Anatomically Strange Dinosaur Vacuumed Up Food

TaeKwonDood writes "A paleontologist has discovered a 110 million-year-old dinosaur that had a mouth that worked like a vacuum cleaner, hundreds of tiny teeth and nearly translucent skull." The creature's vertebrae also consisted of more air than bone, and CT scans of the head suggest it continually held its head low for food vacuuming. Low-hanging fruit, indeed.

I'm sorry, I can't resist....

[MLease]

So this is a dinosaur that really sucked?

-Mike

Re:

[eebra82]

Yes. It's ancestors have found their way to the Congress/White House.

Re:

[infinity314159]

I think you mean descendants...

Re:I'm sorry, I can't resist....

[CastrTroy]

No, these dinosaurs are more evolved, so I think we should say ancestors.

Not sure about that

[Fross]

Have you seen Strom Thurmond? Or some of his decisions as senator?

(Not recently, thank god)

Re:

[sqldr]

No, he was right with ancestors. I mean, look how old Dick Cheney is..

Re:I'm sorry, I can't resist....

[russ1337]

Yes. It's ancestors have found their way to the Congress/White House.

Congress?

and I thought the dinosaur's Latin name was RIAAsaurus. Bottom feeders with air in their skulls indeed.

Re:

[FredDC]

Vacuum Dinosaur?

I thought Hollywood script writers were on strike?

Re:

[RuBLed]

Aha! That's the missing link, now my theory have support. Not all humans living today are of the same species... clever dinosaur genes, trying to mimic homo sapiens...

Re:I'm sorry, I can't resist....

[halvin]

I hear they're going to call it a Dysonosaur.

Re:

[therufus]

I was going to say Hooversaurus, but yours is better.

Re:I'm sorry, I can't resist....

[ozmanjusri]

I was going to say Hooversaurus

The Hooversaurus was contemporary, but became extinct when it's bag filled up.

Re:

[Hognoxious]

You know how hard it can be getting spares for things that are even ten years old. Now just imagine how it is for something 600 times as old.

Re:

[aproposofwhat]

Damn - no mod points today, but that's the funniest ID post I've seen in ages.

Kudos, man - kudos!

Re:I'm sorry, I can't resist....

[Slashidiot]

Well, my sources indicate that Roombasaurus is being also considered...

Re:

[KudyardRipling]

There will be a whole lot of laughing as we watch reruns of the Flintstones where the vacuum dinosaur is employed
by either Wilma or Betty.

How about (I'm going to get into trouble with the DEC fans here, but this is a UK thing) Nothing sucks like a VAXOSAURUS!

Re:

[jackpot777]

Their vacuum cleaner was a mammoth of a machine [tripod.com] (but was the same hue as a Dyson).

Re:

[chord.wav]

Or Lewinskysaur...

Re:

[jackpot777]

Close but no cigar.

Wait, maybe one cigar.

Obligatory ,,,

[ozbird]

... Wikipedia link [wikipedia.org].

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

This image is highly suspect... or is it just my dirty mind that reads too much into it?

http://www.forumpix.co.uk/uploads/1195208745.jpg [forumpix.co.uk]

Re:

[Mode_Locrian]

Yeah, did you see the pic in TFA? Note placement of dinosaur head relative to the person standing next to it...

Re:

[Eddy Luten]

I was just about to say that.. Very awkward.

Truth stranger than fiction

[flandar]

I remember a story from my youth (The Great Bunjee Venture) about an elephant like dinosaur that had a vacuum trunk, was semi-translucent and had suction cup feet. It could even fly (well gently glide down) by inflating its trunk.

http://www.amazon.com/Bunjee-Venture-Stan-McMurtry/dp/0590301624/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195235967&sr=8-1 [amazon.com]

It's a story about time travel. Perhaps it's really a documentary

Re:

[Noexit]

Based on the picture in the article, I'd say "hells yeah."

Photo of dino

[phillips321]

Here's the image of the bones
http://www.forumpix.co.uk/uploads/1195208745.jpg [forumpix.co.uk]

Re:Photo of dino

[oliderid]

To see a drawing of this beast (Nigersaurus taqueti)
http://dino.lm.com/images/display.php?id=1065 [lm.com]

Re:

[phillips321]

Just incase previous link doesn't load i have cached on forumpix.co.uk http://www.forumpix.co.uk/uploads/1195209656.jpg [forumpix.co.uk]

Re:

[Notegg Nornoggin]

Hey, that's rascist. Naming it after black folks just because it sucks.

Re:

[Robert Heinich]

That is a bit of a stretch.. From one of the links of the article, http://www.projectexploration.org/nigersaurus/meet.htm [projectexploration.org], "This bizarre-looking, long-necked plant-eating dinosaur is named Nigersaurus taqueti in honor of the country in which it was found (Niger) and a French paleontologist, Dr. Philippe Taquet, who led the first fossil expeditions to Niger in the 1960s."

Re:

[taricha]

That pic is missing a big bold-fonted "PWNED" caption

excited?

[rasputin465]

That researcher seems to be holding the head of the 'vacuum cleaner' fairly close to his...

Re:

[TheSwampDweller]

He must not realize that it can't suck on things anymore.

Re:

[Gauthic]

Now, that's an interesting place one's pelvis while shooting a photo for a 'Dino that sucks'.

Re:

[AaxelB]

After some searching, I actually found a series of images documenting the discovery of the dinosaur:
1 [uclick.com]
2 [uclick.com]
3 [uclick.com]
4 [uclick.com]
5 [uclick.com]
And, of course, Profit!!! [uclick.com]

... beware the frumious bandersnatch!

[dpiven]

Anyone else thinks that this thing probably looked like this [wikipedia.org]?

Complete Scientific Article

[Selanit]

Thanks to the Public Library of Science, their complete publication is available to us under the enthralling title Structural Extremes in a Late Cretaceous Dinosaur [plosone.org]. I found Figure 1 [plosone.org] especially interesting for its 3D visualizations of the skull structure. The thing's mouth really does resemble the shape of a vacuum cleaner, particularly one of those older models where the brush is on the end of a tube and all the machinery is in a little tug-along chassis. I'm inclined to think that it probably bit off the plants it was eating rather than "sucking" them up, though.

Still, neat stuff, and yet more proof that there are a whole bunch of Really Weird Things(TM) out there.

Re:

[RealGrouchy]

I'm inclined to think that it probably bit off the plants it was eating rather than "sucking" them up, though.

Then would you care to explain how Wilma Flintstone vacuumed her carpets?

- RG>

Re:

[jackpot777]

With a mastadon.

like a fish?

[goatherder23]

I've seen fish like Carp act like vacuum cleaners - maybe this dino grazed in water?

Re:

[Silver Sloth]

I thought that as well, especialy when the lightweight skeleton is taken into consideration (less strength needed when the bulk is water bourne) but if you read this article linked from TFA [plosone.org] it makes it quite clear that the current thinking is that it was a land animal. In addition a downward facing mouth doesn't do too well for a swamp dweller - how's it going to breath?

Re:

[phillips321]

Hows it going to breathe? --> Probably by using that long ass neck to stick it's head above water Possibly alot like these guys:
http://www.forumpix.co.uk/uploads/1195210095.jpg [forumpix.co.uk]

Re:

[Silver Sloth]

I suppose that it could raise it's head above water to breath in the same way that a whale comes to the surface to breath but the skeleton indicates that the head was habitually pointing downwards. All paleontology is a matter of guesswork but an air breather who's head is habitually pointing downwards is probably land based - don't take my word for it - RTFA.

Re:

[LarsWestergren]

All paleontology is a matter of guesswork but an air breather who's head is habitually pointing downwards is probably land based

That presumes it breathed through its head, couldn't it have had air intakes conveniently placed on its back? :)

Re:

[phillips321]

quote: probably :D

Re:

[asdfgl]

how's it going to breath?

Well carps seems to have no problem breathing...

Re:

[BytePusher]

My guess about the lightweight skeleton is that perhaps it was mostly cartilage. Another article states that it was a very fast growing animal. Perhaps due to the speed of growth it needed a very flexible skeleton to accommodate uneven growth. My guess is that they will eventually find an older one with more substantial bones.

Perhaps this one's bone structure is not standard as well. Raditaion poisoning from near surface uranium? Malnutrition? Some kind of acid maybe thinned the bones? Osteoporosis(Maybe

Loss of suction?

[Panitz]

Did it lose suction when it got full? Or does it have dual cyclone technology?

Re:Loss of suction?

[Mister Transistor]

Possible species names:

Dysonasaurus

Tyrannolectrolux

Eurekaceratops

Rainbodocus

Hooverdon

Re:Loss of suction?

[ceeam]

Vistasaurus.

Re:Loss of suction?

[Red Flayer]

Meh. Wake me up when the pterashopvactyl is discovered.

Re:

[Thing 1]

I know it's an ad but I haven't sent him any money yet for all the joy he's given me by hanging his songs out for a clever wget scripter, so: "Shop Vac" is one of Jonathan Coulton's best songs. He has a lot of best songs... He also wrote "Code Monkey". I very much appreciate seeing a reference to my new favorite "open source musician". His web site is here [jonathancoulton.com] but it seems to be down at the moment. There's a bunch of his stuff on YouTube though; this video for "Re: Your Brains" [youtube.com] looks professionally produce

Re:

[josquint]

SuckZilla

Re:

[HungWeiLo]

NeverSingleSaurus.

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:

[at_slashdot]

Maybe it sucked and blew at the same time...

Seriously

[ThirdPrize]

had a mouth that worked like a vacuum cleaner

I knew a girl like that once ...

Re:

[nick79au]

I knew a girl

pfftt.. this is /.

Re:

[dvice_null]

Yeah, only girl he knows is his mother.

Re:

[gfxguy]

And if you look at the picture, where the guy is standing and how he's holding... well, just go look at the picture.

Re:

[Tablizer]

[had a mouth that worked like a vacuum cleaner]
I knew a girl like that once ...

After the's done with "that", she'll then suck your wallet dry also.

Re:

[Yaotzin]

I wish I had modpoints so I could mod you funny. Whoever modded this troll should be shot.

"Anatomically strange"?

[tygerstripes]

My kids vacuum up food all the time. And if they don't have hollow bones, I dunno where it goes.

o_O

[Anonymous Coward]

http://i.usatoday.net/tech/_photos/2007/11/15/dino472.jpg [usatoday.net]

Just because he sucked food doesnt mean u have to take a picture with the dinos head there....

Odd vaccum

[belg4mit]

/me checks the hall closet, my vacuum doesn't seem to have teeth and a transluscent head...

I once dated...

[dotancohen]

I once date a girl that had a mouth that worked like a vacuum cleaner and nearly translucent skull. Thank God she did not have the aforementioned hundreds of tiny teeth...

Re:

[Lariat]

You post on slashdot and you once dated a girl? Riiiiiiight. . .

Re:I once dated...

[dotancohen]

Paying $50 in a back alley is not considered dating where you're from?

Sucky (get it, suck) journalism?

[SmallFurryCreature]

Its head is shaped like a vacuum cleaners nozzle, but the article also states that it grazed like a cow. Cows don't vacuum (more the other way around) and nowhere in the article is there any suggestion that it vacuums except in sentences that seem to be written by a journalist, not a scientist.

If the animal did hover up its food it would need some way to create a large enough vacuum. Some fish do it, by suddenly expanding their mouth so that water, and hopefully ffood is sucked in to the "new" space. But that is a lot easier then to do the same thing with air. Just check the amount of power needed to vacuum up even an ant.

Unless the animal has some radicial new systems the only way for it to create a vacuum would be to expand its body to take in air. Doable,and if you are a large animal the amount of suction would be impressive but, well why?

If it grazed it meant it ate plants, you can't vacuum up plants because they are attached to their roots. Once you cut of the grass with your mouth, you no longer need to suck it up.

About the only thing I could see it being used for is to suck up small animals, like say sucking up ants. Still, I think that animal would also be sucking up a lot of dirt.

Frankly I think this is just bad journalism, the scientist said its mouth looks like a vacuum cleaner nozzle and the journalist turned that into the critter vacuums up its food.

Anyone found ANY link suggesting otherwise?

Re:

[gEvil (beta)]

National Geographic is referring to it as a "fern mower".

Re:

[SubliminalLove]

Cows don't vacuum (more the other way around)

No, my vacuum doesn't cow either.

Re:

[Chysn]

> > Cows don't vacuum (more the other way around)

> No, my vacuum doesn't cow either.

My vacuum cows. Sometimes I wish it'd just grow a pair and suck it up already.

Re:

[ideonode]

Cows don't vacuum (more the other way around)

You know, I've spent the last ten minutes trying to understand that clause. I don't get it. Help...

Re:

[RSquaredW]

I believe GP is referring to bovine methane release.

Cow farts.

I was talking about BLOWING

[SmallFurryCreature]

Cows are rather well known for expelling large amounts of gas. They fart. Often.

Re:

[davidsyes]

In related news, a HEPA filter-containing dinosaur -- which was a sucker for life, and whose life sucked -- was found with remains of 10 million "amberized" or preserved beetles and locusts...

Re:

[mindslut]

I think to understand the vacuumability you have to get a sense of the scale of the body to head. See here: Nigersaurous [plosone.org] Imagine during the late stages of digesting a few thousand pounds of plants wherein the digestion process breaks the fibrous organics into gases and solids and then expels such gases rearward creating an enormous backpressure within the cavity of the Nigersaurous. At that point all it needs to do it open its mouth and you have Hoover principle eating. Or a very happy male Nigersauro

Re:

[Slashboo]

"Cows don't vacuum (more the other way around)"

What, you mean vacuums don't cow?

Cartoon

[PinkyDead]

Where is Gary Larson when you need him?

(Picture of janitor scratching head in front of skeleton)

"Scruffy never did figure where he left that darned thing."

Just right for a modern stone age family

[dgun]

An upgrade from the woolly mammoth model?

JarJarsaurus

[Anonymous Coward]

I work at National Geographic, so I've been watching them set up the exhibit for this thing for the past few days. One of the first things that went up was a display with a model of the head. All that myself and a few other people can think of when we see this is "Hullo. Meesa JarJarsaurus." [projectexploration.org]

Not strange, but...

[dotancohen]

If this dinosaur were female, it would not be called (as per the title) "anatomically strange". It would be called "anatomically correct".

Flintstonian archeology

[sadangel]

They've finally discovered Wilma's vacuum cleaner.

Re:

[jackpot777]

Dammit, dammit, dammit, Wilma's vacuum was a purple wooly mammoth. Didn't you learn ANYTHING at the Museum of Natural History?

/.-ed

[protobion]

It seems like PloS One.org has been /.-ed.

We know that from...

[master_p]

...the Flintstones!!!!

Sucking up food?

[jonr]

Sounds like my ex...

Better Title...

[bigkahunafish]

"Newly discovered dinosaur sucks."

Darwin in action

[hyades1]

Birds are now generally thought to be descendants of dinosaurs. Perhaps we should try to establish a link between this creature and a current species. My vote goes to politicians. They've merely adapted to suck money out of your wallet and poop it out to their paymasters. I won't speculate what lobbyists, special interest groups and multi-national corporations are descended from. It would be too depressing.

A dinosaur that can suck like that!?

[JCSoRocks]

Must be called YoMommasaurus.

See it in action

[volpe]

Here. [tripod.com]

Toddler-Sized Teeth

[Chysn]

My wife turned on Good Morning America while I was still groggy from sleep. While I lay there listening to the TV, they ran this story, saying that the dinosaur had "over 500 toddler-sized teeth." I thought, "A toddler is a strange thing to compare the size of a tooth to, but my god, that thing's HUGE!"

He's not extinct...

[butterwise]

He's my brother in law...

Just Great

[Debian Cabbit]

"A paleontologist has discovered a 110 million-year-old dinosaur that had a mouth that worked like a vacuum cleaner, ..."
Do we really need two stories on the front page about Gene Simmons?

Just a Big Duck

[alextheseal]

This must be obvious. This an aquatic animal that was a filter feeder. Kinda like ducks and swans now filter feed. If you float you don't need super strong bones.

Re:

[MrHanky]

You're a bit late with that troll. In fact, that troll was at least almost 12 hours ahead of /.'s editors. Proof [slashdot.org]. It's a sad day when copypasta trolls are faster than /.'s editors with the latest dinosaur news.

Re:

[Jugalator]

That comment implies you don't know the history of the word "niger". Or maybe it's supposed to be teh FUNNAY!

Re:

[jagdish]

How the hell is this offtopic? Its a joke. Yes, well, that's the sort of philistine pig ignorance I've come to expect from you non-creative garbage. Your type makes me puke. You whining, hypocritical toadies. YOU VACUOUS TOFFEE-NOSED MALODOROUS PERVERT!