Paleontology News

Paleontologists Detect Traces of Ancient Proteins in Fossil Feathers

The 50-million-year-old feather from the Green River biota, Wyoming, the United States. Image credit: Slater et al., doi: 10.1038/s41559-023-02177-8.
Sep 21, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have analyzed 125-million-year-old feathers from a dinosaur species called Sinornithosaurus as well as feathers of the early bird Confuciusornis and a 50-million-year-old feather from the Green River biota of Wyoming, the United States. Their results show that the protein composition of modern-day feathers was also present in the feathers of dinosaurs and early birds, confirming that the chemistry of feathers originated much earlier...

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Life reconstruction of Tyrannomimus fukuiensis. Image credit: Sci.News / Sino-Pteryx.

New Species of Ostrich-Mimic Dinosaur Discovered in Japan

Sep 20, 2023 by Sergio Prostak

Paleontologists from Fukui Prefectural University and the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum have added another species of theropod dinosaur to the prehistoric...

Morphology of the fish-feeding trace fossils: (A) slab containing fish-feeding trails (QUER1A, B, and H) and pits (QUER1C, D, E, and G); (B) false-color height map of the feeding trail QUER1B and the feeding pit QUER1C; (C) false-color height map of the feeding pit QUER1G; (D) paleogeographical location of the studied fossil sites. Image credit: Baucon et al., doi: 10.1073/pnas.2306164120.

130-Million-Year-Old Trace Fossils Reveal Earliest Evidence of Deep-Sea Vertebrates

Sep 19, 2023 by News Staff

Paleontologists have found 130-million-year-old trace fossils from abyssal plain turbidites of the ancient Tethys Ocean. Combined with nannofossil dating,...

Life reconstruction of Vectidromeus insularis. Image credit: Emily Willoughby.

New Plant-Eating Dinosaur Unveiled: Vectidromeus insularis

Sep 15, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Fossils of a small hypsilophodontid dinosaur unearthed on the Isle of Wight in southern England have been recognized as belonging to a new genus and species. Life...

Life reconstruction of Pampaphoneus biccai. Image credit: Márcio Castro.

Fierce Predator Lived in South America 265 Million Years Ago

Sep 12, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Pampaphoneus biccai — a large carnivorous dinocephalian therapsid that lived in what is now Brazil during the Permian period — was, until now,...

Life reconstruction of Igai semkhu. Image credit: Sci.News / Connor Ashbridge / Bing Image Creator.

Paleontologists Uncover New Species of Titanosaur in Egypt

Sep 7, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of titanosaurian dinosaur being named Igai semkhu has been described by Midwestern University paleontologist Eric Gorscak and his...

Life reconstruction of Fujianvenator prodigiosus. Image credit: Chuang Zhao.

Jurassic Bird-Like Dinosaur Had Long Lower Hindlimbs

Sep 6, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have identified a new species of avialan (a member of the group that contains modern birds and bird-like dinosaurs) from a fossilized partial...

Reconstruction of early marsupials (left to right): the wallaby-sized herbivore Muramura williamsi, extinct koala relative Madakoala devisi and the calf-sized ilariid Ilaria lawsone. Image credit: Peter Schouten.

New Species of Early Koala Relative Discovered in Australia

Sep 6, 2023 by News Staff

The newly-discovered species, Lumakoala blackae, was comparable in size to the smallest-known members of the koala family (Phascolarctidae), with body-mass...

Fast rates of plesiosaur evolution. Image credit: Qi-Ling Liu.

Plesiosaurs Gained Their Long Necks Very Rapidly, Paleontologists Say

Sep 4, 2023 by News Staff

Paleontologists have identified a new species of plesiosaur ancestor based on two new specimens from the Early Triassic Nanzhang-Yuan’an Fauna of China....

The red-billed tropicbird (Phaethon aethereus subsp. mesonauta) in the waters around Trinidad and Tobago. Image credit: Dominic Sherony / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Paleocene Fossil Illuminates Early Evolutionary History of Tropicbirds

Sep 1, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have described a new genus and species of tropicbird from a fossilized partial skeleton found in New Zealand. The fossil represents the...

Dicreosaurid dinosaurs, from larger to smaller: Dicraeosaurus hansemanni, Amargasaurus cazaui, and Brachytrachelopan mesai. Image credit: Sci.News / Nobu Tamura, http://spinops.blogspot.com / Bing Image Creator.

New Sauropod Dinosaur Unearthed in India

Aug 31, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists from the Indian Institute of Technology and the Geological Survey of India have described a new genus and species of dicraeosaurid sauropod...

Inhabitants of the ‘Island of the Dwarf Dinosaurs’ in the Cretaceous Transylvania: Transylvanosaurus platycephalus (front right), as well as turtles, crocodiles, giant pterosaurs, and dwarf dinosaurs. Image credit: Peter Nickolaus.

European Rhabdodontids were Amongst Last Non-Avian Dinosaurs, Paleontologists Say

Aug 30, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

A family of medium-sized iguanodontian dinosaurs called the Rhabdodontidae was one of the most important dinosaur groups inhabiting the ancient European...

Life reconstruction of Kylinxia zhangi. Image credit: X. Wang.

Cambrian Marine Arthropod Had Three Eyes and Four Pairs of Biramous Head Limbs

Aug 29, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists from Yunnan University, the University of Leicester and the Natural History Museum, London have conducted a microtomographic study of new...

The 3,000-year-old long-horned bee. Image credit: Andrea Baucon.

3,000-Year-Old Fossilized Bees Found in Portugal

Aug 28, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

The 100-million-year extensive fossil record of bee brood nests and cells in sedimentary deposits, or paleosols, is usually devoid of the presence of their...

Graecopithecus freybergi lived 7.2 million years ago in the dust-laden savannah of the Athens Basin. This view from Graecopithecus freybergi’ place of discovery, Pyrgos Vassilissis, to the southeast over the plain of Athens and under a reddish cloud of Sahara dust; in the background: Mount Hymettos and Mount Lykabettos. Image credit: Velizar Simeonovski.

8.7-Million-Year-Old Fossil Suggests Ancestors of Humans and African Apes Evolved in Europe

Aug 24, 2023 by News Staff

The fossilized remains of the Miocene-period ape species Anadoluvius turkae have been unearthed at the paleotological site of Çorakyerler in central Anatolia,...

Fossils have been found of several types of abelisaur showing the diversity of dinosaurs in Morocco at the end of the Cretaceous period. Image credit: Andrey Atuchin.

Fossils of Two New Abelisaurid Dinosaurs Uncovered in Morocco

Aug 23, 2023 by News Staff

Paleontologists have unearthed the fossilized remains of two T. rex cousins in the Ouled Abdoun Basin, northern Morocco. Fossils have been found of several...

Smilodon fatalis. Image credit: Adam Hartstone-Rose.

Could Saber-Toothed Cats and American Lions Roar?

Aug 22, 2023 by News Staff

The American lion (Panthera atrox) may have roared, while the saber-toothed cat Smilodon fatalis may have produced vocalizations similar to living purring...

Skull and life reconstruction of Saurosuchus galilei. Image credit: Jordan Bestwick, University of Birmingham.

Triassic Apex Predator Had Much Weaker Bite than Previously Thought

Aug 21, 2023 by News Staff

Saurosuchus galilei, a large loricatan pseudosuchian archosaur that lived in South America 230 million years ago (Late Triassic epoch), was thought to...

Life reconstruction of Potamotherium valletoni. Image credit: Gabriel Ugueto.

Early Seal Had Otter-Like Appearance, May Have Used Its Whiskers to Forage for Food

Aug 21, 2023 by News Staff

Seals, sea lions and walruses (Pinnipedia) use their whiskers (vibrissae) to explore their environment and locate their prey. Today they live mostly in...

Life reconstruction of Venetoraptor gassenae. Image credit: Caio Fantini.

Triassic Pterosaur Relative Had Raptorial-Like Beak and Long Hands with Scimitar-Like Claws

Aug 17, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of pterosaur precursor has been described from a 230-million-year-old partial skeleton found in southern Brazil. Life reconstruction...

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