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"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"Dino Dining"
Fully produced report in MP3 format:
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(75 seconds)
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READER SCRIPT
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DID THESE DINOSAURS DINE ON THEIR KIND? THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. COELOPHYSIS ["SEE-LO-FYE-SIS"]--A DINOSAUR THAT, SINCE ITS REMAINS WERE ORIGINALLY ANALYZED IN THE 19-50'S, WAS THOUGHT TO BE A CANNIBAL THAT DEVOURED THE YOUNG OF ITS BREED. THE CANNIBALISM CLAIM WAS BASED ON WHAT THE EARLY RESEARCHERS BELIEVED TO BE THE BONES OF THE DINO'S LAST MEAL--A YOUNG COELOPHYSIS. THIS "FINDING" SPURRED A FLURRY OF POP-CULTURE REFERENCES TO THESE ANCIENT CANNIBALISTIC CARNIVORES: IN MOVIES AND BOOKS, IT WAS DINOSAUR-EAT-DINOSAUR! FAST-FORWARD TO TODAY: FOUR PALEONTOLOGISTS FROM THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY RE-EXAMINED THE FOSSIL REMAINS; THEY DISCOVERED, IN ONE CASE, THAT THE ADULT DINOSAUR'S SKELETON WAS ACTUALLY ON TOP OF THE JUVENILE'S REMAINS--CREATING THE ILLUSION THAT THE SMALLER ONE WAS INSIDE THE GUT OF THE BIG ONE. IN THE SECOND SPECIMEN, THE LAST MEAL WASN'T A DINOSAUR--BUT, INSTEAD, A CROCODILE. IT SEEMS THEY WEREN'T CANNIBALS AFTER ALL. AN EXCAVATED EXONERATION FOR SOME DINING DINOS. THE "DISCOVERY FILES" COVERS PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOU! LEARN MORE AT "N-S-F"-DOT-GOV--OR ON THEIR PODCAST.
For additional "Discovery Files" features from the National Science Foundation, click here.
