4-inch lizard the daddy of the dinosaur
New claim but Prince denies any wrongdoing
Early lizard
A TINY lizard that lived 237 million years ago is an ancestor of dinosaurs and pterosaurs, say scientists.
Despite being just four inches tall, the hairy Kongonaphon kely – or “tiny bug slayer” – gave rise to the biggest animals to roam Earth, which were up to 100-feet long.
After its fossil was unearthed on Madagascar in 1998, studies showed it shares key features with dinosaurs, including teeth, claws and bristles.
The findings have implications for the evolution of birds, as they descended from dinosaurs.
Dr Christian Kammerer, of North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, in the US, said body size “decreased sharply early in the history of the dinosaur-pterosaur lineage”.
Giuffre on 60 Minutes
Prince and Epstein strolled in NY’S Central Park in 2010
US LAWYER FOR VICTIMS
Brad Edwards
LAWYERS for girls abused by Jeffrey Epstein say there are other victims of the paedophile financier who were in the presence of Prince Andrew and are yet to go public.
The claim was made by Brad Edwards, a lawyer who represents the Duke of York’s sex accuser Virginia Giuffre and 54 other Epstein victims.
Prince Andrew firmly denies Virginia’s claim he had sex with her three times in 2001, after she was “loaned out” by Epstein, and says he does not recall meeting her.
It is the first time it has been alleged that there are victims of Epstein who claim they saw him with the Duke of York, other than Virginia and Johanna Sjoberg.
Mr Edwards said: “We have several other clients who were in his presence and Mr
Epstein’s presence. Know him to be around.
He [the Duke] refuses to talk.
It’s not doing him any favours.”
The Duke of
York, however, says he is quite willing to help US authorities with their investigation.
Sjoberg previously claimed she was sexually molested inside the American billionaire’s “house of horrors” after “a pact with the devil”.
She claimed in court papers that Andrew groped her breast as she sat on his knee inside the financier’s New York home.
Prince Andrew and his legal team have vehemently denied both of the claims.
Mr Edwards, who talked about the “spider’s web” of Epstein offenders, also said socialite Ghislaine Maxwell – arrested on Thursday and charged with sexual offences against minors – was too loyal to her friend the Duke ever to “say what she knows” about his ties to the late Epstein.
Mr Edwards added: “They are very close friends.
“This isn’t a casual relationship. I don’t think Prince
Andrew is going to say what he knows about Ghislaine, and I don’t think Ghislaine’s going to say what she knows about Prince Andrew.”
Since Maxwell’s arrest last week, Mr Edwards said he had been contacted by several witnesses and at least one other alleged victim.
Maxwell was spirited from her cell in New Hampshire to New York ahead of a court appearance this week.
The 58-year-old Brit was moved from the Merrimack County House of Correction in Boscawen at 4.30am yesterday.
She was whisked from her cell by armed US Marshalls and flown by helicopter to New York, where she is expected before a judge on Friday.
After Epstein killed himself in prison last year, a jail source told the Mirror: “Officials are still reeling from Epstein being left alone to take his own life, they are not going to let anything happen. She was transferred with the security normally afforded to drug lords and mob bosses.” Following Maxwell’s arrest, Virginia, 36, appeared on 60 Minutes in Australia on Sunday saying the Duke of York would be “shook up” at the fear his close friend may turn on him.
Maxwell’s lawyer Christian Everdell has asked a judge for a bail hearing on Friday.
Maxwell is also accused of lying to a court in a 2016 deposition that she had never groomed or had sex with underage girls herself.
Meanwhile Sir Keir Starmer called on Prince Andrew to assist US investigators probing his former friend Epstein.
The Labour boss told LBC: “Of course he should cooperate with the US. He will have to justify his own actions.
“It doesn’t matter who you are, you cooperate.” Last night a spokesperson for the Duke declined to comment.
Ghislaine Maxwell
I don’t think Prince Andrew is going to say what he knows...
BRAD EDWARDS