# evol: the feathered dinosaur may have been one of the last surviving raptors

<< A new feathered dinosaur that lived in New Mexico 67 million years ago is one of the last known surviving raptor species, >>

<< Dineobellator notohesperus adds to scientists' understanding of the paleo-biodiversity of the American Southwest, offering a clearer picture of what life was like in this region near the end of the reign of the dinosaurs. >>

<< Jasinski (Steven Jasinski) and his coauthors gave the species its official name, Dineobellator notohesperus, which means "Navajo warrior from the Southwest," in honor of the people who today live in the same region where this dinosaur once dwelled. >>

New feathered dinosaur was one of the last surviving raptors. University of Pennsylvania. Mar 26, 2020.

https://m.phys.org/news/2020-03-feathered-dinosaur-surviving-raptors.html

Steven E. Jasinski, Robert M. Sullivan,   Peter Dodson. New Dromaeosaurid Dinosaur (Theropoda, Dromaeosauridae) from New Mexico and Biodiversity of Dromaeosaurids at the end of the Cretaceous. Sci Rep 10, 5105. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-61480-7. Mar 26, 2020.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-61480-7

# evol: when the dinosaurs died, lichens thrived ...

AA << results imply that multiple historical events during the transition from Mesozoic to Cenozoic eras, including the K-Pg mass extinction event, impacted the evolutionary dynamics in lichen-forming fungi. >>

Jen-Pan Huang, Ekaphan Kraichak, et al.   Accelerated diversifications in three diverse families of morphologically complex lichen-forming fungi link to major historical events. Scientific Reports.  volume 9, Article number: 8518 (2019).   https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-44881-1  

<< We thought that lichens would be affected negatively, but in the three groups we looked at, they seized the chance and diversified rapidly, (..) Some lichens grow sophisticated 3D structures like plant leaves, and these ones filled the niches of plants that died out. >> Jen-Pang Huang.

When the dinosaurs died, lichens thrived. Mass extinction hurt land plants, but DNA shows that some fungus/plant combo organisms rose up. Field Museum, Academia Sinica, Taipei.  - ScienceDaily. Jun 28, 2019.   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/06/190628120432.htm

K-Pg mass extinction event   https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cretaceous%E2%80%93Paleogene_extinction_event