Paleontology News

Saber-Toothed Tigers Held onto Their Milk Teeth to Stabilize Their Sabers, Study Suggests

The canine of saber-toothed predators represents one of the most specialized dental structures known. Hypotheses about the function of hypertrophied canines range from display and conspecific interaction, soft food processing, to active prey acquisition. Recent research on the ontogenetic timing of skull traits indicates the adult canine can take years to fully erupt, but the consequences of prolonged eruption on inferences of canine functional morphology are missing from current discourse and have not been quantified. In his new study, Tseng evaluates hypotheses about adult canine bending strength and stiffness, respectively, during eruption in Smilodon fatalis. Image credit: Massimo Molinero.
May 1, 2024 by News Staff

A new analysis of the distinctive canines of the saber-toothed tiger (Smilodon fatalis) suggests that the baby tooth — one of the deciduous teeth all mammals grow and lose by adulthood — that preceded each saber stayed in place for years to stabilize the growing permanent saber tooth, perhaps allowing adolescents to learn how to hunt without breaking them. The canine of saber-toothed predators represents one of the most specialized dental...

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Sphaerotholus buchholtzae (smaller species) fighting below larger pachycephalosaurs, the Hell Creek Formation, Montana, the United States. Image credit: ABelov2014 / CC BY-SA 3.0 Deed.

Paleontologists Discover Two New Species of Pachycephalosaurine Dinosaurs

Apr 29, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have unearthed the fossilized remains of two new small-bodied pachycephalosaurines: one in the Dinosaur Park Formation of Alberta and the...

Tyrannosaurus rex holotype specimen at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, the United States. Image credit: Scott Robert Anselmo / CC BY-SA 3.0.

How Smart Were Tyrannosaurus rex and Other Large Theropod Dinosaurs?

Apr 29, 2024 by News Staff

Large theropods were as smart as reptiles but not as intelligent as monkeys, according to new research led by University of Bristol paleontologists. Tyrannosaurus...

An illustrated reconstruction of the Fujianipus yingliangi track-maker. Image credit: Yingliang.

Footprints of Giant Troodontid Dinosaur Found in China

Apr 26, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have discovered the tracks of a 5-m- (16.4-foot-) long troodontid at the Longxiang locality in the Chinese province of Fujian. An illustrated...

Oncorhynchus rastrosus: (A) CT model of holotype; (B) holotype in anterior view of skull, prior to complete preparation and CT scan; (C) artist’s rendering skull of male iconic fish with accurate spike-tooth configuration; (D) artist’s rendering of complete female iconic fish with accurate spike-tooth configuration. Scale bar blocks - 1 cm each. Image credit: Claeson et al., doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0300252.

Ancient ‘Saber-Toothed’ Salmon Had Tusk-Like Teeth, New Study Shows

Apr 24, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

An extinct species of giant salmon called Oncorhynchus rastrosus sported a pair of front teeth that projected out from the sides of its mouth like tusks,...

Life reconstruction of Dacentrurus armatus, a sister species of Thyreosaurus atlasicus. Image credit: Sci.News.

New Stegosaur Species Had Remarkable Dermal Armor

Apr 23, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new stegosaurian genus and species from the Middle Jurassic epoch has been identified from the postcranial remains found in the Middle Atlas Mountains...

An artist’s impression of Vasuki indicus.

Terrifyingly Large Snakes Once Lived in India

Apr 22, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of giant madtsoiid snake that lived in what is now India around 47 million years ago (early Middle Eocene epoch) has been identified...

Ichthyotitan severnensis. Image credit: Gabriel Ugueto.

Paleontologists Identify New Species of Giant Triassic Ichthyosaur

Apr 18, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Ichthyotitan severnensis lived in the Triassic seas around 202 million years ago and might have measured more than 25 m (82 feet). Ichthyotitan severnensis....

An artist’s impression of the newly-described fossil species Protemnodon viator and its relative Protemnodon anak, compared at scale to the living red kangaroo and eastern gray kangaroo. Image credit: T. Klarenbeek, Flinders University.

Three New Species of Fossil Kangaroos Discovered in Australia and New Guinea

Apr 15, 2024 by News Staff

The three new species belong to the extinct kangaroo genus Protemnodon, which were common members of Cenozoic communities across Australia and New Guinea...

Life reconstruction of Titanomachya gimenezi. Image credit: Gabriel Díaz Yantén.

New Titanosaur Species Identified in Argentina

Apr 12, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

A remarkable new genus and species of small-sized titanosaurian sauropod has been unearthed in Patagonia, Argentina. Life reconstruction of Titanomachya...

Rhinopteraspis dunensis. Image credit: Dearden et al., doi: 10.1098/rspb.2023.2258.

Early Jawless Fish was Filter-Feeder, Paleontologists Find

Apr 10, 2024 by News Staff

In new research, paleontologists used X-ray microtomography to characterize the feeding apparatus of an exceptionally well-preserved specimen of the Early...

A pair of adult Nanuqsaurus tyrannosaurs and their young. Image credit: James Havens.

New Study Finds No Evidence for Bergmann’s Rule in Mesozoic Dinosaurs or Mammaliaforms

Apr 9, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Bergmann’s rule is a scientific principle stating that animals in high-latitude, cooler climates tend to be larger than close relatives living in warmer...

The Triassic ‘dinosaur bones’ are from the lower jaw of a gigantic ichthyosaur. Image credit: Marcello Perillo / University of Bonn.

Some Triassic ‘Dinosaur Bones’ Belonged to Giant Ichthyosaurs, Paleontologists Say

Apr 9, 2024 by News Staff

Very large unidentified elongate and rounded fossilized bones of uncertain origin recovered from different Late Triassic localities across Europe have...

Illustration of the body plan of a toothed whale, with a cross section of the head showing the melon (dark yellow) and the extramandibular fat bodies (light yellow) which are key organs for using sound such as echolocation. Image credit: Takeuchi et al., doi: 10.1016/j.gene.2024.148167.

Echolocation Organs of Toothed Whales Evolved from Jaw Muscles, New Research Suggests

Apr 8, 2024 by Natali Anderson

Toothed whales have developed specialized echolocation abilities that are crucial for their underwater activities. Acoustic fat bodies — the melon...

Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis. Image credit: Kristina Curry Rogers.

Earliest Dinosaurs and Their Non-Dinosaurian Contemporaries Had Rapid Growth Rates, Study Says

Apr 8, 2024 by News Staff

Dinosaurs debuted on Earth’s stage in the aftermath of the Permian-Triassic mass extinction event, and survived two other Triassic extinction intervals...

An artistic reconstruction of Nanoparia luckhoffi. Image credit: Viktor Radermacher.

Paleontologists Redescribe Enigmatic Dwarf Pareiasaur

Apr 8, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Pareiasaurs were an enigmatic and diverse group of plant-eating animals from the Middle and Late Permian. An artistic reconstruction of Nanoparia luckhoffi....

The skull of Aureia rerehua; note the splay of the teeth and facial topography. Image credit: Meekin et al., doi: 10.1080/03036758.2024.2314505.

Oligocene-Period Dolphin Had Unique Feeding Method

Apr 5, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Aureia rerehua had unique teeth which might have formed a cage around small fish; these teeth, along with a weak vertex, flexible neck, and the smallest...

Life reconstruction of Marambionectes molinai. Image credit: O’Gorman et al., doi: 10.1080/14772019.2024.2312302.

Paleontologists Discover New Species of Elasmosaur

Apr 4, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of elasmosaurid — a type of plesiosaur with an extremely long, slender neck — has been identified from the fossilized...

Dianoconodon youngi. Image credit: Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

New Jurassic Fossils Document Evolutionary Changes of Jaw Joint to Mammalian Middle Ear

Apr 3, 2024 by News Staff

Two new Jurassic species — the morganucodontan-like Dianoconodon youngi and the pseudotribosphenic shuotheriid Feredocodon chowi — offer key...

Life reconstruction of Feredocodon chowi (right) and Dianoconodon youngi (left). Image credit: Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

New Jurassic Shuotheriid Species Sheds Light on Early Evolution of Mammaliaforms

Apr 3, 2024 by News Staff

In new research, a team of paleontologists examined the tooth structure of Feredocodon chowi, a new species of shuotheriid mammaliaform that lived in what...

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