Paleontology News

Giant beavers, about as large as a modern-day bear, ate aquatic plants before they went extinct after the last Ice Age. Image credit: Luke Dickey.

Why Giant Beavers Went Extinct 10,000 Years Ago

Jun 5, 2019 by News Staff

Giant beavers (members of the genus Castoroides) inhabited North America throughout the mid- to late Pleistocene. They went extinct along with dozens of...

Reconstruction of Kulindadromeus zabaikalicus. Image credit: Andrey Atuchin.

Feathers Arose 80 Million Years before Birds, Scientists Say

Jun 5, 2019 by News Staff

According to a new review paper published in the journal Trends in Ecology & Evolution, feathers arose 250-230 million years ago, during the Early...

Collective behavior in a school of Erismatopterus levatus. Image credit: Mizumoto et al, doi: 10.1098/rspb.2019.0891.

Paleontologists Find Fossilized School of Eocene-Era Fish

Jun 4, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

A slab of grayish limestone shale from the Eocene Green River Formation, the United States, caught a school of Erismatopterus levatus, an extinct species...

Phuwiangvenator yaemniyomi (left) and Vayuraptor nongbualamphuensis. Image credit: Adun Samathi / Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms Universität Bonn.

Two T. rex Little Cousins Discovered

May 29, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

Two new species of predatory megaraptoran dinosaurs have been identified from fossils found in Thailand. Phuwiangvenator yaemniyomi (left) and Vayuraptor...

Microphotograph of Ourasphaira giraldae. Image credit: Loron et al, doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-1217-0.

Paleontologists Find One-Billion-Year-Old Fossil Fungi in Canada

May 23, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

An international team of paleontologists has discovered 1,000- to 900-million-year-old microfossils of a fungus in estuarine shale of the Grassy Bay Formation...

The ammonite Puzosia sp. Image credit: Yu et al, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1821292116.

99-Million-Year-Old Ammonite Found in Burmese Amber

May 14, 2019 by Natali Anderson

An international team of paleontologists has found a piece of amber containing the beautifully preserved ammonite, several marine and land organisms that...

Ambopteryx longibrachium. Image credit: Chung-Tat Cheung & Min Wang / Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Tiny Jurassic Dinosaur Had Membranous Wings

May 9, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

A previously unknown species of bird-like dinosaur with pterosaur-like wings has been discovered by a team of paleontologists working with the Institute...

An artist’s rendering of how Suskityrannus hazelae may have looked. Image credit: Andrey Atuchin.

Small T. rex Relative Found in New Mexico: Suskityrannus hazelae

May 7, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new species of predatory tyrannosauroid dinosaur that lived about 92 million years ago (Cretaceous period) has been identified from fossils found in...

Burmanopetalum inexpectatum. Image credit: Leif Moritz.

Tiny Millipede from Cretaceous Period Found in Burmese Amber

May 6, 2019 by News Staff

A team of paleontologists from Bulgaria and Germany has found the surprisingly unusual and perfectly preserved millipede in 99-million-year-old amber from...

Callichimaera perplexa. Image credit: Elissa Martin, Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History.

Meet Callichimaera perplexa, Strangest Crab that Has Ever Lived

Apr 25, 2019 by News Staff

An international team of paleontologists has found the exceptionally preserved fossilized remains of an enigmatic new type of crab, Callichimaera perplexa,...

Simbakubwa kutokaafrika, a hyaenodont that was larger than a polar bear. Image credit: Mauricio Anton.

Carnivorous Mammal Larger than Polar Bear Once Roamed Kenya

Apr 19, 2019 by News Staff

A gigantic meat-eating mammal has been discovered — after its jaw, portions of its skull, and parts of its skeleton spent several decades sitting...

Skull and mandible of Gobihadros mongoliensis in left lateral (A), dorsal (B), ventral (C), and posterior (D) views. Abbreviations: an - angular, ar - articular, at - atlas, atr - atlantal rib, ax - axis, boc - basioccipital, bsp - basisphenoid, cop - coronoid process, c3 - 3rd cervical vertebra, d - dentary, exo - exoccipital, f - frontal, gl - glenoid for the lateral quadrate condyle, hy - hyoid, j - jugal, l - lacrimal, mx - maxilla, n - nasal, p - parietal, pa - palpebral, pat - proatlas, pd - predentary, pf - prefrontal, pl - palatine, pm - premaxilla, po - postorbital, poc - paroccipital process, pt - pterygoid, q - quadrate, qj - quadratojugal, rap - retroarticular process, s - surangular, scl - sclerotic ring, soc - supraoccipital, sq - squamosal, v - vomer. Image credit: Tsogtbaatar et al, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0208480.

New Dinosaur Species Uncovered in Mongolia

Apr 18, 2019 by News Staff

Paleontologists in Mongolia have discovered a new species of hadrosauroid dinosaur that roamed what is now the Gobi Desert approximately 90 million years...

The discovery of a spike of mercury in 252-million-year-old rock at locations around the world gives evidence for the prevailing theory that volcanic eruptions caused the end-Permian extinction. Image credit: Margaret Weiner / University of Cincinnati Creative Services.

Volcanic Eruptions Caused End-Permian Extinction, New Evidence Confirms

Apr 17, 2019 by News Staff

An international team of paleontologists from China and the United States has found high levels of mercury in the end-Permian marine sediments at nearly...

An artist’s interpretation of ancient North American fauna. The new study revealed that elephant-like gomphotheres, rhinos, horses and antelopes with slingshot-shaped horns were among the species recovered near Beeville, Texas, by Great Depression-era fossil hunters. Image credit: Jay Matternes / Smithsonian Institution.

Rhinos, Gomphotheres, Camels, Horses, Antelopes and Alligators Lived in Ancient ‘Texas Serengeti’

Apr 17, 2019 by News Staff

Dr. Steven May, a paleontology research associate at the University of Texas at Austin, has studied and identified an extensive collection of fossils from...

Minisauripus: natural impression (A) and cast (B) of track TL 2 showing area enlarged in frame F; note skin traces in hypex area between digits II and III; (C) natural cast of track TR1, showing area enlarged in frame E; note narrow, digit II intersecting raindrop impressions; (D) isolated track t; note skin traces in hypex area between digits II and III; E and F details of skin trace ornament in 2.0 x 2.0 mm areas of digits IV and II respectively from tracks TL2 and TR1; casts show in frames B-F are essentially replicas of the living foot. Image credit: Kim et al, doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-38633-4.

Paleontologists Find Exquisitely-Preserved Dinosaur Skin Traces

Apr 15, 2019 by News Staff

Several footprints and exquisitely-preserved skin impressions made by a small theropod dinosaur approximately 120 million years ago (Aptian age of the...

Fossils of Silurian Sea Cucumber Found in UK

Apr 12, 2019 by News Staff

An international team of paleontologists has found the remains of an extinct sea cucumber in 430 million-year-old (Silurian period) fossil-rich deposits...

New Species of Extinct Pig-Footed Bandicoot Discovered

Apr 9, 2019 by News Staff

An international team of researchers from Australia and the United Kingdom has discovered a new species of pig-footed bandicoot which has been extinct...

Peregocetus pacificus. Image credit: A. Gennari.

Four-Legged ‘Whale’ Lived in Peru 43 Million Years Ago

Apr 5, 2019 by News Staff

A new species of ancient whale ancestor has been identified from a fossilized skeleton found in Peru. This illustration shows an artistic reconstruction...

The Chicxulub impact 66 million years ago generated a tsunami-like wave in an inland sea that killed and buried fish, mammals, insects and a Triceratops, the first victims of a cataclysm that led to Earth’s last mass extinction. Image credit: Robert DePalma.

66-Million-Year-Old Fossil Site Preserves Animals Killed within Minutes of Chicxulub Impact

Apr 3, 2019 by News Staff

At a site dubbed Tanis in North Dakota’s Hell Creek Formation, paleontologists have unearthed an assemblage of exquisitely-preserved fossilized organisms...