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Life restoration of Mosasaurus hoffmanni

Mosasaurus is a genus of mosasaurs, an extinct group of aquatic scaly reptiles. It lived from about 82 to 66 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous. Its earliest fossils were found as skulls near the River Meuse (Mosa in Latin). In 1808, Georges Cuvier concluded that the skulls belonged to a giant marine lizard with similarities to monitors but otherwise unlike any known living animal, supporting the then-developing idea of extinction. Scientists continue to debate whether its closest living relatives are monitors or snakes. Mosasaurus had jaws capable of swinging back and forth and was capable of powerful bites, using dozens of teeth adapted for cutting prey. Its four limbs were shaped into paddles to steer underwater. Mosasaurus was a predator with excellent vision but a poor sense of smell, and a high metabolic rate suggesting it was warm-blooded. It lived in much of the Atlantic and in a wide range of oceanic climates including tropical, subtropical, temperate, and subpolar. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Susanna and the Elders by Artemisia Gentileschi

... that Artemisia Gentileschi produced the first of her four renderings of Susanna and the Elders (pictured) at the age of 17, shortly before she accused two well-respected older men of rape?
... that American doctor Cory Synhorst SerVaas believed that high-lysine corn could help end hunger in Africa, end famine, and stop protein deficiency despite only being fed to livestock and poultry?
... that at one point the fossil grasshopper Promastax was placed in the same family as a stick insect?
... that tenor Theo Lebow performed the roles of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Pablo Picasso in the world premiere of the opera 27?
... that a new building of the Catholic church Our Lady of the Annunciation in King's Lynn was initiated by Edward, Prince of Wales, because his guests were inconvenienced by the old building's condition?
... that Matthew Walker was driven to write Why We Sleep because of a woman who passed by him and took a peek at his work?
... that the 1872 Tradeston Flour Mills explosion that killed 18 people was caused by a fire after the feed of grain to a pair of millstones was halted?
... that Phil McGrane used food trucks as his inspiration to increase early voting?

In the news

Elizabeth II

In Nigeria, at least 40 people are killed in an attack at a Catholic church in Owo, Ondo State.
A fire and explosions at a storage depot in Sitakunda, Bangladesh, kill at least 41 people and injure more than 450 others.
The Commonwealth of Nations celebrates the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II (pictured).
Denmark votes to eliminate its opt-out of the European Union's Common Security and Defence Policy.

On this day

June 10

Frederick Barbarossa

1190 – Third Crusade: Frederick Barbarossa (pictured), Holy Roman Emperor, drowned in the Saleph River in Anatolia.
1692 – Bridget Bishop became the first person to be executed for witchcraft in the Salem witch trials in colonial Massachusetts.
1878 – The League of Prizren was officially founded to "struggle in arms to defend the wholeness of the territories of Albania".
1925 – The United Church of Canada, the country's largest Protestant denomination, held its inaugural service at the Mutual Street Arena in Toronto.
2008 – Sudan Airways Flight 109 crashed on landing at Khartoum International Airport, killing 30 of the 214 occupants on board.

Theodor Philipsen (b. 1840)
Margarito Bautista (b. 1878)
Margaret Abbott (d. 1955)

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Brabourne Stadium

Thirty-five Test centuries and two ODI centuries have been scored at Brabourne Stadium, a cricket ground in Mumbai, India. It is the home of the Cricket Club of India and has played host to Ranji Trophy matches. The first Test century (100 or more runs in a single innings) scored at the ground was in 1948 by the West Indian Allan Rae in the first innings of the first Test match played at Brabourne Stadium. The first Indian to score a century at the Brabourne was Rusi Modi in the third innings of the same match. Virender Sehwag's 293, scored against Sri Lanka in 2009, is the highest Test innings achieved at the ground. The highest Test score by an overseas player is 194 by the West Indian Everton Weekes in 1948. On 29 October 2018, the first century at this ground in the ODIs was scored by Rohit Sharma against West Indies. Sharma also holds the record of highest score at this ground with 162. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

Sinopterus dongi was a species of pterosaur that lived in the Early Cretaceous, about 120 million years ago. Like all the other members of the family Tapejaridae, Sinopterus is known for its large skull, which has a prominent crest and a birdlike pointed beak, and its lack of teeth. It is also a member of the Jehol Biota, an Early Cretaceous ecosystem mainly found in Liaoning, China best known for its feathered dinosaurs that has a crucial impact on studying the relationship between dinosaurs and birds. This S. dongi fossil specimen was collected in Chaoyang, in the Chinese province of Liaoning. Part of the collection of the Beijing Museum of Natural History, the fossil was temporarily exhibited at the National Museum of Natural Science in Taichung, Taiwan.

Photograph credit: Y.-C. Tsai

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