Paleontology News

Climatic Barriers Controlled Dispersal of Earliest Dinosaurs, New Theory Says

The new Zimbabwean assemblage is on the same paleolatitudinal climatic belt as other Carnian dinosaur-bearing assemblages and has a similar taxonomic composition: (a) the northern Zimbabwean locality geographically links other Carnian dinosaurian localities across southern Pangaea; (b) the new Zimbabwean locality is the oldest definitive dinosaurian locality in Africa, coeval with Carnian dinosaur localities from other parts of the world; (c) summary stratigraphic column of the Pebbly Arkose Formation at the type locality in Zimbabwe showing the records of Mbiresaurus raathi (red), a herrerasaurid dinosaur (yellow), a traversodontid cynodont (blue), a hyperodapedontine rhynchosaur (orange) and an aetosaur (green); (d) representative fossils from the Pebbly Arkose Formation, including (1) aetosaur paramedian osteoderm (dorsal view), (2) herrerasaurid dinosaur coracoid (lateral view), (3) cynodont dentary (lateral view) and (4) hyperodapedontine rhynchosaur maxilla (occlusal view). Scale bars - 1 cm (fossils 1, 3 and 4) and 5 cm (fossil 2). Image credit: Griffin et al., doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-05133-x.
Sep 1, 2022 by News Staff

In addition to the discovery of Mbiresaurus raathi, Africa’s oldest known dinosaur species, Yale University paleontologist Christopher Griffin and his colleagues offer a new theory on early dinosaur migrations, including the when and where. The new Zimbabwean assemblage is on the same paleolatitudinal climatic belt as other Carnian dinosaur-bearing assemblages and has a similar taxonomic composition: (a) the northern Zimbabwean locality geographically...

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Life reconstruction of Mbiresaurus raathi (foreground) with the rest of the Zimbabwean animal assemblage in the background: two rhynchosaurs (front right), an aetosaur (left), and a herrerasaurid dinosaur chasing a cynodont (back right). Image credit: Andrey Atuchin.

Meet Mbiresaurus raathi, Africa’s Oldest Known Dinosaur

Sep 1, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Mbiresaurus raathi lived in what is now Zimbabwe during the Carnian age of the Triassic period, approximately 230 million years ago. Life reconstruction...

Paleontologists with the fossilized remains of a Jurassic brachiosaurid dinosaur. Image credit: Instituto Dom Luiz, University of Lisbon.

Giant Sauropod Dinosaur Skeleton Unearthed in Portugal

Aug 30, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists in Portugal have unearthed the fossilized skeletal remains of what they say is Europe’s biggest sauropod dinosaur. Paleontologists with...

An artist’s impression of a hypsilophodont dinosaur. Image credit: James McKinnon.

Paleontologists Reconstruct Small Plant-Eating Dinosaur from Opalized Fossils

Aug 30, 2022 by News Staff

Paleontologists have used a micro-CT scanner and 3D printing to reconstruct a herbivorous hypsilophodont dinosaur that lived in Australia during the Early...

The four living sirenian species and the recently extinct Steller’s sea cow; figured body sizes are at relative scale. Image credit: Christy Holton / S. Heritage & E.R. Seiffert, doi: 10.7717/peerj.13886.

New Research Tracks Evolution of Sea Cows

Aug 25, 2022 by News Staff

The sea cows originated in the Tethys Sea, between southern Europe and northern Africa, during the latest part of the Paleocene epoch, according to a new...

Representation of the modes of locomotion practiced by Sahelanthropus tchadensis. Image credit: Sabine Riffaut, Guillaume Daver, Franck Guy / PALEVOPRIM / CNRS / University of Poitiers.

Hominins Were Already Bipedal 7 Million Years Ago, Researchers Say

Aug 25, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleoanthropologists have examined three fossilized limb bones of Sahelanthropus tchadensis, one of the oldest known species in the human family tree. Representation...

Life reconstruction of Thalassotitan atrox. Image credit: Andrey Atuchin.

Giant Predatory Mosasaur Unearthed in Morocco

Aug 25, 2022 by News Staff

Thalassotitan atrox, a species of mosasaur that swam in the Cretaceous oceans 66 million years ago, shows that these specialized marine creatures evolved...

Giant beavers, about as large as a modern-day bear, ate aquatic plants before they went extinct after the last Ice Age. Image credit: Luke Dickey.

Semi-Aquatic Beavers Lived in Montana 30 Million Years Ago

Aug 24, 2022 by News Staff

The newly-identified species of beaver, Microtheriomys articulaquaticus, represents the oldest semi-aquatic rodent in North America and the oldest amphibious...

Life reconstruction of Bisticeratops froeseorum. Image credit: Sergey Krasovskiy.

New Species of Horned Dinosaur Discovered

Aug 23, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of chasmosaurine ceratopsid dinosaur has been identified from a fossilized skull held in U.S. museums for several decades. The...

Life reconstruction of Kaykay lafken. Image credit: Martina Charnelli.

Fossils of Jurassic Ray-Finned Fish Unearthed in Argentina

Aug 18, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of pachycormiform fish that lived 150 million years ago has been identified from fossils found in the Neuquén Basin of Argentina. Life...

Otodus megalodon. Image credit: J.J. Giraldo.

Megalodon was Transoceanic Superpredator, New Research Shows

Aug 18, 2022 by News Staff

Using an exceptionally well-preserved fossil of the giant shark megadolon (Otodus megalodon), an international team of researchers created the first 3D...

Jeholornis pooping out seeds from fruit, helping fruit-bearing plants take over the world. Image credit: Zhixin Han / Yifan Wang.

Early Cretaceous Birds Ate Whole Fruits

Aug 17, 2022 by News Staff

Members of Jeholornis, a genus of early birds that lived in what is now China some 120 million years ago (Early Cretaceous epoch), are the earliest-known...

An artist’s reconstruction of Saccorhytus coronarius. Image credit: Liu et al.

Cambrian Animal with Mouth but No Anus Is Not Earliest Human Ancestor, Paleontologists Say

Aug 17, 2022 by News Staff

Paleontologists have examined new microfossils of a Cambrian microscopic animal called Saccorhytus coronarius, which was previously interpreted as a deuterostome,...

Partial skeleton of Atractosteus grandei in dorsal view. Image credit: Chase Doran Brownstein & Tyler R. Lyson, doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2022.0118.

Newly-Discovered Giant Gar Species Survived Dinosaur Extinction

Aug 16, 2022 by Sergio Prostak

Atractosteus grandei lived less than 1,500-2,500 years after the Chicxulub asteroid impact, an event that is widely accepted as a major cause behind the...

Jannel et al. suggest that a soft tissue pad in sauropods would have reduced bone stresses. Image credit: Andréas Jannel.

Giant Sauropod Dinosaurs Had Soft Tissue Pads to Absorb Their Immense Weight: Study

Aug 15, 2022 by News Staff

How sauropod dinosaurs, which include the largest animals that walked the Earth, were able to withstand the forces associated with their immense size represents...

Life reconstruction of Jakapil kaniukura. Image credit: Mauricio Álvarez / Gabriel Díaz Yanten.

New Armored Dinosaur Unearthed in Argentina

Aug 12, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists in Argentina have unveiled a new genus and species of armored thyreophoran dinosaur from the Cretaceous period. Life reconstruction of...

Large predatory dinosaurs, such as Tyrannosaurus rex, evolved different shapes of eye sockets to better deal with high bite forces. Image credit: S. Lautenschlager, doi: 10.1038/s42003-022-03706-0.

Large Carnivorous Dinosaurs Evolved Smaller Eye Sockets to Allow Stronger Bites

Aug 11, 2022 by News Staff

In new research, Dr. Stephan Lautenschlager from the University of Birmingham analyzed the shape of the eye sockets in 410 specimens of dinosaurs and related...

Holotype of Palaeotanyrhina exophthalma in Burmese amber: (A) dorsal view; scale bar - 1.5 mm; (B) lateral view; arrow shows tip of labium; scale bar - 1.2 mm; (C) ventral view; arrow shows tip of labium; scale bar - 1.3 mm. Image credit: George Poinar Jr. et al., doi: 10.18476/pale.v15.a5.

Tiny Bug from Burmese Amber Had 360-Degree Vision

Aug 11, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

A fossilized true bug preserved in Burmese amber dates back approximately 100 million years (mid-Cretaceous period), according to Oregon State University...

Qijianglong guokr chased by two carnivorous dinosaurs. Image credit: Lida Xing.

New Species of Long-Necked Dinosaur Identified in Colombia

Aug 11, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of medium-sized sauropod dinosaur has been described from a single trunk vertebra found in the Department of Cesar, north-eastern...

Photograph of the positioning of the woolly mammoth tusk in the scanner; the tusk was fixed in a fiberglass frame to guarantee transport and table-movement stability; there was 1 cm of clearance within the gantry bore. Image credit: Eppenberger et al., doi: 10.1148/radiol.220265.

Scientists Use CT Scanner to Examine Two-Meter-Long Tusk of Woolly Mammoth

Aug 10, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using a clinical scanning device, researchers in Switzerland have successfully captured CT images of the 17,000-year-old tusk of a woolly mammoth (Mammuthus...

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