guinea . In Thwaites case, that radar uncovered a gigantic cavern between the glacier itself and the bedrock below it. When does spring start? A mans world? The bones bear scratches and an embedded tooth that appear to be from a scavenger, most likely a relative of Velociraptor. These underwater terrors can grow up to have a leg span of 25 centimeters. Over 14,000 meteorites have been found in the Sahara Desert of northern Africa, most since 1995, mainly by nomads and private collectors. Heres how it works. With its ends broken off, that vertebra had avoided identification for years: Paleontologists had even once tentatively described it as a leg bone. In comparison, the Eiffel Tower is 987-feet tall. How did this mountain lion reach an uninhabited island? I am a big fan of the movie The Thing, which presented us with a fictional but horrifying alien. It's a rare sight, but that's in part because winter inAntarctica is a bitch and there aren't many people hanging around throwing parties. "It looked like a loaf of bread, with a bulge at the top and narrow slope at the bottom," Stevens said. Live Science is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Dragon skin occurs when strong "katabatic" winds downslope winds that exist only over icy regions continually lift the polynya's surface ice, subsequently freezing the water below, according. This genus, found in the Southern Hemisphere, is characterized by shorter necks and larger skulls. Nearly 42,000 meteorites have been found in Antarctica by government funded expeditions, mainly by the U.S. and Japan. Cavan Images via Getty Images. Eco-friendly burial alternatives, explained. How did this mountain lion reach an uninhabited island? Not according to biology or history. Thanks to this nearly Manhattan-size gap in the ice, the entire glacier along with the surrounding ice sheet will likely disappear much more quickly. Called " the ugliest creature beneath the waves ," the scotoplanes (scientific name) are what you get when you combine the terror of Cthulhu with the plump, pink and short-legged appearance of a piglet. Taissa Rodrigues, a paleontologist at Brazils Federal University of Esprito Santo who wasnt involved with the study, says that taking thin sections of Cryodrakon bones could reveal how the pterosaur grew from hatchling to adult. When did Democrats and Republicans switch platforms? With 170 of its 300-odd bones preserved, this scientifically important but privately owned skeleton is currently at the Museum fr Naturkunde in Berlin, Germany. The different colorings can actually be simply explained as frozen meltwater (blue), sediment (black) or algae (green) that were trapped while the iceberg was forming. It was discovered by the British Antarctic Expedition of 1910-1913. And their immense patience in waiting for a meal to come to them. When flying over whats now Texas, the creatures wingspan stretched more than 30 feet. An. This cycle produces 10 times more than the average amount of sea ice formed in the coastal polynyas, Williams said. Bryozoans found in the habitat. H.P. The roughly 5,000-year-old human remains were found in graves from the Yamnaya culture, and the discovery may partially explain their rapid expansion throughout Europe. She has previously reported for Mother Jones, the Reporter's Committee for Freedom of the Press, Neon Tommy and more.