Paleontology News

Fossil Leaves with Insect Imprints Reveal Drivers of Herbivore Functional Diversity during Cenozoic Era

Plant-herbivore interactions from the Cenozoic fossil record: (A) meta-network of plant-herbivore interactions, based on 10,714 damaged leaves from 21 fossil floras; colored bars represent the total interaction frequencies of host plants and herbivores; the ten most abundant plant orders are labeled; gray lines represent pair-wise interactions, with more frequent interactions being thicker and less transparent; (B) examples of damage types: (a and b) mines mainly produced by moths; (c and d) galls mainly produced by gall midges; (e-h) external foliage feeding including hole feeding, margin feeding, surface feeding, and skeletonization; (i) endophytic oviposition; (j) in situ preservation of armored scale insects. Scale bars - 10 mm. Image credit: Albrecht et al., doi: 10.1073/pnas.2300514120.
Aug 2, 2023 by News Staff

Plant-eating insects are the most diverse group of multicellular organisms on Earth. The most discussed drivers of their inordinate taxonomic and functional diversity are high niche availability associated with the diversity of host plants and dense niche packing due to host partitioning among herbivores. However, the relative contributions of these two factors to dynamics in the diversity of herbivores throughout Earth’s history remained unresolved....

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Artistic reconstruction of a group of Burgessomedusa phasmiformis swimming in the Cambrian sea. Image credit: Christian McCall.

Paleontologists Identify Oldest Known Species of Free-Swimming Jellyfish

Aug 2, 2023 by News Staff

Burgessomedusa phasmiformis had a cuboidal umbrella up to 20 cm (8 inches) high and over 90 short, finger-like tentacles. Artistic reconstruction of a...

Oblitosaurus bunnueli. Image credit: Daniel Ayala, Fundación Dinópolis.

New Species of Ornithopod Dinosaur Identified in Spain

Aug 1, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists in Spain have described a new genus and species of ankylopollexian ornithopod from the fossilized remains found in the Villar del Arzobispo...

Discoscapa apicula; the bee is carrying four beetle triungulins. Image credit: George Poinar Jr. / College of Science, Oregon State University.

Bees Originated in Western Gondwana before Breakup of Africa and South America, Study Suggests

Jul 31, 2023 by News Staff

Bees are the most significant pollinators of flowering plants. This partnership began approximately 120 million years ago, but the uncertainty of how and...

General morphology of Panagrolaimus kolymaensis, female. Image credit: Shatilovich et al., doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1010798.

Researchers Sequence Genome of 46,000-Year-Old Soil Nematode from Siberian Permafrost

Jul 31, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Precise radiocarbon dating indicates that Panagrolaimus kolymaensis, a species of soil nematode new to science, remained in cryptobiosis for about 46,000...

The 300,000-year-old fossil footprints at Schöningen 13 II-2 Untere Berme, Germany. Image credit: Altamura et al., doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108094.

300,000-Year-Old Footprints of Homo heidelbergensis Found in Germany

Jul 26, 2023 by Sergio Prostak

Archaeologists have discovered three footprints of Homo heidelbergensis — a direct ancestor of Neanderthals — and numerous footprints of elephants...

Life reconstruction of Euparkeria capensis, a species of archosauriform reptile from the Triassic of South Africa. Image credit: Nobu Tamura, http://spinops.blogspot.com.

Triassic Archosaur Had Armored Plates above Its Backbone

Jul 26, 2023 by News Staff

Mambachiton fiandohana lived in what is now Madagascar during the Middle-Late Triassic transition, around 235 million years ago — the time of the...

Reconstruction of Minimocursor phunoiensis. Image credit: Sci.News / Sita Manitkoon / Peter Lutz.

New Neornithischian Dinosaur Unearthed in Thailand

Jul 24, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Minimocursor phunoiensis is the earliest known neornithischian dinosaur from Southeast Asia as well as one of the best-preserved dinosaurs ever found in...

Wataria stumps and Byttneriophyllum bed at a Miocene-period locality in Japan. The largest Wataria stump is an individual #1 with a trunk about 1.37-m in diameter. Image credit: Nishino et al., doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-37211-z.

Paleontologists Unearth Miocene Fossil Forest in Japan

Jul 24, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have discovered an exceptionally well-preserved monodominant forest of the wood fossil-species Wataria parvipora at a Miocene locality...

The sabertooth cat species Lokotunjailurus emageritus and the gomphothere-like elephantid species Stegotetrabelodon in Late Miocene Lothagam, Kenya. Image credit: Mauricio Antón / CC BY 3.0.

Two New Species of Saber-Toothed Cats Identified in South Africa

Jul 21, 2023 by News Staff

Paleontologists have unearthed the 5.2-million-year-old fossilized remains of four sabertooth cat species — including two previously unknown species,...

Illustration showing Repenomamus robustus as it attacks Psittacosaurus lujiatunensis before a volcanic debris flow buries them both, approximately 125 million years ago. Image credit: Michael Skrepnick.

Unique Fossil Captures Struggle for Existence during Cretaceous Period

Jul 19, 2023 by News Staff

The unusual fossil from around 125 million years ago shows a dramatic moment in time when a species of badger-like carnivorous mammal called Repenomamus...

Yang et al. show that large-bodied pterosaurs, such as the giant pterosaur Pteranodon (shown here), probably practiced parental care. Image credit: James Robins / UCC.

Large-Bodied Pterosaurs Were Caring Parents, Paleontologists Say

Jul 19, 2023 by News Staff

To be able to fly soon after hatching from the egg, a bird or pterosaur must have well-developed wings. Studies of small-bodies pterosaur species from...

An artistic reconstruction of Alligator munensis. Image credit: Márton Szabó.

Fossil of Deep-Snouted Alligator Species Found in Thailand

Jul 18, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

The newly-identified species is closely related to the Chinese alligator (Alligator sinensis), the only living representative of Alligatoridae (the crown-group...

Life reconstruction of the styracosternan dinosaur Hippodraco scutodens, a distant relative of Calvarius rapidus. Image credit: Sci.News / Lukas Panzarin / Bing Image Creator.

New Species of Iguanodontian Dinosaur Identified in Spain

Jul 17, 2023 by Sergio Prostak

A new genus and species of iguanodontian ornithopod dinosaur being named Calvarius rapidus has been described by a duo of paleontologists from the Universitat...

Petrodactyle wellnhoferi. Scale bar - 10 cm. Image credit: Hone et al., doi: 10.26879/1251.

Jurassic Pterosaur Had Giant Bony Crest on Its Head

Jul 17, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new species of the ctenochasmatid pterosaur genus Petrodactyle has been described from an unusual specimen found in the Late Jurassic limestone beds...

An artist’s impression of the Santa Elina rock shelter, Brazil. Image credit: Júlia D’Oliveira.

Giant Sloth Pendants Push Back Timeline of Humans’ Arrival in South America

Jul 14, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Archaeologists in Brazil say they have unearthed 25,000- to 27,000-year-old pendants made of bony material from the extinct giant ground sloth Glossotherium...

An artist’s impression of Smilodon fatalis. Image credit: Sergio De la Rosa / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Saber-Tooth Cats and Dire Wolves Suffered from Osteochondrosis, New Study Shows

Jul 13, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Skeletal disease may hamper the behavior of large predators both living and extinct. In new research, paleontologists from Evidensia Academy and the La...

Tiny placoid scales of Otodus megalodon compared to a tip of a 0.5-mm mechanical pencil lead on the bottom right corner. Image credit: Kenshu Shimada / DePaul University.

Study: Megalodon was Slow Cruising Shark with Occasional Burst Swimming for Prey Capture

Jul 12, 2023 by News Staff

Otodus megalodon, a megatooth shark that lived between 23 and 3.6 million years ago, was not a fast swimmer, but it had a mega-appetite explaining its...

Boulila et al. highlight a common, correlatable 36-million-year cycle in the diversity of marine genera as well as in tectonic, sea-level, and macrostratigraphic data over the past 250 million years of Earth history. Image credit: James St. John / CC BY 2.0.

36-Million-Year Geological Cycle Drives Marine Biodiversity, Scientists Say

Jul 11, 2023 by News Staff

The evolution of life on Earth has changed dramatically at tens of million-year time scales. However, the causal mechanisms of these changes remain unclear....

The linguliform brachiopod, Barroisella? milwaukeensis, showing color patterns, MPM P236. Image credit: Kenneth C. Gass / CC BY-SA 4.0 International.

Milwaukee’s Gift to Devonian Paleontology

Jul 10, 2023 by Kenneth C. Gass

Now known for its sports teams, Harleys, and beer, early Milwaukee County, Wisconsin was one of the nation’s leading producers of natural cement, and...

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