Bipedal butcher

Some 230 million years ago, a crocodilian standing on its back legs at over 9' (3 m) tall vied for food with dinosaurs in what is now North Carolina, U.S. Other smaller animals in the crocodile family – which have survived to this day – were further down on the food chain, the equivalent of foxes. Although its bones were excavated a decade ago, this beast has been identified as a new species and its name translates as "Carolina butcher." Paleontologist Lindsay Zanno of North Carolina State University says, "It was clearly a top predator. That's a niche we didn't know animals like this were filling.”

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Korean carnivore

Previously, paleontologists in South Korea have only found fragments of bones belonging to theropod dinosaurs, but the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage has announced the discovery of the first fully intact specimen (IMAGE ABOVE). The fossil, preserved in a Mesozoic geologic formation in Hadong, is a mere 11" (28 cm) tall, making it one of the smallest dinosaurs to have ever been found in South Korea. It may in fact be a juvenile and may also have a companion fossilized in the 110-120 million-year-old stratum next to it.

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Frozen bison

A team of international researchers led by Natalia Serduk of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow have just completed a necropsy of the most complete frozen mummy of the extinct steppe bison. The bison (ABOVE, MORE PHOTOS HERE) was discovered by Yukagir tribesmen in the Yana-Indigirka Lowland of eastern Siberia. It had died at the end of the last Ice Age, 9,300 years ago, and its excellent preservation allows anatomical comparison with modern and extinct species of bison and cattle. The lack of fat around its abdomen indicates possible starvation. This bison is one of only four of this species found in the world, and one of only two preserved in their frozen state. Paleontologist Olga Potapova of the Mammoth Site of Hot Springs in South Dakota, U.S., explains, "The next steps to be done include further examination of the bison's gross anatomy, and other detailed studies on its histology, parasites, and bones and teeth. We expect that the results of these studies will reveal not only the cause of death of this particular specimen, but also might shed light on the species behavior and causes of its extinction."

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