Bird-like dinosaur was 'venomous'

A bird-like dinosaur that prowled an ancient forest 125 million years ago used venom to subdue its prey, according to a new theory.

Sinornithosaurus's upper teeth resemble those of "rear-fanged" snakes which bite their prey and channel venom into the wound.

The dinosaur probably fed on the abundant birds which inhabited what is now north-east China.

The work appears in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal.

Rear-fanged snakes are considered less dangerous than other venomous snakes.

The fangs in these snakes do not inject venom, but instead channel the poison along a groove on the outer surface of teeth that pierce their prey's flesh.

Sinornithosaurus had upper teeth that were similarly long, grooved and fang-like.

David Burnham, from the University of Kansas, US, and colleagues, say the dinosaur's upper jaw also contained a pocket that could have housed a venom gland.

This is connected to the base of the teeth by a long groove.

Like rear-fanged snakes, the venom Sinornithosaurus used was probably not lethal. The researchers suggest it instead caused rapid shock, allowing the dinosaur to subdue its prey.

The researchers propose that the length of the dinosaur's fangs allowed it to penetrate the thick plumage of birds that populated the forests of north-east China during the early Cretaceous period.

NZ policewoman allows naked cycling - with helmet

Two young men caught cycling with no clothes on have escaped charges of offensive behaviour, but received a warning to wear protective headgear.

Local policewoman Cathy Duder was unfazed when she came across the two nude men, both in their early 20s.
"They were more shocked than I was, trying to cover up their bits and pieces with their hands," she said.
The men were riding around the Coromandel seaside resort of Whangamata on the north-east coast of New Zealand.
When asked for an explanation, the pair replied that "they wanted to experience total freedom".
Strangely sober
"And I said to them 'the way you're heading, you're going to experience total confinement'," the officer said, laughing.
She said the men appeared decidedly sober.
"They didn't seem drunk at all. That's what worried me," she joked.
Ms Duder issued them with a stern warning for not wearing helmets and then sent them directly home.
She told the Associated Press news agency that she did not see them again during her shift, and it was not known if they donned helmets and resumed their ride.
Public nudity can attract a charge of offensive behaviour in New Zealand, but Ms Duder said she let the two men go free.
"It was dark and there was no-one else around. They were jovial young men who had not intended to cause offence," she said.

Liverpool schoolchildren's bus driver dies at wheel

The driver of a coach carrying Liverpool schoolchildren home from a skiing trip has suffered a fatal heart attack at the wheel.

The 34-strong party from West Derby Comprehensive were returning through Germany from a skiing trip in Austria when the coach span out of control.
It ploughed into the central reservation of a motorway in Karlsruhe.
No-one else was injured and the staff and pupils stayed overnight in a nearby Red Cross centre.
The vehicle was on hire from Newcastle-based Keiths Coaches.
It is understood the driver had worked for them for many years and was very experienced.

It is astonishing and miraculous that they were not injured Headteacher Margaret Rannard

Keith Grimes, Managing Director of the coach company, said: "At this time my main concern is with the safe return of the children to school that are currently on route to Calais with a fellow coach operator from Germany."
He thanked German and Northumbria Police for their help and said the Red Cross had provided food, drinks and bedding for the children.
Headteacher Margaret Rannard said all parents have been informed and a replacement coach was bringing the children home.
"It is astonishing and miraculous that they were not injured. My thoughts go out to the family of the driver.
"He was one of two drivers that took the students around all week and they got to know him.
"It's terribly, terribly sad," she said.
The pupils, aged between 14 and 18, are due back in the country on Thursday morning.

Death row Briton's daughter says he is 'mentally ill'

The daughter of a British man due to be executed in China for drug smuggling has said her father was "mentally ill" and deserved to be spared.

Leila Horsnell said her father Akmal Shaikh, 53, from London, had always behaved in "extreme" ways.
Mr Shaikh has denied knowledge of the 4kg of heroin found with him in 2007.
Gordon Brown has called for clemency but Mr Shaikh's final appeal was turned down this week and he is due to be executed on 29 December.
His defence team has said Mr Shaikh suffers from bipolar disorder and did not know what he was doing.
They say he was duped by a criminal gang into carrying a suitcase that did not belong to him.

There would be times he would have extravagant ideas. Then there were times when he would be extremely religious Leila Horsnell

His daughter said he was approached by drug smugglers in Poland and they convinced him they would make him a popstar in China.
"They recorded a song, and he can't sing, and the song itself is very very bizarre, but they convinced him that they're going to take him to the clubs in China and make him a huge popstar," said Ms Horsnell.
"He just believed he could do anything, and he could achieve anything, and if somebody had said to him that he could become a popstar, I believe he genuinely thought that."
'Extravagant ideas'
She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme there were "a lot of different sides" to her "charismatic" and "delusional" father.
"There would be times he would have extravagant ideas, he could open an airline," she added. "Then there were times when he would be extremely religious and wanting us to lead a secluded life."

The Chinese law is actually pretty careful about mental health issues Professor Christopher Stone

She insisted her father would never do anything criminal willingly and called on the Chinese authorities to take his mental health problems into account.
Mr Shaikh was arrested in September 2007 in Urumqi, north-west China.
The Chinese foreign ministry said the "grave crime" had been handled in accordance with the law.
China's Supreme People's Court denied his final appeal on Monday. He is set to become the first EU national to be executed in China in 50 years.
'Hugely popular'
Chinese death penalty expert Professor Christopher Stone told the BBC the death sentence was "heavily used" in China but the exact figures were a "state secret".
Prof Stone, of Harvard University, said estimates over the past five years reached a height of about 10,000 death sentences a year, but a "genuine reform process" had brought the figures down.
He said death sentences were handed down for various crimes including murder, corruption and drug trafficking.

China does not react well usually to pressure from outside Jonathan Fenby

The death sentence was "hugely popular" in China and had the support of between 80-95% of the population, he said.
Prof Stone said the authorities would not want to be seen to make an exception for a foreign man but the issue of mental illness was an important consideration in Chinese law.
"The Chinese law is actually pretty careful about mental health issues," he said. "They have special dispensations, special rights, greater right to counsel.
"In this case, the issue of mental illness seems not to have been raised until after the trial was over and the death sentence had been handed down."
'Behave themselves'
Jonathan Fenby, China director at the research service Trusted Sources, said the chances of a reprieve were "small" and there was a "whole pattern at the moment" of China playing "things fairly tough".
"China does not react well usually to pressure from outside," he said. "The Chinese would see this as an interference with their internal affairs, which is the thing they are most resistant to."
Amnesty International counted 1,700 executions last year, he said, but about 6,000 prisoners were actually condemned to death, with many sentences suspended for several years.
"If they are thought to have behaved themselves or ingratiated themselves in various ways with the authorities, the execution is not carried out but that's usually in semi-political cases," he said.
Reprieve, which campaigns for fair trials and promotes human rights, has been working with Mr Shaikh and his legal team.
It has called on the prime minister to "speak directly" to the Chinese president.
A Downing Street spokesman said on Tuesday: "The prime minister and foreign secretary have raised Akmal Shaikh's case with China's leaders on many occasions.
"Yesterday the prime minister wrote to express his dismay that Akmal Shaikh's sentence has been upheld by the Supreme People's Court."