New dinosaur rears head in Dinosaur National Monument

A team of paleontologists from Dinosaur National Monument, Brigham Young University, and the University of Michigan have announced the discovery of a new, large, plant-eating dinosaur, Abydosaurus mcintoshi, (pronounced Ab-id-o-saurus mak-in-toshi). The discovery is described this week in the on-line first section of the science journal Naturwissenschaften.

The fossil remains were excavated from the 105-million-year-old Cedar Mountain Formation in Dinosaur National Monument. The new find contains rare and spectacular fossils, including the only complete sauropod skull in the entire Western Hemisphere from the last 80 million years of the Age of Dinosaurs.

“Because skulls are made up of many thin and fragile bones they are easily destroyed and rarely preserved. So although more than 120 species of sauropods have been discovered across the globe, complete skulls are extremely rare.” said Dr. Dan Chure, paleontologist at Dinosaur. “However, skulls are complex structures that provide a great deal of information about the dinosaur’s biology and evolution, so they are extremely important. You can hardly overstate the significance of these fossils.”

“Discovering a complete sauropod skull is remarkable. I've been collecting dinosaurs since the age of 14, and these complete skulls are the most spectacular fossils I've had the opportunity to work on” said BYU researcher Brooks Britt. “All the Abydosaurus fossils we have collected to date are juveniles, only a mere 25 feet or so in length. How large a fully adult individual was is unknown but it was certainly much larger.”

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN researcher Jeff Wilson and his graduate student John Whitlock studied the feeding adaptations of Abydosaurus. Wilson noted that “Sauropods, one of the most diverse and long lived lineages of dinosaurs, are surprising in that they show none of the adaptations seen in other plant-eating dinosaurs, such as beaks for slicing or cheeks to hold in food while chewing. Yet in spite of the lack of any specializations, they were around for 150 million years and are the largest land dwelling animals in the history of life.” Whitlock added, “Abydosaurus is from a time period when titanosauriform sauropods began to develop a slimmer tooth shape from the broader teeth of their ancestors. This change in tooth shape is related to changes in diet in a way we are only just beginning to understand, in part because we haven't always had the fossils to tell the whole story. Abydosaurus is the right dinosaur at the right time to answer some of these questions."

This announcement is the result of a several years of research, beginning with excavations started in the late 1990s. The site contains not just one individual but the remains of a group of sauropods, at least four individuals and likely more since additional fossils are still in the ground. Most parts of the skeleton are present:  neck and tail vertebrae, shoulder blades, pelvis, arms, legs, hands, feet, and four skulls --- two complete and two incomplete.

Loaded firearms soon to be okay in many National Parks

Will you soon see a tourist with a six-shooter on his hip alongside other tourists at Mather Point overlooking the Grand Canyon? It's entire possible.

Beginning February 22, 2010 a new gun law will go into effect in America's national park areas. The new law, passed last spring by an bipartisan vote in the U.S. Senate, will allow people to possess, carry and transport firearms in national parks, in accordance with state law. The new law repeals a National Park Service rule that has long prohibited Americans from possessing firearms in national parks for self-defense.

Many details remain to be worked out. Reports indicate that National Park Service officials are debating issues such as the definition of “federal facilities,” where firearms will remain prohibited under a different federal law. 

To illustrate its objections to this new law, the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees (CNPSR) issued a press release voicing its opposition to the new law. The group cities the heightened risk for rangers and the increased likelihood that wildlife — as well as natural and historical monuments — will become irresistible targets.

Bill Wade, chair of CNPSR's Executive Council and former superintendent of Shenandoah National Park said, "This is a sad chapter in the history of America's premier system of heritage areas. The law will have a chilling effect on how visitors behave in national parks. A feeling of safety and security will be replaced by wariness and suspicion. This diminishes some of the 'specialness and reverence' our citizens have long accorded to their national parks."

While many states, and therefore the national park areas in them, will soon allow individuals to openly carry firearms, most states are much more restrictive about concealed-carry, and most require a permit to do so. Visitors with a permit from one state may or may not be able to carry a concealed gun into a national park in another state, depending on reciprocity agreements. Similarly, visitors who have "long guns" in vehicle racks traveling from a park in one state to a park in another state will have to understand the differing state requirements.

Supporters
Last May, Chris W. Cox, chief lobbyist for the NRA, said the new gun measure protects every American's Second Amendment rights and also protects the rights of states to pass laws that apply to their entire state, including public lands. Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn, who inserted the gun amendment into a credit card bill, noted that "Visitors to national parks should have the right to defend themselves in accordance with the laws of their states."

Mark Chester, an editor with the National Rifle Association wrote, "Records prove that Americans with Right-to-Carry licenses are among the most law-abiding citizens in our country. In fact, that’s true in every state that has passed a Right-to-Carry law in the last 20 years. Also, those same citizens now legally carrying firearms in national parks have long been carrying their guns in a variety of public places outside the parks -- places where they stood side by side with pro-gun and anti-gun citizens alike on a daily basis without those people even being aware they were armed."

NPS officials are expected to issue further information as February 22 approaches, and some parks have already published information on their new policies. Because state laws vary greatly, before you visit a national park, you should check the park’s website or call the park headquarters for more information.

If you wish to comment on this article, please do so. But no name calling, flaming or foul language. Those posts will be deleted. Thank you.

* * *
The 2010 Travelers Guide to Firearm Laws is the definitive source of state-by-state gun laws in the United States

See firearm related products at Amazon.com

60 National Parks offer night skies programs in 2010

Last year, 2009, was designated as the International Year of Astronomy, four hundred years after Galileo first studied the night skies with his telescope. Thousands of people also discovered the night skies in programs at our national parks.

The National Park Service (NPS) is predicting that tens of thousands more will also discover the night skies through their Astronomy Night at the Park programs at sixty national parks in 2010.

Learn more from the dark skies Web site, with tips on lighting, energy conservation, posters, post cards, measuring the night sky, and information on how light pollution affects animals.

Check out the dark skies programs for the various national parks on their individual Web sites or go to the main NPS Web site for further information.

Earthquakes still shaking Yellowstone

Earthquakes continue to rumble in Yellowstone National Park. Over the past two weeks about 100 small earthquakes a day have scientists scratching their chins.

Though scientists say that the quakes are more a curiosity than a cause for alarm and are not an indication of a bigger quake to come. However, they are closely monitoring and analyzing the data from the quake zone, which is about ten miles northwest of the Old Faithful geyser in an isolated area not near any road or community.

From January 17 through Sunday, January 31, 1,608 earthquakes had been recorded. As earthquake clusters go, this current cluster is second to the 1985 cluster when 3,000 quakes were recorded over three months.

Since the Haiti earthquake, interest in earthquakes has peaked, says the U.S. Geological Survey, with visits to their Earthquake Hazards Program website increasing five times since the quake, to more than one million visits per day.

Yosemite cable trail permit now required

Yosemite National Park officials said Friday that because of crowds and concerns for safety, a permit will be required to climb the popular cable route to the top of Half Dome from Friday through Sunday and holidays.

In 2008 about 84,000 people took the cable route and one person died and another was severely injured.

Starting in May, park officials will limit climbers to 400 per day. On many days there have been well over 1,000 climbers. Permits will be available at reservation.gov or by calling (877) 444-6777. Though free, a service charge of $1.50 will be charged for each permit.