From today's featured articleSpinophorosaurus was a sauropod dinosaur that lived around 167 million years ago, during the Middle Jurassic. The first two specimens of the genus were excavated from the Irhazer Shale formation in Niger in the 2000s by German and Spanish teams. Spinophorosaurus ("spine-bearing lizard") was the first sauropod to have its skeleton 3D-printed (reconstruction pictured), when the fossils were brought to Europe and digitally replicated. The shoulder height was an estimated 4 m (13 ft), and its weight was about 7 metric tons (7.7 short tons). The braincase was short, deep, and broad, and the teeth were spoon-shaped. The neck contained 13 vertebrae. The tail was powered by strong musculature and had a rear section that was rather rigid due to long and overlapping chevron bones. Features of the vestibular apparatus suggest that vision and coordinated eye, head, and neck movements were important in Spinophorosaurus. Paired spikes on the tail may have been used for defence. (Full article...)
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On this dayNovember 24: Feast of Christ the King (Catholicism, 2019) ![]() The Death of Leszek the White by Jan Matejko, 1880
Pietro Torrigiano (b. 1472) · Junípero Serra (b. 1713) · Freddie Mercury (d. 1991)
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Tarring and feathering is a form of public torture and humiliation used to enforce unofficial justice or revenge. It was used in feudal Europe and its colonies in the early modern period, as well as the early American frontier, mostly as a type of mob vengeance. The victim would be stripped naked, or stripped to the waist. Hot wood tar was then either poured or painted onto the person while they were immobilized. The victim then either had feathers thrown on them or was rolled around on a pile of feathers so that they stuck to the tar. The image of a tarred-and-feathered outlaw remains a metaphor for severe public criticism. This picture shows German-American farmer John Meints, of Luverne, Minnesota, who was tarred and feathered in August 1918 for allegedly not supporting war bond drives during World War I. The photograph is in the collection of the National Archives and Records Administration. Photograph credit: unknown; restored by Opencooper
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