Paleontology News

A reconstruction of the giant pterosaur Hatzegopteryx launching into the air, just after the forelimbs have left the ground. Image credit: Mark Witton.

Fossil Flyers Hold Secrets to Better Flight Technologies

Apr 18, 2020 by News Staff

The physiology of pterosaurs and other fossil flyers could provide ancient solutions to modern flight problems, such as aerial stability and the ability...

The clutch of Massospondylus carinatus eggs. Image credit: Brett Eloff.

Scientists Use X-rays to Peer inside Fossilized Dinosaur Eggs

Apr 10, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

Powerful X-ray beams at the European Synchrotron in France allowed an international team of researchers to study some of the world’s oldest and well-preserved...

An artist’s impression of Afrotapejara zouhrii. Image credit: Megan Jacobs, Baylor University.

New Species of Pterosaur Discovered in Morocco

Apr 6, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have announced the discovery of a new genus and species of tapejarid pterosaur from Errachidia Province of Morocco. An artist’s impression...

Reconstruction of the West Antarctic mid-Cretaceous temperate rainforest. The painting is based on paleofloral and environmental information inferred from palynological, geochemical, sedimentological and organic biomarker data obtained from cores at the site of PS104_20-2, Antarctica. Image credit: J. McKay / Alfred-Wegener-Institut / CC-BY 4.0.

90-Million-Year-Old Fossilized Rainforest Discovered in Antarctica

Apr 3, 2020 by News Staff

An international team of paleontologists and geologists has uncovered well-preserved fossilized roots, pollen and spores of 90-million-year-old (mid-Cretaceous...

New Feathered Dinosaur Unveiled: Dineobellator notohesperus

Mar 27, 2020 by News Staff

A new species of dromaeosaurid dinosaur being named Dineobellator notohesperus has been discovered by a team of U.S. paleontologists. Dineobellator notohesperus....

Anhanguera soaring the skies over the Kem Kem with Coloborhynchus and Ornithocheirus. Image credit: Megan Jacobs.

New Pterosaur Fossils Unearthed in Morocco

Mar 26, 2020 by Natali Anderson

Paleontologists have uncovered the remains of three species of fish-eating toothed pterosaurs in the Cretaceous-period Kem Kem beds of Morocco. Anhanguera...

Oldest Bilaterian Fossil Found in Australia

Mar 24, 2020 by News Staff

Ikaria wariootia, a wormlike creature that lived more than 555 million years ago (Ediacaran period) in what is now Australia, is the earliest bilaterian,...

Asteriornis maastrichtensis is the first modern bird from the age of dinosaurs found in the northern hemisphere. Image credit: Philip Krzeminski.

Meet Wonderchicken, Bird from Final Part of Dinosaur Era

Mar 23, 2020 by News Staff

A new species of ancient bird has been identified from a nearly complete, three-dimensionally preserved skull and associated bones found in Belgium. A...

Devonian Four-Limbed Creature Reveals Insights into How Vertebrate Hand Evolved from Fish Fins

Mar 19, 2020 by News Staff

A 1.57-m (5.2-foot) long specimen of Elpistostege watsoni from the Devonian period of Canada has yielded the missing evolutionary link in the fish to tetrapod...

Fossil tracks left by a stegosaur on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. Image credit: Steve Brusatte.

Paleontologists Find New Dinosaur Tracks on Scotland’s Isle of Skye

Mar 13, 2020 by News Staff

The footprints of stegosaurs, carnivorous theropods and huge herbivorous ornithopod dinosaurs that date back to 170 million years ago (Middle Jurassic...

Oculudentavis khaungraaea. Image credit: Xing et al, doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2068-4.

99-Million-Year-Old Amber Preserves Skull of Hummingbird-Sized Dinosaur

Mar 12, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have found an exceptionally well-preserved and diminutive skull of a previously unknown bird-like dinosaur species in a piece of Cretaceous-period...

2020 CD3 is estimated to be only between one and six meters across. Image credit: Jonny Lindner.

Study: 70 Million Years Ago Day Lasted 23.5 Hours, Year Had 372 Days

Mar 10, 2020 by News Staff

Torreites sanchezi, an extinct species of rudist clam that lived during the Cretaceous period, some 70 million years ago, grew fast, laying down daily...

Reconstruction of Uintan paraortygid. Image credit: Thomas Stidham.

Fossil of New Eocene-Period Bird Species Unearthed in Utah

Mar 4, 2020 by News Staff

A new species of extinct quail-like bird has been identified from a fossil found in eastern Utah. Reconstruction of Uintan paraortygid. Image credit: Thomas...

Hypacrosaurus stebingeri chondrocyte. Image credit: Bailleul et al, doi: 10.1093/nsr/nwz206.

Scientists Find Chemical Markers of DNA in Calcified Cartilage of Duck-Billed Dinosaur

Mar 3, 2020 by News Staff

In the 1980s, paleontologists found a dinosaur nesting ground with dozens of nestlings in northern Montana and identified them as Hypacrosaurus stebingeri,...

Facivermis yunnanicus. Image credit: Franz Anthony.

Paleontologists Solve Mystery of Cambrian Worm-Like Creature

Feb 28, 2020 by News Staff

An enigmatic worm-like animal called Facivermis yunnanicus lost lower limbs for tube-dwelling lifestyle, according to new research published in the journal...

Light microscopic image of the piece of 15-20-million-year old Dominican amber; the specimen contains a fairy wasp and the left forelimb of an anole lizard; several flow structures can be recognized in the resin. Image credit: Barthel et al, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0228843.

Lizard Forefoot Found Preserved in Dominican Amber

Feb 28, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

The left forelimb of an anole lizard (genus Anolis) has been found perfectly preserved in a piece of Miocene-period amber from the Dominican Republic. Light...

Orange-colored gum ducts (arrows) in the brown leaf tissue of Welwitschiophyllum brasiliense from the Crato Formation, Brazil. Image credit: Roberts et al, doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-60211-2.

110-Million-Year-Old Fossilized Plant Gum Found

Feb 26, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists in Brazil have found thin bands of fossil gum — the first occurrence in the fossil record — inside 110-million-year-old (Cretaceous...

Proterocladus antiquus. Image credit: Virginia Tech.

Paleontologists Find One-Billion-Year-Old Green Seaweed Fossils

Feb 25, 2020 by News Staff

Paleontologists have discovered the microscopic fossilized remains of green seaweed near Dalian in the Liaoning province of northern China. The microfossils...

The fossilized forewing of Maculaferrum blaisi; total forewing length estimated at 20-23 mm, maximal forewing width at 7.5 mm. Image credit: Demers-Potvin et al, doi: 10.4202/app.00669.2019.

New Species of Ancient Hairy Cicada Identified

Feb 24, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of hairy cicada that lived around 100 million years ago (Cretaceous period) has been identified from a fossilized wing found in...