On the horizon: news from the frontiers of science

Giant birdlike dinosaur weighed 1.5 tons; research rebukes Bush approach on wildfire zones; fertile forests may soak up more greenhouse-gas emissions.

By Peter N. Spotts

from the June 14, 2007 edition

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Meet the really 'Big Bird'

Among birdlike dinosaurs, there's a new giant on the block. A team of Chinese paleontologists say they have discovered an oversized cousin to creatures like the velociraptor, of "Jurassic Park" infamy. The new dinosaur, dubbed Gigantoraptor erlianensis (see photo), would have stood just over 11 feet tall at the hip, stretched 26 feet from tail to beak, and tipped the scales at 1.5 tons.

The researchers uncovered Gigantoraptor's fossil remains in Inner Mongolia. The pieces include a lower jaw, rib segments, virtually complete fore and hind legs, and tail bones. The 70-million-year-old find is counted among "coelurosaurs," which evolved into modern birds. As coelurosaurs evolved, for the most part they became smaller as they became more birdlike. But Gigantoraptor bucked the trend. This "Baby Huey" fits squarely within a group of coelurosaurs that rarely weighed more than about 88 pounds. But it displays many birdlike features not found in its smaller relatives. In addition, the researchers say, their specimen displays important skeletal traits never before seen in any other dinosaur fossils. The results appear in today's issue of the journal Nature.

Best way to reduce fire intensity

If a wildfire burns through a patch of forest, don't salvage leftover logs, and don't intentionally replant trees if you want to reduce subsequent fire hazards there.That's the advice implied in a new study that looks at the aftermath of the 2002 Biscuit Fire in Oregon – one of the largest wildfires in modern US history. The findings appear to support an earlier Oregon State University study of the fire published last year. That study reached a similar conclusion and sparked a firestorm of controversy, as it bucked conventional wisdom about how to treat burned forests after a wildfire. The Bush administration has been a staunch supporter of salvage logging in the wake of wildfires as part of its Healthy Forests plan.

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