Paleontology News

Fossil of Ancient Swan Species Found in New Zealand

The wing bone of the Bannockburn swan (Notochen bannockburnensis). Scale bars - 20 mm. Image credit: Worthy et al., doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.5168.1.3.
Jul 25, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of anatid bird has been identified from a fossilized wing bone found in Central Otago, New Zealand. The wing bone of the Bannockburn swan (Notochen bannockburnensis). Scale bars – 20 mm. Image credit: Worthy et al., doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.5168.1.3. The newly-identified bird species belonged to Anatidae, a family of water birds that includes ducks, geese, and swans. Named the Bannockburn swan (Notochen bannockburnensis),...

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A mammaliamorph breathing out hot hair in a frigid night, hinting at endothermy. Image credit: Luzia Soares.

Warm-Bloodedness Appeared in Mammalian Ancestors 233 Million Years Ago, Study Suggests

Jul 22, 2022 by News Staff

Among modern animals, only mammals and birds are warm-blooded, and the ability to keep ourselves warm has enabled mammals to survive in icy weather and...

Ausichicrinites zelenskyyi. Image credit: Salamon et al., doi: 10.1098/rsos.220345.

Feather Star from Jurassic Period Named after President Zelenskyy

Jul 21, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Ausichicrinites zelenskyyi, the first Jurassic comatulid (feather star) from the African continent, has been named in honor of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the...

An artist’s reconstruction of Qikiqtania wakei (center) in the water with its larger cousin, Tiktaalik roseae. Image credit: Alex Boersma.

Devonian Four-Legged ‘Fishapod’ Unearthed in Canada

Jul 20, 2022 by News Staff

Qikiqtania wakei closely resembles Tiktaalik roseae — the important transitional animal considered a missing link between fish and the earliest limbed...

Holotype of Plukenetia minima adjacent to the encyrtid wasp Hambletonia dominicana in Dominican amber. Scale bar - 0.6 mm. Image credit: Poinar Jr., doi: 10.1080/08912963.2022.2086053.

30-Million-Year-Old Flower and Parasitic Wasp Found Encased in Dominican Amber

Jul 19, 2022 by News Staff

A paleontologist from Oregon State University has found a new species of flower together with a new parasitic wasp species in a piece of amber excavated...

Reconstruction of cranium and lower jaw of Marmorerpeton wakei. Image credit: Jones et al., doi: 10.1073/pnas.2114100119.

Fossils of New Salamander Species Found in Scotland

Jul 13, 2022 by News Staff

Paleontologists have described a new species of the enigmatic stem-salamander genus Marmorerpeton from the well-preserved fossils found on the Isle of...

Paleozoic lungfish endocasts in dorsal, ventral, and left lateral views. Image credit: Clement et al., doi: 10.7554/eLife.73461.

New Research Sheds More Light on Lungfish Brain Evolution

Jul 12, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

In the new research, paleontologists described and illustrated the endocasts (braincases) of six Paleozoic lungfish species from superb 3D fossil material,...

Reconstruction of a pair of Stanleycaris hirpex. Image credit: Sabrina Cappelli, Royal Ontario Museum.

Three-Eyed Cambrian Animal Sheds Light on Origin of Arthropod Head and Segmentation

Jul 11, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists from the University of Toronto and the Royal Ontario Museum have examined 268 specimens of Stanleycaris hirpex — a radiodont that...

Life reconstruction of Balhuticaris voltae. Image credit: Hugo Salais.

Cambrian Bivalved Arthropod Had Extremely Multisegmented Body

Jul 8, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Balhuticaris voltae is the largest bivalved arthropod to date, at almost double the size of the previous record-holder, Nereocaris exilis. Life reconstruction...

New Giant Carnivorous Dinosaur Unearthed in Argentina

Jul 7, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Meraxes gigas, a huge meat-eating dinosaur that lived in Argentina some 94 million years ago, had short arms like Tyrannosaurus rex. Meraxes gigas. Image...

305-Million-Year-Old Fossil is Oldest Known Tree-Climbing Reptile

Jul 6, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of varanopid eupelycosaur that lived during the Carboniferous period — the oldest tree-climbing reptile on record —...

Miocene-Period Giant Panda Already Had Enigmatic Extra ‘Thumb’

Jun 30, 2022 by News Staff

Of the many peculiarities that enable the modern giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) to adapt to life as a bamboo eater, its extra ‘thumb’ is the...

An artist’s impression of Nombe nombe (right) and other prehistoric animals from Nombe Rockshelter, Papua New Guinea. Image credit: Peter Shouten.

Giant Kangaroos Lived in Papua New Guinea during Pleistocene

Jun 30, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have redescribed an extinct species of giant kangaroo that lived the mountains of Papua New Guinea about 50,000 to 20,000 years ago and...

Life reconstruction of the steppe mammoth (Mammuthus trogontherii). Image credit: Beth Zaiken / Centre for Palaeogenetics.

Woolly Mammoth Calf Discovered in Yukon Permafrost

Jun 27, 2022 by News Staff

Nun cho ga is the most complete mummified mammoth found in North America. Steppe mammoths. Image credit: Beth Zaiken / Centre for Palaeogenetics. The near...

Life reconstruction of Vampyronassa rhodanica. Image credit: Rowe et al., doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-12269-3.

Vampire Squid’s Ancestor was Active Hunter, New Study Suggests

Jun 23, 2022 by News Staff

Vampyronassa rhodanica is an ancient species of cephalopod that lived in the Jurassic oceans some 164 million years ago. Life reconstruction of Vampyronassa...

Field photograph of the pathologic ovum-in-ovo egg documented from the Lameta Formation of village Padlya, Dhar District, Madhya Pradesh, India. Two slightly partially broken circular eggshell outlines can be seen with broken eggshell fragments within. A crescent-shaped gap is characteristically present in the upper right part of the egg. Image credit: Dhiman et al., doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-13257-3.

Unique Titanosaur Egg-Inside-Egg Found in India

Jun 22, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have found a fossilized egg within another egg — a condition known as ovum-in-ovo — of a titanosaurid dinosaur in central India....

An artist’s reconstruction of Gansuyaena megalotis. Image credit: Mick Ellison.

Fossils of Aardwolf-Like Hyena Unearthed in China

Jun 16, 2022 by News Staff

Gansuyaena megalotis, a small-bodied hyaenid that lived in what is now the Chinese province of Gansu between 15 and 12 million years ago (Miocene epoch),...

Tartarocyon cazanavei. Image credit: Denny Navarra.

Gigantic Bear-Dogs Lived in France 12 Million Years Ago

Jun 16, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have described a new species of large-sized amphicyonid carnivore from a fossilized mandible found in France. Tartarocyon cazanavei. Image...

Kinyang mabokoensis and Kinyang tchernovi (gold) were up to four times the length of their modern relatives, dwarf crocodiles (green). Image credit: Christopher Brochu, University of Iowa.

Two Miocene-Period Crocodile Species Unearthed in Kenya

Jun 15, 2022 by News Staff

Two new species of giant dwarf crocodiles that lived during the Early and Middle Miocene have been identified from the fossilized skulls found in Kenya. Kinyang...

University of Michigan’s Professor Daniel Fisher and the 13,000-year-old Buesching mastodon. Image credit: Eric Bronson / Michigan Photography.

Research Reveals Annual Migration Patterns of American Mastodon

Jun 14, 2022 by News Staff

Around 13,200 years ago, an 8-ton adult American mastodon (Mammut americanum) — nicknamed the Buesching mastodon — was killed when a rival...

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