All about dinosaurs, fossils and prehistoric animals by Everything Dinosaur team members.
8 09, 2014

Time Running Out To Enter Dinosaur T-shirt Contest

By | September 8th, 2014|Dinosaur Fans, Everything Dinosaur News and Updates, Main Page, Press Releases|1 Comment

Name the Dinosaur Competition

As we celebrate the introduction of Everything Dinosaur’s range of childrens’ dinosaur themed T-shirts, our competition to think of a suitable name for one of the dinosaurs featured in the new designs, really seems to have taken off.  We have lots of entries so far, but there is still time to enter (competition closes on Friday 19th September).  Please note this competition is now closed.

One of the designs on our dinosaur T-shirts features a baby T. rex.  He (or she), looks very cute and the competition is simple – come up with a name for this little critter.

The Range of Exclusive Everything Dinosaur T-shirts

The first of the dinosaur themed T-shirts from Everything Dinosaur.

The first of the dinosaur themed T-shirts from Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Give a name to our baby dinosaur and we will send one lucky winner a dinosaur T-shirt from our new range* for their junior palaeontologist to wear!

Think of a name for me to win a T-shirt!

Think of a name for me to win a T-shirt!

To enter the contest for a chance to win a dinosaur themed T-shirt for your own young dinosaur fan, all you have to do is “Like” Everything Dinosaur’s FACEBOOK page, then comment on the picture of the baby dinosaur design on the red T-shirt (pictured above).  Our friendly baby dinosaur needs a name, what can you come up with?

To enter, just visit Everything Dinosaur on FACEBOOK  and “like” our page and remember to leave a suggested name by making a comment under the “apprentice dinosaur” image.

Everything Dinosaur on Facebook

Click the logo to visit our Facebook page and to give our page a "like".

Click the logo to visit our Facebook page and to give our page a “like”.

Everything Dinosaur on FACEBOOK: “LIKE” Our Facebook Page and Enter Competition

We will draw the lucky winner at random and the name caption competition closes on Friday 19th September 2014.  Good luck!

To view Everything Dinosaur’s range of dinosaur and prehistoric animal themed clothing click on the picture below:

Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal Pjs, T-shirts, Sweatshirts etc.

Exclusive to Everything Dinosaur

Exclusive to Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

To view the range of dinosaur T-shirts and other dinosaur themed clothing for children: Dinosaur Themed Clothes and Dinosaur T-shirts.

*The range of T-shirt sizes available to the prize winner

Competition Winner can choose from these sizes.

Competition winner can choose from these sizes.

* please note the red “Appentice Palaeontologist T-shirt is only available in sizes up to 9 yrs-11 yrs, chest size 82 cm.

Terms and Conditions of Name Our Baby Dinosaur Competition

Automated entries are not permitted and will be excluded from the draw.

Only one entry per person.

The prize is non-transferable and no cash alternative will be offered.

The Everything Dinosaur name a baby dinosaur caption competition runs until Friday 19th September 2014.

Winner will be notified by private message on Facebook or email.

Prize includes postage and packing.

For full terms and conditions email: Contact Everything Dinosaur.

PLEASE NOTE THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED.

8 09, 2014

Ancient Fossil helps Decode Horse Evolution

By | September 8th, 2014|Key Stage 3/4|Comments Off on Ancient Fossil helps Decode Horse Evolution

Oldest DNA Sequence Known to Science from Horse Fossils

An international research team have been able to retrieve a substantial portion of the genome of an ancestral horse that roamed northern Canada nearly three quarters of a million years ago.  This study will help scientists to understand more about Equine evolution and dramatically extends the known limit of DNA survival in the fossil record.  Genetic material, DNA fragments has been recovered from the frozen bodies of long extinct animals before.

Ancient Fossil

DNA has been recovered from Siberian Woolly Mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius) and those of Cave Bears (Ursus spelaeus).  These fossils too, date from the Pleistocene Epoch, however, the horse DNA has been recovered from fossils more than half a million years older than other material successfully studied to date.

What is DNA?

DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is a complex chemical molecule that carries the genetic information for an organism.  It contains the information required for the development and functioning for all known types of living organism and many types of viruses.  This hereditary information consists of a code made up of four chemical bases, these bases are A (adenine), G (guanine), C (cytosine) and T (thymine).  These DNA chemical bases join up with each other, adenine always with thymine (A with T) and guanine with cytosine (G with C), these are called base pairs.

The order, or sequence of these base pairs determines the information available for the development and functioning of the organism, this is often referred to as the genetic code.  The genome is the term used to describe the coding and non-coding material of an organism.

The Structure of DNA (The Double Helix)

The double helix of DNA.

Rosalind Franklin helped to unravel the structure of the double helix of DNA.  Here is an illustration of the double helix.

Picture credit: U.S. National Library of Medicine (additional labelling by Everything Dinosaur)

The fossil used in the DNA study was a fifteen centimetre long leg bone, excavated from permafrost at a location in the western part of the Yukon (Canada).  The bone is estimated to be around 735,000 years of age.  Limb bones, as they are more robust and thicker than other bones, have a greater likelihood of preserving organic material.

To read more about this research: Ancient Fossil Horse Helps Decode Equine Evolution.

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