Paleontology News

Krommaster spinosus. Image credit: C. Reddy.

410-Million-Year-Old Brittle Star Fossils Uncovered in South Africa

Nov 1, 2023 by Natali Anderson

Paleontologists have found the fossilized remains of Devonian brittle stars in the ‘upper unit’ of the Baviaanskloof Formation in South Africa. Their...

This painting depicts an asteroid slamming into tropical, shallow seas of the sulfur-rich Yucatan Peninsula in what is today southeast Mexico. The aftermath of this immense asteroid collision, which occurred approximately 65 million years ago, is believed to have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs and many other species on Earth. Shown in this painting are pterodactyls, flying reptiles with wingspans of up to 50 feet, gliding above low tropical clouds. Image credit: Donald E. Davis / NASA.

Study: Asteroid Impact-Generated Dust Played Key Role in Dinosaur-Killing Mass Extinction

Oct 31, 2023 by News Staff

About 66 million years ago, a massive asteroid crashed into Earth near the site of the small town of Chicxulub in what is now Mexico. The impact eradicated...

Reconstruction of Jormungandr walhallaensis shown engaging in intraspecific combat. Image credit: Henry Sharpe.

New Mosasaur Species Unearthed in North Dakota

Oct 31, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of mosasaur being named Jormungandr walhallaensis has been discovered by American Museum of Natural History Ph.D. student Amelia...

Life reconstruction of Samsarasuchus pamelae. Image credit: Gabriel Lio.

New Species of Triassic Crocodile-Like Reptile Identified in India

Oct 30, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists in India have identified a new genus and species of proterosuchid reptile from both new and historically collected specimens. Life reconstruction...

Coenobial microfossils from the Forteau Formation, including: (a, f) strut-form colonies, (b-e, h-k, m-o, s-u) plate-form colonies, and (g, l, p-r) ring-form colonies. Scale bar - 20 µm. Image credit: Thomas H.P. Harvey, doi: 10.1098/rspb.2023.1882.

510-Million-Year-Old Microfossils Shed Light on Cambrian Plankton

Oct 30, 2023 by News Staff

The 510-million-year-old fossils from the Forteau Formation of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, are microscopic, look like spiny balls connected together,...

An artist’s impression of Liassophlebia sp., resting on a frond of the paleofern species Phlebopteris muensteri. Image credit: Jules Kiely, Bristol Museum & Art Gallery / Swaby et al., doi: 10.1080/08912963.2023.2261957.

202-Million-Year-Old Damsel-Dragonfly Fossil Unearthed in UK

Oct 27, 2023 by Natali Anderson

The new find suggests that Liassophlebiidae — a small extinct family of damsel-dragonflies known from the Early Mesozoic of Europe, Asia, and Antarctica...

The 125-million-year-old Mantellisaurus footprints found on the Isle of Wight. Image credit: JBA Consulting / Environment Agency.

125-Million-Year-Old Dinosaur Footprints Discovered on Isle of Wight

Oct 26, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Scientists from the Environment Agency, JBA Consulting and the Dinosaur Isle Museum have found rare footprints of iguanodontian dinosaurs on Yaverland...

The crest-tailed mulgara (Dasycercus cristicauda). Image credit: Bobby Tamayo / CC BY-SA 4.0 Deed.

Three New Species of Mulgaras May Already Be Extinct

Oct 25, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Scientists from Curtin University, the Western Australian Museum and Murdoch University have identified three new species of mulgaras — small carnivorous...

Minterichnus shieldi, a new 500-million-year-old fossil resting trace of a phyllocarid crustacean from Texas, 55 mm long.

They Came From The Sea: New 500-Million-Year-Old Crustacean Trace Fossil Records Ancient Behavior

Oct 24, 2023 by Simon Braddy

Minterichnus shieldi, a new type of trace fossil (resting trace) of a phyllocarid crustacean from Texas shows animals trapped in a tidal pool, just before...

Model of the ornithopod dinosaur Qantassaurus intrepidus, a distant relative of Ampelognathus coheni. Image credit: Paleocolour.

New Species of Ornithopod Dinosaur Identified in Texas

Oct 23, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of small-bodied ornithopod dinosaur has been described from a partial jawbone unearthed in Texas, the United States. Model of the...

An artist’s impression of Lorrainosaurus keileni. Image credit: Joschua Knüppe.

Paleontologists Identify Oldest-Known Mega-Predatory Pliosaur

Oct 23, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Lorrainosaurus keileni lived in the Middle Jurassic seas, approximately 170 million years ago. An artist’s impression of Lorrainosaurus keileni. Image...

Vielasia sigei helps bridge the gap between archaic bats and the hyperdiverse modern bat radiation of more than 1,460 living species. Image credit: Hand et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.09.043.

50-Million-Year-Old Bat Skull Supports Early Origin of Echolocation

Oct 19, 2023 by News Staff

An international team of paleontologists has described a new Early Eocene bat species from the well-preserved fossils — which include the oldest...

Reconstruction of Pierolapithecus catalaunicus (Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont)

Scientists Reconstruct Skull of Pierolapithecus catalaunicus

Oct 17, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Pierolapithecus catalaunicus is an extinct species of great ape that lived in what is now Europe about 12 million years ago. A remarkably complete, although...

A Macrospondylus bollensis mother keeps a watchful eye on her young. Image credit: Henry Sutherland Sharpe.

New Research Sheds Light on Enigmatic Jurassic Crocodile Relatives

Oct 17, 2023 by News Staff

In a study published in the journal Papers in Palaeontology, paleontologists from the State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart investigated growth rates...

Life reconstruction of Strigilodus tollesonae. Image credit: Benji Paysnoe.

Paleontologists Discover New Species of Ancient Petal-Toothed Shark

Oct 16, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of petalodont (petal-toothed) shark has been identified from fossilized teeth found in cave passages of Mammoth Cave National Park...

Reconstruction of Anachlysictis gracilis stalking some rodents (Neoreomys huilensis) in the La Venta area during Middle Miocene. Image credit: Juan Giraldo.

Exceptional Fossil of Saber-Toothed Marsupial Relative Unearthed in Colombia

Oct 13, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

The new fossil material belonging to Anachlysictis gracilis, including an almost complete specimen consisting of a nicely preserved skull and postcranial...

Feather-tailed possums (Distoechurus pennatus).

Paleontologists Describe Four New Fossil Species of Feathertail Possums

Oct 9, 2023 by Natali Anderson

Paleontologists have identified four new fossil feathertail possum species (family Acrobatidae) from the fossilized specimens found in the Late Oligocene...

Rionegrina pozosaladensis. Image credit: Melchor et al., doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-43771-x.

First-Ever Terror Bird Footprints Discovered

Oct 5, 2023 by Natali Anderson

For the first time, footprints made by an extinct terror bird (family Phorusrhacidae) have been identified by paleontologists. Holotype trackway of Rionegrina...

Artistic representation of the opportunistic burrowing behavior of the hypothetical ancestor of crown snakes, as predicted from reconstructed high-definition 3D whole-brain models (highlighted middle right) shown in dorsal (top) and lateral (bottom) views. In comparison, the reconstruction of the first natural endocast of a fossil snake (Dinilysia patagonica, top right) displays a divergent morphological configuration of the telencephalon (Tel) and provides no or limited information about the diencephalon (Dien), mesencephalon (Mes), cerebellum (Cb), and medulla oblongata (MO) regions. In contrast, the estimated endocast of Najash rionegrina (bottom right) shows similarities with the hypothetical ancestor of crown snakes in several distinguishable telencephalic regions, including cerebral hemisphere (CH), olfactory bulb (OB), and olfactory tract (OT). Reconstructions of the fossil skulls (purple color) are shown around the cranial endocasts. Image credit: Macrì et al., doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adi6888 / Neptalí Ramírez Marcial.

Researchers Shed New Light on Enigmatic Early Evolution of Snakes

Oct 3, 2023 by News Staff

The ecological origin and early evolution of snakes has long been a focus of multiple research fields and remains one of the most enduring and controversial...