Louis L. Jacobs
Flying Texas reptile: World’s oldest Pteranodon? First specimen of its kind discovered as far south as Texas
Fossilized bones discovered in Texas are from the left wing of an ancient flying reptile that died 89 million years ago — possibly the earliest occurrence of the prehistoric creature Pteranodon, says SMU paleontologist Timothy S. Myers, who identified the fossils.
If the reptile is Pteranodon, it would be the first of its kind discovered as far south as Texas.
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3D digital download of giant Glen Rose dinosaur track is roadmap for saving at-risk natural history resources
Internet users now can download an exact facsimile of the huge fossil footprint of a 110 million-year-old dinosaur that is a favorite track from Texas’ well-known Dinosaur Valley State Park.
SMU scientists created the digital facsimile using 3D laser technology and are making it available free to the public. The model preserves a footprint on permanent outdoor display that’s being destroyed by weathering, says SMU paleontologist Thomas L. Adams.
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BBC Radio: PaleoAngola project unearths ancient vertebrate fossils
BBC Radio covered the research in Angola of SMU paleontologists Louis L. Jacobs and Michael J. Polcyn.
Journalist Louise Redvers in August interviewed Jacobs and Polcyn, both members of the Projecto PaleoAngola team.
The PaleoAngola researchers have described Angola as a “museum in the ground” for the abundance of fossils there.
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Radio Netherlands covers Louis Jacobs’ research in Angola
SMU paleontologist Louis Jacobs describes field work in Angola as working at a “museum in the ground.” Projecto PaleoAngola was covered by Radio Netherlands Worldwide (Photo: Anna Schulp)
Radio Netherlands Worldwide covered the research in Angola of SMU paleontologist Louis L. Jacobs. Journalist Lula Ahrens writes about Projecto PaleoAngola in the Aug. 15 article “Angola key to understanding Earth history.” Continue reading
National Geographic: Texas pterosaur Aetodactylus Halli in the spotlight after 95 million years
National Geographic News interviewed SMU postdoctoral researcher Timothy S. Myers about the new species and genus of pterosaur he identified and named Aetodactylus Halli. Pterosaurs are a group of flying reptiles commonly referred to as pterodactyls.
In the April 28 article “Toothy Texas Pterosaur Found; Soared Over Dallas” reporter John Roach talked to Myers about the 95 million-year-old jaw that was discovered by Lake Worth resident Lance Hall. Continue reading
Texas discovery: Rare 95 million-year-old flying reptile Aetodactylus halli is new genus, species of pterosaur
A fossilized jaw discovered at a construction site in Mansfield has been identified and named Aetodactylus halli by SMU paleontologist Timothy S. Myers.
Rare in North America, the winged reptile was soaring 95 million years ago over what would one day become Dallas-Fort Worth. Continue reading
SMU’s Polcyn, Jacobs in Discovery Channel’s “Prehistoric Dallas”
Dallas — and much of Texas — was once submerged by a sprawling, blue-water ecosystem called the Western Interior Seaway, which split North America in two from the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic Ocean, according to a new video documentary by the Discovery Channel.
“Prehistoric Dallas” includes commentary from two SMU paleontologists, Michael J. Polcyn and Louis L. Jacobs, both of whom have expertise in Texas’ ancient sea and the life that inhabited it from more than 90 million years ago until the extinction of the dinosaurs at 66 million years ago. Continue reading
World’s first full skeletal mount of Paluxysaurus jonesi dinosaur reveals new biology
Paluxysaurus jonesi weighed 20 tons, was 60 feet long and had a neck 26 feet long, according to the scientists who have prepared the world’s first full skeletal mount of the dinosaur.
The massive Paluxysaurus jonesi, prepared for the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History in Fort Worth, was unveiled Nov. 20 when the museum opened in a new $80 million facility. Continue reading
Angola: Final fossil frontier, museum in the ground
Fossils in the rock outcrops of the coast of Angola in Africa are a “museum in the ground,” says SMU vertebrate paleontologist Louis L. Jacobs. Louise Redvers with Agence France Presse interviewed Jacobs. BBC and others published the story “Angola: Final frontier for fossils.”
“Angola is the final frontier for palaeontology,” Jacobs is quoted. “Due to the war, there has been little research carried out… but now we are getting in finally and there is so much to find.
“In some areas there are literally fossils sticking out of the rocks, it is like a museum in the ground.”
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