News
Tyrannosaur’s last meal was two baby dinosaurs
The last meal of a 75-million-year-old Tyrannosaur has been revealed by scientists – two baby Dinosaurs.
Researchers say the preservation of the animal – and of the small, unfortunate creatures it ate – shines new light on how these predators lived.
It is “solid evidence that tyrannosaurs drastically changed their diet as they grew up,” said Dr Darla Zelenitsky, from the University of Calgary.
The specimen is a juvenile Gorgosaurus – a close cousin of the giant T. rex.
This particular Gorgosaur was around seven years old – equivalent to a teenager in terms of its development. It weighed about 330kg when it died – about a tenth of the weight of a fully-grown adult.
The hind limbs of two, small bird-like dinosaurs called Citipes are visible beneath its rib cage.
“We now know that these teenage [Tyrannosaurs] hunted small, young dinosaurs,” said Dr Zelenitsky, one of the lead scientists in this study, which published in the journal Science Advances.
An array of earlier fossil evidence, including evident bite marks on the bones of larger dinosaurs that match tyrannosaur teeth, have allowed scientists to build a picture of how the three-tonne adult Gorgosaurs attacked and ate very large plant-eating dinosaurs which lived in herds.
Dr Francois Therrien, from the Royal Tyrell Museum of Palaeontology, described these adult tyrannosaurs as “quite indiscriminate eaters”. They probably pounced on large prey, “biting through bone and scraping off flesh,” he told BBC News.
But, Dr Zelenitsky, added, “these smaller, immature tyrannosaurs were probably not ready to jump into a group of horned dinosaurs, where the adults weighed thousands of kilograms”.
‘Toes poking through the ribcage’
The fossil was originally discovered in the Alberta Badlands in 2009 – a hotspot for dinosaur hunters.
Entombed in rock, it took years to prepare and it wasn’t immediately obvious that there was prey inside. Staff at Alberta’s Royal Tyrell Museum of Palaeontology eventually noticed small toe-bones sticking out from the ribcage.
“The rock within the ribcage was removed to expose what was hidden inside,” explained Dr Therrien, who is the other lead scientist in this study. “And lo and behold – the complete hind legs of two baby dinosaurs, both under a year old.”
Dr Zelenitsky said that finding only the legs suggested that this teenage Gorgosaurus “seems to have wanted the drumsticks – probably because that’s the meatiest part”.
The Gorgosaurus is a slightly smaller, more ancient species than T. Rex. Fully grown, these were – as Dr Therrien put it – “big, burly tyrannosaurs”.
They transformed as they matured. “Juveniles were much more lightly built – with longer legs and very blade-like teeth,” he explained. “Adults’ teeth are all much rounder – we call them ‘killer bananas’. “This specimen is unique – it’s physical proof of the juveniles’ very different feeding strategy.
While the adults bit and scraped with their powerful “killer banana” teeth, “this animal was selecting and even dissecting its prey – biting off the legs and swallowing them whole”.
Prof Steve Brusatte, a palaeontologist from the University of Edinburgh and the National Museum of Scotland, said that seeing prey in the dinosaur’s guts gave a real insight into the animals: “They weren’t just monsters, they were real, living things and pretty sophisticated feeders.”
Recalling a depiction of T. rex in the 1993 film Jurassic Park – where the giant dinosaur chased a car through the fictional theme park – Prof Brusatte added: “A big, adult T. rex wouldn’t have chased after a car – if cars or jeeps were around back then – its body was too big, and it couldn’t move that fast.
“It would be the youngsters – like this gorgosaur – the children of T. rex that you’d have to keep an eye on.”
(BBC)
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2024 has been awarded to US scientists Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for their work on microRNA.
Their discoveries help explain how complex life emerged on Earth and how the human body is made up of a wide variety of different tissues.
MicroRNAs influence how genes – the instructions for life – are controlled inside organisms, including us.
The winners share a prize fund worth 11m Swedish kronor (£810,000).
Every cell in the human body contains the same raw genetic information, locked in our DNA.
However, despite starting with the identical genetic information, the cells of the human body are wildly different in form and function.
The electrical impulses of nerve cells are distinct from the rhythmic beating of heart cells. The metabolic powerhouse that is a liver cell is distinct to a kidney cell, which filters urea out of the blood. The light-sensing abilities of cells in the retina are different in skillset to white blood cells that produce antibodies to fight infection.
So much variety can arise from the same starting material because of gene expression.
The US scientists were the first to discover microRNAs and how they exerted control on how genes are expressed differently in different tissues.
The medicine and physiology prize winners are selected by the Nobel Assembly of Sweden’s Karolinska Institute.
They said: “Their groundbreaking discovery revealed a completely new principle of gene regulation that turned out to be essential for multicellular organisms, including humans.
“It is now known that the human genome codes for over 1,000 microRNAs.”
Without the ability to control gene expression, every cell in an organism would be identical, so microRNAs helped enable the evolution of complex life forms.
Abnormal regulation by microRNAs can contribute to cancer and to some conditions, including congenital hearing loss and bone disorders.
A severe example is DICER1 syndrome, which leads to cancer in a variety of tissues, and is caused by mutations that affect microRNAs.
Prof Ambros, 70, works at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and Prof Ruvkun, 72, is a professor at Harvard Medical School.
Both conducted their research on the nematode worm – C. elegans.
They experimented on a mutant form of the worm that failed to develop some cell types, and eventually homed in on tiny pieces of genetic material or microRNAs that were essential for the worms’ development.
This is how it works:
- A gene or genetic instruction is contained within our DNA
- Our cells make a copy, which is called messenger RNA or simply mRNA (you’ll remember this from Covid vaccines)
- This travels out of the cell’s nucleus and instructs the cell’s protein-making factories to start making a specific protein
- But microRNAs get in the way by sticking to the messenger RNA and stop it working
- In essence the mircoRNA has prevented the gene from being expressed in the cell
Further work showed this was not a process unique to worms, but was a core component of life on Earth.
Prof Janosch Heller, from Dublin City University, said he was “delighted” to hear the prize had gone to Profs Ambros and Ruvkun. “Their pioneering work into gene regulation by microRNAs paved the way for groundbreaking research into novel therapies for devastating diseases such as epilepsy, but also opened our eyes to the wonderful machinery that is tightly controlling what is happening in our cells.”
Previous winners
2023 – Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman for developing the technology that led to the mRNA Covid vaccines.
2022 – Svante Paabo for his work on human evolution.
2021 – David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian for their work on how the body senses touch and temperature.
2020 – Michael Houghton, Harvey Alter and Charles Rice for the discovery of the virus Hepatitis C.
2019 – Sir Peter Ratcliffe, William Kaelin and Gregg Semenza for discovering how cells sense and adapt to oxygen levels.
2018 – James P Allison and Tasuku Honjo for discovering how to fight cancer using the body’s immune system.
2017- Jeffrey Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael Young for unravelling how bodies keep a circadian rhythm on body clock.
2016 – Yoshinori Ohsumi for discovering how cells remain healthy by recycling waste.
[BBC]
Business
ADB delegation meets President Dissanayake, pledges continued support for Sri Lanka’s economic development
The Country Director of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Resident Mission in Sri Lanka, Takafumi Kadono, along with a delegation, met President Anura Kumara Dissanayake today (07) at the Presidential Secretariat.
During the discussion, which focused on ADB’s ongoing commitment to support Sri Lanka’s economic and social development, the ADB reaffirmed its dedication to continuing its projects in Sri Lanka, with particular emphasis on bolstering key sectors crucial to the nation’s recovery. Tourism was identified as a critical sector that holds immense potential for Sri Lanka’s economic growth. In this regard, the ADB assured further assistance in developing tourism infrastructure to harness the sector’s full potential.
President Dissanayake highlighted the importance of promoting tourism in the Northern Region, requesting ADB’s specific support to develop this area. The ADB delegation expressed its willingness to collaborate and provide resources for this initiative.
Beyond tourism, the ADB also expressed keen interest in aiding the development of Sri Lanka’s energy sector, small-scale entrepreneurs, and financial sector, emphasizing their role in fostering sustainable economic growth.
This continued collaboration between Sri Lanka and the ADB is expected to contribute significantly to the country’s long-term development and recovery efforts.
Mr. Takafumi Kadono, Country Director ADB, Ms. Cholpon Mambetova, Country Operations Head ADB, Ms. Hasitha Wickremasinghe, Senior Economics Officer, Mr. K.M. Mahinda Siriwardana, Secretary to the Treasury and Ministry of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policies, Mr. D.A.P. Abesekara, Director General Finance Ministry and Ms. Udeni Udugahapattuwa, Director Finance Ministry, were present at the meeting.
[PMD]
Latest News
Sri Lanka secures USD 200 million from World Bank’s IDA for second phase of RESET Program
The International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank Group (WBG) has approved a USD 200 million financing package to support the second phase of Sri Lanka’s Resilience, Stability, and Economic Turnaround (RESET) Development Policy Financing (DPF) program.
The agreement was signed today (07) by K.M. Mahinda Siriwardana, Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development, Policy Formulation, Planning, and Tourism, and David N. Sislen, World Bank Country Director for Sri Lanka in the presence of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
This financing is part of the World Bank’s continued commitment to assist Sri Lanka in its comprehensive reform agenda. The RESET DPF program, which operates in tandem with the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF), is aimed at addressing the root causes of the island nation’s ongoing economic crisis. The two-year program (2023–2024) is designed to restore stability through macroeconomic adjustments while protecting the poor and vulnerable. The first phase of the program, implemented in 2023, successfully secured USD 500 million after meeting seven key prior actions under three pillars.
The three key pillars of the RESET DPF program are:
1. Improving Economic Governance: Strengthening fiscal discipline, transparency, and accountability in public resource management while safeguarding financial stability.
2. Enhancing Growth and Competitiveness: Unlocking Sri Lanka’s growth potential through a more competitive private sector.
3. Protecting the Poor and Vulnerable: Shielding the most affected segments of society from the economic fallout of the crisis.
In 2024, the Government of Sri Lanka plans to access the USD 200 million loan from the IDA to support the second phase of the RESET program. To qualify, the government must fulfill nine prior actions under the three key pillars and maintain a sound macroeconomic policy framework. The World Bank Board granted approval for the financing facility, which will take effect upon the signing of the Financing Agreement.
This financial assistance from the World Bank is expected to play a crucial role in stabilizing Sri Lanka’s economy and preventing a recurrence of similar crises in the future, while fostering a more inclusive and competitive economic environment.
[PMD]
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