The animal would have weighed as much as 15 tons, and it is now one of the most complete ancient reptile fossils ever discovered in Antarctica. As for those sea spiders I may dig em, having seen some cool-looking spiders from the tropics. "After a week, you get one tray of ice cubes. She has previously reported for Mother Jones, the Reporter's Committee for Freedom of the Press, Neon Tommy and more. A gigantic "alien" face in Antarctica. Again, while it isnt the most immediately terrifying phenomenon, these crazy things found in Antarctica are still unnerving. More work on Cryodrakon may help crack the mystery and add more clues to this large pterosaurs lifestyle. The way it flies - it's like it's hovering in mid-air, just like a dragon. This agreement was introduced in 1959 and has been endorsed signed by twelve countries including the United States, Russia, Japan and Australia, among others. Scientists have found a tiny animal, Tullbergia, living under rocks in Antarctica's inland mountain peaks, where nothing should survive. The shark's scientific name, Dracopristis hoffmanorum, was announced in a press release by the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science (NMMNHS) on Thursday. Learn about the anatomical features that made their flight possible, how large some of these creatures grew, and which species was named after a vampire legend. The Antarctic Treaty prohibits many actions that could . Maybe were being too harsh here after all, this is just a satellite image were talking about. "But then we found this tiny, gentle slope and guessed wed got the right spot.". I love these critters. Habib, for one, still wants to use the limb measurements to calculate how it flewthe project that inadvertently turned up the frozen dragon in the first place. There is a 9- to 10-meter wingspan azhdarchid in this formation; whether or not thats exactly the same as the one weve described, you cant say 100-percent, Hone says. The scientists found the secret subterranean habitat tucked away beneath the Larsen Ice Shelf a massive, floating sheet of ice attached to the eastern coast of the Antarctic peninsula that. All Rights Reserved. In East Antarctica, there is a place where it looks like the continent is gushing out blood. There are numerous conspiracy theories regarding Antarctica, and we wont get into them (though some are hilarious). By KAI GENG Geologists taking sediment cores from the seafloor beneath the giant Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf on the southern edge of Antarcticas Weddell Sea discovered what biologists believe are types of sponge. For a long time, paleontologists had instead assumed that the fossils belonged to a pterosaur called Quetzalcoatlus northropi, says study coauthor Dave Hone, a paleontologist at Queen Mary University of London. "Imagine your standard ice-cube tray, filled once," Williams said in the announcement. In comparison, the Eiffel Tower is 987-feet tall. New Moai statue that 'deified ancestors' found on Easter Island, Lab-grown minibrains will be used as 'biological hardware' to create new biocomputers, scientists propose, Ancient Roman 'spike defenses' made famous by Julius Caesar found in Germany, 'Building blocks of life' recovered from asteroid Ryugu are older than the solar system itself, The ultimate action-packed science and technology magazine bursting with exciting information about the universe, Subscribe today and save an extra 5% with checkout code 'LOVE5', Engaging articles, amazing illustrations & exclusive interviews, Issues delivered straight to your door or device. Gear-obsessed editors choose every product we review. They used jackhammers, rock saws and chisels at a punishing 4200 metres to unearth the dinosaur, which represents a new genus and species. These skeletons may have the answer, Scientists are making advancements in birth controlfor men, Blood cleaning? How a zoo break-in changed the life of an owl called Flaco, Naked mole rats are fertile until they die, study finds. The international science expedition is slowly making its way through the Antarctica's sea ice en route to the Ross Sea. Heres the science, Related: See the Mystery and Beauty of Fossils. One such thing is a series of 820-foot tunnels. What if we could clean them out? When not at work he can be found watching sci-fi films, playing old Pokemon games or running (probably slower than he'd like). You can see it for yourself at coordinates 63 256.73S 605732.38W on Google Earth. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Its amazing that in the age of 50+ megapixel quality images we can still have grainy photos that yield Sasquatch or UFO-hunts on the Internet. This nearly whole, deep-black skull belongs to the most complete specimen of Tyrannosaurus rex on display in Europe, an individual nicknamed Tristan Otto. These animals can sniff it out. One of the most exciting discoveries is the HMS Endurance, a ship that belonged to explorer Ernest Shackleton that sank in 1915. "Getting to observe and sample this river was like being the first to enter a hidden world," lead researcher Huw Horgan, a glaciologist at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand, told The Guardian (opens in new tab). A team of . We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. Dragon skin occurs when strong winds continually lift surface ice, subsequently freezing the water below. Future analyses could even peer deeper inside the pterosaurs bones. Its definitely an indication that toward the end of the Cretaceous, [plesiosaurs] managed to expand their feeding repertoire, Schulp says. Sign up here for our daily Thrillist email, and get your fix of the best in food/drink/fun. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). How a zoo break-in changed the life of an owl called Flaco, Naked mole rats are fertile until they die, study finds. It was discovered in 1986 by the South African Speleological Association. For 40 years, paleontologist Wann Langston worked off-and-on to complete the descriptionbut then he died in 2013, leaving the work unfinished. But for [biologists], it is amazing because no one has ever seen these [organisms] before.. A National Geographic team has made the first ascent of the remote Mount Michael, looking for a lava lake in the volcanos crater. Nightjars are found all around the world, with the exception of Antarctica and certain island groups such as the Seychelles. Each dragonfly has six legs, four wings, a head, thorax and abdomen. Multiple expeditions in the 19th century managed to reach the Antarctic Peninsula, and in 1911 Roald Amundsens party were the first people to reach the South Pole. More info. Now scientists have learned why its collapsing so quickly: Theres a giant underground cavern in the glacier almost as big as Manhattan. We may earn commission if you buy from a link. The flying reptile was mostly head and neckand had at least a 16-foot wingspan, if not bigger. But the real danger is what happens after. Well, theyre not actually spiders, but a type of primitive marine arthropod. Vostok Lake of Antarctica is the largest subglacial lake in the world. He then zoomed in on the neck vertebra, whose ends are shot through with pneumatophores, the holes through which air sacs once entered the bones interior. The geologists used hot-water equipment to drill the borehole. This creepy looking fall was named Blood Falls because of its deep color resembling blood. It is the southernmost continent and is where the South Pole is located. Thats awesome, Ryan, thanks a lot for sharing. Like other members of the shergottite-nakhlite-chassignite (SNC) group of meteorites, ALH84001 is thought to have originated on Mars.However, it does not fit into any of the previously . The team thinks the newly described heavyweight belongs to the genus Aristonectes, a group whose species have been seen as outliers to other elasmosaurs, since they differed so much from fossilized specimens discovered in the U.S. While the boulder is located about 150 miles from the ocean, the direction of the currents beneath the ice shelf suggests the nearest plant life is up to 1,000 miles away, Griffiths said.

This nearly whole, deep-black skull belongs to the most complete specimen of Tyrannosaurus rex on display in Europe, an individual nicknamed Tristan Otto. There are not, nor have there ever been actual dragons on Earth. The number of meteorites found in Antarctica is equal to the number of meteorites found in the rest of the world combined. Though Q. northropi was described in 1975, only one of its limb bones got a detailed writeup; the scientists who oversaw the giants remains never got around to publishing the rest. The fossil was found in a quarry just northwest of Richmond in June 2011 by Len . Old cells hang around as we age, doing damage to the body. The more that he compared his measurements of Quetzalcoatlus to the Canadian fossil, the more he suspected it wasnt Quetzalcoatlus at all. Using special radars, a British team of specialists discovered the tunnels while flying over West Antarctica. The SpaceX Crew-6 Falcon 9 rocket atop pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, awaiting a delayed launch to deliver a four-man crew to the International Space Station. Such an interesting post, Anita. The team's research has more important ends in mind, but the images of dragon ice are a reminder that there is beauty to be found even in the harshest regions on the planet. Well, in 2016 a team of researchers discovered some very interesting things found frozen in Antarctica. How did this mountain lion reach an uninhabited island? Dragon skin occurs when strong "katabatic" winds downslope winds that exist only over icy regions continually lift the polynya's surface ice, subsequently freezing the water below, according. Published on 5/11/2017 at 1:25 AM. Dragon ice is basically pancake ice frozen on a larger sheet of ice. Their cold habitat has given them some interesting features. When the researchers sent a camera down through the icy tunnel and into the cavern, hundreds of tiny, blurry flecks in the water obscured the video feed. A radar image of Thwaites from 2011 to 2017. In fact, the further north in latitude you go, the fewer dragonflies . The team drilled down around 1,640 feet (500 meters) below the ice's surface using a powerful hot-water hose to reach the underground chamber. Fossil 'sea monster' found in Antarctica was the heaviest of its kind The 15-ton elasmosaur adds to evidence that a vibrant marine ecosystem existed just before the dinosaur mass extinction. And when Habib, Hone, and Royal Tyrrell Museum paleontologist Franois Therrien compared the holes in the Canadian pterosaurs neck vertebrae against those for all other known azhdarchids, they found that its arrangement is unique. mostly around freshwater locations. The sea spiders rock! While not part of the same family, the underwater Sea Spiders youll find here are some of the strangest things found in Antarctica to date! The remains first gained notoriety for their scars. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Their appearance is vastly different depending on which ocean you spot them in, but one thing is for certain: the sea pig is the stuff of nightmares, and definitely one of the weirdest things found in Antarctica. It wasnt until this year that researchers have found out that the waterfall springs from a lake trapped under the ice for over a million years! But it wouldnt be AS exciting if they didnt also discover massive dinosaur bones, such as from the mosasaurus. Its intact. In the meantime, North American paleontologists have been caught in a catch-22. The azhdarchids are also known for reaching immense sizes, none more so than Quetzalcoatlus. The red of our blood is caused by hemoglobin, which carries oxygen throughout our body. The 'dragon-skin' ice in Antarctica researchers warn is a sign of 'dark chaos' in the planet's frozen oceans. "This could be very, very old, going back to prehistoric Antartica. Both animals belong to a group known as the azhdarchid (azh-DAHR-kid) pterosaurs, which were notable for being mostly head and neck. YouTube channel Third Phase of Moon shared the anomaly back in August, sent to them by a viewer. "We will spend the next two weeks taking advantage of quiet periods when the katabatic winds drop off to observe the increase in salinity of the shelf waters below polynyas as brine rejected during sea-ice formation rains down to depths below 1,000 meters [3,280 feet]," Williams said. One. Fossil remains found by a Chilean research team in the Atacama Desert have been determined to belong to a prehistoric pterosaur flying dragon, it was reported. At current prices, a metallic mineral deposit found in Antarctica . By The Siberian Times reporter . The cavern first appeared in 2012 and most of the ice that once occupied it melted in the last three years. ", JUST IN:Stonehenge builders branded just as clever as us. The ultimate action-packed science and technology magazine bursting with exciting information about the universe, Subscribe today and save an extra 5% with checkout code 'LOVE5', Engaging articles, amazing illustrations & exclusive interviews, Issues delivered straight to your door or device. (Would the dinosaurs have died out if not for that asteroid? Can we bring a species back from the brink? The researchers set up camp a couple of days before the record-shattering eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haapai volcano in Tonga on Jan. 15. It was visible as a long depression, or groove, stretching across the ice a hallmark of an underground river. The only things you would expect to find are things that can wander around and find food, he said. Researchers discovered swarms of shrimplike amphipods while they were exploring an underground Antarctic river. Great images too. The arrangement of these pneumatophores can help scientists tell pterosaur species apart. Which travel companies promote harmful wildlife activities? If youre not afraid of spiders yet, these scary things in Antarctica might change your mind if youre lucky enough to see them on an Antarctic cruise. The Maori monster Taniwha lives in the ocean but also lurks in the rivers, lakes, or watery caves of New Zealand. "It looked like a loaf of bread, with a bulge at the top and narrow slope at the bottom," Stevens said. The explorer in me thinks that there must still be plenty more to find! document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); I knew not of these creatures, nor, spooky happenings, in Antarctica. .css-3wjtm9{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.125rem;text-decoration-color:#1c6a65;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:inherit;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-3wjtm9:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;}None of these are doing well, but one of themthe Thwaites Glacier in West Antarcticais rapidly crumbling. formed in Antarctica, just as they have on adjacent continents once connected to Antarctica, but be-cause nearly 98 percent of the continent is covered by ice, few mineral deposits are likely to be exposed. For years it was a mystery we didnt know if they were elasmosaurs or not, says Jos OGorman, a paleontologist with the National Scientific and Technical Research Council of Argentina (CONICET) who is based at the Museum of La Plata near Buenos Aires. But if you empty and refill the tray each night, you get so much more. You can unsubscribe at any time. The researchers had expected that the roof of the chamber would be smooth and flat. After a week, you get one tray of ice cubes. Schulp adds that the work moves our knowledge of plesiosaurs forward, and he is excited to see Argentine paleontologists go back out there and find more fossils. "This changes our current understanding and models of these environments," Stevens said. "Having all those animals swimming around our camera means theres clearly an important ecosystem process happening there," Craig Stevens, a physical oceanographer at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) in Auckland, New Zealand, said in the statement. Researchers recently brought this "hidden world" into the light, revealing a dark and jagged cavern filled with swarms of tiny, shrimplike creatures. Predator as my only frame of reference with Antarctica, and have to remind myself that theres no underground temple housing such scary creatures. Can we bring a species back from the brink?, Video Story, Copyright 1996-2015 National Geographic Society, Copyright 2015-2023 National Geographic Partners, LLC. However, sceptics were quick to claim that the remains look like a seal. ", Another remarked: "Google search for images of seal skeleton shows a pretty good match. Youve got this weird situation where Quetzalcoatlus is basically the first azhdarchid to be named, so it becomes the definition of the [group], and yet theres no good description of it, says Hone, who describes the situation as a giant loop of not being able to solve the problem properly.. Scary flick, great performance by Kirk Russell. Rare 'Dragon Skin' Ice Found in Antarctica Is Intensely Beautiful. Son Doong is the largest cave in the world, and also contains a number of large underground lakes. However, the researchers also worry that even hidden ecosystems like this one may be at risk from rapidly warming temperatures caused by climate change. The flying reptile was said to have . A lot of marine life would have needed to thrive there to satisfy the appetite of such a large creature, so the fact that these animals continued to exist so late in the Cretaceous adds to the evidence that the aquatic world, at least, was doing just fine right up until the sudden mass extinction. While some previously known Aristonectes have weighed about 11 tons or so, most other elasmosaurs only come in at around five tons. Long COVID patients turn to unproven treatments, Why evenings can be harder on people with dementia, This disease often goes under-diagnosedunless youre white, This sacred site could be Georgias first national park, See glow-in-the-dark mushrooms in Brazils other rainforest, 9 things to know about Holi, Indias most colorful festival, Anyone can discover a fossil on this beach. Tell us below which one of theweird things in Antarctica you are the most shocked about! It was a bit of a disappointment to them theyd spent weeks getting there and it didnt work, said marine biologist Huw Griffiths of the British Antarctic Survey, who is the lead author of the published study. 10:00pm, Feb 16, 2021 Updated: 5:14pm, Feb 16 'Strange creatures' found under Antarctica. BBC's correspondent predicts leadership chaos even after CDU vote[VIDEO]Stunning backlash grows in revolt over EU's vaccine rollout[VIDEO]Prince William 'concerned' that Harry is trying to 'exploit' Diana[INSIGHT]. There are also indications other animals may be fixed to the boulder, such as tube worms, stalked barnacles, or hydroids, which are related to jellyfish. Scientists have found microplasticssmall plastic debris about the size of a sesame seedin freshly fallen snow in Antarctica for the first time. Crew-6 commander Stephen Bowen and pilot Warren "Woody" Hoburg, flanked by cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev and United Arab Emirates flier Sultan Alneyadi, planned to strap . The cavern is visible as the growing red blob in the center of the image. While the animals exact diet cant be known without fossilized stomach contents or other evidence, OGorman says that it likely fed on crustaceans and small fish, based on the small size of its teeth.