Paleontology News

Life reconstruction of the eurypterid Archopterus anjiensis. Image credit: Dinghua Yang.

Earliest Sea Scorpion from China

May 15, 2023 by Simon Braddy

Archopterus anjiensis, a new 445-million-year-old fossil sea scorpion, from the Chinese Zhejiang Province, is the oldest sea scorpion known from China. Life...

Life restoration of a North American brontothere species called Telmatherium and other animals of the Eocene Clarno Nut Beds, Oregon, the United States. Image credit: Larry Felder, National Park Service.

Brontotheres Evolved Their Enormous Sizes as Way to Survive in Competitive Ecological Niches: Study

May 12, 2023 by News Staff

After the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous period, many mammals underwent a rapid increase in size. Several hypotheses for...

An artist’s impression of the Kimmeridge Clay pliosaur. Image credit: Megan Jacobs, University of Portsmouth.

Fossils of Gigantic Pliosaur Uncovered in England

May 10, 2023 by Sergio Prostak

Paleontologists have unearthed four cervical vertebrae of Jurassic pliosaurid in the Kimmeridge Clay Formation near Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England. The...

3D reconstruction of the skull of Crassigyrinus scoticus; individual bones shown in different colors. Scale bars - 1 cm. Image credit: Porro et al., doi: 10.1080/02724634.2023.2183134.

Paleontologists Reconstruct Skull of Enigmatic Early Tetrapod

May 10, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Crassigyrinus scoticus was a large aquatic predator known from the lower- to mid-Carboniferous period of Scotland and Canada. 3D reconstruction of the...

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

New Research Sheds Light on Evolution of Giant Sauropod Dinosaurs

May 10, 2023 by News Staff

The long-necked dinosaurs, sauropods, are famous for their extreme body sizes, evolving body masses several times greater than the next-heaviest terrestrial...

Life restoration of Obamus coronatus, a tiny, toroidally shaped, soft-bodied animal from the Ediacaran biota of South Australia. Image credit: Nobu Tamura.

Paleontologists Find First Evidence of Ediacaran Habitat Selection

May 9, 2023 by News Staff

Paleontologists have examined how Tribrachidium, Rugoconites, and Obamus — three relatively common members of the Ediacaran biota (550 million years...

Reconstruction of the living bar-tailed trogon (Apaloderma vittatum) in the Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum.

Eocene-Period Trogon Already Had Heterodactyl Feet

May 8, 2023 by Natali Anderson

Trogons (Trogoniformes) are the only group of birds with a heterodactyl foot, in which the second toe is permanently reversed. Reconstruction of the living...

Reconstruction of the Castle Bank community; sponge in foreground is 2 cm tall. Image credit: Botting et al., doi: 10.1038/s41559-023-02038-4.

Ordovician-Period Fossil Site Discovered in Wales

May 3, 2023 by Sergio Prostak

The highly-diverse Middle Ordovician fossil site at Castle Bank, Wales, is directly comparable with the famous Burgess Shale and Chengjiang biotas in paleoenvironment...

An artist’s reconstruction of two Amphimachairodus hezhengensis defending their prey (Hezhengia bohlini) from two Dinocrocuta gigantea. Image credit: Oscar Sanisidro.

Paleontologists Identify New Species of Saber-Toothed Cat

May 1, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

The newly-identified species — the earliest and most primitive member of the saber-toothed cat genus Amphimachairodus — had craniodental adaptations...

The European sea sturgeon (Acipenser sturio). Image credit: Alexander Francis Lydon.

66-Million-Year-Old Sturgeon Fossil Found in Morocco

Apr 26, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

The new specimen represents the first occurrence of an acipenseriform (sturgeon) fish on the continent of Africa. The European sea sturgeon (Acipenser...

Paleoenvironmental restoration of the fossil locality in the Hasandong Formation and the Testudoolithus aff. curiosa egg clutch. Image credit: Hyunjoo Shin.

110-Million-Year-Old Turtle Eggs Unearthed in South Korea

Apr 24, 2023 by Sergio Prostak

Paleontologists have found a clutch of fossilized turtle eggs in the Lower Cretaceous Hasandong Formation in South Korea. Paleoenvironmental restoration...

Molt remains of feather-feeding beetle larvae intimately associated with downy feather portions from an unidentified theropod dinosaur in Early Cretaceous amber of Spain. Insets show the head with powerful mandibles of one of the larval molts (top) and the pigmentation pattern of feather second order branches (bottom), with the main stem of one feather at the right of the amber fragment. The length of the amber fragment is 6 mm. Image credit: CN IGME-CSIC.

Ancient Beetles Fed on Cast-Offs of Feathered Dinosaurs 105 Million Years Ago

Apr 20, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Vertebrates and arthropods are two of the most successful and frequently fossilized animal groups, but direct evidence of their interaction in deep time...

Life reconstruction of Beesiiwo cooowuse with the pseudosuchian Heptasuchus clarki in the background representing the known fauna from the lower carbonate unit of the Popo Agie Formation, Wyoming, the United States. Image credit: Gabriel Ugueto.

New Species of Rhynchosaur Unearthed in Wyoming

Apr 14, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have identified a new genus and species of hyperodapedontine rhynchosaur from several specimens unearthed in central Wyoming, the United...

Life recontsruction of Palaeochiropteryx bats. Image credit: Obsidian Soul / CC BY-SA 3.0.

52-Million-Year-Old Fossils Identified as Oldest Known Bat Species

Apr 13, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

The Fossil Lake deposits of the Green River Formation of Wyoming in the United States have produced nearly 30 bat fossils over the last 50 years. However,...

Life reconstruction of the head of Diamantinasaurus matildae. Image credit: Elena Marian.

Nearly Complete Skull of Titanosaur Unearthed in Australia

Apr 12, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Titanosaurian sauropod dinosaurs were diverse and abundant throughout the Cretaceous period, with a global distribution. However, few titanosaurian species...

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...