Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Scientists discover oldest dinosaur yet | Reduction

Scientists discover oldest dinosaur yet

[Bone] : Humerus removed from right arm of John F. Claghorn,...
[Bone] : Humerus removed from right arm of John F. Claghorn,... by New York Public Library
License (according to Flickr): No known copyright restrictions
Excerpt:

Artist rendering of Nyasasaurus parringtoni, either the earliest dinosaur or the closest dinosaur relative yet discovered. Nyasasaurus parringtoni was up to 10 feet long and weighed perhaps 135 pounds. Natural History Museum, London/Mark Witton The fossilized humerus of the oldest dinosaur yet discovered is about 5 inches long, and scientist estimate it would have been about 6 inches long in the living animal. Natural History Museum The many colors in a cross section of the upper arm bone of Nyasasaurus parringtoni indicate that the bone fibers are disorganized, much like those of early dinosaurs. Natural History Museum Bones of Nyasasaurus parringtoni were collected in southwest Tanzania in the 1930s from the Manda beds, which preserves fossils of many animals from the Triassic Period of Earth's history.

People:

Sterling Nesbitt

Overall Sentiment: -0.0375879

Relevance: 0.815978

SentimentQuote
0"If the newly named  Nyasasaurus parringtoni  is not the earliest dinosaur, then it is the closest relative found so far," Nesbitt said. ...
-0.29375"For 150 years, people have been suggesting that there should be Middle Triassic dinosaurs, but all the evidence is ambiguous," Nesbitt said. ...
-0.20035"For 150 years, people have been suggesting that there should be Middle Triassic dinosaurs, but all the evidence is ambiguous," Nesbitt said. "Some scientists used fossilized footprints, but we now know that other animals from that time have a very similar foot. Other scientists pointed to a single dinosaur-like characteristic in a single bone, but that can be misleading because some characteristics evolved in a number of reptile groups and are not a result of a shared ancestry."
0.394749"What's really neat about this specimen is that it has a lot of history. Found in the '30s, first described in the 1950s but never published, then its name pops up but is never validated. Now 80 years later, we're putting it all together," Nesbitt said. ...
Sentiment Stats:
  • Number of Quotes: 4
  • Aggregate Sentiment: -0.099351
  • Mean: -0.02483775
  • Standard Deviation: 1.4142135623731

Nyasasaurus parringtoni

Overall Sentiment: 0

Relevance: 0.691598

Nyasasaurus

Overall Sentiment: 0.0479817

Relevance: 0.329581

Manda

Overall Sentiment: 0

Relevance: 0.297653

Sarah Werning

Overall Sentiment: -0.0266431

Relevance: 0.29289

Paul Barrett

Overall Sentiment: 0

Relevance: 0.284898

SentimentQuote
0.0408648"The new findings place the early evolution of dinosaurs and dinosaur-like reptiles firmly in the southern continents," said co-author Paul Barrett ...
Sentiment Stats:
  • Number of Quotes: 1
  • Aggregate Sentiment: 0.0408648
  • Mean: 0.0408648
  • Standard Deviation: 1.4142135623731

Key:

  • Aggregate Sentiment is meant to be an indicator of an individual's overall sentiment.
  • The Mean is meant to be an indicator of an individual's average comment sentiment.
  • The Standard Deviation, when there are enough quotes, will indicate an individual's consistency of sentiment (i.e. a Standard Deviation of 0 would mean they were very consistent in their sentiment and 1 would mean they were very inconsistent).

Note that quote stats are likely to be meaningless beyond the aggregate score due to the tiny sample size. However, they are always provided just in case you find something useful there.

Additional Info:

Organization: University of Washington

Overall Sentiment: 0.127868

Relevance: 0.360556

Country: Tanzania

Overall Sentiment: -0.131077

Relevance: 0.752567

Disambiguation: Location | GovernmentalJurisdiction | BoardMemberReferences:

Facility: History Museum

Overall Sentiment: -0.104903

Relevance: 0.488948

Facility: animal.Natural History Museum

Overall Sentiment: 0

Relevance: 0.448754

Facility: Natural History Museum

Overall Sentiment: 0

Relevance: 0.447355

Facility: South African Museum

Overall Sentiment: -0.113286

Relevance: 0.336215

City: London

Overall Sentiment: 0

Relevance: 0.379931

Disambiguation: AdministrativeDivision | GovernmentalJurisdiction | OlympicHostCity | PlaceWithNeighborhoodsReferences:

City: Cape Town

Overall Sentiment: -0.20584

Relevance: 0.302872

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