In Two Texas Truths and a Lie, three stories are given to two contestants to compete to see who can figure out the fake one.
This week we have two folks from the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center here in Austin: Lee Clippard, the director of communications and Lori Bockstanz, the membership coordinator.
Today, we have a roundup of stories about extinct animals with Texas ties.
1. A new study finds that once upon a time, creatures known as “bear dogs” prowled southwestern Texas. When they showed up on the scene about 40 million years ago, they were only about the size of Chihuahua – but evolved to become top predators.
2. A paper out in the journal “Nature” this week says Glyptodons might have been around longer than previously thought. Never heard of a Glyptodon? Well, it’s basically an armadillo the size of a Volkswagen Beetle. Scientists thought they had been extinct for 10,000 years, but recently found a fossil on the Texas Coast that’s only 5,000 years old.
3. UT-Austin researchers discovered the oldest known vocal organ of a bird in Antarctica who lived at the same time as the dinosaurs. But here’s the thing: scientists haven’t found these vocal organs among dinosaur fossils. That means that even though birds descended directly from dinosaurs, back in the day, dinos couldn’t squawk and talk like birds.
Which one is the lie? Listen in the player above to find out!
