Paleontology News

Wrangel Island’s Woolly Mammoth Population was Demographically Stable Up Until Its Extinction

A trio of woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius) trudges over snow covered hills; behind them, mountains with snow covered peaks rise above dark green forests of fir trees. Image credit: Daniel Eskridge.
Jun 28, 2024 by News Staff

Woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius) became isolated on Wrangel Island off the coast of Siberia around 10,000 years ago and persisted for over 200 generations before becoming extinct around 4,000 years ago. To study the evolutionary processes leading up to their extinction, scientists analyzed 21 woolly mammoth genomes from Siberia. Their results show that the population recovered quickly from a severe bottleneck and remained demographically stable...

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Ammonites basking under the Late Cretaceous Sun. Image credit: Callum Pursall.

Ammonites Were Not in Decline Prior to End-Cretaceous Extinction, New Study Suggests

Jun 28, 2024 by News Staff

A team of paleontologists from the United Kingdom and the United States has analyzed the fossil record of ammonites — marine mollusks often distinguished...

Artistic reconstruction of two species of trilobite an instant before burial in a flow of volcanic ash 510 million years ago. Image credit: Abderrazak El Albani, University of Poitiers.

Exceptionally Preserved Fossils Reveal 3D Anatomy of Cambrian Trilobites

Jun 27, 2024 by News Staff

Paleontologists have unearthed a well-preserved fossil assemblage of Cambrian trilobites in the High Atlas of Morocco. The 510-million-year-old specimens...

The Protoceratops-griffin geomyth. The idea that fossils of Mongolian horned dinosaurs inspired or influenced the mythology of the griffin, ancient chimaeras of birds and lions according to conventional archaeologists, is one of the most popular and promoted examples of fossil folklore in modern times. This idea, first proposed in the early 1990s, has received little in the way of academic scrutiny, however. Image credit: Witton et al., doi: 10.1177/03080188241255543.

Paleontologists Debunk Popular Claim that Protoceratops Fossils Inspired Legend of Griffin

Jun 21, 2024 by News Staff

Among the most widely promoted examples of fossil folklore is a supposed link between the Central Asian horned dinosaur Protoceratops and the griffin,...

Parvosuchus aurelioi. Image credit: Matheus Fernandes.

Triassic Crocodile-Like Reptile Discovered in Brazil

Jun 20, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of gracilisuchid reptile from the Triassic period has been identified from fossils found in the Santa Maria Formation in Brazil. Artistic...

Reconstruction of Lokiceratops rangiformis surprised by a crocodilian in the 78-million-year-old swamps of northern Montana. Image credit: Andrey Atuchin / Museum of Evolution in Maribo, Denmark.

New Species of Horned Dinosaur Had Unusual, Curving Blade-Like Horns on Back of Its Frill

Jun 20, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have identified a new genus and species of centrosaurine dinosaur from the fossilized remains found in the Judith River Formation in the...

An artist’s impression of Gordonia traquairi. Image credit: Scott Reid.

Paleontologists Reconstruct Enigmatic ‘Elgin Marvel’ Fossil

Jun 18, 2024 by News Staff

The ‘Elgin Marvel’ fossil is a block of reddish sandstone containing a natural mould of a skull and jaw of Permian dicynodont found in the Hopeman...

Life reconstruction of Diuqin lechiguanae. Image credit: Porfiri et al., doi: 10.1186/s12862-024-02247-w.

Paleontologists Discover New Bird-Like Dinosaur in Argentina

Jun 17, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of unenlagiine dinosaur has been identified by paleontologists in Argentina. Named Diuqin lechiguanae, it fills a substantial gap...

This image shows nothosaurs swimming along the ancient southern polar coast of what is now New Zealand around 246 million years ago (Triassic period). Image credit: Stavros Kundromichalis.

Unique Nothosaur Fossil Unearthed in New Zealand

Jun 17, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

The 246-million-year-old specimen represents the geologically oldest sea-going reptile from the southern hemisphere. This image shows nothosaurs swimming...

Life reconstruction of Haliskia peterseni. Image credit: Gabriel N. Ugueto.

New Flying Reptile Fossils Found in Australia

Jun 13, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists in Australia have discovered fossilized skeletal remains that belonged to a previously unknown, 100-million-year-old anhanguerian pterosaur. Life...

Life may have begun shortly after Earth formed 4.54 billion years ago. Image credit: Hadeano.

Great Oxidation Event Lasted At Least 200 Million Years, New Study Reveals

Jun 12, 2024 by News Staff

About 2.5 billion years ago, free oxygen first started to accumulate to meaningful levels in Earth’s atmosphere, setting the stage for the rise of complex...

Danuvius guggenmosi, a great ape that lived some 12 million years ago (Miocene period) in what is now Germany. Image credit: Velizar Simeonovski.

Tiny Hominid Species Once Lived in Germany

Jun 11, 2024 by News Staff

With an estimated body mass of about 10 kg, the newly-discovered species, Buronius manfredschmidi, represents the smallest known hominid. Danuvius guggenmosi,...

An artistic reconstruction of the ammonoid Epitornoceras baldisi during the Middle Devonian. Image credit: H. Santiago Druetta / CICTERRA / Universidad Nacional de Córdoba.

New Fossils of Nautilus-Like Cephalopod Unearthed in Argentina

Jun 10, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have redescribed Epitornoceras baldisi, an enigmatic species of ammonoid cephalopod from the Devonian period of Argentina, using new fossils...

Life restoration of Thalattosaurus alexandrae. Image credit: Nobu Tamura, http://spinops.blogspot.ca.

Enigmatic Triassic Thalattosaur Was Able to Move on Land, Paleontologists Say

Jun 5, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Pachystropheus rhaeticus — one of the last thalattosaur, a large sea-lizard that behaved like an otter — was able to move on land, but was...

Life reconstruction of the hybodontiform shark Strophodus rebecae. Image credit: Jorge Blanco / CC BY 4.0.

New Species of Fossil Hybodontiform Shark Identified in Japan

Jun 4, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists in Japan have described a new species of shark-like cartilaginous fish based on the fossilized teeth from the Late Triassic Momonoki Formation. The...

A selection of outlines of large Jurassic pterosaur wingspans: pterodactyloids (left), including the new fossil (EC K2576), and rhamphorhynchoids (right). Image credit: Etienne et al., doi: 10.1016/j.pgeola.2024.05.002.

Jurassic Pterosaur Had Wingspan of At Least Ten Feet

Jun 4, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of paleontologists has unearthed the fossil remains of a ctenochasmatoid pterosaur from the Kimmeridge Clay Formation in Oxfordshire, central England....

Woolly rhinoceroses (Coelodonta antiquitatis) were once widely distributed across northern and central Eurasia, before going extinct some 10,000 years ago. Image credit: Mauricio Anton.

Ancient Humans Played Role in Demise of Woolly Rhinoceros, New Research Suggests

Jun 4, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

The extinction of the woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) at the onset of the Holocene remains an enigma, with conflicting evidence regarding its...

Homotherium serum. Image credit: Sergiodlarosa / CC BY-SA 3.0.

New Fossil Expands Geographic Footprint of Scimitar-Toothed Cat Homotherium

Jun 4, 2024 by News Staff

Paleontologists from the University of Texas at Austin and elsewhere have discovered a fragmentary jaw of the scimitar-toothed cat Homotherium on McFaddin...

The illustration portrays a reconstruction of Genyornis newtoni at the water’s edge in a wetland or swamp-like environment. The scene itself was inspired by locations that exist in southern South Australia today, such as Ngarrindjeri country in and around the Coorong and lower Murray River. However, back when Genyornis newtoni was kicking about, this type of environment would have been more widespread across the country. Many Genyornis fossils are recovered from Lake Callabonna which is more than a day’s drive north of there and is a dry salt lake nowadays. Back in the day this would have been much wetter place. Image credit: Jacob C. Blokland.

Well-Preserved Skull Fossil of Extinct Giant Bird Found in Australia

Jun 3, 2024 by News Staff

Paleontologists in Australia have unearthed the fossilized skull of Genyornis newtoni, a species of giant flightless ‘mihirung’ that became extinct...

An artist’s impression of Musankwa sanyatiensis, walking in Triassic shallow waters past a metoposaur. Image credit: Atashni Moopen / Sci.News.

New Sauropodomorph Dinosaur Unearthed in Zimbabwe

May 30, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of massopodan sauropodomorph dinosaur has been identified form the fossilized remains found on the shoreline of Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe. An...

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