Paleontology News

Paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the Early Eocene continental communities of Seymour Island: a large cariamiform bird hunting a medium-sized ungulate and staring at Notiolofos regueroi, a couple of marsupials on a tree, Antarctoboenus carlinii flying on the sky, and a flightless Ratites in the back. Image credit: Carolina Acosta Hospitaleche & Washington Jones, doi: 10.26879/1340.

Giant Terror Birds Were Apex Predators of Eocene-Period Antarctica

Mar 25, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have unearthed two fossilized phalanges of an ancient carnivorous bird on Seymour Island, Antarctica. Paleoenvironmental reconstruction...

Artistic reconstruction of Pebanista yacuruna. Image credit: Jaime Bran.

Giant Freshwater Dolphins Once Lived in Proto-Amazonia

Mar 21, 2024 by Natali Anderson

Pebanista yacuruna is the closest relative of living South Asian river dolphins (genus Platanista). Artistic reconstruction of Pebanista yacuruna. Image...

Khinjaria acuta. Image credit: Andrey Atuchin.

New Mosasaur Species from Morocco Had Dagger-Like, Interlocking Teeth

Mar 19, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have described a bizarre new species of mosasaurid based on a skull and parts of the skeleton collected from a phosphate mine southeast...

An artist’s reconstruction of the spinosaurid dinosaur Baryonyx. Image credit: Andrey Atuchin / CC BY 4.0 Deed.

New Spinosaurid Dinosaur Species Identified in Spain

Mar 18, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of spinosaurid dinosaur being named Riojavenatrix lacustris has been discovered by University of the Basque Country paleontologist...

Life reconstruction of Franconiasaurus brevispinus. Image credit: Joschua Knüppe.

New Species of Plesiosaur Unearthed in Germany

Mar 15, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of plesiosaur that lived near the onset of the Early-Middle Jurassic turnover has been identified from two exquisite, three-dimensionally...

Life reconstruction of Peltocephalus maturin. Image credit: Júlia d‘Oliveira.

Fossil of Giant Freshwater Turtle Discovered in Brazilian Amazon

Mar 14, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Peltocephalus maturin possibly reached about 1.8 m (5.9 feet) in carapace length and is among the largest freshwater turtles ever found. This finding presents...

A theropod dinosaur footprint in the Nanushuk Formation, Alaska, the United States. Note the sinusoidal curve of the middle toe impression. Scale bar - 10 cm. Image credit: Fiorillo et al., doi: 10.3390/geosciences14020036.

Nanushuk Formation’s Dinosaur Tracks Provide New Information about Mid-Cretaceous Paleoclimate

Mar 13, 2024 by News Staff

Paleontologists have examined a large assemblage of dinosaur tracks and fossilized plants from the Nanushuk Formation, which crops out over much of the...

The fossil skeleton of Imparavis attenboroughi and a reconstruction of the bird. Image credit: Ville Sinkkonen / Wang et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cretres.2024.105867.

Cretaceous Enantiornithine Bird Was First of Its Kind with Toothless Beak

Mar 11, 2024 by News Staff

Paleontologists have described a new species of enantiornithine bird with a toothless beak from the Jehol avifauna of China. The discovery pushes back...

Doing what they do better than any animal that ever evolved, a pair of Spinosaurus aegyptiacus wade into nearshore waters for prey as pterosaurs soar overhead some 95 million years ago on the northern coast of Africa. Image credit: Daniel Navarro.

Paleontologists Find Flaws in Research Supporting Aquatic Pursuit Hunting in Spinosaurus

Mar 8, 2024 by News Staff

The lifestyle of spinosaurid dinosaurs has been a topic of lively debate ever since the unveiling of important new skeletal parts for Spinosaurus aegyptiacus...

Fossilized ripple marks on the floor of the Calamophyton forest. Image credit: Neil Davies.

Earth’s Oldest Known Fossil Forest Discovered in England

Mar 7, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

The 390-million-year-old forest landscape, archived within the Eifelian Hangman Sandstone Formation of Somerset and Devon in England, is roughly 4 million...

Pseudocarcinus karlraubenheimeri. Scale bars - 5 cm. Image credit: Barry W.M. van Bakel & Àlex Ossó, doi: 10.1080/00288306.2024.2314472.

Fossils of Giant Crab Unearthed in New Zealand

Mar 4, 2024 by News Staff

Paleontologists have described a new species of the crab genus Pseudocarcinus from large-sized fossilized specimens found at Taranaki, North Island, New...

Reconstruction of Perucetus colossus in its coastal habitat; the associated sawfish, Pristis, was recovered from the same unit in the East Pisco Basin, the Yumaque Member of the Paracas Formation, Peru. Image credit: A. Gennari.

Giant Fossil Whale Perucetus Did Not Exceed Body Mass of Today’s Blue Whales: Study

Mar 4, 2024 by News Staff

Paleontologists from the University of California, Davis, and Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History estimate that Perucetus colossus,...

The type specimens of Datai yingliangis reconstructed in situ; the head, cervical, and thoracic regions of the specimens were discovered and extracted from a single block. Image credit: Xing et al., doi: 10.18435/vamp29396.

Cretaceous-Period Armored Dinosaur Had Double Cheek Horns

Feb 26, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of ankylosaurine dinosaur has been identified from two specimens found in southeastern China. The type specimens of Datai yingliangis...

Restoration of Dinocephalosaurus orientalis depicted among a shoal of the large, predatory actinopterygian fish, Saurichthys. Image credit: Marlene Donnelly.

Dinocephalosaurus was Fully Marine Reptile and Even Gave Birth at Sea, Paleontologists Say

Feb 23, 2024 by News Staff

Paleontologists from Germany, China, the United Kingdom and the United States have described in detail Dinocephalosaurus orientalis, a remarkable marine...

Hypothetical reconstruction of Yanbeilong ultimus. Image credit: Ddinodan / Sci.News.

Paleontologists Discover New Stegosaur Species

Feb 19, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

In a new paper published on January 31, 2024 in the journal Historical Biology, paleontologists announced the discovery of a previously undocumented species...

Late Maastrichtian dinosaurs of the latest Cretaceous Phosphates of Morocco. Image credit: Longrich et al., doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-53447-9.

New Species of Small Duckbilled Dinosaur Identified in Morocco

Feb 15, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of dwarf lambeosaurine hadrosaurid has come to light in Moroccan rocks dating to the Late Cretaceous epoch, some 68 million years...

Life reconstruction of Jiangxititan ganzhouensis. Image credit: UnexpectedDinoLesson / Sci.News.

New Species of Titanosaur Unearthed in China

Feb 13, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists in China have found fossil fragments from a new genus and species of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur that walked the Earth during the Cretaceous...

The fossilized teeth of Palaeohypotodus bizzocoi. Image credit: Ebersole et al., doi: 10.3897/fr.27.e112800.

Extinct Shark’s Teeth Had Their Own Needle-Like Fangs

Feb 12, 2024 by Sergio Prostak

Paleontologists have described a new species of the extinct lamniform shark genus Palaeohypotodus based on 17 fossilized teeth found in Alabama, the United...

An artistic reconstruction of the Cabrières Biota: in the foreground, a row of Ampyx (trilobites) and various shelly organisms, including brachiopods and a hyolith (bottom left corner); behind the trilobites, a lobopodian, a chelicerate, cnidarians (blue), sponges (green), thin branching algae (red and green) and hemichordate tubes (purple), along with some mollusks; bivalved arthropods inhabit the water column along with graptolites. Image credit: Christian McCall, Prehistorica Art.

Unique Fossil Site Discovered in France Provides Insights into Ordovician Polar Ecosystems

Feb 9, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

In a new paper in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, paleontologists described the diversity of the Cabrières Biota, a new Early Ordovician site...