Latest articles by Julio Lacerda

fossils
almost 4 years ago by Franz Anthony

Locked in rock: Liberating America's giant raptors

Unlike its turkey-sized Mongolian cousin Velociraptor, Utahraptor is an elusive beast. Despite people's great interest in them, dromaeosaur fossils are pretty scarce in North America. The secrets of the raptors, however, may lie hidden inside a slab of sandstone. It is not an exaggeration to call this block one of the most important dinosaur discoveries ever.
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fossils
almost 4 years ago by Julio Lacerda

Dinosaurs with knives

For many decades, it was believed that the group of dinosaurs known as theropods (“beast-footed”) were all carnivores that filled the role of apex predators in prehistoric ecosystems. Now we know that things weren’t that simple. While herbivorous dinosaurs haven't been known to evolve carnivory, paleontologists have found multiple meat-eaters that gave up on their habit.
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fossils
almost 4 years ago by Rachel Fritts

Hatzegopteryx, Transylvania’s dinosaur hunter

During the late Cretaceous, Transylvania was an island that hosted one of the largest pterosaurs of all time. Now, scientists think that this giraffe-sized stork-like reptile might have also been the island’s arch-predator.
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fossils
about 4 years ago by Julio Lacerda

Feather explosion: How fluffy dinosaur fossils rocked paleontology

Since the 1990s, more and more dinosaur fossils with evidence of feathers have burst onto the scene. But recent discoveries are only the latest salvo in a long list of bombshells linking them to birds.
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fossils
about 4 years ago by Pete Buchholz

What are stegosaurs?

Ever since their discovery, the huge back plates and tail spikes on stegosaurs have inspired wonder, but also puzzlement about their purpose.
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Julio
Lacerda

Staff Artist and Writer