Proceratosaurus, T. rexÂs earliest ancestor (in Czech)
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Spanish fossils offer insight into how birds learned to fly (in Spanish)
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Calls for study on protection of "Valley of the Dinosaurs" in Brazil and preventing illegal export of fossils (in Portuguese)
Venà sugere ao Ministro da Cultura realizaÃÃo de estudos para preservaÃÃo do Vale dos Dinossauros
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Messel Pit digs still on hold (I posted this on the vrt-paleo list)
An update on the current halt to scientific digs in the Eocene Messel Pit, classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site back in 1995. The government ministry halted all digs last year to 'evaluate' the situation in light of the UNESCO status. No digs were permitted in 2017, the first time there was no work at the site in 40 years. The normal start of scientific digs at Messel would be April, but now a decision to permit new trial digs may be not made until at least May. The halt may be having on effect on the local economy, which gets income from tourism to the site. (in German)
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The biggest amphibian (Mastodonsaurus) (in Russian)
(More recent work favors a longer, more powerful tail than shown in the older diagram of the skeleton of Mastodonsaurus; the top photo of a restored cast shows the longer tail.)