Paleontology News

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

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.
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, name Lokotunjailurus chinsamyae and Dinofelis werdelini — at Langebaanweg ‘E’ Quarry in South Africa. Their results suggest that the distribution of sabertooths throughout ancient Africa might have been different than previously assumed. The sabertooth cat species Lokotunjailurus emageritus...

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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...

A small piece of Burmese amber preserving feathers interpreted as belonging to a juvenile enantiornithine bird: (A) amber with the dorsal surface of the feather cluster exposed; (B) ventral surface exposed; (C) close up of the ventral surface (region marked in B); (D) close up of the ventral surface region marked in (C); (E) close up of the ventral surface region marked in (D); (F) close up of the dorsal surface marked in (A, larger rectangle); (G) close up of the dorsal surface marked in (A, smaller rectangle). Dotted lines indicate desiccation surfaces. Scale bars - 0.5 mm in (A, B, D and F), 0.1 mm in (C); 0.3 mm in (E); and 0.2 mm in (G). Anatomical abbreviations: ipl - immature plumaceous feather; ipn - immature pennaceous feather; ks - keratinous sheath; pf - probable filamentous ‘protofeathers.’ Image credit: O’Connor et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cretres.2023.105572.

99-Million-Year-Old Burmese Amber Preserves Feathers of Immature Enantiornithine Bird

Jul 7, 2023 by News Staff

The specimen provides the first unequivocal evidence of immature feathers in the Mesozoic fossil record. A small piece of Burmese amber preserving feathers...

Primary sequential molt in Microraptor; the arrow indicates the location of the molt-related gap within the primary feathers. Scale bar - 10 cm. Image credit: Y. Kiat & J.K. O’Connor, doi: 10.1038/s42003-023-05048-x.

Rarity of Molt Evidence in Feathered Dinosaurs Suggests Annual Molt Evolved Later among Flying Birds

Jul 6, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Feathers are a primitive trait among pennaraptoran dinosaurs, which today are represented by living birds, the only clade of dinosaurs to survive the end-Cretaceous...

Life reconstruction of Anomalocaris. Image credit: Katrina Kenny.

Cambrian Radiodont Was Speedy, But Not Strong Enough to Crack Trilobite Shells

Jul 5, 2023 by News Staff

Anomalocaris canadensis — the iconic 60-cm radiodont from the 508-million-year-old Burgess Shale of Canada — is one of the largest Cambrian...

Hypothesized reconstruction of Vampyrofugiens atramentum. Image credit: A. Lethiers.

Jurassic Vampire Squid Had Ink Sac and Luminous Organs

Jul 3, 2023 by Sergio Prostak

Paleontologists have identified a new genus and species of vampyromorph coleoid from a fossil specimen found in the Middle Jurassic La Voulte-sur-Rhône...

Massospondylus carinatus. Image credit: Nobu Tamura, http://spinops.blogspot.com / Patty Jansen / Sci.News.

South African Fossil Reveals Smallest Jurassic Sauropodomorph Dinosaur

Jun 29, 2023 by Sergio Prostak

This dinosaur weighed around 75 kg, making it one of the smallest known sauropodomorph species, and the smallest ever reported from the Jurassic period. Massospondylus...

Jurassic bone fragments (white) in gray-tan, sandy limestone matrix; rock hammer for scale. Image credit: May et al., doi: 10.24872/rmgjournal.58.1.19.

Paleontologists Unearth Texas’ First Vertebrate Fossils of Jurassic Age

Jun 27, 2023 by News Staff

Paleontologists say they collected numerous vertebrate specimens from the Late Jurassic Malone Formation in the Malone Mountains of western Texas, the...

Otodus megalodon went extinct 3.6 million years ago. Image credit: Alex Boersma / PNAS.

Megalodon Was Partially Warm-Blooded, New Research Shows

Jun 27, 2023 by News Staff

Otodus megalodon was a gigantic megatooth shark that lived in the world’s oceans from 23 to 3.6 million years ago. It could grow to the enormous size...

Life reconstruction of the extinct bear-dog Amphicyon ingens, a very distant relative of Eoarctos vorax. Image credit: Roman Uchytel.

Placental Mammals Survived End-Cretaceous Extinction, Paleobiologists Claim

Jun 27, 2023 by News Staff

Placental mammals — the evolutionary lineage that includes humans — co-existed with non-avian dinosaurs for a short time before the dinosaurs...

The Wilson’s little penguin (Eudyptula wilsonae). Image credit: Simone Giovanardi.

3-Million-Year-Old Fossils Support Zealandian Origin for Smallest Living Penguins

Jun 27, 2023 by Sergio Prostak

Eudyptula wilsonae is the smallest extinct crown penguin yet known and is a possible ancestor of the kororā or New Zealand little penguin (Eudyptula minor...

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