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Life restoration of Allosaurus fragilis.

There have been a number of potential species assigned to Allosaurus, a carnosaurian dinosaur, since its description in 1877 by Othniel Charles Marsh, but only a handful are still regarded as valid. Allosaurus was originally described from material from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of the western United States of America; the type species A. fragilis became one of the best-known species of dinosaur. The genus Allosaurus was part of the Marsh/Edward Drinker Cope "Bone Wars" of the late 1800s, and its taxonomy became increasingly confused due to the competition, with several genera and species named by Cope and Marsh now regarded as synonyms of Allosaurus or A. fragilis. Since the description of Allosaurus, scientists have proposed additional species from such far-flung locales as Portugal, Siberia, Switzerland, and Tanzania, Australia and unnamed remains from China have also been assigned to the genus at one time or another. It is unclear how many species of Allosaurus there were. Seven species have been considered potentially valid since 1988. There are also at least ten dubious or undescribed species that have been assigned to Allosaurus over the years, along with the species belonging to genera now sunk into Allosaurus. (Read more...)

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From The Fossil Wiki's newest articles:

Acrocanthosaurus atokensis head

• ... that in 2005, an Acrocanthosaurus skull (pictured) was CT scanned, proving that Acrocanthosaurus was a carcharodontosaurid?
• ... that Irritator is only known from a skull that was badly obscured by plaster which was added by the commercial fossil-collecting fossil-poachers who illegally sold it in hopes of making the fossil look more complete and valuable?
• ... that rhynchosaurs had unique teeth that were modified into broad tooth plates?
• ... that a trackway produced by an unknown crocodyliform that measured approximately 12 meters in length was uncovered in the Galve region of Spain?
• ... that Loxommatids are possibly the first tetrapodomorph group to actually spend substantial time on land.?
• ... that Zuniceratops was discovered by 8 year old Christopher James Wolfe, son of paleontologist Douglas G. Wolfe?

Paleontologist of the Month

Paul Sereno

Paul Sereno is an American paleontologist who is the discoverer of several new dinosaur species on several continents. He has conducted excavations at sites as varied as Inner Mongolia, Argentina, Morocco and Niger. He is a professor at the University of Chicago and a National Geographic "explorer-in-residence." Sereno's most widely publicized discovery is that of a nearly complete specimen of Sarcosuchus imperator (popularly known as SuperCroc) at Gadoufaoua in the Tenere desert of Niger. Other major discoveries include Eoraptor - the oldest known dinosaur fossil, Jobaria, the first good skull of Carcharodontosaurus iguidensis, Afrovenator, Suchomimus and the African pterosaur. (Read more...)

2009 In the News                                • Suggest a news item • Life restoration of Tianyuraptor. A new species of Eobaatar, a Cretaceous mammal, is described in the journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. Tianyuraptor (pictured), a new genus of short-armed dromaeosaurid dinosaur, is described from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation in China. Research at Virginia Tech has shown that the oldest complex life forms – living in nutrient-rich oceans more than 540 million years ago – . Nanostructures preserved in feather fossils more than 40 million years old show evidence that those feathers were once . The hair-like filaments found in pterosaurs are officially described as pycnofibers. A from the scientific journal Lethaia suggests that theropod dinosaurs , as opposed to fully grown adults. A new analysis of the remains of a Tyrannosaurus rex has confirmed traces of protein from blood and bone, tendons, or cartilage. Newly described remains of the stem-group mammal Suminia are announced which indicate that it was aboreal and had opposable, grasping thumbs. Random Featured Quote (Refresh) "Fossilized brains are unusual, and this is by far the oldest known example." —John Maisey, Curator in the Division of Paleontology at the AMNH describing the discovery of the oldest known fossil brain. Community                                           About • FAQ • The Field Site Community To-Do List Place all uncategorized images into the Image Category. Create some wanted articles. The goal for the number of pages to be created by the end of August is 5,500 articles. There are currently 8,476 articles. Weigh in at the recent Featured article nominations. Add an item here!

==Explore the prehistoric world==

4567.17 Ma - Precambrian era - 542 Ma
3800 Ma - Archean eon - 2500 Ma				2500 Ma - Proterozoic eon - 542 Ma
3800 Ma - Archean eon - 2500 Ma				2600 Ma - Paleoproterozoic era - 1600 Ma				1600 Ma - Mesoproterozoic era - 1000 Ma			1000 Ma - Neoproterozoic era - 542 Ma
Eoarchean	Paleoarchean	Mesoarchean	Neoarchean	Siderian	Rhyacian	Orosirian	Statherian	Calymmian	Ectasian	Stenian	Tonian	Cryogenian	Ediacaran

542 Ma - Phanerozoic eon - Present
542 Ma - Paleozoic era - 251 Ma						251 Ma - Mesozoic era - 65 Ma			65 Ma - Cenozoic era - Present
Cambrian	Ordovician	Silurian	Devonian	Carboniferous	Permian	Triassic	Jurassic	Cretaceous	Paleogene	Neogene	Quaternary

Random Featured Image (Refresh) Tianyulong (named for the Shandong Tianyu Museum of Nature where the holotype fossil (STMN 26-3) is housed) is a genus of basal heterodontosaurid ornithischian dinosaur. The fossil represents a sub-adult individual, approximately 1 meter long. It is notable for the row of long, filamentous integumentary structures apparent on the back, tail and neck of the fossil. The similarity of these structures with those found on some derived theropods suggests their homology with feathers and raises the possibility that the earliest dinosaurs and their ancestors were covered with analogous dermal filamentous structures that can be considered as primitive feathers (proto-feathers).

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• Careers in Paleontology • • The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology •
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