Monster-Watch is back from its December vacation and ready to roll out a new feature. In addition to our normal stories, the site will start posting monthly Monster Round-Ups. These briefs will link to all the creature news that we couldn't tackle ourselves. So let's get to it:
'Dinosaur Mummy' Found; Has Intact Skin, Tissue
National Geographic – December 3
Scientists discovered an extraordinarily preserved "dinosaur mummy" with much of its tissues and bones still encased in an uncollapsed envelope of skin. Also, check out the video. (Photo: Tyler Lyson, National Geographic)
Ancient beasts battered from outer space
BBC – December 11
Startling evidence has been found which shows mammoth and other great beasts from the last ice age were blasted with material that came from space. Eight tusks dating to some 35,000 years ago all show signs of having being peppered with meteorite fragments.
Whales descended from raccoon-sized rat-dear
BBC – December 20
Remains found in India suggest the fox-sized mammal is the long-sought land-based ancestor of whales, dolphins and porpoises. (Illustration: Carl Buell, Neoucum)
'Lobster Vision' Serves as Model For New X-Ray Device
USA Today – December 19
The lobster is at the forefront of the next new weapon in the war on terror: a handheld device that could help Homeland Security agents see through wood, concrete and steel.
New Blood-Thirsty Dinosaur Identified
LiveScience – December 11
A graduate student has identified the remains of one of the planet's largest meat-eating dinosaurs ever found. The upright-walking creature grinned with a mouth full of banana-sized teeth, stood taller than a double-decker bus and weighed more than two standard-sized cars. (Illustration: Simon Powell, Bristol University)
Antarctic Dinosaur Discovered
Wired – December 11
Scientists from The Field Museum and Argentina have described a new dinosaur genus and species, Glacialisaurus hammeri, that lived in Antarctica 190 million years ago, when the continent was much warmer.
Video: NASA's Spider Attack
AP via YouTube – December 10
