Paleontology News

Triassic terrestrial larva Protoanisolarva juarezi. Scale bars - 1 mm in (A), 0.05 mm in (C-E, G), 0.1 mm in (F). Image credit: Peñalver et al., doi: 10.1002/spp2.1472.

Earliest Known Gnat Fossil Sheds Light on Evolutionary History of True Flies

Mar 14, 2023 by News Staff

Protoanisolarva juarezi, a new genus and species described from a 247-million-year-old larva, shares key features with Anisopodidae, a small cosmopolitan...

Reconstruction of the earliest ichthyosaur and the 250-million-year-old ecosystem found on Spitsbergen. Image credit: Esther van Hulsen.

Earliest Triassic Ichthyosaur Fossils Unearthed on Spitsbergen

Mar 13, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists from Uppsala University and the University of Oslo have found the 250-million-year-old fossilized ichthyosaur remains in the Vikinghøgda...

Reconstruction of the largest known specimen of Dunkleosteus terrelli, compared to one of the largest reliably measured specimens of Carcharodon carcharias; a 1.75-m-tall human for scale. Image credit: Russell Engelman, doi: 10.3390/d15030318 / Sci.News.

Earth’s First Vertebrate Superpredator Was Shorter and Stouter than Previously Thought

Mar 13, 2023 by News Staff

Dunkleosteus terrelli, an armor-plated fish that lived in the shallow subtropical waters of the Devonian period, about 360 million years ago, is one of...

Life reconstruction of Edowa zuniensis. Image credit: Brenton Adrian.

Dinosaur-Era Fossil Bridges Gap in Evolution of Extinct Baenid Turtles

Mar 10, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Edowa zuniensis is the first species of baenid turtle described from the Turonian age of North America. Life reconstruction of Edowa zuniensis. Image credit:...

Life reconstruction of a phytosaur species called Protome batalaria. Image credit: Smokeybjb / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Fossils of Giant Phytosaur Unearthed in India

Mar 7, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists at the Indian Institute of Technology have described a surprising new genus and species of crocodile-like reptile from fossils found in...

Environmental reconstruction of the Solnhofen Archipelago, showing Protospinax annectans in association with the Late Jurassic ray Asterodermus platypterus. Image credit: Jambura et al., doi: 10.3390/d15030311.

Paleontologists Redescribe Enigmatic Jurassic Shark Species

Mar 1, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists from the University of Vienna and elsewhere have revised a controversial species of the elasmobranch Protospinax annectans based on new...

An artist’s impression of elephant birds in their natural habitat, Madagascar. Image credit: Bonnie Koopmans.

1,000-Year-Old Fossil Eggshells Provide Rare Glimpse into Evolution of Madagascar’s Elephant Birds

Mar 1, 2023 by News Staff

Paleontologists from Curtin University and elsewhere have examined ancient fossil eggshells of Madagascar’s extinct elephant birds and found that genetic...

Life reconstruction of Paralitherizinosaurus japonicus. Image credit: Masato Hattori.

Study: Giant Therizinosaurs Used Their Meter-Long, Sickle-Like Claws for Display

Feb 28, 2023 by News Staff

The dinosaur clade Maniraptora includes the ancestors of birds, and most maniraptoran dinosaurs used their hands for grasping and in flight, but early...

An artistic reconstruction of Macronectes tinae in its paleoenvironment; a darker plumage was chosen for the reconstruction because a darker coloration in giant petrels seems to be related to warmer regions, as Taranaki had warmer temperatures during the Pliocene period. Image credit: Simone Giovanardi / Te Papa.

Giant Petrels Lived in New Zealand 3 Million Years Ago

Feb 27, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Macronectes tinae lived approximately 3 million years ago (Pliocene period), and belongs to the extant genus Macronectes. An artistic reconstruction of...

Torvosaurus gurneyi. Image credit: © Sergey Krasovskiy.

New Research Shines Light on Evolution of Body Size in Theropod Dinosaurs

Feb 27, 2023 by News Staff

Over evolutionary history, many different species of animals have evolved very large body sizes. The general consensus has been that an animal grows to...

Life reconstruction of the non-marine component of the Waterloo Farm ecosystem: Hyneria udlezinye is shown together with the tetrapods Umzantsia amazana and Tutusius umlambo, the placoderms Groenlandaspis riniensis and Bothriolepis africana, the coelacanth Serenichthys kowiensis, the lungfish Isityumzi mlomomde, and a cyrtoctenid eurypterid. Image credit: Maggie Newman / R.W. Gess.

360-Million-Year-Old Fossils of Giant Predatory Fish Found in South Africa

Feb 24, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

The newly-identified species of tristichopterid fish grew up to 3 m (10 feet) long and belongs to the extinct genus Hyneria. Life reconstruction of the...

Life reconstruction of Patagorhynchus pascuali. Image credit: Gabriel Lio.

Ancient Relative of Platypus Lived in South America 70 Million Years Ago

Feb 21, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Patagorhynchus pascuali represents the first Cretaceous toothed monotreme from the supercontinent Gondwana. Life reconstruction of Patagorhynchus pascuali....

Nyctinasty is the movements involving circadian rhythmic folding at night and opening at daytime of plant leaves or leaflets. Image credit: Feng et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.12.043.

252-Million-Year-Old Insect-Damaged Leaves Reveal First Fossil Evidence of Foliar Nyctinasty

Feb 20, 2023 by News Staff

Paleontologists have documented the first fossil evidence of foliar nyctinasty — the movements involving circadian rhythmic folding at night and...

The 166-million-year-old theropod dinosaur footprint from the Cleveland Basin, Yorkshire, UK. Image credit: Hudson et al., doi: 10.1144/pygs2022-008.

Giant Footprint of Jurassic Carnivorous Dinosaur Found in UK

Feb 17, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

The 80-cm- (31.5-inch) long footprint was possibly made by a Megalosaurus-like theropod dinosaur, and is assigned to the ichnogenus Megalosauripus. The...

Life reconstruction of the eurypterid Brachyopterus. Image credit: Nix Illustration / CC BY 4.0.

Earliest Sea Scorpion Tracks on Land

Feb 16, 2023 by Simon Braddy

Palmichnium gallowayi, a 460-million-year-old fossil trackway of a sea scorpion, from upstate New York, is one of the earliest signs of animal life on...

Miracinonyx trumani probably deployed a unique predatory behavior without modern analogues. Image credit: Sheatherius / CC BY-SA 4.0.

Extinct American Cheetah Had Unique Predatory Behavior, Research Suggests

Feb 15, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Miracinonyx trumani is an extinct species of cheetah-like cat that roamed the North American prairies and steppe terrains more than 13,000 years ago. Miracinonyx...

An artist’s impression of Ceratosuchops inferodios and the orientation of the endocast in the skull. Image credit: Anthony Hutchings.

Paleontologists Reconstruct Brains of Two Spinosaur Species

Feb 14, 2023 by News Staff

Using X-ray computed tomography scan data, paleontologists reconstructed the braincase endocasts of Baryonyx walkeri and Ceratosuchops inferodios from...

Spatula praeclypeata is a stem taxon of the living species Spatula smithii (depicted here). Image credit: C.G. Finch-Davies.

Paleontologist Discovers New Species of Prehistoric Duck in Ukraine

Feb 13, 2023 by Sergio Prostak

Spatula praeclypeata lived in the Northern Black Sea region between 1.9 and 1.5 million years ago. Spatula praeclypeata is a stem taxon of the living species...

The assemblage of Aetosaurus ferratus skeletons exhibited in the State Natural History Museumin Stuttgart. Image credit: E.M. Teschner.

Aetosaurs Were Gregarious, Paleontologists Say

Feb 13, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Aetosaurs are quadrupedal, heavily-armored reptiles in the extinct order Aetosauria. Their name means ‘eagle lizard,’ and comes from the fact that...