This microraptor fossil was illegally brought into the U.S. and will be returned to China thanks to the efforts by Carnegie Museum of Natural History working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). It will be exhibited at the Pittsburgh museum for six months, thanks to an agreement signed by Eric Dorfman, Director of Carnegie Museum of Natural History, and Zhang Zhijun, Deputy Chief of the Department of Stratigraphy and Paleontology for the Geological Museum of China. https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-returns-ancient-dinosaur-fossil-ancient-cultural-artifacts-china
fossils
This cast of a fossil of Nemicolopterus crypticus
This cast of a fossil of Nemicolopterus crypticus, one of the smallest pterosaurs, was discovered in northeastern China in 2008. Its fossil skeleton, with its curved toe bones, suggests it could cling to the branches or trunks of trees. Nemicolopterus, about the size of a modern sparrow, may have darted through forests hunting for insects, snapping them up in its toothless jaws.
Learn about N. crypticus and other flying prehistoric creatures when the American Museum of Natural History’s “Pterosaurs: Flight In the Age of Dinosaurs” opens at our museum on Saturday, January 30, 2016. ©AMNH/C. Chesek
Recently Discovered Pterosaur
This recently discovered pterosaur, found in Liaoning Province, China, has a long, straight tail, like most primitive species on the pterosaur evolutionary tree. But it also has some advanced traits, such as relatively long neck vertebrae. Scientists think this pterosaur could be a transitional species, evolving as pterosaur body types started to change.
Want to learn more? Buy tickets to “Pterosaurs: Flight in the Age of Dinosaurs,” opening January 30, 2016: http://pterosaurs.carnegiemnh.org/
Expedition Antarctic: Peninsula Paleontology Project 2016
Expedition Antarctic: Peninsula Paleontology Project 2016
Begins February 2, 2016
With support from the National Science Foundation and the United States Antarctic Program, Matt Lamanna, paleontologist and the principal dinosaur researcher at Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, along with his esteemed team of experts, will conduct a lengthy field expedition to the James Ross Island area of Antarctica from February 2 to March 24, 2016.
This expedition, to be supported by the research vessel RVIB Nathaniel B. Palmer, will be outfitted with Zodiac inflatable boats, a metal-hulled landing craft, and two helicopters that should collectively allow access most or all of our sites of interest. The team consists of 12 scientists, including seven paleontologists, two sedimentologists, and three paleontology graduate students. As a general rule, eight team members will typically be divided between two field camps, while the remaining four conduct short reconnaissance forays to other sites via helicopter or watercraft. Camps will be established at Sandwich Bluff of Vega Island, Ula Point and the Naze of James Ross Island, and possibly one additional area to be determined. Sites to be targeted for reconnaissance or focused collecting include two regions on the north coast of Vega Island, localities on northwestern James Ross Island (e.g., Dreadnought Point, Blancmange Hill), Cape Wiman of Seymour Island, Tesore Hill and (possibly) the Sanctuary Cliffs and Dingle Nunatak of Snow Hill Island, and Cape Marsh of Robertson Island.
Given the resources being allocated to this expedition, and the highly experienced nature of the field team, along with the combination of proven localities with less-explored areas, they expect to make significant paleontological and geological discoveries. In turn, these finds should allow their project to make substantial contributions to scientific understanding of Antarctic faunas and environments during the crucial interval immediately prior to the mass extinction that ended the Age of Dinosaurs.
Read background, bios and blog at