Paleontology News

An artist’s depiction of Heleocola piceanus in a Late Cretaceous swamp. Image credit: Brian Engh / LivingRelicProductions.com / Utah Field House of Natural History.

Fossils of Large Metatherian Mammal Found in Colorado

Oct 25, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have found a fossilized jaw fragment and three isolated teeth from a new, relatively large (by Late Cretaceous standards) metatherian species...

Baladi warru. Image credit: Michael Frese, University of Canberra.

Sawfly Fossil from Miocene Period Discovered in Australia

Oct 24, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists say they have discovered the first fossil of an Australian sawfly species, Baladi warru, found at McGraths Flat in central New South Wales. Baladi...

An artist’s impression of a Palaeoloxodon sp. Image credit: Chen Yu.

Scientists Find Evidence for Hominin Exploitation of Extinct Straight-Tusked Elephants in India

Oct 24, 2024 by News Staff

In 2000, archaeologists discovered the 300,000 to 400,000-year-old remains of three ancient elephants along with 87 stone tools at the Pampore in the Kashmir...

The animal responsible for Dromaeosauriformipes rarus tracks is believed to be a small microraptorine dinosaur related to the ancestors of birds. Image credit: Julius Csotonyi.

Microraptorine Dinosaur Footprints Shed New Light on Origin of Flight

Oct 23, 2024 by News Staff

Theropod dinosaur trackways can be used as indirect evidence of pre-avian aerial behavior, according to new research. The animal responsible for Dromaeosauriformipes...

Life reconstruction of Iani smithi. Image credit: Jorge Gonzalez.

New Species of Plant-Eating Dinosaur Identified in Argentina

Oct 18, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have identified a species of medium-sized iguanodontian ornithopod dinosaur from two specimens found in northwestern Patagonia, Argentina. Life...

Close up of Quaestio simpsonorum footprint. Image credit: Evans et al., doi: 10.1111/ede.12491.

New Species of Complex Ediacaran Animal Discovered in Australia

Oct 17, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Quaestio simpsonorum is part of the Ediacara Biota, which preserves the oldest evidence for complex, macroscopic animals. Close up of Quaestio simpsonorum...

A pair of Platypterigius sp. Image credit: Dmitry Bogdanov / CC BY 3.0.

New Species of Ichthyosaur Identified from Colombian Fossils

Oct 11, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists say they’ve identified a new species of marine reptile in the ophthalmosaurid genus Platypterygius that lived approximately 125 million...

Life reconstruction of Ardetosaurus viator. Image credit: Ole Zant.

New Sauropod Dinosaur Discovered in Wyoming: Ardetosaurus viator

Oct 10, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have identified a new genus and species of sauropod dinosaur from a semi-articulated specimen found in the 1990s in northern Wyoming, the...

Reconstruction of an avisaurid (e.g., Avisaurus darwini). Image credit: Clark et al., doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0310686.

Avisaurid Birds from Cretaceous Period May Have Hunted Like Modern Hawks and Owls

Oct 9, 2024 by News Staff

Paleontologists have described three new enantiornithine birds from the Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation, two of which represent new avisaurid species....

Fertile branches and seeds of Alasemenia tria. Image credit: Wang et al., doi: 10.7554/eLife.92962.3.

365-Million-Year-Old Winged Seed Fossil Found in China

Oct 9, 2024 by News Staff

Named Alasemenia tria, the new specimen from the Wutong Formation in the Chinese province of Anhui dates back to the Famennian stage of the the Late Devonian...

Epoidesuchus tavaresae is a new species of Peirosauridae from the Cretaceous Adamantina Formation, Brazil. Image credit: Ruiz et al., doi: 10.1002/ar.25559.

New Species of Gondwanan Notosuchian Identified in Brazil

Oct 7, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have described a new genus and species of long-snouted notosuchian from the fragmentary remains found in Brazil’s Adamantina Formation. Epoidesuchus...

Pterosaurs were adapted to a remarkably broad range of non-aerial locomotor ecologies; small, early, long-tailed pterosaurs (non-pterodactyliforms) exhibit extreme modifications in their hand and foot proportions indicative of climbing lifestyles; by contrast, the hands and feet of later, short-tailed pterosaurs (pterodactyliforms) typically exhibit morphologies consistent with more ground-based locomotor ecologies: (A) paleoart reconstruction of the non-pterodactyliform Scaphognathus crassirostris (Upper Jurassic) in scansorial mode, with autopodia characterized by short proximal elements and elongated distal elements; (B) paleoart reconstruction of the pterodactyliform Balaenognathus maeuseri (Upper Jurassic) in terrestrial mode, with autopodia characterized by elongated proximal elements and shortened distal elements; (C) reconstructions of Scaphognathus (left) and Balaenognathus (right) in dorsal view indicating the principal flight surfaces; (D) simplified pterosaur phylogeny indicating the principal taxonomic groups used in the study. Image credit: Smyth et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.09.014.

Pterosaurs were Adapted to Broad Range of Terrestrial Lifestyles, Study Shows

Oct 7, 2024 by News Staff

New research by paleontologists from the University of Leicester, the University of Birmingham and Liverpool John Moores University demonstrates an unexpectedly...

Gondwanax paraisensis. Image credit: Rodrigo Temp Müller, doi: 10.1016/j.gr.2024.09.007.

New Species of Dinosaur Relative Discovered in Brazil

Oct 2, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of silesaurid being named Gondwanax paraisensis has been identified from the fossilized remains discovered in Southern Brazil. Gondwanax...

Campananeyen fragilissimus. Image credit: Fundación Azara.

Paleontologists Unveil New Species of Sauropod Dinosaur

Sep 30, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Fossilized remains found in Patagonia, Argentina back in 2009 represent a new genus and species of plant-eating dinosaur that belonged to a group called...

Labocania anomala. Image credit: Karkemish / CC BY-SA 3.0.

New Tyrannosaur Species Unearthed in Mexico: Labocania aguillonae

Sep 26, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have announced the discovery of a new species in the tyrannosaurid dinosaur genus Labocania, based on a partial skeleton found in Coahuila,...

An artist’s impression of Brasilodon quadrangularis (left) and Riograndia guaibensis. Image credit: Jorge Blanco.

New Cynodont Fossil Discoveries are Rewriting Our Understanding of Mammal Evolution

Sep 25, 2024 by News Staff

Paleontologists in Brazil have examined the well-preserved fossilized remains of two mammal-precursor species: Brasilodon quadrangularis and Riograndia...

Robsonomyia baltica. Image credit: Pełczyńska et al., doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-59448-y.

40-Million-Year-Old Baltic Amber Provides First Fossil Record of Predatory Fungus Gnats

Sep 24, 2024 by News Staff

Until now, the fungus gnat genus Robsonomyia was represented by two living species: Robsonomyia reducta from North America and Robsonomyia sciaraeformis...

Koungoulos et al. discovered for the first time clear links between fossils of the iconic Australian dingo and dogs from East Asia and New Guinea. Image credit: Sharkolot.

Dingoes Have Evolved from East Asian Dog-Like Ancestor: Study

Sep 23, 2024 by News Staff

The dingo is a wild dog endemic to Australia with enigmatic origins. Dingoes are one of two remaining unadmixed populations of an early East Asian dog...

Map of Cyprus showing the approximate position of fossil sites where dwarf elephants and hippos have been retrieved. Image credit: Corey J.A. Bradshaw / Flinders University.

Paleolithic Humans Caused Extinction of Dwarf Hippos and Elephants on Cyprus

Sep 19, 2024 by News Staff

Around 3,000-7,000 hunter-gatherers on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus hunted endemic dwarf hippopotamus (Phanourios minor) and dwarf elephants (Palaeoloxodon...