We humans are wearily familiar with days and nights which last 24 hours and are mostly filled with hard, hard work.
But the lizard kings which used to rule the planet enjoyed shorter days than their successors, although it remains to be proven whether life as the prey of a T-Rex was any worse than your average office job.
Scientists have revealed that Earth turned faster in the days of the dino, rotating 372 times a year and therefore reducing one day to just 23 and a half hours
This discovery was made by analysing fossilised mollusc shells belonging to a naughty-sounding species called the rudist clam, which laid down ‘growth rings’ on a daily basis. De Winter’s count found 372 rings for each year.
‘We can basically look at a day 70 million years ago. It’s pretty amazing,’ said Niels de Winter, an analytical geochemist at Vrije Universiteit Brussel and the lead author of the new study.
The length of a year has been constant throughout Earth’s history because our orbit around the sun does not change.
But the number of days within a year has been shortening over time as days have grown longer. This is caused by friction from ocean tides caused by the Moon’s gravity which slows Earth’s rotation.
So next time you’re stuck late at work, slaving away on some task or other, blame the moon for giving such long days and nights.
Scientists recently discovered an ancient cousins of the Tyrannosaurs Rex in Alberta, Canada and named it the ‘Reaper of Death’.
‘We are thrilled to announce the first new species of tyrannosaur to be discovered in Canada in 50 years,’ said Dr François Therrien, Curator of Dinosaur Palaeoecology at the Royal Tyrrell Museum.
Tyrannosaurs were a group of large predatory dinosaurs which ran around on two legs and feasted on their victims’ flesh.
‘This discovery is significant because it fills in a gap in our understanding of tyrannosaur evolution,’ added Dr Therrien.
‘Thanatotheristes provides scientists with insights into the tyrannosaur family tree.’
At roughly 79.5 million years old, Thanatotheristes is 2.5 million years older than its closest relative.
The name of the new tyrannosaur is Thanatotheristes degrootorum, which reflects its role as an apex predator and was inspired by Thanatos, the Greek god of death. and the word ‘theristes’, which means a person who reaps or harvests.
John De Groot, a farmer and palaeontology enthusiast, found the fossil skull fragments while hiking.
‘The jawbone was an absolutely stunning find. We knew it was special because you could clearly see the fossilized teeth,’ he said.
His surname inspired the second part of the monster’s name,
Sandra De Groot added: ‘John always said that one day he would find a dinosaur skull. Finding the jaw was exciting. Hearing that it is a new species, and seeing it given our family name, was beyond belief.’
“This discovery is significant because it fills in a gap in our understanding of tyrannosaur evolution,” said Dr. Therrien. Thanatotheristes provides scientists with insights into the tyrannosaur family tree, and shows that tyrannosaurs from the Cretaceous of Alberta were more diverse than previously known.
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