But now, scientists have finally unearthed the heaviest known elasmosaur, an ancient aquatic reptile that swam the seas of the Cretaceous period alongside the dinosaurs. Thanks for sharing. Even in Antarctica, there were lots of happy elasmosaurs, Schulp says. Elasmosaurs make up a family of the plesiosaurs, which represent some of the largest sea creatures of the Cretaceous. 10 Conspiracy Theories About Antarctica - Listverse But if you empty and refill the tray each night, you get so much more," Williams said in a statement. The way it flies - it's like it's hovering in mid-air, just like a dragon. Most of these magnificent ice giants are either snow-capped and white, or have a clear turquoise color. ", However, others supported the 'ancient creature' claims, adding: "It looks like an alligator skeleton, definitely some type of reptile that walks on land. Bizzard was a young IceWing dragonet, covered in scars. Scientists just confirmed a 30-foot void first detected inside the monument years ago. The roughly 5,000-year-old human remains were found in graves from the Yamnaya culture, and the discovery may partially explain their rapid expansion throughout Europe. The answer is fiction. The Argentina Antarctic Institute got involved and started excavating the fossil as part of its annual summer research expeditions, but the giant reptile was uncovered at a glacial pace due to weather and logistics. Here's how to watch. Not according to biology or history. The 'Dragon-skin' ice is very rare and has not been spotted in Antarctica since 2007 . That guy is big! Schulp says from looking at photos of the bones. Bats and agaves make tequila possibleand theyre both at risk, This empress was the most dangerous woman in Rome. Antarctica is also a good place to find meteorites, or rocks that fall from space to Earth. Experts have long suspected that there is a vast network of rivers, lakes and estuaries underneath Antarctica, but until now these features have been poorly studied. However, despite being prominent in the satellite images, the groove initially eluded surface detection, Stevens said. Thats awesome, Ryan, thanks a lot for sharing. Related: Alarming heat waves hit Arctic and Antarctica at the same time. It was discovered by the British Antarctic Expedition of 1910-1913. It was an adventure., Copyright 1996-2015 National Geographic SocietyCopyright 2015-2023 National Geographic Partners, LLC. At first, researchers believed the color was due to the red algae, but years later, it was revealed that the color is due to iron oxides, Forbes . They are the slugs of the sea and live among other deep-sea creatures such as clams and coral. A gigantic "alien" face in Antarctica. Scary flick, great performance by Kirk Russell. It involved a civilization led by 10-12 foot tall "Pre-Adamites" with elongated skulls. That cavern is likely filled with air much warmer than the surrounding ice, triggering faster melting of the glacier than would happen otherwise. Regardless, sometimes you might get lucky and find some Antarctica mythical creatures. One of the weird things about Antarctica is that its very good at preserving things the Endurance was found very well preserved thanks to Antarcticas cold waters. 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 video has recorded nearly 300,000 views, sparking fierce debate among conspiracy theorists online. The discovery of what appear to be sponges in the pitch-black seawater beneath almost half a mile of ice has biologists baffled. To recognize the modern climate in the region where this pterosaur once roamed, they named the new pterosaur Cryodrakon boreas, or the cold dragon of the north winds. Habib, a fan of the TV show Game of Thrones, had also suggested Cryodrakon viserion, a reference to one of the shows dragons, in part because of its rise from the ice, and in part because the animal might have reached movie-monster proportions. According to National Geographic, the fifty-million-year-old sperm cells on the ancient worm's egg case were found in Antarctica. The main reference fossil for Cryodrakon belonged to an individual pterosaur that had a roughly 16-foot wingspan. 'Dinosaurs walked through Antarctic rainforests' - BBC News They determined that the tunnels were most likely the result of meltwater flowing underneath the ice shelf. Nearly all of these have been found since 1976. Slowly, over time, Antarctica befriended Bizzard, and found out her history. Scientists find rare 'dragon skin' ice in Antarctica - UPI.com When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. "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). There have been all sorts of things found in the arctic, from underground lakes and ancient fossils to prehistoric skeletons and enormous tunnels. It is also called Hoffman's. The difference is that you can actually see something resembling them on Google Earth (coordinates 795839.25S 815732.21W). Thanks to this nearly Manhattan-size gap in the ice, the entire glacier along with the surrounding ice sheet will likely disappear much more quickly. Antarctic Icefish Characteristics and Facts - ThoughtCo The attribution of "Rainbow Serpent" stems from the belief that rainbows appear when they move from one river or waterhole to occupy another. The excavation finally finished in 2017, yielding a substantial portion of the animals skeleton, which OGorman and his colleagues describe in their recent paper in Cretaceous Research. Scientists aboard the U.S. icebreaker research vessel Nathaniel B. Palmer recently sailed to an Antarctic polynya areas of open water that act as ice factories to study the process of ice formation during the autumn-winter season. Heres why each season begins twice. In comparison, the Eiffel Tower is 987-feet tall. 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. Antarctica mystery as Google Earth users spot bizarre 'dome' and I did say there were some scary facts about Antarctica! / Credit: NASA. Antarctica is still a relatively unexplored area on our planet. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). Bats and agaves make tequila possibleand theyre both at risk, This empress was the most dangerous woman in Rome. Unauthorized use is prohibited. The groundbreaking promise of cellular housekeeping. The geologists used hot-water equipment to drill the borehole. The Nathaniel B. Palmer expedition is currently at "ground zero" of a katabatic wind event, Williams said, with hurricane-strength gusts topping 75 miles per hour (120 km/h). This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. Mining for Gold in Antarctica? Not Likely - RareGoldNuggets.com What we find by visiting the coordinates 7200' 36.00'' S, 168 34' 40.00'' E is a mysterious face in the ice - seemingly complete with two eyes, a nose, and a mouth. The arrangement of these pneumatophores can help scientists tell pterosaur species apart. She has been put through hell and come out the other side . One of Earth's loneliest volcanoes holds an extraordinary secret. Weird Google Earth images appear to show a giant "dome" rammed in the ice and it's sent conspiracy theorists wild. [If] the organisms evolved to live beneath ice shelves, they may provide us with a molecular clock that can be used to gauge past climate driven changes in Antarctic ice., The discovery shows that life can exist in environments where science suggests it should not: There are still things that we have to learn, Griffiths said. After sending the camera down into the river, the team was surprised to learn that the cavern looked drastically different from what they had predicted. Find out which creatures belonged in this group, how they grew to incredible sizes, and how they've captivated both scientists and storytellers alike. He studied Marine Biology at the University of Exeter (Penryn campus) and after graduating started his own blog site "Marine Madness," which he continues to run with other ocean enthusiasts. It's thought both types of stationary animals are types of sponges or are related to sponges, but scientists did not expect to find them beneath the ice shelf, in pitch-blackness and hundreds of miles from the coast. 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. A team of researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany has discovered a whopping 77 seafloor . Did an ancient species of a dragon found living in Antarctica? Dragon skin is also evidence of a "darker chaos" in the cryosphere (parts of the planet's surface where water is frozen), according to Williams. One such thing is a series of 820-foot tunnels. As a species, they are present all around the planet, and can be as small as 1 millimeter in size. John Higgins The coronavirus pandemic has delayed his. The flying reptile was said to have . Fossil of giant flying dinosaur 'closest thing to dragon' found in When does spring start? Know more about this news here by reading this article now! The extremely cold water is full of animals such as Antarctic krill, a . According to flat-earthers, Antarctica is actually a thick wall about 30 to 60 meters (100 to 200 ft.) high that surrounds our planet. IE 11 is not supported. All Rights Reserved. Over 14,000 meteorites have been found in the Sahara Desert of northern Africa, most since 1995, mainly by nomads and private collectors. The Age Of Earth's Oldest Ice Is a Mystery : NPR - NPR.org 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. Researchers needed a more complete specimen, and as it happened, William Zinsmeister of Purdue University had discovered a potential candidate on Seymour Islandjust south of the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsuladuring a 1989 expedition. But there is so much more. Dragon skin occurs when strong winds continually lift surface ice, subsequently freezing the water below. This constant uplift and formation of ice results in a scale-like appearance, giving the sea ice its dragon nickname. By Garreth / November 21, 2021. The Antarctic Treaty prohibits many actions that could . What is wind chill, and how does it affect your body? As for those sea spiders I may dig em, having seen some cool-looking spiders from the tropics. Meteorites are easier to see on the white ice. The weather controls all. An international team is currently trying to finish the job. It took decades of struggling with the weather on a small, desolate island off the Antarctic Peninsula. Scientists have found microplasticssmall plastic debris about the size of a sesame seedin freshly fallen snow in Antarctica for the first time. (Find out about a plesiosaur fossil found with a baby preserved in its body.). Can we bring a species back from the brink? So what happens if Thwaites melts? Future fossils, she adds, could even test whether Cryodrakon varied in size based on sex. Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies/University of Tasmania, IMAS - Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. 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. But what was most intresting about her was that she could see Antarctica, something no other dragon could do. Lovecraft would have probably loved to see this interesting creature. Their arrival marked the completion of the Xuelong 2's maiden voyage.Along with her older sister, the Xuelong, China's newest Polar Class 3 icebreaker had steamed more than 70,000 nautical miles over the course of her expedition to Antarctica. This agreement was introduced in 1959 and has been endorsed signed by twelve countries including the United States, Russia, Japan and Australia, among others. Meteorite Found in Antarctica Tagged as Largest One Discovered; Monster "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. The climate of Antarctica can vary depending on where you are and the time of the season. 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. The host shows the creatures front and rear limbs, as the curve of its spine and its skull. 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. New York, How a zoo break-in changed the life of an owl called Flaco, Naked mole rats are fertile until they die, study finds. Mining is illegal in Antarctica due to the Antarctic Treaty. Youd hardly expect them to come in stripes as well. 10:00pm, Feb 16, 2021 Updated: 5:14pm, Feb 16 'Strange creatures' found under Antarctica. OGorman, who was five years old when the fossil was discovered, went on the first of these trips starting in 2012.