Paleontology News

Xenorophus hunting sea turtles. Image credit: Robert Boessenecker.

30-Million-Year-Old Fossils Shed Light on Origin of Echolocation in Whales and Dolphins

Nov 23, 2023 by News Staff

In a new paper published this month in the journal Diversity, paleontologists described the fossilized skeletons of the dolphin genus Xenorophus from the...

Hippos (Hippopotamus amphibius) at the Mpala Research Centre in Laikipia county, central Kenya, on August 26, 2016. Image credit: Sci-News.com / Mpala Research Centre.

Modern Hippo Species Lived in Europe as Early as 560,000 Years Ago

Nov 22, 2023 by News Staff

Paleontologists have redescribed a skull of the living species Hippopotamus amphibius recovered from a quarry called Cava Montanari at Tor di Quinto —...

Trilobites are extinct arthropods that dominated the faunas of the oceans of the Paleozoic era. During their time on Earth, which lasted much longer than the dinosaurs, between 521 and 252 million years ago, they survived two major episodes of mass extinctions and dominated ocean floor ecosystems. There are more than 20,000 known trilobite species.

Paleontologists Describe Ten New Species of Trilobites

Nov 22, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

In a 100-page monograph published in the journal Papers in Palaeontology, paleontologists have described ten new species of trilobites from the tuff-bearing...

Life reconstruction of Amanasaurus nesbitti. Image credit: Matheus Fernandes.

New Species of Triassic Dinosaur Relative Identified in Brazil

Nov 20, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of silesaur being named Amanasaurus nesbitti has been discovered by a duo of paleontologists at the Federal University of Santa...

A reconstruction of a flock of Cryptogyps lacertosus (left side) and several individuals of Dynatoaetus pachyosteus (right side) feeding on a carcass of Diprotodon optatum in the Late Pleistocene Naracoorte landscape. Image credit: John Barrie.

Fossil of New Eagle Species Found in Australia

Nov 20, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have uncovered the fossilized remains of a new species of the Pleistocene eagle genus Dynatoaetus in Victoria Fossil Cave at Naracoorte,...

Reconstruction of Eomortoniellus handlirschi. Image credit: Charlie Woodrow.

Extinct Insect from Baltic Amber Could Hear Ultrasounds, Bat Echolocation

Nov 17, 2023 by News Staff

Hearing has evolved independently many times in the animal kingdom and is prominent in various insects and vertebrates for communication and predator detection....

Life restoration of sleeping posture of Jaculinykus yaruui. Image credit: Seiji Yamamoto.

Bird-Like Dinosaurs Slept Like Modern Birds, New Fossil Reveals

Nov 16, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists in Mongolia have unearthed a nearly complete and articulated skeleton of a previously unknown genus and species of alvarezsaurid dinosaur...

The bird footprints found in the Wonthaggi Formation in Victoria, Australia. Image credit: Martin et al., doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0293308.

Paleontologists Discover Earliest Known Gondwanan Bird Footprints

Nov 15, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have discovered 27 bird footprints and other traces — dated to between 120 and 128 million years ago (Early Cretaceous epoch) —...

The footprints of the Emeidae moa found in the Kyeburn River, South Island, New Zealand; the associated Dinornithidae footprint can be seen between the first two footprints to the left. Image credit: Ian Griffin / Otago Museum.

3.6-Million-Year-Old Moa Footprints Found in New Zealand

Nov 15, 2023 by Natali Anderson

Paleontologists have discovered a trackway of seven moa footprints and an associated separate footprint at a riverbank outcrop of the Maniototo Conglomerate...

Theropod diversity and largest lateral crowns of theropods from the Morrison Formation of North America: (A) crown of Allosaurus; (B) crown of the megalosaurid Torvosaurus tanneri; (C) crown of the allosaurid Allosaurus sp.; (D) crown of the ceratosaurid Ceratosaurus sp.; (E) crown of the piatnitzkysaurid Marshosaurus bicentessimus; (F) crown of the tyrannosauroid Tanycolagreus topwilsoni; (G) crown of the maniraptoriform Ornitholestes hermanni; (H) crown of the troodontid Hesperornithoides miessleri. Image credit: Lei et al., doi: 10.7717/peerj.16327.

New Study Sheds Light on Dining Habits of Jurassic Carnivorous Dinosaurs

Nov 14, 2023 by News Staff

Paleontologists from Queen Mary University of London and elsewhere have performed an extensive survey of the literature and fossil collections cataloging...

A microfossil from the 2.4-billion-year-old Turee Creek Group in Western Australia. Image credit: Barlow et al., doi: 10.1111/gbi.12576.

2.4-Billion-Year-Old Microfossils Suggest Earlier Rise in Complex Cellular Organization

Nov 14, 2023 by News Staff

Around 2.4 billion years ago, the Great Oxidation Event caused fundamental changes to the chemistry of Earth’s surface environments. However, the effect...

Life reconstruction of Dasyomyliobatis thomyorkei swimming in the marine tropical shallow waters of the western Tethys about 50 million years ago. Image credit: Fabrizio Lavezzi.

50-Million-Year-Old Fossil Helps Clarify Origin of Pelagic Lifestyle and Durophagy in Stingrays

Nov 13, 2023 by Natali Anderson

Dasyomyliobatis thomyorkei is intermediate between the ‘rajobenthic’ and more derived ‘aquilopelagic’ stingrays, supporting the hypothesis that...

Reconstruction of Qianlong shouhu’s eggs. Image credit: NICE Vistudio.

Eggs of Earliest Dinosaurs Were Leathery, Fossils Show

Nov 13, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists in China have unearthed and examined three adult skeletons and five clutches of embryo-containing eggs of Qianlong shouhu, a previously...

Kotevski et al. report the first evidence of non-mandibular skull material of a non-avian theropod from Australia: a left frontal and fused parietal fragment from the Lower Cretaceous upper Strzelecki Group of Victoria. Image credit: Kotevski et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cretres.2023.105769.

Paleontologists Find Fossil of Early Megaraptorid Dinosaur in Australia

Nov 10, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have unearthed a well-preserved, almost complete left frontal (part of the skull roof) of a previously unknown species of megaraptorid...

Life reconstruction of Gavialimimus almaghribensis hunting a school of teleosts. Image credit: Tatsuya Shinmura.

Mosasaurs Were Picky Eaters, New Research Suggests

Nov 9, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of paleontologists from the Netherlands, Canada and the United Kingdom has examined the wear marks on the teeth of several species of mosasaurs,...

A family of Thescelosaurus neglectus emerges from safety to forage in the forests of the Hell Creek Formation, 66 million years ago. Image credit: Anthony Hutchings.

One of the Last Surviving Non-Avian Dinosaurs Lived in Burrows, Had Super Senses: Study

Nov 8, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

New research demonstrates that the brain of Thescelosaurus neglectus, a small plant-eating neornithischian dinosaur that lived just before the end-Cretaceous...

Illustration of Ekgmowechashala, the last primate to inhabit North America before humans. Image credit: Kristen Tietjen / Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum, University of Kansas.

Paleontologists Find New Fossils of Enigmatic North American Primate

Nov 6, 2023 by News Staff

Ekgmowechashala is a poorly documented but very distinctive species of ancient primate that lived in western North America during the Early Oligocene epoch,...

Life reconstruction of the lamprey Yanliaomyzon from the Jurassic Yanliao Biota, China. Image credit: Nice Vistudio / Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Large Flesh-Eating Lampreys Lived in Jurassic Oceans

Nov 3, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists in China have unearthed and examined the superbly preserved fossilized remains of two lamprey species from the Jurassic Yanliao Biota....

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...