Paleontology News

Cretaceous-Period Toothed Bird Had Mobile Beak

Life reconstruction of Janavis finalidens. Image credit: Phillip Krzeminski.
Dec 1, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Janavis finalidens — an extinct bird species that lived 66.7 million years ago and was one of the last toothed birds to ever live — had a mobile, dexterous beak, almost indistinguishable from that of most modern birds. The discovery shows that such mobile beak, one of the key skull features that characterizes 99% of modern birds, evolved before the end-Cretaceous mass extinction. It also suggest that the skulls of ostriches, emus and their...

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Pterodactylus antiquus from the Late Jurassic Torleite Formation of Painten. Image credit: Augustin et al., doi: 10.3897/fr.25.90692.

Paleontologists Find Oldest Fossil of Pterodactylus

Nov 30, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

This Pterodactylus individual lived in what is now Germany during the Kimmeridgian age of the Late Jurassic epoch, between 155 and 152 million years ago. Pterodactylus...

Castor sp. from the Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America by John Woodhouse Audubon.

Miocene-Period Beavers Lived in Large Family Groups, Study Suggests

Nov 29, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have examined 142 new specimens, including 160 teeth, of the extinct medium-sized beaver species Steneofiber depereti from the Late Miocene...

The dinosauroid by Dale Russell and Ron Séguin. Image credit: Canadian Museum of Nature / Darren Naish & Will Tattersdill, doi: 10.1139/cjes-2020-0172.

What If Non-Avian Dinosaurs Hadn’t Gone Extinct?

Nov 28, 2022 by The Conversation

About 66 million years ago, a 10-km-wide asteroid crashed into Earth near the site of the small town of Chicxulub in what is now Mexico. The impact unleashed...

Daspletosaurus wilsoni is recognized by the unique arrangement of small hornlets around the eye. Image credit: Andrey Atuchin / Badlands Dinosaur Museum.

Newly-Discovered Tyrannosaur Species Fills Gap in Lineage Leading to Tyrannosaurus rex

Nov 25, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Daspletosaurus wilsoni, a tyrannosaurid dinosaur that lived 76.5 million years ago in what is now Montana, the United States, displays a unique combination...

Transylvanosaurus platycephalus. Image credit: Peter Nickolaus.

Paleontologists Identify New Species of Herbivorous Dinosaur

Nov 24, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of rhabdodontid ornithopod dinosaur has been identified from the fossilized skull bones found in the Haţeg Basin in western Romania. Inhabitants...

An artist’s impression of Kimberella. Image credit: Oleg Kuznetsov, 3Depix.

Study: Ediacaran Animals Ate Green Algae and Bacteria

Nov 23, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

The oldest animals appear in the fossil record among Ediacaran biota communities. In new research, paleontologists from the Australian National University...

An artist’s reconstruction of Eryops megacephalus (left) and Paracyclotosaurus davidi (right). Image credit: Josè Vitor Silva.

Permian-Triassic Crocodile-Like Amphibians Were as Heavy as Pygmy Hippos, Study Suggests

Nov 22, 2022 by News Staff

Temnospondyli is a diverse group of extinct amphibians that flourished worldwide during the Carboniferous, Permian, and Triassic periods. The body mass...

Daurlong wangi skull. Image credit: Wang et al., doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-24602-x.

New Bird-Like Dinosaur Species Found with Remains of Frog in Its Stomach

Nov 21, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

More than 120 million years ago in what is now China, a hungry dromaeosaurid dinosaur ate a small frog. Daurlong wangi holotype: (a) whole specimen, (b)...

An artist’s impression of Archelon ischyros. Image credit: Nobu Tamura, spinops.blogspot.com.

Gigantic Turtle Species Lived in Europe 78 Million Years Ago

Nov 18, 2022 by News Staff

Aside from being the largest marine turtle species ever discovered in Europe, and one of the largest worldwide, the discovery of Leviathanochelys aenigmatica...

Palaeoneiros clackorum skull and shoulder girdle. Image credit: Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University / President and Fellows of Harvard College.

Ray-Finned Fish Lineages Were Not as Hard Hit by End-Devonian Extinction as Previously Thought

Nov 17, 2022 by News Staff

Many accounts of the early history of ray-finned fishes (actinopterygians) posit that the end-Devonian mass extinction event 359 million years ago had...

An artistic reconstruction of the two new opabiniid-like animals, with Mieridduryn bonniae at the front and the smaller unnamed animal at the back. Image credit: Franz Anthony.

Fossils of Two Bizarre Ordovician Animals Found in Wales

Nov 16, 2022 by News Staff

Two specimens of euarthropods from the Middle Ordovician Castle Bank Biota in Wales, the United Kingdom, have striking similarities to Opabinia, an iconic...

Life reconstruction of a macronarian dinosaur. Image credit: Levi Bernardo / CC BY-SA 3.0.

New Species of Jurassic Sauropod Dinosaur Uncovered in China

Nov 15, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Yuzhoulong qurenensis is one of the earliest-diverging members of the sauropod dinosaur clade Macronaria. Life reconstruction of a macronarian dinosaur....

Specimen of Gangtoucunia aspera preserved in situ in a dwelling tube with soft tissues and life reconstruction: (a) overview of oralmost region of part, boxed region shown in (d); (b) overview of oralmost region of counterpart; (c) interpretative drawing combining information from both part and counterpart; (d) detail of oral region and tentacular apparatus of part; (e) close up of tentacles in part; (f) close up of tentacles in counterpart; (g) life reconstruction of Gangtoucunia aspera. Image credit: Xiaodong Wang / Zhang et al., doi: 10.1098/rspb.2022.1623.

Paleontologists Solve Mystery of Problematic Tubular Fossils from Cambrian Period

Nov 14, 2022 by News Staff

Paleontologists have examined the 514-million-year-old specimens of Gangtoucunia aspera, a tube-building marine animal from the Guanshan Lagerstätte of...

An artist’s impression of Devonian forest. Image credit: Eduard Riou / Rursus.

Evolution of Tree Roots Triggered Series of Devonian Mass Extinctions, Study Suggests

Nov 11, 2022 by News Staff

The Devonian period, which occurred 419 to 358 million years ago, prior to the evolution of life on land, is known for a series of catastrophic mass extinction...

Life reconstruction of Stenoscelida aurantiacus. Image credit: Matheus Fernandes / Universidade Federal de Santa Maria.

New Species of Triassic Crocodile-Like Reptile Identified in Brazil

Nov 9, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have discovered a new fossil reptile that lived during the Late Triassic epoch in southern Brazil. Life reconstruction of Stenoscelida...

Diorama of Ediacaran organisms displayed at the Smithsonian Institution. Image credit: Ryan Somma / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Study: Decreased Global Oxygen Availability Caused End-Ediacaran Mass Extinction

Nov 9, 2022 by News Staff

Mass extinctions are well recognized as significant steps in the evolutionary trajectory of life on Earth. In new research, geobiologists from Virginia...

Cymatioa cooki. Image credit: P. Valentich-Scott & J.H.R. Goddard, doi: 10.3897/zookeys.1128.95139.

Fossil Clam Species Found Living Off Southern California

Nov 8, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Cymatioa cooki, a species of small bivalve mollusk previously only known from the Pleistocene period, has been found living intertidally near Santa Barbara,...

Hand sample of Dresser Formation stromatolite with domical topography (arrowed). Image credit: Hickman-Lewis et al., doi: 10.1130/G50390.1.

3.5-Billion-Year-Old Australian Stromatolites Have Biogenic Origin, New Research Confirms

Nov 7, 2022 by News Staff

Stromatolites are solid, laminar structures reflecting complex interplays between microbial communities and their environment. Hand sample of Dresser Formation...

Life reconstruction of the thescelosaurine dinosaur Parksosaurus warreni, a close relative of Nevadadromeus schmitti. Image credit: Steveoc 86 / CC BY-SA 3.0.

New Plant-Eating Dinosaur Species Uncovered in Nevada

Nov 4, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists from the Nevada Science Center, Idaho State University and Montana State University have described a new genus and species of thescelosaurine...

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