The lizard, one of the largest ever known, has been dubbed Barbaturex morrisoni in honor of The Doors' singer Jim Morrison, who once wrote a song that included the lyrics, "I am the lizard king/I can do anything."

"This is a king , and he was the lizard king, so it just fit," said Jason Head, a paleontologist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln who led the study and gave the ancient lizard its musically inspired moniker.

A lizard of unusual size

In modern times, most lizards are much smaller than the mammals that share their environment. The few exceptions, such as the gigantic and toothy , live in places where there are few mammals around (Komodo dragons are found on isolated Indonesian islands, for example).

B. morrisoni lived in a different world. About 36 million to 40 million years ago, the lizard outweighed the mammals that shared its mangrove forest home in what is now Myanmar. It was a gentle giant, with teeth designed for shearing vegetation, not slicing flesh.

The lizard fossils were first collected during expeditions in the 1970s, but they sat unanalyzed in a museum collection for more than 30 years until Head and his colleagues decided to study them. []

The jaw of B. morrisoni sported a series of ridges that suggest the animal had some sort ofsuch as a skin flap. The lizard might have looked something like the bearded dragons seen in pet stores today except instead of growing to be a foot or so long (30 centimeters), the ancient lizard would have been about 6 feet (1.8 meters) from nose to tail, Head said. It would have weighed about 68 pounds (30 kilograms).

"This was a really huge plant-eating lizard, much bigger than anything alive today," Head told LiveScience.

Komodo dragons can grow 10 feet long (3 meters), but they eat meat.

Warm world, big lizards

The lizard king discovery helps clear up a mystery about why lizards don't grow as large today as they once did, Head and his colleagues found. No one knew whether large plant-eating lizards are scarce today because they simply can't compete with mammals or because they're limited by modern-day temperatures. , meaning they rely on environmental heat to keep their body temperature up.

The Eocene epoch, when B. morrisoni lived, was much warmer than today. Based on the size of the lizard and the metabolism it would need to get that large, Head and his colleagues estimate that global average temperatures were 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit (2.5 degrees Celsius) higher than today.

"This was a greenhouse world," Head said. "There was no ice at the poles. There were higher concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere," trapping heat.

In this hot environment, the lizard king outgrew the plant-eating mammals in its ecosystem as well as many of the meat eaters, Head said. That growth ability suggests the presence of mammals is not keeping lizards down today; it's likely lower global temperatures.

"When we had these veryin the past, we had much different ecosystems, and reptiles could compete with mammals much more successfully," Head said. Plants may have also flourished more readily in this steamy climate, providing more food for the herbivorous lizards.

The findings, reported today (June 4) in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, reveal how ancient ecosystems can hold up a mirror to modern ones, Head said.

"Paleontology is really vital for understanding not only where we've come from, but where we are now, and where we're going in the future," he said.

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This month, tuber processing giant J.R. Simplot Co. asked the U.S. government to approve five varieties of biotech potatoes. They're engineered not to develop ugly black bruises. McDonald's, which gets many of its fries from Simplot, rejects those. They're also designed to have less of a natural but potentially cancer-causing neurotoxin, acrylamide.

Much has changed in 12 years, according to the Boise-based company.

Unlike transgenic varieties Monsanto commercialized in the 1990s using genes from synthetic bacteria to kill insect pests, Simplot's new "Innate"-brand potatoes use only potato genes.

Haven Baker, Simplot's Yale- and Harvard University-trained vice-president of plant sciences, said his scientists journeyed inside the vegetable's genome to "silence" unwanted attributes, while making sure it remained 100 percent potato.

"You'll never get as much beneficial effect from traditional plant breeding," he said. "And it'll take twice as long."

Those in the industry remember Monsanto's ill-fated foray and say Simplot's major challenge in avoiding a similar fate is ensuring its product is acceptable among growers, processors and, ultimately, people eating it.

"Unless your customers are prepared to embrace this product, it's not going to be successful," said Frank Muir, president of the Idaho Potato Commission that represents Idaho's $3 billion industry. His group, whose website currently boasts Idaho potatoes aren't genetically engineered, hasn't weighed in on Simplot's endeavor.

But Muir does think the company is making the right moves: Reaching out to the industry, as well as consumers who may eventually buy Innate potatoes as big, un-bruised bakers or golden fries. "They're taking all the appropriate steps."

As the USDA and Food and Drug Administration embark on vetting Simplot's potatoes, the agencies are nearing completion of a similar review of a genetically engineered apple created by a Canadian company, Okanagan Specialty Fruits, to resist browning when cut.

The apple industry has opposed Okanagan's "Arctic" apple, on grounds it could create marketing headaches for growers of unmodified apples. Christian Schlect, the Northwest Horticultural Council president, said he hopes the potatoes go to market first.

"We'd just as soon the potato people take the initial foray on marketing this technology, and we'll follow their experience," he said.

In fact, the two products, should they win the government's blessing, could hit customers about the same time, 2015 or 2016.

Baker said with Simplot's new potatoes, growers would earn more money with less wastage from bruising, something that can affect up to 5 percent of their harvest. Additionally, the spuds are designed to produce acrylamide levels so low they skirt California's strict, voter-mandated cancer labels on french fries and potato chips, he said.

McDonald's didn't return a call seeking comment about the tubers. A big Simplot processing rival, ConAgra, says its potatoes are not genetically engineered.

Twelve years on, St. Louis-based Monsanto remains tight lipped about jettisoning its "New Leaf" potatoes engineered, among other things, to kill Colorado potato beetles. That was a business decision "not influenced by any negative reaction to genetically-modified organisms," spokeswoman Carly Scaduto said.

But experts say plunging interest including from Simplot, which told farmers in Idaho and North Dakota in 2000 to quit planting New Leaf potatoes after restaurants like McDonald's banished them from their fryers drove the spuds from the fields. Monsanto's biotech potatoes, planted on 55,000 acres in North America in 1996, disappeared by 2002.

Joe Guenther, a University of Idaho professor of agricultural economics, in 2011 won funding from Simplot to survey potato industry players about re-introducing genetically engineered potatoes into the food chain. His conclusion: It could succeed, provided potatoes were modified with potato genes, not foreign microorganisms that in the 1990s spawned terms like "frankenfood."

"The Monsanto product crossed that species line," Guenther said. "The exciting thing about the Simplot product is, it stays within the potato species."

Another thing Guenther's 2011 report said would help was backing from an environmental group, something that remains a scarce commodity. Groups worried about corporations commandeering potato genes a decade ago remain no less alarmed.

Bill Freese, science policy analyst with Washington, D.C.-based Center for Food Safety, said Simplot's potatoes join a litany of other genetically engineered crops that don't face rigorous-enough USDA or FDA testing.

While Simplot's Baker said 20 field trials demonstrate Innate potatoes exhibit characteristics virtually identical to their unmodified cousins, Freese painted a darker picture: Genetic engineering is a noisy, unpredictable process, where the best-intentionedgenome tinkering could be accompanied by unforeseen effects on human health and the environment.

Freese said the absence of long-term animal feeding trials and labeling requirements is also cause for worry, since potatoes are staple crops people eat directly. Freese predicted Innate potatoes will fail, just like Monsanto's did.

"The question is why do they continue to so miscalculate public perception?" he said. "The biotech approach is to change the food on a genetic level in quite frankly risky ways with inadequate regulation to adapt a crop to an industrial food system that's really unhealthy in so many ways."

Simplot's Baker pointed to, among other sources, the FDA, which says genetically-engineered foods it reviews meets the same safety requirements as those from traditionally-bred plants. "The nutrients and allergens are no different from conventional potatoes," he said.

The Washington, D.C.-based National Potato Commission, representing 45,000 U.S. growers, learned of Simplot's plans several months ago. Chief Executive Officer John Keeling said it supports scientific advancements to improve potatoes, but has advised Simplot to avoid past mistakes.

For instance, some Monsanto tubers found their way into Japan, where they weren't approved. After that, Japan-bound U.S. potatoes had to be tested, he said.

"If some parts of the marketplace are saying they don't want Innate technology and others want it, you've got to be able to address both of those issues." Keeling said. "Simplot seems to have taken to heart the thoughts that we had."

Simplot is seeking approval in Japan, as well as Canada, Mexico and South Korea.

Winger Adrien Plante, 28, is also set to make his debut for France, who have mainly relied on the squad that finished bottom of this year's Six Nations with Thierry Dusautoir to captain the team in place of injured lock Pascal Pape.

Experienced flyhalf Frederic Michalak has been dropped to the bench and Lopez will form a 24-year-old halfback combination with Machenaud who earned his first international cap last year and now has eight.

South Africa-born prop Daniel Kotze and lock Alexandre Franquart have also been named in the 23-man squad and should earn their first France caps.

Team: 15-Yoann Huget; 14-Adrien Plante, 13-Florian Fritz, 12-Wesley Fofana, 11-Maxime Medard; 10-Camille Lopez, 9-Maxime Machenaud; 8-Louis Picamoles, 7-Fulgence Ouedraogo, 6-Thierry Dusautoir; 5-Yoann Maestri, 4-Sebastien Vahaamahina; 3-Luc Ducalcon, 2-Dimitri Szarzewski, 1-Thomas Domingo

Replacements: 16-Guilhem Guirado, 17-Vincent Debaty, 18-Daniel Kotze, 19-Alexandre Flanquart, 20-Yannick Nyanga, 21-Jean-Marc Doussain, 22-Frederic Michalak, 23-Maxime Mermoz

(Reporting by Gregory Blachier, editing by Ed Osmond)

DENVER (AP) -- Seven weeks after a tragedy on the snowmobile course marred the Winter X Games, ESPN decided to scrap the best trick competition, saying it was a move the network had been considering before Caleb Moore's death in Aspen, Colo.

Moore, a 25-year-old from Krum, Texas, died from injuries he sustained when his 450-pound sled rolled over him after a backflip gone wrong during a freestyle competition, which will remain part of the X Games program. In this year's best trick contest, a rider lost control of his machine after falling off and it veered into the netting close to fans.

ESPN spokesman Danny Chi explained to The Associated Press in an email Tuesday that the elimination of the best trick discipline was being contemplated before Aspen and that "our review of snowmobile freestyle continues."

"We will focus on motor sports disciplines that engage athletes who consistently compete in multiple global competitions reflective of the global reach of X Games," Chi wrote in the email.

In a statement, ESPN said the change "reflects our decision to focus on motor sports disciplines which feature athletes who also compete in multiple, world-class competitions (e.g., professional events and tours) reflecting the highest degree of athlete participation, competitive development and the global nature of our X Games franchise."

The Summer X Games will eliminate a similar competition Moto X best trick. Other motorcycle competitions will still be held.

The safety of snowmobiles came under scrutiny after the two accidents last January.

Moore stayed down for quite some time after his crash before walking off with help and being taken to a hospital to be treated for a concussion. He developed bleeding around his heart and was flown to a hospital in Grand Junction for surgery. The family later said that Moore also had a complication involving his brain.

He died Jan. 31, a week after his accident. It was the first death in the 18-year history of the X Games.

In the best trick event, Summer X Games motocross champion turned snowmobile newcomer Jackson Strong tumbled off his machine after a failed maneuver, only to have the throttle stick when it landed and the snowmobile swerve toward the crowd as fans scrambled to get out of the way. No one was seriously injured.

Winter X officials recently scratched a snowmobile freestyle demonstration set for later this month in Tignes, France, so organizers could review safety protocols.

___

ESPN is owned by The Walt Disney Co.

The AARC championed a ban of smoking on airlines back in the late 1980s by enlisting the support of AARC members across the country, who went out to the nation's airports to survey the flying public about smoking on commercial airline flights and their willingness to support a ban. Sixty-four percent of the 33,242 airline passengers surveyed indicated they would support such a ban.

The results of that survey were released to the nation during Thanksgiving week of 1987. The legislation was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Lautenberg calling for a smoking ban on flights of two hours or less. In the House, then Representative Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced the bill. It was passed by Congress and signed into law in 1988.

The Association's survey was really the only verifiable evidence that members of the public would support a smoking ban and thus it figured heavily into the passage of the bill.

The AARC followed up with a second survey in 1989 showing 92.8% of nonsmokers and 58.1% of smokers approved of the law. We again worked with Sen. Lautenberg and Rep. Durbin to gradually strengthen the law over the years so that now smoking is banned on all flights originating or ending in the U.S. This initiative inspired a massive change banning smoking on most airlines worldwide.

"Senator Lautenberg was a champion for all lung heath. He, along with then Congressman Durbin, partnered with AARC to bring about the smoking ban on commercial airline flights," says Tom Kallstrom, AARC executive director.

SamGiordano, who was AARC executive director at the time of the survey and legislation, noted that the AARC awarded Senator Lautenberg the Hudson Award for Cardiopulmonary Public Health in 1989 in recognition of his profound contributions to lung health.

About the AARC -- The American Association for Respiratory Care is a 52,000 member professional association of respiratory care professionals. The organization is dedicated to encouraging and promoting professional excellence, advancing the science of respiratory care, and serving as an advocate for patients, their families and the public.

SOURCE American Association for Respiratory Care

The couple is awaiting permission from penal authorities for a wedding within two weeks in Piedras Gordas prison, lawyer Maximo Altez told The Associated Press.

"He is in love, that is what motivates all men (to marry), he truthfully is in love," Altez said Friday about his client, who was convicted of the brutal 2010 murder of a young Lima woman he met in a casino.

Altez's comment followed speculation in Peruvian media that Van der Sloot wants to marry 23-year-old Leydi Figueroa Uceda to avoid possible extradition to the United States. The lawyer denied that was the case.

The 24-year-old Dutchman remains the chief suspect in the 2005 disappearance in his native Aruba of U.S. teenager Natalee Holloway.

Holloway was 18 years old when she vanished during a high school graduation trip to Aruba. She was last seen leaving a bar the morning of May 30, 2005 with Van der Sloot.

Holloway's body was never found and the ensuing searches for her would create intense media scrutiny and worldwide attention. A judge later declared Holloway dead.

Van der Sloot faces extortion and wire fraud charges in Alabama in connection with Holloway's unsolved disappearance, which occurred five years to the day before he killed 21-year-old Peruvian business student Stephany Flores after playing poker with her in a Lima casino.

U.S. prosecutors allege Van der Sloot accepted $25,000 in cash from Holloway's family in exchange for a promise to lead an attorney for the family to her body in early 2010 just before he went to Lima.

Altez said that Van der Sloot met Figueroa while she was selling goods inside the Peruvian prison. The young woman visited Van der Sloot constantly after that and several months ago he began taking the steps needed to wed.

The lawyer denied press reports that Figueroa bore Van der Sloot a son.

On Wednesday, Altez sought a sentence reduction to 20 years for Van der Sloot.

He said he should hear back from the Supreme Court in about 10 days.

"He wants to get married, change his life, make a new life," he said.

"Photograph," which will be released as an e-book on Apple's iBookstore on June 12, will coincide with a Grammy Museum exhibit on Starr, entitled "Ringo: Peace & Love," the book's publishers said on Wednesday.

A limited-edition hand-bound book signed by Starr will be available for purchase in December.

The book will include photographs from the musician's childhood in Liverpool, England, to his road to fame as part of the Fab Four, with Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison.

"These are shots that no one else could have," Starr, 72, said in a statement.

Highlights from the collection include behind-the-scenes candids of the Beatles in their daily lives and Starr's travel photography as the band toured the world.

Starr has also recorded videos featuring commentary to accompany the e-book.

(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy in Los Angeles; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

Though he offered some concessions to demonstrators, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan remained largely defiant in the face of the biggest popular challenge to his power in a decade in office, insisting the protests are undemocratic and illegitimate.

Public anger has flared among urban and secular Turks after police violently broke up an anti-development sit-in in the landmark Taksim Square, with protests spreading to dozens of other cities as demonstrators denounced what they see as Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian style.

As the furious protests entered its second day, police fired tear gas and turned on water cannons at angry demonstrators, some of whom threw rocks and bottles on their march toward Taksim. In an area normally abuzz with tourists, stores were shuttered and protesters fled into luxury hotels for shelter. There were hundreds of arrests and injured.

Turkish authorities later removed barricades and allowed thousands of demonstrators into the square in an effort to calm tension. Sounding defiant even as he bowed to protesters and pulled back police, Erdogan promised to stick to the government's redevelopment plans which protesters fear will remove one of the few green spaces in the sprawling city.

He called the protesters a "minority" that was trying to forcefully impose demands and challenged the opposition that he could easily summon a million people for a government rally.

"I am not claiming that a government that has received the majority of the votes has limitless powers ... and can do whatever it wants," Erdogan said in a televised speech. "Just as the majority cannot impose its will on the minority, the minority cannot impose its will on the majority."

Under Erdogan's leadership, Turkey has boosted economic growth and raised its international profile, taking a central role in post-Arab Spring politics in the region. Though widely supported by rural and conservative religious Muslims, he remains a divisive figure in mainly secular circles and is criticized for his often abrasive style.

Hundreds of people were injured in the protests, including four people who permanently lost their eyesight after being hit by gas canisters or plastic bullets, Huseyin Demirdizen of Turkey's Doctors' Association told The Associated Press. He said at least two people injured in the protests are in life-threatening condition.

Interior Minister Muammer Guler said more than 900 people were detained during the protests but some of them were released after questioning. He did not say how many were still in custody. The protest had spread to 48 cities, he added.

The mood at Taksim after Erdogan called off the police was cheerful. Protesters chanted "Tayyip resign!" Turkish celebrities joined the crowds, with thousands milling around the square, waving flags, and cheering and clapping at anti-government speeches. Many drank beer in protest of newly enacted alcohol curbs, singing "cheers Tayyip!"

Private NTV television reported that protesters built barricades at entrances to the square to prevent police from returning.

Sporadic clashes continued between police and a group of protesters who were trying to approach Erdogan's office in Istanbul, which is located at a former Ottoman palace. The Dogan news agency said the protesters had set an abandoned police vehicle on fire.

In Ankara, thousands congregated at a busy shopping street, jovially singing, waving Turkish flags, and frequently breaking into calls for Erdogan to resign. One group jokingly called on police to fire more tear gas at protesters suggesting they had grown addicted and "were going crazy" without it.

"We have had it up to here with him," said protestor Neslihan Yildirim, raising her hand to her chin. "Constant oppression... All the intervention in our lives."

Although scenes at the square brought to mind Cairo's Tahrir Square, the center of an uprising that ended Egyptian President Hosni Mubarek's rule, the protests were not likely bring down Erdogan's government, one analyst said.

The protests were more of a warning, according to Ahmet Cigdem, a professor of sociology and political science at Ankara's Gazi University.

"The people showed that the government's rule is not guaranteed just because they obtained some 50 percent of the votes and just because there is no powerful political opposition in Turkey," Cigdem said.

"These protests have clearly showed what the people reject. They are saying 'Don't force your political, sociological and cultural impositions on our lives. Don't try to shape my thoughts and my beliefs," he said.

In a surprise move last week, the government quickly passed legislation curbing the sale and advertising of alcoholic drinks, alarming secularists. Many felt insulted when he defended the legislation by calling people who drink "alcoholics." He insists the new regulations are aimed at protecting Turkey's youth from the harms of alcohol.

Erdogan is frequently criticized as a meddler in all aspects of life, telling couples, for example, to bear a minimum of three children. He also berated producers of a popular television series on the life of Ottoman Sultan Suleyman the Magnificient for depicting him as a figure who spends his time dwelling on his harem instead of fighting wars.

The government's policy on Syria also remains unpopular, with many believing its open support to rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime has put Turkey's security at risk. On May 11, twin car bombs at a border town the government blamed on Syria killed 52 and sparked anti-government protests.

At dawn on Friday, police violently rousted protesters who had camped out at Taksim to protest the planned removal of trees in the square. Officials are planning to rebuild a former Ottoman army barracks and put in a shopping mall.

"We can hardly believe that a small action caused by a tree or two has led to such an uprising," demonstrator Hande Topaloglu said.

The protest was also seen as a demonstration of the anger building toward Turkish police, who have been accused of using inordinate force to quash demonstrations and of using tear gas excessively.

In another gesture to placate protesters, Erdogan said that police may have used tear gas excessively. The Interior Ministry said police officers who abused their power would be punished.

Erdogan said the government was determined to revamp Taksim and rebuild the old army barracks but said no firm decision was made on building a shopping mall. He also spoke of government plans to tear down a cultural center to build an opera hall, in statements that could cause further controversy.

The protests broke out just days after Istanbul pitched its bid to host the 2020 Olympic games to sports and Olympic officials at a conference in St. Petersburg.

The United States, Britain and Sweden were among countries that asked citizens to stay away from areas where protests were held.

In Syria, Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi said Erdogan's suppression of the peaceful protests in Turkey was "illogical and reveals his detachment from reality."

Echoing words that Erdogan has used against Syrian leader Assad, Al-Zoubi said it is unjustified that Erdogan should defy his people.

_____

Fraser reported from Ankara. Associated Press writers Ezgi Akin and Burhan Ozbilici in Ankara, Karin Laub in Beirut and Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, contributed to this report.

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Rising exports helped rouse the Canadian economy from a sluggish second half of 2012 to grow at an annualized rate of 2.5 percent in the first quarter of this year, the fastest pace in six quarters, Statistics Canada reported on Friday.

The real growth rate was well above the Bank of Canada's forecast in April of 1.5 percent, topped the median projection of 2.3 percent in a Reuters survey and outpaced U.S. growth of 2.4 percent for the quarter. Statscan also revised up fourth-quarter growth to 0.9 percent from 0.6 percent.

The mediocre performance in the second half of last year had been partially due to temporary factors, particularly in the oil and gas sector in the third quarter, but a rebound in mining, oil and gas extraction became the main source of industrial growth in the first three months of 2013.

"It does suggest what we saw in the second half last year was more of a pause than the start of a new trend. With the monthly numbers continuing to grow through the quarter, it sets us up for a decent second quarter as well," said Royal Bank of Canada chief economist Craig Wright.

The Canadian dollar strengthened to C$1.0304 to the greenback, or 97.05 U.S. cents from C$1.0333 just before the data.

Exports of goods and services overwhelmingly made the biggest contribution to overall growth in the quarter. On a non-annualized basis, gross domestic product grew by 0.6 percent; the growth in final domestic demand was only 0.1 percent, the weakest showing in four years.

Consumer spending grew slightly, current spending by governments also rose, and businesses added to their inventories. Investment, however, fell, with a decline in business investment in housing helping to outweigh investment in plant and equipment. Government fixed capital investment also fell.

Wright said the data pointed to the rotation in sources of growth that policymakers had said was needed for Canada's growth to be sustainable

"As consumers moderate, government pulls back, we need exports to contribute more to growth and investment. It looks like exports have contributed growth for the second consecutive quarter," he said.

Bank of Montreal chief economist Doug Porter said the data might cause the market to price in a slightly greater chance of the Bank of Canada raising interest rates earlier next year than originally thought but it should not change the outlook dramatically.

"I think what it will do is quiet some of the talk about the possibility of the bank considering easing - there are always some voices out there saying that," he said.

(Additional reporting by Andrea Hopkins, Alastair Sharp and John Tilak in Toronto; Editing by Theodore d'Afflisio)

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