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Someone call Guinness: The world’s smallest dinosaur has been found preserved in Burmese amber from Myanmar.
Trapped around 99 million years ago, the delicate skull—tinier even than the smallest living bird—belongs to a new species, Oculudentavis khaungraae, or “eye-tooth-bird.”
Nicknamed “The Cretaceous Terror of Insects,” Oculudentavis refers to the creature’s unusual features: large eyes and loads of teeth, suggesting that despite its size, the bird was a diurnal predator.
“Animals that become very small have to deal with specific problems, like how to fit all sensory organs into a very small head, or how to maintain body heat,” according to lead study author Jingmai O’Connor.
This process, called miniaturization, commonly occurs in isolated environments, most famously islands—like the one this 99-million-year-old Burmese amber is thought to have come from.
Unfortunately, the new specimen consists of only a skull, making it difficult to understand how Oculudentavis is related to other animals. Some features are similar to dinosaurs, while others are more like advanced birds.
“It’s the weirdest fossil I’ve ever been lucky enough to study,” O’Connor, a senior professor with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and research associate at LA’s Natural History Museum (NHM), said in a statement. “I just love how natural selection ends up producing such bizarre forms.
“We are also super lucky this fossil survived to be discovered 99 million years later,” she continued. “Just goes to show the extraordinary circumstances that all need to be just right for fossils to make it into human hands.”
Skull reconstruction of Oculudentavis (via Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County)
Eight specimens of ancient dinosaur birds were previously found in amber, all smaller than traditional fossils preserved in rock.
The petrified tree resin is a unique preservational mode, capturing otherwise unfossilizable parts of ecosystems for discovery centuries later.
“This discovery highlights how ancient amber has the ability to provide information about organisms that are otherwise absent in the fossil record,” Luis Chiappe, senior vice president of research and collections at NHM, explained. “This is particularly the case for tiny animals that lived in trees.”
Tiny animals like Oculudentavis khaungraae, whose full name honors Khaung Ra, who donated the specimen to the Hupoge Amber Museum in China.
A paper describing the hummingbird-sized dinosaur was published this week in the journal Nature.
More on Geek.com:
Someone call Guinness: The world’s smallest dinosaur has been found preserved in Burmese amber from Myanmar.
Trapped around 99 million years ago, the delicate skull—tinier even than the smallest living bird—belongs to a new species, Oculudentavis khaungraae, or “eye-tooth-bird.”
Nicknamed “The Cretaceous Terror of Insects,” Oculudentavis refers to the creature’s unusual features: large eyes and loads of teeth, suggesting that despite its size, the bird was a diurnal predator.
“Animals that become very small have to deal with specific problems, like how to fit all sensory organs into a very small head, or how to maintain body heat,” according to lead study author Jingmai O’Connor.
This process, called miniaturization, commonly occurs in isolated environments, most famously islands—like the one this 99-million-year-old Burmese amber is thought to have come from.
Unfortunately, the new specimen consists of only a skull, making it difficult to understand how Oculudentavis is related to other animals. Some features are similar to dinosaurs, while others are more like advanced birds.
“It’s the weirdest fossil I’ve ever been lucky enough to study,” O’Connor, a senior professor with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and research associate at LA’s Natural History Museum (NHM), said in a statement. “I just love how natural selection ends up producing such bizarre forms.
“We are also super lucky this fossil survived to be discovered 99 million years later,” she continued. “Just goes to show the extraordinary circumstances that all need to be just right for fossils to make it into human hands.”
Skull reconstruction of Oculudentavis (via Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County)
Eight specimens of ancient dinosaur birds were previously found in amber, all smaller than traditional fossils preserved in rock.
The petrified tree resin is a unique preservational mode, capturing otherwise unfossilizable parts of ecosystems for discovery centuries later.
“This discovery highlights how ancient amber has the ability to provide information about organisms that are otherwise absent in the fossil record,” Luis Chiappe, senior vice president of research and collections at NHM, explained. “This is particularly the case for tiny animals that lived in trees.”
Tiny animals like Oculudentavis khaungraae, whose full name honors Khaung Ra, who donated the specimen to the Hupoge Amber Museum in China.
A paper describing the hummingbird-sized dinosaur was published this week in the journal Nature.
More on Geek.com:
- Case Closed: The Mystery of the Dinosaur Tracks on the Cave Ceiling
- Curate a Mini Museum With Lego’s New Dinosaur Fossils
- Scientists Uncover New Evidence of Asteroid That Killed Dinosaurs
On an especially scary night in the real world, what better time could there be for a Nancy Drew ghost story? It’s Nancy’s dad’s hearing today, which of course is the perfect time for an evil spirit to send her an omen. For now, she has to ignore that and search for evidence exonerating her dad. Her lab tech friend is in town to examine Lucy’s bones, and Nancy herself is going through Lucy’s old case files. She calls Lucy for help with an exasperated plea. Lucy obliges and points her toward’s the pantry. Nancy called on a jump scare for help. It’s a nice bit of horror-comedy to begin the episode. And hey, it leads to an intriguing new clue. The murder weapon was one of her mom’s favorite steak knives. That means that foreign female DNA found with Lucy’s remains could be Nancy’s mother’s.
With that, Nancy joins the investigation at The Claw. They don’t get much time to examine the bones, though. The cops show up with a warrant to investigate the place. Ace and the lab tech try to escape out the back, but there are cop cars there too. They have to hide in the walk-in. No chance the cops will want to search that, right? This episode doesn’t go all the way into farce, but there are definitely elements there. The show does it well. Maybe it should add a little comedy every once in a while. The lighter tone of these scenes adds a welcome balance to Nancy’s murder mystery.
Alex Saxon as Ace, Maddison Jaizani as Bess and Kennedy McMann as Nancy — Photo: The CW
Speaking of, Nancy figures out that Ryan didn’t write the last email sent to Lucy. Ryan normally used single spaces after periods, while that email used double spaces. You know, like an old person would do. Nancy finds Ryan, asking him to help her figure out what really happened that night. She doesn’t think he killed Lucy anymore, but his dad’s not looking so clean. Ryan reveals their usual meeting spot was actually an ice cream shop. They check it out, and find that nothing’s changed in 20 years. Including the girl working the counter. She remembers Lucy coming there on the day she died. She had won Sea Queen, but looked depressed. She kept writing in a journal, and looking for someone. When she left, a car started tailing her. Ryan’s dad’s car.
So this is the part of the murder mystery where every clue just leads Nancy to someone else, who leads her to someone else. Ryan’s dad says he just gave Lucy a ride home and told her to stay away from his son. At her home, he saw Karen. The same one now in jail for trying to kill Ryan. Karen was the last person to see Lucy alive. Nancy questions Karen, who says she switched the ballot boxes to get Lucy elected Sea Queen. She thought it would cheer her up, but it only started rumors that Lucy had slept her way to winning. This town has always had a problem with slut shaming, it seems. Karen is the only person who actually gives Nancy a useful piece of evidence. When she arrived home, she had her journal with her. She left home without it, but no one could ever find it.
Tunji Kasim as Nick, Scott Wolf as Carson Drew, Alex Saxon as Ace and Maddison Jaizani as Bess — Photo: The CW
Nancy and Ryan search Lucy’s old house, and the ghost immediately gets more hostile. For some reason, she really doesn’t want Nancy finding her journal. Nancy persists anyway, despite some real scary aggressive ghost business happening inside the house. Ryan wants to leave after Lucy screams and throws a curtain at them, but Nancy searches further in. She finds a hole in the wall, covered up by wallpaper. Lucy’s journal is inside. She reads the final entry and at once has the evidence to exonerate her dad and knows why Lucy didn’t want her finding it. She runs to the courtroom to read the evidence at her dad’s trial. Lucy had stolen the knife from the Drews’ house and went to the cliff to kill herself.
Carson Drew is exonerated, but the mystery isn’t over yet. Lucy is still haunting Nancy and she doesn’t know why. That is until her DNA test gets back. The show doesn’t tell us the results just yet. Instead, Nancy confronts her dad to get the full story. It turns out the night of the Sea Queen Festival, he and his wife got a desperate call from Lucy. They met her at the cliff to find that she was giving birth. The state of her bones indicated a recent childbirth as well. That’s why Lucy wanted Nancy to find them. Carson used the steak knife to cut the umbilical cord, and Lucy asked them to make sure their baby was taken care of. Then, as they took the baby, they turned their backs for a second, and Lucy went over the cliff. Whether she slipped or jumped, they don’t know. And yes, by now, you’ve definitely figured out who that baby was. Nancy is the daughter of Ryan Hudson and Lucy Sable.
Leah Lewis as George and Tunji Kasim as Nick — Photo: Kailey Schwerman/The CW
So that’s a big bombshell to leave us with for the next three weeks. The show’s two biggest mysteries are solved, and there’s still just under a quarter of a season left to go. Just because the mystery’s solved doesn’t mean the story’s over. What’s Ryan going to do when he finds out he has a daughter? And that Nancy’s her? Then there’s the new detective taking charge of the Horseshoe Bay police department. He’s especially suspicious of the crew at the Claw now that he’s found a piece of skull in the kitchen. I’m guessing he’s not going to buy the explanation of “An evil spirit gave it to us.” And of course, there’s Nick and George. After an episode of bickering and nervous sexual tension, they finally kissed. They’re adorable together and I love them. They’re part of what makes Nancy Drew work so well. The show combines a good mystery with the most addictive ingredients of trashy teen drama. There’s no more mystery (for now) but I’m hooked nonetheless. I need to see what happens in three weeks.
Nancy Drew airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on The CW.
Previously on Nancy Drew:
- Nancy Drew Season 1 Episode 15 recap
- Nancy Drew Season 1 Episode 14 recap
- Nancy Drew Season 1 Episode 13 recap
COVID-19 has brought much of the world to a screeching halt, including your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Sony has delayed the release date for the third Spider-Man film, pushing it from July 16, 2021 to November 5, 2021. Naturally, this shifts dates for the Marvel Cinematic Universe as well. Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was set for that November date, and has since been pushed to March 25, 2022.
On the plus side, the highly anticipated Thor: Love and Thunder is now pushed a week earlier, to February 11, 2022. In addition, Into the Spider-Verse 2 is being pushed to October 7, 2022. Fans will have to wait a little bit longer to return to the MCU, and to new movies in general.
Given the quarantine, it’s unknown when Hollywood will go back to work. After all, film sets are just large groups of people congregating in tight spaces, so it may be a while before we see any new films or television series. It’s a good thing we’re in the midst of a content surplus, because we have plenty of films/series/quibis to tide us over until the Avengers re-assemble.
Still, it’s hard to know how much content studios already have in the can that has yet to be released. And once everything gets back to some semblance of normality, there’s no telling how and when these films will be released. While it’s been nice to catch up on everything from the couch, we’re looking forward to a time when we can return to movie theaters and see stories on the big screen.
(via io9, image: Marvel Entertainment)
- Everyone loved seeing Brad Pitt as Dr. Fauci on SNL at Home. (via AVClub)
- Captain Marvel should obviously be leading the Avengers, am I right? (via CBR)
- Sebastian Stan as Dracula? Directed by Karyn Kusama? Yes please! (via Collider)
- Watch out for drunk, dessert-stealing lizards in your back yard.
- Check out this early style guide for The Simpsons characters. (via /Film)
- Dave Chappelle hosts fundraiser for Comedy Store employees with fellow comics. (via EW)
- These dolphins know how to party! (via Jezebel)
- Big Poppa the bulldog is all of us during quarantine:
This Snakey looking fellow is an alligator lizard, who seems to be living in our tomatoes. And apparently, every night this week, has been feasting on drunken pill bugs, washing it down with Coors, and dragging the cups into the blueberries for dessert. pic.twitter.com/bSu9qewFG3
— Jessica Ellis (@baddestmamajama) April 25, 2020
Big Poppa has been so sad today, I think he miss playing with the kids in the building. He just watches them from the patio pic.twitter.com/gVooqvZ5oI
— Rae Elle (@RaeElle) April 22, 2020
Hope you’re having a Super Sunday, Mary Suevians!
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America’s sweethearts Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson tested positive for coronavirus.
The actor announced their diagnoses via Instagram, posting an image of a discarded glove in a hazmat bin (continuing his long-running motif of abandoned accessories).
Writing from Australia, where Hanks is filming Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Presley movie, he said the pair “felt a bit tired, like we had colds, and some body aches.”
“Rita had some chills that came and went. Slight fevers, too,” the photo caption said. “To play things right, as is needed in the world right now, we were tested for the coronavirus, and were found to be positive.
“Well, now. What to do next? The medical officials have protocols that must be followed. We Hanks will be tested, observed, and isolated for as long as public health and safety requires,” he continued. “Not much more to it than a one-day-at-a-time approach, no?”
Shooting for Luhrmann’s as-yet-unnamed biopic began early this year, with Hanks as Col. Tom Parker, the iconic manager of Elvis Presley, played by Austin Butler.
In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, a Warner Bros. spokesperson confirmed preproduction of the film has been halted since a “company member … who tested positive for COVID-19 is currently receiving treatment.”
Wilson, meanwhile, has been performing songs from her new album “Halfway to Home” across Australia; she sang at Brisbane’s Emporium Hotel on March 5, and made her Sydney Opera House debut over the weekend.
She previously postponed a series of concerts with Sugarland’s Kristian Bush on U.S. military bases in South Korea.
Don’t worry, though: Hanks and Wilson are “not trippin'” about this whole ordeal.
Son Chet Hanks took to social media on Wednesday to confirm the news and thank his followers for their concern.
“Yeah, it’s true my parents got coronavirus. Crazy,” a shirtless Chet said in his video message. “I just got off the phone with them. They both are fine. They’re not even that sick. They’re not worried about it. They’re not trippin’, but they’re going through the necessary health precautions, obviously.
Tom Hanks’ eldest son, Colin, also tweeted an update this week.
More on Geek.com:
- Politicians Who Mocked Coronavirus Fears Enter Self-Quarantine
- Website Pairs Hand-Washing Tips With Lyrics From Your Favorite Song
- Bill Gates’ Foundation to Provide Coronavirus Home Testing Kits