Paleontology News

An artist’s reconstruction of Microdocodon gracilis as a nocturnal animal active on a bennettitalean tree of the Jurassic. Image credit: April I. Neander.

Jurassic Docodont Had Complex, Modern Mammal-Like Hyoid Bones

Jul 24, 2019 by News Staff

Our highly mobile tongues, which allow us to swallow chewed food and suckle milk as babies, may have evolutionary origins in some of our most early mammal...

A microtektite from the shell bed of southwestern Florida. Image credit: Meyer et al, doi: 10.1111/maps.13299.

Researchers Find 2-3-Million-Year-Old Microtektites inside Fossil Clams

Jul 23, 2019 by News Staff

Fossil clams found in southwestern Florida contain ancient microtektites, tiny (about 200 μm in diameter) glass beads that form when the explosive impact...

Hesperornithoides miessleri. Image credit: Gabriel Ugueto.

New Bird-Like Dinosaur Unearthed in Wyoming

Jul 22, 2019 by News Staff

A new species of carnivorous bird-like dinosaur being named Hesperornithoides miessleri has been discovered by an international team of paleontologists...

Aquilarhinus palimentus lived approximately 80 million years ago in what is now Texas. Image credit: ICRA Art.

‘Shovel-Billed’ Dinosaur Roamed Texas 80 Million Years Ago

Jul 16, 2019 by News Staff

A new genus and species of primitive hadrosaurid dinosaur — named Aquilarhinus palimentus — has been identified from fossils found in Big Bend...

An artist’s reconstruction of Elektorornis chenguangi, showing the possible probing function of the elongate toe. Image credit: Zhongda Zhang.

Foot of Cretaceous Enantiornithine Bird Found Encased in Burmese Amber

Jul 16, 2019 by News Staff

The ancient bird, named Elektorornis chenguangi, lived 99 million years ago (Cretaceous period) and had a hyper-elongated third toe. An artist’s reconstruction...

Microraptor swallowing Indrasaurus wangi. Image credit: Doyle Trankina.

Microraptors Ate Lizards for Lunch

Jul 12, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists in China have uncovered a nearly complete, fully articulated skeleton of Microraptor zhaoianus, a pigeon-sized, four-winged dinosaur that...

Carcharocles megalodon pursuing two prehistoric whales. Image credit: Karen Carr / CC BY 3.0.

Paleontologists Identify Oldest Known Ancestor of Mackerel Sharks

Jul 9, 2019 by News Staff

Mackerel (lamniform) sharks include some of the most iconic shark species, like the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) and the extinct Carcharocles...

Life reconstructions of extinct crocodyliforms. Differences in tooth shape are related to differences in diets. Image credit: Jorge Gonzalez.

Some Extinct Relatives of Living Crocodylians Were Vegetarians

Jun 28, 2019 by News Staff

A veggie diet arose in extinct crocodyliforms — the distant cousins of living crocodylians (alligators, caimans, crocodiles, and gharials) —...

Pachystruthio dmanisensis. Image credit: Andrey Atuchin.

Giant Birds Roamed Europe Two Million Years Ago

Jun 28, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

A giant ostrich-like bird that lived about two million years ago (Pleistocene epoch) has been identified from a fossilized femur found in the Crimean Peninsula,...

Reconstruction of Eocoracias brachyptera with hypothesized plumage coloration. Image credit: Marta Zaher, University of Bristol.

Paleontologists Uncover New Insights into Non-Iridescent Feather Colors in Prehistoric Birds

Jun 27, 2019 by News Staff

An international team of paleontologists from the United Kingdom and Germany has shown that blue feather melanosomes are highly distinct from melanosomes...

A fluorescence microscopy image showing lit-up modern microbes that took up residence in a Centrosaurus fossil. Image credit: Evan Saitta, Field Museum of Natural History.

Paleontologists Find Strange Microbes in Dinosaur Fossils

Jun 20, 2019 by News Staff

In a new study published in the journal eLife, an international team of paleontologists looked for preserved collagen proteins and DNA in the fossilized...

An artist’s rendering of ancient Arctic hyenas belonging to the genus Chasmaporthetes. Image credit: Julius T. Csotonyi.

Hyenas Once Lived above Arctic Circle

Jun 19, 2019 by News Staff

Paleontologists have found two fossilized teeth of extinct cursorial hyenas (genus Chasmaporthetes) in the remote Old Crow River region in northern Yukon...

Choanocyte-derived archaeocytes are capable of generating new choanocyte chambers (dotted line). Scale bar - 10 μm. Image credit: Sogabe et al, doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-1290-4.

First Multicellular Organisms Were Collections of Stem Cell-Like Cells, Research Suggests

Jun 19, 2019 by News Staff

A team of researchers from the University of Queensland and the University of Alabama has found that the first multicellular organisms probably weren’t...

A specimen of Redlichia rex from the Emu Bay Shale, Kangaroo Island, Australia. Scale bar - 10 mm. Image credit: Holmes et al, doi: 10.1080/14772019.2019.1605411.

Giant Cambrian Trilobite Species Unearthed in Australia

Jun 14, 2019 by News Staff

Paleontologists have unearthed fossils of a giant trilobite species that inhabited Australian waters approximately 500 million years ago (Cambrian period). An...

The head of a Pleistocene wolf. Image credit: Albert Protopopov.

30,000-Year-Old Head of Pleistocene Wolf Found in Siberian Permafrost

Jun 13, 2019 by News Staff

A perfectly preserved head of a large wolf has been unearthed from the melting permafrost in eastern Siberia. The head of a Pleistocene wolf. Image credit:...

Study: Pterosaurs Had Remarkable Ability to Fly from Birth

Jun 12, 2019 by News Staff

Pterosaurs were winged flying reptiles that lived at the same time as dinosaurs, between 210 million and 65 million years ago. Previously, they were thought...

An artist’s reconstruction of Fostoria dhimbangunmal. Image credit: James Kuether.

New Herbivorous Dinosaur Species Identified in Australia: Fostoria dhimbangunmal

Jun 7, 2019 by News Staff

A new species of two-legged iguanodontian dinosaur has been identified from fossils discovered three decades ago in an opal mine in Australia. A paper...

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...