Paleontology News

Land-Dwelling Dinosaur Relatives Bridge Gap to Origin of Pterosaurs

Dec 14, 2020 by News Staff

Pterosaurs were highly successful reptiles that lived between 210 and 65 million years ago. They were the first vertebrates to evolve powered flight, but...

Professor Martin next to the Pleistocene iguana burrow. Image credit: Melissa Hage.

115,000-Year-Old Iguana Nest Fossil Found on San Salvador Island

Dec 14, 2020 by News Staff

A trace fossil preserved in the Grotto Beach Formation on San Salvador Island, the Bahamas, is the first known fossil example of an iguana nesting burrow. Illustration...

Ankylosaurus magniventris, a large armored dinosaur species, witnesses the impact of an asteroid, falling on the Yucatan peninsula 66 million years ago. Image credit: Fabio Manucci.

Non-Marine Mass Extinctions Occur with Periodicity of 27.5 Million Years: Study

Dec 11, 2020 by News Staff

Non-marine animals (amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals) have apparently experienced at least 10 distinct episodes of intensified extinctions over...

An artist’s impression of Thalassodraco etchesi. Image credit: Megan Jacobs.

New Ichthyosaur Species Uncovered in England

Dec 10, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur that swam in the Late Jurassic seas has been identified from an exceptionally well-preserved specimen...

A pair of kiwi by John Gerrard Keulemans in A history of the birds of New Zealand, 1873. Image credit: National Library NZ.

First Remote-Touch Probing Birds Appeared in Cretaceous Period

Dec 9, 2020 by News Staff

Some probe-foraging birds locate their buried prey by detecting vibrations in the substrate using a specialized tactile bill-tip organ. This remarkable...

Life reconstruction of Agudotherium gassenae. Image credit: Márcio L. Castro.

Fossils of New Cynodont Species Found in Brazil

Dec 7, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of probainognathian cynodont that roamed our planet during the Triassic period has been identified from two fossilized specimens...

An artist’s reconstruction of ‘Anomalocaris’ briggsi. Image credit: Katrina Kenny.

Cambrian Deep-Sea Arthropods Had Complex Compound Eyes

Dec 4, 2020 by News Staff

A team of paleontologists from Australia and the United Kingdom has found that ancient deep-sea creatures called radiodonts developed sophisticated eyes...

Life reconstruction of the titanosaur from the Upper Cretaceous Adamantina Formation in São Paulo backcountry, southeastern Brazil. The animal was reconstructed based on associated saltasaurid specimens in the area. Image credit: Hugo Cafasso.

Cretaceous Titanosaur Suffered from Blood Parasites and Severe Bone Inflammation

Dec 1, 2020 by Sergio Prostak

A giant sauropod dinosaur that lived 85.2 million years ago (Cretaceous period) in what is now Brazil had an aggressive case of osteomyelitis in its leg...

Life reconstruction of Bagualia alba. Image credit: Jorge González.

Newly-Discovered Long-Necked Dinosaur Survived Early Jurassic Global Warming

Nov 30, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists in Argentina have identified a new species of eusauropod (true sauropod) dinosaur that lived 179 million years ago, just after the mysterious...

Falcatakely forsterae amidst non-avian dinosaurs and other animals from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar. Image credit: Mark Witton.

Cretaceous-Period Bird from Madagascar Had Sickle-Shaped Beak

Nov 27, 2020 by News Staff

Paleontologists in Madagascar have identified a new genus and species of enantiornithine bird that had a long and deep beak, a morphology that was previously...

Scelidosaurus harrisonii. Image credit: John Sibbick.

Paleontologists Find First Dinosaur Remains in Ireland

Nov 24, 2020 by News Staff

Paleontologists have found the fossilized remains of two Jurassic dinosaur species in Co. Antrim in Northern Ireland. These are the first dinosaur remains...

An artist’s impression of Rajasaurus narmadensis, a cousin of the newly-discovered abelisaurid dinosaur Niebla antiqua. Image credit: Bogdanov / CC BY-SA 3.0.

New Carnivorous Dinosaur Unearthed in Patagonia

Nov 23, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of medium-sized abelisaurid dinosaur has been unearthed in northern Patagonia, Argentina. An artist’s impression of Rajasaurus...

Ferromirum oukherbouchi reconstructed in association with invertebrates (orthocerid cephalopods and thylacocephalans) from the Devonian of Maider region, Morocco. Image credit: Frey et al., doi: 10.1038/s42003-020-01394-2.

Devonian-Period Shark Had Large Eyes and Unique Jaws

Nov 20, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists in Morocco have found fossil fragments from a previously undescribed genus and species of symmoriiform shark that lived during the Late...

Schematic diagram showing the factors driving global ecological change in the modern day and at the end of the Triassic period. Image credit: Victor Lesh.

End-Triassic Mass Extinction Occurred Slightly Later Than Previously Thought

Nov 19, 2020 by News Staff

An analysis of biomarkers and their stable isotopic compositions from the Bristol Channel Basin at St. Audrie’s Bay and Lilstock, United Kingdom, has...

Torvosaurus gurneyi. Image credit: © Sergey Krasovskiy.

Non-Avian Dinosaurs Were Not in Decline Prior to Their Extinction

Nov 18, 2020 by News Staff

A new analysis of non-avian dinosaur diversity shows they were not in decline and were still capable of generating new species at the time of their extinction...

The extinct Kiritimati sandpiper (Prosobonia cancellata), a close cousin of the newly-discovered Henderson sandpiper (Prosobonia sauli). Illustration by George Edward Lodge, 1907.

Researchers Discover Now Extinct Species of Polynesian Sandpiper

Nov 18, 2020 by News Staff

A new species of sandpiper has been identified from multiple Holocene fossil bones collected several decades ago on Henderson Island, an uninhabited island...

3-Million-Year-Old Fossil from New Zealand Rewrites Evolutionary History of True Seals

Nov 12, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

Living true seals are the most widely dispersed semi-aquatic marine mammals, and comprise geographically separate northern and southern groups. Both are...

An artist’s impression of the azhdarchids pterosaur Alanqa saharica. Image credit: Davide Bonadonna.

New Pterosaur Species Found Hiding in Plain Sight in Museum

Nov 11, 2020 by News Staff

A new re-examination of fossil material housed in the Sedgwick Museum of Cambridge and the Booth Museum at Brighton has revealed the fossilized jaw fragments...

Cambrian Shrimp-Like Arthropod Had Five Eyes

Nov 6, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists in China have uncovered exceptionally preserved fossils of a previously unknown genus and species of extinct arthropod, Kylinxia zhangi,...