Paleontology News

New Fossils from China Fill Gap in Early Evolutionary History of Birds

Baminornis zhenghensis. Image credit: Chuang Zhao.
Feb 12, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have unearthed the fossilized remains of two Jurassic bird species at a locality in Zhenghe county, Fujian province, southeast China. These 149-million-year-old fossils demonstrate the early appearance of highly derived bird features, and together with another bird fossil from the same locality, they suggest an earlier origin of birds and a radiation of early birds in the Jurassic. Baminornis zhenghensis. Image credit: Chuang Zhao. “Birds...

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Skeletal material present in the lambeosaurine specimen from the Upper Cretaceous Dalangshan Formation of southern China. Image credit: Wang et al., doi: 10.1080/08912963.2025.2454652.

New Duck-Billed Dinosaur Unearthed in China

Feb 10, 2025 by Natali Anderson

Paleontologists have discovered a fragmentary skeleton of a new lambeosaurine hadrosaurid dinosaur in the Upper Cretaceous Dalangshan Formation of southern...

Leioproctus barrydonovani, habitus of part. Scale bar - 1 mm. Image credit: M.S. Engel & U. Kaulfuss, doi: 10.5252/zoosystema2025v47a3.

14.6-Million-Year-Old Bee Fossil Found in New Zealand

Feb 7, 2025 by Natali Anderson

Paleontologists have described a new species of the extant bee genus Leioproctus from a fossil specimen found in southern New Zealand. Leioproctus barrydonovani,...

Life reconstruction of the Jurassic plesiosaur from the Posidonia Shale of southern Germany. Image credit: Joschua Knüppe.

Some Plesiosaurs Had Smooth Skin on Their Body and Scales on Their Flippers

Feb 7, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have examined a 183-million-year-old plesiosaur skeleton with well-preserved skin traces from around the tail and front flipper from the...

Vegavis iaai. Image credit: Mark Witton.

Earliest-Known Waterfowl Lived in Antarctica 69 Million Years Ago

Feb 5, 2025 by Natali Anderson

Paleontologists from the United States and Australia have discovered and described a new, nearly complete skull of Vegavis iaai, a foot-propelled diver...

Life reconstruction of an individual of Bonapartenykus from the locality of Salitral Ojo de Agua of the Allen Formation, Patagonia, Argentina. Image credit: Abel G. Montes.

New Fossils from Patagonia Clarify Body Plan of Patagonykine Dinosaurs

Feb 3, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

In a new study published in the journal PLoS ONE, paleontologists analyzed the fossilized remains of the alvarezsaurid dinosaur Bonapartenykus from the...

Tuinstra et al. used attenuated total reflectance (ATR)-FTIR and cross-polarized light microscopy (XPol) supplemented by two mass spectrometry (MS) techniques to elucidate the question of collagen endogeneity in Edmontosaurus sp. fossil bone. Image credit: Tuinstra et al., doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.4c03115.

Paleontologists Find Original Collagen in Fossil Bone of Edmontosaurus

Feb 3, 2025 by News Staff

Detection of soft tissues (e.g., proteins) in fossil bones is a growing field of study and a new study led by University of Liverpool paleontologists contributes...

Life reconstruction of Mexidracon longimanus. Image credit: Ddinodan / CC BY 4.0.

Long-Handed Ostrich-Like Dinosaur Unearthed in Mexico

Jan 31, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

A bizarre new genus and species of ornithomimid dinosaur has been identified from the fossilized remains found in 2014 in Coahuila, Mexico. Life reconstruction...

The footprints of a massive hadrosaurid dinosaur in the western Gobi Desert, Mongolia. Image credit: Okayama University of Science.

Paleontologists Discover Footprints of Large Hadrosaurid Dinosaurs in Gobi Desert

Jan 31, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists from Japan and Mongolia have uncovered fossil footprints of massive plant-eating hadrosaurid dinosaurs from the Cretaceous period. The...

Prionailurus kurteni was as small as the rusty-spotted cat (Prionailurus rubiginosus). Image credit: David V. Raju / CC BY-SA 4.0.

Small Cat Species Lived alongside Early Humans in China

Jan 27, 2025 by Natali Anderson

Named Prionailurus kurteni, the new cat species is the smallest known fossil member of the family Felidae to date. Prionailurus kurteni was as small as...

Boast et al. report ancient DNA and spores from the inside of two coprolites of the upland moa (Megalapteryx didinus) that reveal consumption and likely dispersal of ectomycorrhizal fungi. Image credit: Boast et al., doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2024.0440.

Extinct Moa Consumed Colorful Truffle-Like Fungi, Scientists Say

Jan 24, 2025 by News Staff

Paleontologists have found ancient DNA and spores of truffle-like fungi, including at least one colorful species, inside two coprolites of the upland moa...

Nyasasaurus could be the earliest known dinosaur, or else a close relative of early dinosaurs. Image credit: Mark Witton / The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London.

Dinosaurs Likely Originated in Low-Latitude Region of Supercontinent Gondwana

Jan 23, 2025 by News Staff

Dinosaurs dominated Mesozoic terrestrial ecosystems for approximately 160 million years, but their biogeographic origin remains poorly understood. The...

The fossilized neck bone of a juvenile of Cryodrakon boreas shows tell-tale signs (right part of the specimen in 2 and 8) of being bitten by a crocodile-like creature 76 million years ago. Image credit: Brown et al., doi: 10.1017/jpa.2024.12.

76-Million-Year-Old Pterosaur Bone with Crocodilian Bite Found in Canada

Jan 23, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

Understanding food chains in ancient ecosystems is one of the goals of paleoecology. Direct evidence for these interactions is rare and includes fossils...

Cave bear footprints in Honseca Cave, Spain. Image credit: Rodríguez et al., doi: 10.1080/10420940.2024.2446153.

Pleistocene Cave Bear Footprints Discovered in Spain

Jan 22, 2025 by Natali Anderson

Paleontologists have discovered a set of ancient bear footprints in Honseca Cave, northern Spain. Although distinguishing cave bear from brown bear tracks...

Skull remains of Diatryma geiselensis from the Middle Eocene of the Geisel valley, Germany. Scale bars - 5 cm. Image credit: Mayr et al., doi: 10.26879/1438.

Paleontologists Find Rare Skull of Extinct Flightless Bird

Jan 22, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

A nearly complete but strongly flattened skull of the ancient bird species Diatryma geiselensis has been discovered, after being misidentified and kept...

Holotype of Neobohaiornis lamadongensis. Image credit: Shen et al., doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-82869-8.

Fossil of Tiny Enantiornithine Bird Unearthed in China

Jan 20, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of bohaiornithid enantiornithine bird has been identified from a nearly complete and articulated skeleton preserved with traces...

Life reconstruction of Tameryraptor markgrafi. Image credit: Joschua Knüppe.

Paleontologists Describe New Species of Predatory Dinosaur

Jan 17, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have described a new genus and species of carcharodontosaurid theropod dinosaur based on depictions of the now-destroyed specimen from...

Predicted suitable distribution and morphospace of the modern and fossil snow leopards. Image credit: Jianhao Ye.

Snow Leopards Dispersed Out of Tibetan Plateau Multiple Times, Researchers Say

Jan 15, 2025 by News Staff

The snow leopard (Panthera uncia) is a large feline unique to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and its surrounding areas. How this apex predator gradually adapted...

Vectipelta barretti. Image credit: Stuart Pond.

New Species of Ankylosaur Identified in China

Jan 13, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of ankylosaurid dinosaur has been identified from the fossilized material found at Kangdailiang Mountain (1,262 m above sea level)...

Graphic showing functional optimality drives repeated evolution of extreme saber-tooth forms. Image credit: Tahlia Pollock.

Study: Saber-Toothed Predators’ Teeth were Highly Effective at Puncturing Prey

Jan 9, 2025 by News Staff

Saber-toothed predators — such as the famous saber-toothed cat Smilodon fatalis — evolved multiple times across different mammal groups. Their...

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