Paleontology News

An illustration of an adult male woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) navigates a mountain pass in Arctic Alaska, 17,100 years ago. Image credit: James Havens / University of Alaska Museum of the North.

Woolly Mammoths Carried Highly Evolved Genes Related to Hair, Skin, Fat Metabolism, and Immunity

Apr 10, 2023 by News Staff

In new research, scientists analyzed 23 ancient genomes of woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius), including one of the oldest known specimens at 700,000...

These footprints were left by long-necked sauropod dinosaurs around 100 million years ago. Image credit: Xing et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cretres.2023.105536.

Cretaceous-Period Dinosaur Footprints Found in China

Apr 5, 2023 by News Staff

A new analysis of dinosaur tracks found at a courtyard location in a restaurant in Leshan City, China, indicates that they originate in the track-rich...

An artist’s impression of two Troodon formosus near their nest. Image credit: Alex Boersma / PNAS.

Troodon Nests Were Shared by Multiple Females, Paleontologists Find

Apr 4, 2023 by News Staff

The dinosaur-bird transition is among the most fascinating events in evolutionary history, but several aspects such as changes in reproductive system,...

Reconstruction of Maghriboselache mohamezanei in its habitat. Thylacocephalans, cephalopods with orthoconic conchs, placoderms such as Dunkleosteus and osteichthyans populated the water column during the middle Famennian in the Anti-Atlas of Morocco. Image credit: Klug et al., doi: 10.1186/s13358-023-00266-6.

Devonian Shark-Like Fish Had Unique Sensory Specialization

Apr 3, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have described a new genus and species of broad-snouted chondrichthyan fish from several fossilized specimens found in Morocco. Reconstruction...

With its mouth closed, all of the enormous teeth of Tyrannosaurus rex would be invisible behind its lips. Image credit: Mark Witton.

Lips of Theropod Dinosaurs Covered Their Teeth: Study

Mar 31, 2023 by News Staff

Non-avian theropod dinosaurs such as the iconic Tyrannosaurus rex have long been portrayed with their teeth fully visible, similar to living crocodiles....

An artist’s impression of Mukupirna nambensis living in central Australia that was much greener 25 million years ago. Image credit: Peter Schouten.

Strange Wombat Relative Once Lived in Australia

Mar 30, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Mukupirna fortidentata looked a bit like a modern wombat crossed with a marsupial lion (Thylacoleo carnifex). An artist’s impression of Mukupirna nambensis...

Life reconstruction of Ektopodon serratus (top left), a relative of Chunia pledgei, and the marsupial lion Wakaleo oldfieldi (right). Image credit: Peter Schouten / CC BY-SA.

Bizarre Possum Species Lived in Australia 25 Million Years Ago

Mar 29, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new species of ektopodontid possum has been described from Oligocene-age fossils found in central Australia. Life reconstruction of Ektopodon serratus...

A partial skull fossil from the ancient beaver Anchitheriomys buceei (right) alongside a skull reconstruction. Image credit: Matthew Brown / Jackson School Museum of Earth History, the University of Texas at Austin.

Fossils of Large Beaver Species Unearthed in Texas

Mar 28, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists from the University of Texas at Austin have identified a new species of ancient beaver from the fossilized remains found at several sites...

Selaginella bryopteris in Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid, Spain. Image credit: Luis Fernández García / CC BY-SA 2.1 ES.

Earth’s Earliest Land Plants Were Branched, New Research Suggests

Mar 28, 2023 by News Staff

Diverse branching forms have evolved multiple times across the tree of life to facilitate resource acquisition and exchange with the environment. As an...

Life reconstruction of Dama celiae in the Manzanares valley, Spain; other species present are Anas platyrhynchos, Equus ferus, Elephas antiquus, Mauremys leprosa, Bison sp., Bos primigenius, and Stephanorhinus hemitoechus. Image credit: J. Gamarra.

Fallow Deer with Two-Pointed Antlers Lived alongside Neanderthals

Mar 27, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have described an extinct species of the fallow deer genus Dama from fossils found in Spain. Life reconstruction of Dama celiae in the...

Life reconstruction of Thylacosmilus atrox. Image credit: Jorge Blanco.

Study: Thylacosmilus atrox Adapted to View the World in Unique Way

Mar 22, 2023 by News Staff

Paleontologists from the American Museum of Natural History, the Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales and CONICET investigated...

Compound (a-d) and median (e-p) eyes of trilobites. Image credit: B. Schoenemann & E.N.K. Clarkson, doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-31089-7.

Median Eyes Were Really Present in Trilobites, Paleontologists Say

Mar 21, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Arthropods typically possess two types of eyes: compound eyes, and the ocellar, so-called median eyes. Only trilobites, an important group of arthropods...

Life reconstruction of Alienopterix santonicus with hypothetical greenish-reddish coloration. Image credit: Márton Zsoldos.

Enigmatic Metallic Cockroach Lived alongside Dinosaurs

Mar 20, 2023 by Sergio Prostak

Alienopterix santonicus was found preserved in a piece of ajkaite, a unique Late Cretaceous type of amber from western Hungary. Life reconstruction of...

The Haast’s eagle (Hieraaetus moorei) attacking two moas. Image credit: John Megahan / PLoS Biology, doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.0030020.

Giant Eagle Species Lived in Australia More Than 50,000 Years Ago

Mar 16, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of giant accipitrid bird being named Dynatoaetus gaffae has been identified from fossil remains found South Australia. The Haast’s...

A rendering of Mamenchisaurus sinocanadorum. Image credit: Júlia d’Oliveira.

Jurassic Sauropod Dinosaur Had 15-Meter-Long Neck

Mar 15, 2023 by News Staff

Mamenchisaurus sinocanadorum lived 162 million year ago (Late Jurassic epoch) in what is now China. A rendering of Mamenchisaurus sinocanadorum. Image...

Triassic terrestrial larva Protoanisolarva juarezi. Scale bars - 1 mm in (A), 0.05 mm in (C-E, G), 0.1 mm in (F). Image credit: Peñalver et al., doi: 10.1002/spp2.1472.

Earliest Known Gnat Fossil Sheds Light on Evolutionary History of True Flies

Mar 14, 2023 by News Staff

Protoanisolarva juarezi, a new genus and species described from a 247-million-year-old larva, shares key features with Anisopodidae, a small cosmopolitan...

Reconstruction of the earliest ichthyosaur and the 250-million-year-old ecosystem found on Spitsbergen. Image credit: Esther van Hulsen.

Earliest Triassic Ichthyosaur Fossils Unearthed on Spitsbergen

Mar 13, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists from Uppsala University and the University of Oslo have found the 250-million-year-old fossilized ichthyosaur remains in the Vikinghøgda...

Reconstruction of the largest known specimen of Dunkleosteus terrelli, compared to one of the largest reliably measured specimens of Carcharodon carcharias; a 1.75-m-tall human for scale. Image credit: Russell Engelman, doi: 10.3390/d15030318 / Sci.News.

Earth’s First Vertebrate Superpredator Was Shorter and Stouter than Previously Thought

Mar 13, 2023 by News Staff

Dunkleosteus terrelli, an armor-plated fish that lived in the shallow subtropical waters of the Devonian period, about 360 million years ago, is one of...

Life reconstruction of Edowa zuniensis. Image credit: Brenton Adrian.

Dinosaur-Era Fossil Bridges Gap in Evolution of Extinct Baenid Turtles

Mar 10, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Edowa zuniensis is the first species of baenid turtle described from the Turonian age of North America. Life reconstruction of Edowa zuniensis. Image credit:...